Christian Brother Rex Elmer jailed for sexually abusing boys

Erin Pearson - February 19, 2021

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Christian Brother Rex Francis Elmer will be classified as a serious sexual offender for the rest of his life after being sentenced for “abhorrent” and “depraved” historic abuse of children at a Melbourne orphanage.

Elmer, now 76, fronted the County Court of Victoria on Friday dressed in a white forensic suit and blue gloves where he was jailed for two years, with a non-parole period of nine months, for abuse against two further boys.

The court heard his victims suffered sustained and ongoing abuse while aged between 10 and 13 and living at St Vincent Boy’s Home where Elmer worked at South Melbourne in the 1970s.

It’s the third time Elmer – who remains a Christian Brother – has been jailed for sexual offending against children in his care after previously pleading guilty to crimes against 13 other school-aged boys in the 1970s.

On Friday, the court heard the first of Elmer’s latest two victim was put into state care when he was eight after his father abandoned the family.

After being moved into a Christian Brother dormitory run by Elmer, he was repeatedly woken in the middle of the night and abused for two years from the age of 11.

He said the first assault occurred when Elmer threw off his bed covers, demanded he do as he was told, and put his hand down the boy’s pyjama pants. This assault was interrupted but others soon followed.

Elmer’s second victim was placed at the orphanage when he was seven after his father killed his mother. There, from the age of about 10, he said he was repeatedly sexually abused by Elmer.

During one incident, the boy had been playing in the grounds of the home after school when he was summoned by Elmer and taken to his private bedroom on-site.

There, the court heard Elmer sat the young boy on his knee and showed him a book with images of the human anatomy before asking the child to name various body parts, including male genitalia, while masturbating against the boy’s back.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the second victim said he was too scared to complain about the abuse as two other Christian Brothers were known to be very violent to boys in their care.

The victim said he went on to live a life of emotional turmoil; self medicating as memories of the assaults followed him around, always returning.

“This abuse has ranged inside of me for 46 years. The road ahead for me will be difficult,” he wrote.

“Always for me this abuse has been in the shadows of my mind.”

Elmer was aged between 26 and 32 at the time of the offending.

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Crown prosecutor David Glynn described the crimes as intrusive and humiliating violations of each child’s body.

He said Elmer targeted the most vulnerable of children, those living in state care and without parents.

“These children were utterly helpless, there was literally nowhere they could turn to for help,” Mr Glynn said.

In a victim impact statement, the second victim said Elmer had assaulted the adolescent nature of childhood innocence at a care home run by the Christian Brothers.

“Through this loosely fashioned arsenal of authority … Elmer brought to bear empowerment for his own sexual satiety,” the second victim wrote.

“His twisted interference became a habit of customary privilege that does not stand alone.”

The Age previously revealed that the most senior Christian Brothers officials in Victoria knew in mid-1976, when they removed Elmer from the orphanage, that he had abused boys there.

Later that year they made Elmer principal of St Joseph’s, a Catholic boys primary school in Warrnambool.

Elmer was in charge of the school from 1976-81. He worked in the town alongside several other notorious paedophile clerics including priests Paul David Ryan and Robert Claffey, and fellow Christian Brother Edward Dowlan (all since jailed for child sexual assault).

He later moved to Tanzania in Africa to set up a Mission School before word of his behaviour at St Vincent’s saw him return to Australia.

Soon after he was sent to Maryland in the United States for counselling at the St Luke Institute for paedophile Catholic clergy.

Upon his return, he continued teaching until 1988 and remained living at a Christian Brothers home in Brunswick until his sentencing on Friday.

Elmer was jailed for five years in September 1998 after pleading guilty to 12 charges of indecent assault against 12 males under 16.

Then, in May 2000 he was sentenced to 18 months jail for a further indecent assault.

St Vincent’s orphanage closed in 1997. It was home to more than 6000 boys over 140 years.

As dormitory master at St Vincent’s, Elmer was responsible for up to 40 children at a time, aged between seven and 14.

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

https://www.1800respect.org.au

https://www.lifeline.org.au

https://www.beyondblue.org.au

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/christian-brother-rex-elmer-jailed-for-sexually-abusing-boys-20210219-p573yh.html

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'Jesus is coming to get you': Brother's threat to boy he abused

Debbie Cuthbertson, Simone Fox Koob, Farrah Tomazin and Chris Vedelago - February 16, 2020

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“Jesus is coming to get you.”

That was the warning Lionel (not his real name) alleges Christian Brother Rex Francis Elmer gave in an attempt to silence him after he sexually assaulted him at a Melbourne orphanage in the 1970s.

The words rang in the boy’s ears long after.

Elmer “kissed me on the forehead and said well done” after molesting him, Lionel said.

“He then told me not to tell anyone. He said to me, if you tell anyone, Jesus would come down from heaven and take me away and you will not see your family or friends ever again,” he told police.

“I was scared and really believed what he had said, that Jesus would take me away if I said anything. I was an altar boy and I believed this.

“The word ‘Jesus’ was ringing in my ears.”

The assaults continued, as did the warnings, for more than a year, Lionel said. It was a vicious circle.

“This sort of incident happened at least two to three times a week,” Lionel said in his witness statement to police. “The same sort of thing. I would piss the bed scared at night that [Elmer] would come to me. I was petrified of him. I couldn’t tell anyone because I was scared of getting a flogging and being taken away by Jesus.”

Another boy who had complained about being abused by Elmer was flogged with a cane by another brother then removed from the St Vincent de Paul Boys' Home, Lionel said.

“He dobbed Elmer in for doing something sexual to him. It was two days later that this guy who got hit and dobbed got taken from the home.”

He said he told another boy at the home about the abuse. That boy replied that Elmer had also sexually assaulted him. “We were both scared that Jesus would come to take us,” Lionel said. “This is what we thought happened to [the boy who left].”

Lionel said he also confided in a nun from a nearby convent. “I told her what Elmer had been doing to me. She said ‘Darling, please do not say a word to anyone, I will fix this for you’.”

Soon after he confessed to her, Lionel alleges, Elmer and two other brothers brutally beat him, including with a cane, in an assault that left him bleeding from his behind and bedridden for more than a week.

While he was still recovering, Lionel said, Elmer abused him again. He punched the boy repeatedly, giving him a black eye and bloody nose after the boy vomited on the brother during the assault.

“When I spewed, he punched me in the face with a clenched fist … three or four times. I couldn’t see out of my left eye for a few days until the swelling went down. He said to me 'Jesus is coming to get you'. This is the last time that I ever saw Elmer.”

In mid-1976, Elmer suddenly left St Vincent’s. “I don’t know what happened to Elmer, but he was gone from the home,” Lionel told police.

Lionel, now aged 59, said of the ongoing effect of his abuse: “I get teary talking about this but I have learnt to deal with it. It is always in my mind and it always hurts me.”

On Monday, Elmer pleaded guilty in the County Court to the indecent assault of two other complainants, also from St Vincent’s, in the 1970s, after which prosecutors did not proceed with charges related to Lionel’s accusations. That meant that Lionel’s witness statement was never tendered and Elmer never faced his allegations.

Court documents show the 75-year-old was charged in 2018 with 19 counts of indecent assault and one of false imprisonment in relation to three victims during the 1970s.

The first complainant, who had been in state care since infancy, told police Elmer repeatedly abused him between the ages of 11 and 13, usually while he was sleeping in a dormitory.

He said the first assault occurred when Elmer threw off his bed covers, demanded he do as he was told, and put his hand down the boy’s pyjama pants. The assault, however, was interrupted. “Someone has approached the bed as he was being assaulted by the accused, who then fled,” according to the police brief of evidence.

“The complainant was summoned to the office of the now deceased Brother in charge, Brother Carey … Shortly thereafter the complainant recalls being sexually abused by the accused on many occasions.”

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The second complainant, who came to the orphanage aged seven after his parents died, was sexually abused by Elmer repeatedly between the ages of nine and 11.

On one occasion Elmer led the boy, who had been playing in the grounds of the home after school, upstairs into his private bedroom at the end of a dormitory.

Elmer produced a large book with pictures of human anatomy and made the boy sit on his knee while the brother asked him to name various body parts, including male genitalia, and masturbated against the boy’s back during the 20-minute assault.

As dormitory master at St Vincent’s, Elmer was responsible for up to 40 children at a time, aged between seven and 14.

The most senior Christian Brothers officials in Victoria knew in mid-1976, when they removed Elmer from the orphanage, that he had abused boys there.

Later that year they made Elmer principal of St Joseph's, a Catholic boys primary school in Warrnambool.

Elmer was in charge of the school from 1976-81. He worked in the town alongside several other notorious paedophile clerics including priests Paul David Ryan and Robert Claffey, and fellow Christian Brother Edward Dowlan (all since jailed for child sexual assault).

Elmer left Warrnambool after more complaints about his behaviour at St Vincent's reached his superiors. In 1988 he reappeared, in an article from a small Tasmanian newspaper called Western Tiers, published in his home town of Deloraine.

“Brother Rex Elmer will be spending Christmas at home with his mother … and family before leaving to go to Africa to set up a Mission School at Arushia [sic] in Tanzania with two other Christian Brothers,” the newspaper reported proudly on page 3.

“Rex was a pupil at Our Lady of Mercy College and St Patrick's [College] and has been teaching at various schools, including Warrnambool in Victoria. He is hoping to see old school friends while at home and we all wish him well in the future.”

The school Elmer helped found in northern Tanzania is now run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers East Africa District and has more than 1300 students.

Elmer left the school in 1993 after more complaints surfaced, and was sent by his order to the United States for counselling at the St Luke Institute for paedophile Catholic clergy in Maryland.

He was charged In 1997 with 69 counts. He was convicted the next year of 12 counts: one charge of indecent assault against each of the 12 boys. The judge sentenced him to five years in prison with a minimum of three years and four months.

At his sentencing, Judge Thomas Neesham described Elmer, then 53, as a man of God who had indulged in "depraved self-gratification", The Age reported at the time.

“Each of your victims was a small boy in your care. Each was an inmate,” he said. The boys, many of them orphans or wards of the state, were aged between eight and 12.

"They were helpless," Judge Neesham said. "Who could they tell, who would believe them?

"All your victims wear deep emotional scars to this day as is brought out by their victim impact statements," he said. "As a teacher and a man of God, how could you not have had an inkling of the devastation to your victims' faith … by your act of misbehaviour.

“Your victims will have to live in the misery that you inflicted upon them … You will have to live with the disgrace that you brought on yourself and your family."

Elmer had been living in a Christian Brothers home in Brunswick at the time of his first conviction and was still working for the order in an administrative role. In 2002, after his release from prison, he was placed him on "restricted ministry".

He now resides in a property owned by the order in the same suburb. His bail was extended following his guilty plea this week until his sentencing in July.

“The accused is currently retired and resides within the Christian Brothers Community,” a police brief from his current case states.

The order has received 22 claims for redress from people who allege Elmer sexually abused them as children, according to documents it provided to Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, which reported its findings in 2017.

Those claims all related to accusations of multiple assaults alleged to have occurred between 1969 and 1985 - from when Elmer was a novitiate (a Christian Brother in training) to the years when he worked in South Melbourne and Warrnambool, mainly during his time at St Vincent’s.

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The documents also show the order knew that a number of victims had alleged that other clergy had participated in the abuse by Elmer.

Catholic Church Insurance (CCI) refused to cover the Christian Brothers in relation to any claims of abuse by Elmer after 1976, ruling the order - including its most senior cleric, then provincial Brother Patrick Naughtin - had “prior knowledge” of his crimes.

"Whilst the Visitation was in progress [13/06/1976], a Child Welfare Office reported to Brother [redacted] Acting Superior that Rex had been interfering with little boys; this was true and it had been attended to by the Provincial," said a CCI document submitted to the royal commission.

In a letter dated June 20, 1976, Naughtin wrote to the acting superior of the orphanage: “Thank you very much for the report on the situation which developed … in connection with Br Elmer. It is indeed a serious and most unfortunate state of affairs and I am grateful for your bringing it to my attention so promptly."

In his letter, Naughtin (who died in 2010) expressed concern for Elmer’s reputation, not for the welfare of the children he had abused. He also referenced the illegality of Elmer’s actions but did not report him to authorities.

“I have interviewed Br Elmer and discussed this position with him. He is clearly aware of the serious nature of his actions and I took pains to point out his legal and moral obligations in the matter.

“It seems to me extremely unlikely that there will be any recurrence of what had happened … It would seem to me best at this stage not to transfer Brother … immediately, though I would propose to announce his change next August - the usual time for releasing details of staffing for the following year.

“In coming to this decision I have been guided by the Brother's assurance for the future, by his excellent record to date and by consideration for his reputation which would undoubtedly be harmed by a sudden transfer at this time.”

When Elmer left St Vincent’s he was replaced by Edward ‘Ted’ Dowlan, now one of the most notorious paedophile clerics in Victoria. They later worked together at St Joseph's in Warrnambool.

A 1996 letter from an unnamed Christian Brother was submitted to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry in 2013 into the handling of child abuse by institutions, including religious orders. It sheds light on how widespread the abuse was at St Vincent’s, and how determined the church was to dismiss it.

“I accepted with good faith the sudden departure of Brother Elmer from the school and the appointment of Brother Dowlan to fill his position,” the letter reads. “Indeed, I spent many extra hours, which I could ill afford, assisting Brother Dowlan to understand the nature and behaviours of the boys and the teachers.

“As you are probably aware, many of St Vincent’s residents had been sexually abused, and often displayed overt and outrageous sexualised behaviour. Furthermore, they expected or requested that this behaviour be reciprocated by the adults in their lives. A major part of our endeavours at St Vincent’s was getting these boys to a point where they would expect not to be abused. Now I find that all of this work could have been compromised by the presence of a man like Brother Dowlan …

“I take note of your congregation’s position that the brothers were unaware of Brother Dowlan’s tendencies and activities. I cannot accept this as a reasonable position. I cannot believe that the number of allegations against this man could have been kept from his various communities’ and the congregation’s superiors. I find that expecting the public to believe this is preposterous. I do not believe this plea of ignorance.”

St Vincent’s orphanage closed in 1997. It was home to more than 6000 boys over 140 years.

Information provided by the Catholic Church to the royal commission showed it had received 114 claims of sexual abuse at the home, the highest number of any Catholic institution in Victoria.

The Christian Brothers declined to answer The Age's questions about Elmer, citing "ongoing legal proceedings".

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, beyondblue 1300 224 636, or Care Leavers Australia Network on 1800 008 774.

https://www.1800respect.org.au

https://www.lifeline.org.au

https://www.beyondblue.org.au

https://www.clan.org.au

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/jesus-is-coming-to-get-you-brother-s-threat-to-boy-he-abused-20200214-p540u8.html

The Nurse: Midnight paedophile strikes in children’s ward, explosive corruption allegations

Further allegations of historic sex crimes at Launceston General Hospital have come to light – and claims of cover ups and corruption months after paedophile nurse James Geoffrey Griffin was outed.

Navarone Farrell - February 17, 2021

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SENSATIONAL claims of cover ups and corruption in one of Tasmania’s major hospitals have come to light, as a man breaks his silence over another alleged paedophile nurse.

Ben Felton, 44, was abused by a nurse in Launceston General Hospital as a teenager, according to independent journalist Camille Bianchi, in her podcast The Nurse, where last year she revealed the horrific crimes of James Geoffrey Griffin.

Griffin was charged with a dozen child sex abuse offences after 30 years working at the hospital. He committed suicide shortly after he was charged.

Mr Felton was 13 in 1989 when he was admitted to the hospital’s paediatric ward with a case of pneumonia.

“This was back when they didn’t have rooms, it was just one big room … about 11.30 at night I asked the nurse who was on shift for a drink of water,” he told the podcast.

“(The nurse) took me into the hospital pantry or kitchen … and gave me a glass of water. He then started feeling my abdomen and asking me a lot of questions.

“He then pulled my pants down and he touched me while he was smiling.”

Mr Felton alleges he slapped the man’s hand away and “bolted”.

Sources in the podcast allege a deal was made with Ben’s parents after the young boy told his father what happened.

A senior hospital employee ‘Steve’ allegedly promised Mr Felton’s family the nurse would be reprimanded and his permanent record would be marked.

‘Steve’ allegedly quashed any claims of child sex abuse in the ward, according to the nurses.

The alleged paedophile nurse was “shuffled” away, according to Ms Bianchi – but another ex-employee said the man tried to get a job in the ward again 12-13 years later and remains employed in Tasmania’s health system.

There are also claims the man worked in other institutions with children including the Scouts.

After years of red tape and frustration attempting to follow up what happened to him as a child, Mr Felton finally acquired hard copies of the nurses reports from 1989.

“So now I’ve got the records and it wasn’t a figment of my imagination and it did get brushed under the carpet … (Steve’s) probably forgotten all about this, but I certainly haven’t,” Mr Felton said.

Since the claims last year the State Government has stood down 13 public service employees in response to sexual abuse or misconduct reports.

However it refuses to release further details about any allegations until claims are fully investigated.

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Last month Marcia Neave was announced as the president for the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse in government institutions.

Tasmania’s equivalent of a Royal Commission, the broad-ranging inquiry will have the power to hold hearings in public, to call witnesses and to demand the production of documents.

It replaced three inquiries that had already announced: into allegations of abuse in the Health Department, the education department and in the Ashley Youth Detention Centre.

Premier Peter Gutwein acknowledged the podcast, however refused to make comment on whether the nurse was still working in Tasmania’s health system.

“I read and heard of Mr Felton’s circumstances over the last 24 hours. Firstly can I just say it’s brave he has brought these matters forward,” he said.

“In terms of these matters, the one thing I’m certain that all of the brave victims that have raised these matters want to be assured of is that the government does not engage in discussion about matters that might ultimately prejudice justice being served.”

Labor’s Shadow Minister for Child Safety, Sarah Lovell, said the latest allegations further demonstrate the State Government’s secrecy.

“There is already an unacceptable level of secrecy surrounding the 13 people who to date have been stood down in the public sector, pending further investigation into abuse claims,” she said.

“The Premier, Peter Gutwein, and his Ministers have not adequately explained why they are refusing to release details of the agencies accused individuals worked in.”

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian Branch said they were offering full support to the matter being thoroughly investigated and addressed.

“The ANMF were not aware of these allegations when they were made 31 years ago, however, we support Ben and any individual in raising any instances of abuse or inappropriate conduct with Tasmania Police,” said ANMF Branch Secretary, Emily Shepherd.

“ANMF members on Ward 4K have been instrumental in having the Commission of Inquiry established to examine child sexual abuse at the Launceston General Hospital and other Government institutions.”

https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/the-nurse-midnight-paedophile-strikes-in-childrens-ward-explosive-corruption-allegations/news-story/3dd294aef1364226788dd4170cb34809

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-nurse-camille-bianchi-6vDxANtiMKW/

Singapore student sentenced over child-like sex doll & child abuse material

A 27-year-old Singapore national living in Australia on a Student Visa has been sentenced to 11 months jail after being convicted of importing a child-like sex doll and possession of child abuse material (CAM).

The Perth District Court heard that the doll had been ordered online from China and was addressed to the man’s residence in the Perth suburb of Beckenham.

It was intercepted by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers at a Perth air cargo depot on 24 December 2019. ABF Investigators arrested the man following the execution of a search warrant on his home on 9 January 2020.

During the warrant investigators seized a mobile phone, computer tower, laptop and hard-drive belonging to the man.

Those devices were referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

A forensic digital examination by AFP agents identified child abuse material on the tower, laptop and hard-drive.

The man subsequently pleaded guilty to the following charges:

• One count of Importing Tier 2 goods, in contravention of Section 233BAB(5) of the Customs Act 1901.

• One count of Possessed or controlled child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage system contrary to Section 474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

Yesterday (19 February 2021), the man was sentenced in the Perth District Court to a concurrent term of 11 months imprisonment for both offences, but to be released forthwith.

The Judge also ordered that the man be placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

The maximum penalty for the importation of child-like sex dolls is 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $555,000. In light of the man’s convictions his immigration status in Australia is now under review.

The Australian Government takes seriously its responsibility to protect the Australian community from risk or harm posed by non-citizens who engage in criminal conduct or behaviour of concern.

Visa cancellation powers assist to ensure the integrity of the migration program and the safety of the Australian community.

Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa will be liable for detention and removal from Australia, pending resolution of any ongoing matters.

Anyone with information about those who may be importing child-like sex dolls or other child abuse material should contact Border Watch at www.Australia.gov.au/borderwatch. By reporting suspicious activities, you are helping to protect Australia's border. Information can be provided anonymously.

Note to media:

USE OF TERM 'CHILD ABUSE' MATERIAL, NOT 'CHILD PORNOGRAPHY' Use of the phrase "child pornography" benefits child sex abusers because it:

• indicates legitimacy and compliance on the part of the victim and therefore legality on the part of the abuser; and

• conjures images of children posing in 'provocative' positions, rather than suffering horrific abuse.

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/singapore-student-sentenced-over-child-sex-doll-child-abuse-material

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-us/what-we-do/borderwatch

>>12885144

Court hears alleged ‘slave’ was locked in house and only slept an hour each night

A woman allegedly kept as a slave in Melbourne before being discovered in her own urine weighing 40kg told police she had to ‘obey’ and wasn’t able to rest.

Caroline Schelle - FEBRUARY 19, 2021

A woman allegedly kept as a slave in Melbourne for eight years claims she only slept an hour a night, felt helpless and survived on tea and rice, a court heard.

She detailed the allegations in a recorded interview from a hospital bed that was aired in Victoria’s Supreme Court on Friday.

A Mount Waverley couple, who cannot be named, are fighting charges of intentionally possessing a slave and intentionally exercising the right of ownership over a slave between 2007 and 2015.

“What can I do, helpless,” the alleged victim said through an interpreter in the recording.

“I came here for money, so I have to obey and do whatever I was told to do.”

She said in the recording her family in India was sent some money but she never received a salary from the pair.

The woman also said she only slept for “one hour” and wasn’t able to rest.

“No rest, I could not even sit,” she said.

The woman said the couple would leave for an overseas trip every year and lock her in the house, the court heard.

If she ran out of food when the couple and their children were away she said she would drink tea and cook rice.

The woman, who is now in her 60s, said her son-in-law made the arrangement with the couple that she would be paid to look after their children when she came to Australia in 2007.

She had been to Australia twice before and was returned home before she was allegedly enslaved on her third trip.

The court heard her situation was uncovered when the woman was rushed to hospital in a serious condition in July 2015.

She had sepsis, weighed 40kg and her temperature was just 28.5C.

Prosecutors allege the couple had such a level of control over the woman’s rights and freedoms that it amounted to slavery.

The court heard they allegedly controlled her right to communicate with others, freedom of movement and her rights to healthcare and payment for work.

But lawyers for the pair have denied the allegations.

The trial in front of Justice John Champion continues.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/court-hears-alleged-slave-was-locked-in-house-and-only-slept-an-hour-each-night/news-story/de3d39457e356a150d84b756d33e736b

Bill Gates addresses COVID-19 conspiracy theories and offers grim prediction in Australian interview

Billionaire Bill Gates has provided an ominous view of a future far worse than what the world has seen during the coronavirus pandemic.

Matt Young - FEBRUARY 17, 2021

Billionaire Microsoft founder and vaccinate philanthropist Bill Gates has provided an ominous view of the future far worse than what the world has seen during the coronavirus pandemic.

On the ABC’s 7 .30 with Leigh Sales on Tuesday night, the business magnate, described by Sales as one the “most powerful figures driving the push for action” on global warming, discussed conspiracy theories and climate change.

Mr Gates has been the centre of bizarre theories in recent months over his involvement with the development of COVID-19 vaccines, including claims he’s using them to microchip the world’s population by teaming up with top US infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci.

The Microsoft founder previously said he was shocked at the level of “crazy” and “evil” conspiracies.

In his latest Australian interview, Mr Gates said the spread of such theories around the vaccine are “tragic if they prevent people from wearing masks or be willing to take the vaccine as it becomes available”.

The Gates Foundation is the second-largest financial backer of the WHO after the United States. The organisation has also committed about $250 million (AU$322 million) for research and testing related to COVID-19.

He said social media networks face an overwhelming responsibility to police information on their sites and that the conspiracies spiralling online around the pandemic are dangerous.

He said “there are some things that are so extreme in terms of anti vaccine or holocaust denial that you can draw a line, but how you draw that line and who is put in charge of that … I’m not proposing solutions to that … I still haven’t seen a good solution.”

The philanthropist addressed misinformation online in October last year, telling The Wall Street Journal that people were drawn to the thrill of conspiracies, and facts were harder to spread.

“There’s certainly a human weakness to very titillating things, like, someone made this virus, or, there’s some conspiracy — those things can spread very quickly,” he said.

GATES’ OMINOUS PREDICTION

Spruiking his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, Mr Gates, who warned five years ago that the world’s greatest threat was a pandemic, said humankind is facing its biggest challenge yet.

He said achieving zero emissions will be “the hardest thing humanity has ever done”, calling for a complete end across the globe.

“51 billion is the number of tonnes of CO2 equivalent that we’re putting into the atmosphere every year and if we want to stop the temperature from rising, we have to reduce that all the way down to zero,” said the software developer.

“And that’s going to be very hard because there’s a lot of sources of emissions.”

He said the physical economy – cement, steel, transportation, agriculture – will have to make changes by focusing on innovation and right policies.

He warned without doing so, the world faces an “unliveable” environment with “millions of migrants and a death rate five times as high as the peak of this pandemic every year”.

Only that way, “at a global basis can we achieve one of the hardest tasks that humanity’s ever been asked to performed”.

Mr Gates gave a Ted Talk in 2015 in which he warned that “we’re not ready for the next epidemic,” but offered hope by saying “we can build a really good response system” to prepare.

His suggestions included setting up a medical reserve corps to be paired with the military, and “germ games” similar to military war games that could be used to run simulations.

“But between 2015 and 2020, less than 5 per cent of what should have been done was done,” Mr Gates said.

Mr Gates has used his personal wealth to help in the global fight against various transmissible diseases for more than two decades, and has donated tens of billions of dollars to philanthropic causes.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/bill-gates-addresses-covid19-conspiracy-theories-and-offers-grim-prediction-in-australian-interview/news-story/e9940407aa6d2b4fc31fdc988b2b04a2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO1GCwfiNAE

>>12979230

Facebook revealed to be a 'parasitic operation' which steals 'personal data'

Sky News Australia

21 Feb 2021

Sky News host James Morrow says Facebook’s decision to ban news content from its platform has made it “the world’s number one purveyor in Australia of cat photos and conspiracy theories”.

“Facebook have unfriended Australia,” Morrow said.

“They’ve ghosted us like a bad X.”

The move followed escalating hostilities over the Australian government’s media bargaining code, which sought to force tech giants to pay Australian media outlets for using news content.

Mr Morrow said “Facebook, I think, has made a tremendous strategic miscalculation in not coming to the party on the government’s legislation”.

He pointed to mass mood manipulation schemes, donating $400 million to fortify the US election and a decision to block news about Hunter Biden in the lead up to the November poll.

“Facebook has really revealed itself to be essentially this parasitic operation which takes your personal data, takes your pictures, uses them to build incredible facial recognition algorithms”.

Sky News Host Rowan Dean also noted a decision by Facebook to crack down on what they deem climate misinformation in the United Kingdom

“You couldn’t make this stuff up, but George Orwell did,” he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohepbos-ySo

Intelligence officer’s death in carpark had links to Brereton report into war crimes in Afghanistan

An Australian Intelligence officer who died in the Army headquarters carpark in Canberra is alleged to have had possession of crucial evidence that would have caused a public furore if released.

Cydonee Mardon - February 21, 2021

An Australian Intelligence ­officer’s death in the Army headquarters carpark has links to the Brereton report into war crimes in Afghanistan, sources claim.

The man who worked for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) was found dead by his colleagues on December 21 last year in the Russell complex. Police said there were no suspicious ­circumstances.

The man was believed to be in possession of an encrypted computer hard drive that “if it were to be made public would change a lot of the public stance and opinion on what went on in Afghanistan,” a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Sunday Telegraph.

“It is understood the intelligence officer was going to make the information public because the Brereton report is an erroneous one-sided witch- hunt against the SAS to try to appease the Afghanis.”

It is believed the hard drive contains footage that puts the war “into context”.

“The officer was fearful of the ramifications of what he had to expose,” the source said.

News of the death at army headquarters spread quickly in military circles but, in the ­following days, information dried up.

A former insider from the defence and civilian intelligence organisations said at the time “it is unsurprising the intelligence community is being so evasive about the apparent suicide of one of its people”.

“The community is very tight-knit, security clearances and compartment briefs are a precious commodity on which jobs are dependent and threats of being put ‘out in the cold’ are ever present. This is how our agencies bury their mistakes.”

ACT Police confirmed they attended the incident and there were no suspicious ­circumstances.

ACT Coroners Court confirmed the death had been ­reported but a spokesman said no further information could be given regarding the “specific matter” including whether a coronal inquiry would be held.

A Defence spokesperson said: “The incident in the Russell precinct on December 21, 2020 has been referred to ACT Policing for investigation. As the matter is being investigated by ACT Policing, it would be inappropriate for Defence to comment, and any queries should be directed to ACT Policing.”

The redacted version of the Brereton report, released publicly in November 2020, found evidence of 39 murders of civilians and prisoners by members of the Australian special forces, which were subsequently covered up by ADF personnel.

The report stated 25 ADF personnel were involved in the killings, including those who were “accessories” to the incident. Some of those believed to be involved were still serving with the ADF.

The unlawful killings discussed by the report began in 2009, with most occurring in 2012 and 2013.

Sources said members of the Australian intelligence community are so paranoid about losing their security clearances, or getting secretly locked up like “Witness J”, who spent 15 months in jail for ­offences under the secrets act, that they won’t raise issues of mental health.

LIFELINE 13 11 14

https://www.lifeline.org.au

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/army-officers-death-in-carpark-had-links-to-brereton-report-into-war-crimes-in-afghanistan/news-story/2d73c7e70bf96f6f764a3f3de9744a77

>>12941464

Third woman alleges sex assault by staffer as Brittany Higgins to make formal statement to police

MICHAEL MCKENNA and ROSIE LEWIS - FEBRUARY 21, 2021

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A third woman alleges she was sexually assaulted almost five years ago by the same former Morrison government adviser accused of the 2019 rape of a female colleague in Parliament House.

The woman, a Coalition volunteer during the 2016 election campaign, alleged she was assaulted after a night drinking with the then political staffer.

The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity but supported her allegations with a statutory declaration, said she was barely out of school when she went out with campaign volunteers just days before the election.

The Australian has agreed to withhold the city and location of the alleged incident to prevent the woman from being identified.

The new claim comes as Brittany Higgins — who alleges she was raped in the office of -Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in March 2019 — prepares to make a statement to the Australian Federal Police on Wednesday.

Ms Higgins accused Scott Morrison last week of using “victim blaming” language and felt she had been forced to choose between reporting the allegations and keeping her job.

Senator Reynolds and the Prime Minister’s Office have been engulfed in a political crisis for days over when they first found about the rape allegations and what they did to assist Ms Higgins.

There are now several inquiries into the workplace culture in parliament and in the Coalition.

According to the account of the latest woman to come forward, the former male staffer — who was working in a minister’s office — bought several rounds of “double strength” vodkas and three tequila shots for the woman over the course of a night. She says she had never been drunk before and vomited in the nightclub bathroom. Soon after she was alone with the staffer and told him she was going to call an Uber and go home.

According to her account, the then staffer told her his hotel was “around the comer” and he could “look after me”. They went back to his room and, while laying on his bed, she passed out.

She alleges that she woke up, with her button-up blouse opened and her jeans pushed down and the staffer “lying on top of me” although she can’t be clear as to whether he was “conscious or sleeping”. She fled the room and went to the hotel lobby toilet and noticed “I was bleeding”, before going home.

“I believe his actions on the night of 29 June and the morning of 30 June constitute sexual assault, because he performed or tried to perform sexual acts on me whilst I was severely intoxicated and unable to provide valid and informed consent,’’ she said.

The young woman — who had not had sex before — did not go to police or tell friends or family.

“I was severely embarrassed about it and felt dirty and ashamed and I didn’t want to tell anyone,’’ she told The Australian.

“I later realised I was so drunk, I was not able to give any consent.

“Hearing Brittany Higgins’ story, it was so eerily similar, it made me think this person has a pattern of behaviour.’’

(continued)

>>13016686

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The Weekend Australian reported on Saturday that another woman — a former Liberal staffer who also spoke on condition of anonymity — alleged she had been sexually assaulted by the former government staffer.

Mr Morrison said at the weekend he was disturbed by those claims, and was “very upset about those circumstances”. “There is significant work that still remains to be done in the Parliament House work culture, that is absolutely the case,” he said.

The government has been dogged by questions about why Mr Morrison’s advisers and staff in Senator Reynolds’ office failed to inform the Prime Minister of rape allegations in Parliament House until only this month.

One of Senator Reynolds’ senior staff, Fiona Brown, has since moved to Mr Morrison’s office.

Ms Higgins says she reported the incident to a Parliament House police unit on March 26, 2019, three days after the rape allegedly occurred, and that Mr Morrison’s principal private secretary, Yaron Finkelstein, contacted her to “check in” around November last year.

Advice from the Department of Finance sent to Ms Brown on March 29, 2019 — before she and Senator Reynolds met Ms Higgins on April 1 in the room in which the alleged rape occurred — includes references to the 1800Respect sexual assault and domestic violence website about how to support a person if they choose to lodge a police report.

However, government sources said Ms Higgins had only told Ms Brown she recalled her then-colleague being on top of her.

There was a suspicion of something untoward happening but the extent of the incident and alleged rape was not known.

Senator Reynolds found out about the alleged rape from the AFP on April 4, the sources said, and told Ms Brown the next day.

Unsatisfied by the timelines of events given by Mr Morrison and Senator Reynolds, Labor sources said the party would focus on “the many holes and discrepancies in the government’s account” when parliament sits this week.

The Finance Department advice to Ms Brown outlines a number of actions she took to help Ms Higgins, including notifying her she was able to pursue a police complaint and that Ms Brown and Senator Reynolds would support her if she chose to do so.

“You have provided the employee with the opportunity to come to you for further assistance, support or guidance at any time,” the email states.

“You have encouraged the employee to access the (employee assistance program) provider as soon as possible, and on days she was not in the office, you have checked in with her to make sure she is OK and has support at home.”

Mr Morrison has endorsed an external complaints process for parliamentarians and their staff and said he was angry his staff had not told him about the alleged rape for 48 hours. “You can be assured they (my staff) know exactly my views about that,” he said.

Mr Morrison has repeatedly said his office found out about the alleged rape on February 12 while he did not know about it until it was made public last Monday.

Ms Brown has been aware of the incident for nearly two years but Mr Morrison says she did not pass the information on, as was customary when a staffer moved from one office to another and out of respect for Ms Higgins’ privacy.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/brittany-higgins-to-make-formal-statement-to-police-over-alleged-rape/news-story/11ecbae5b81b87cf33244553e7167527

>>12996781

Kevin Rudd falls short in bid for royal commission into media diversity

JAMES MADDEN - FEBRUARY 21, 2021

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s campaign for a royal commission into media diversity has failed, with the federal government formally advising the Governor-General that the inquiry should not proceed.

A petition calling for a royal commission was launched by Mr Rudd in October, and by the time it was tabled in parliament three weeks later it had garnered 501,876 signatures, although it was later discovered that the e-document was littered with fake names.

Royal commissions are not established by the parliament. Rather, they are initiated by the Governor-General, based on advice from the federal government.

Petitions for royal commissions are submitted to the Standing Committee on Petitions; if they are procedurally sound, the document is referred to the relevant government minister — in this case Communications Minister Paul Fletcher — for their advice to the Governor-General on whether to proceed.

On Monday, Governor-General David Hurley will receive a letter from Mr Fletcher advising him not to green-light the proposed inquiry.

On Friday, Mr Rudd appeared at a Senate committee inquiry into media diversity — alongside executives from News Corp (publisher of The Australian), Nine, and Australian Associated Press — during which he claimed the “Murdoch media” enjoyed a monopoly of the national media industry. Mr Rudd also said he was “fearful of the Murdoch media beast” when he was prime minister.

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller told the hearing that the Australian media landscape was in fact “a ­picture of diversity, not monopoly”, citing the fact that each month, 19 million Australians access at least one of Nine’s media brands, while News Corp, Seven West Media and the ABC independently reach between 17.4 and 17.8 million people.

“Diversity is not just about ownership. It’s about the diversity of sources,” Mr Miller said.

“Australians are smart people who make up their own minds about what media they consume, who they back politically, and what they feel.”

Mr Fletcher declined to comment on the federal government’s advice to Mr Hurley on the royal commission. But he did say that while the Australian media was already “vibrant and diverse”, the federal government was committed to ensuring that it remains so, in the face of the various challenges facing the industry.

“Quality news and public interest journalism plays an important role in the functioning of Australian society and democracy and is essential to informing local communities. Australia is fortunate to have a vibrant, diverse and contentious media sector,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Rules regarding the control of media ownership in Australia support this diverse media sector by limiting the number of media operations that can be controlled by a person in a licence area. Nevertheless, the government recognises there are serious challenges confronting the sector.

“One of these concerns the sustainability of public interest journalism in the light of the bargaining power imbalance between traditional media outlets and global online platforms. This is why the government has introduced the news media and digital platforms mandatory code into the parliament.”

Mr Fletcher said the government was focused on “practical measures to support the strength and diversity of Australian news media.”

Mr Rudd famously launched his campaign for a royal commission into media diversity without telling Labor leader Anthony Albanese. “I thought it would be less complicated for him if he didn’t know,” Mr Rudd said at the time.

On Sunday, Labor communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland reiterated the ALP’s position that a royal commission into media diversity in Australia was unnecessary.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/kevin-rudd-falls-short-in-bid-for-royal-commission-into-media-diversity/news-story/5c7482d49928bfe4831b35827278f047

Aussie paedophile to stay in SA jail while he fights extradition

He’s expected to argue he suffers serious health problems and justice minister hasn’t complied with extradition treaty

Dave Chambers - 21 February 2021

A paedophile who abused eight Cape Town children after fleeing justice in his native Australia has lost the latest round of his battle to avoid extradition.

Anthony Freedendal, 79, asked the Cape Town high court to stay his extradition and free him from Pollsmoor Prison.

He has been in the Tokai prison since being arrested in 2014 for sexual offences involving three boys and five girls from his church during sleepovers at his home.

He wanted to be released while fighting the justice minister’s decision to grant Australia’s extradition request. But judge Derek Wille said on Thursday that the court had no authority to stay the extradition process or to release Freedendal on bail.

The paedophile was jailed for five years in April 2015 after pleading guilty and would have been eligible for parole in August 2016. But three months earlier South Australia police issued an arrest warrant.

They want Freedendal to go on trial in Port Lincoln on 24 sexual abuse charges involving eight children aged between seven and 11. The offences were allegedly committed between 1999 and 2003.

In September 2016, Australia made an extradition request, and a year later a Wynberg magistrate found extradition was justified, referring the matter to the justice minister for a decision.

"[Freedendal’s] attorneys made representations to the [minister] in an effort to persuade [him] not to surrender the [paedophile]," said Wille.

However, justice minister Ronald Lamola decided on July 27 2020 that extradition should go ahead, prompting Freedendal’s high court application.

Wille said the paedophile is expected to argue that the minister has not complied with the SA-Australia extradition treaty, that he suffers from serious health problems and that his detention is “severely infringing upon his human rights and dignity”.

The health issues Freedendal complains of are diabetes, tuberculosis, skin cancer, vascular disorder, fluid on the heart and epilepsy. “In addition, it is advanced that the applicant would not physically be able to ‘cope’ with an air flight back to Australia,” said Wille.

But the minister told the court Freedendal’s medical condition “has been the subject of much exaggeration”, filing affidavits from a doctor and a nurse at Pollsmoor.

“These affidavits, indeed, do reveal that the applicant suffers from a number of medical ailments. Significantly, however, the affidavits also reveal that he is receiving medical treatment for these ailments on an almost daily basis,” said Wille.

“The conclusion is drawn that no reason can be advanced why the ailments [Freedendal] suffers from cannot be the subject of the necessary medical treatment in Australia.

“Further, it is recorded by the medical healthcare workers that most of [his] conditions can be treated … at primary health level and that his chronic conditions are currently well controlled. In addition, [he] is fit enough to travel overseas.

“It is so that prisons are not places of Nirvana, but it is submitted that he is housed in a single cell and was offered the opportunity of sleeping at the prison clinic, which he declined.”

Freedendal was arrested in Port Lincoln, South Australia, in 2011, and granted bail. He was given permission to visit SA – where he and his wife of 51 years have owned three flats in a Sea Point block since 2007 – on condition that he return by November. But he failed to do so.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times-daily/news/2021-02-21-aussie-paedophile-to-stay-in-sa-jail-while-he-fights-extradition/

Former Liberal Party staffer brainwashed girl, 13, into becoming his sex slave with 60,000 vile messages - and even sent her dog tags labelled 'Daddy's little princess'

TITA SMITH - 22 February 2021

A former Liberal Party staffer and councillor has been jailed after brainwashing a teenage girl into becoming his sex slave.

John Kenny, 50, was stood down from his two-year tenure as a Randwick councillor in 2006 after he was arrested for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met on the internet.

Police had uncovered evidence of the relationship and he was jailed over the charges in 2009, spending several months behind bars.

But the prison stint did little to deter Kenny, who worked for Wentworth Federal Liberal Peter King in 2003, from pursuing underage girls.

Kenny faced the NSW District Court this month on fresh child sex abuse charges in relation to a 13-year-old girl he started messaging on anonymous app, Whisper, in 2019, the Daily Telegraph reports.

He was charged with failing to comply with his Child Protection Registry, which required him to report any contact with a child, and for child pornography, after images of the girl in various sexual states were found on his phone.

He was sentenced to eight years behind bars with a non-parole period of five years and seven months.

The court heard the then 49-year-old first asked the teenager intimate questions, before bombarding her with 60,000 vile messages, including pictures of himself masturbating.

He would tell her: 'This is all for you baby', with the girl soon sending explicit messages in return, believing the pair were in a relationship.

Just three months later, Kenny convinced the girl to register herself as his 'slave' on a fetish website, later asking for a video of her reciting a 'slave oath'.

His messages grew more explicit towards the end of the year, with Kenny sending her dog tags bearing her slave number for Christmas, labelled 'Daddy loves his princess'.

Prosecutors said Kenny 'brainwashed' the girl by 'normalising sexual depravity' and argued he had intentions of meeting her.

Kenny was arrested in February 2020 after police discovered he had failed to declare he had spent time in the presence of a child, in breach of his release conditions.

He will be eligible for parole in September 2025.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9283217/Former-Liberal-Party-staffer-John-Kenny-brainwashed-girl-13-sex-slave.html

>>12979230

Big tech bully about to learn it’s not beyond the law

Just like Beijing, Facebook’s decision to make an example of Australia has drawn the world together behind regulating the global digital platform.

Alexander Downer - Feb 21, 2021

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Over 20 years ago I sat down in my ministerial office with the European Union’s commissioner for external relations Leon Brittan to discuss an Australia-EU framework agreement.

Sitting beside Leon was a young fresh-faced Englishman called Nick Clegg who took the notes and participated politely in the conversation. Fast forward to 2010 and that same notetaker became the deputy prime minister of Great Britain.

He was the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party which negotiated the coalition agreement with David Cameron’s Conservatives.

As Australian High Commissioner in London, I had frequent contact with Nick Clegg. I found him charming, urbane and much more sensible and practical than most members of his rather eccentric political party.

What might surprise you is that the very same Nick Clegg is now the vice president for global affairs and communications at Facebook! When he took up the job a little over two years ago he told the BBC that tech companies need to be regulated.

I assume he is now reviewing his talking points. But knowing Nick Clegg as I do, I am also assuming Mark Zuckerberg and others at Facebook simply ignored his advice not to behave as they have done towards Australia.

I just can’t believe somebody who had risen to the dizzy heights of deputy prime minister of a G7 country could possibly be responsible for one of the greatest PR disasters I’ve ever seen by any major company.

Facebook has successfully alienated politicians of all persuasions in Australia, the Australian media and the Australian public by its recent actions and caused widespread alarm and suspicion around the world.

They’ve done exactly what the Communists in Beijing have done. They’ve decided to make an example of a significant country like Australia in the hope that others will not make the same “mistakes”.

All both Facebook and Beijing have done is draw the world closer together in opposition to their arrogant, high-handed hubris.

One of the consequences of Facebook’s corporate stupidity is that Scott Morrison will almost certainly raise this case at the G7 summit in June. And let’s face it, he’ll get plenty of support.

I’m grateful that entrepreneurs have developed brilliant new technologies which make my life so much easier and help me communicate with friends and colleagues from around the world so cheaply.

Negotiations, not threats

But my gratitude doesn’t extend to thinking these companies should be beyond the law. Ultimately they have to serve consumers, and society more broadly, well.

If there are failings, it’s only reasonable governments and parliaments act to rectify those problems. If they are wise, these tech companies will recognise these problems and work with governments to fix them.

If they are not, they will act with high-handed arrogance and end up worse off than they would’ve had they cooperated.

Let’s remember Google Australia. When the federal government made clear that it wanted tech companies to pay for news content, Google said it would leave Australia altogether rather than pay the charge.

That was an absurd threat.

Not only would it be self-defeating to abandon the Australian market but it’s threat only hardened the determination of the Australian government to press ahead with its reforms.

It would’ve been smart to work out how best to deal with the concerns of the Australian government, not to threaten them. Wisely, they have eventually decided to do just that.

Big tech companies have to understand they are going to become more regulated. Regulation will go way beyond charging search companies for news content.

(continued)

>>13023405

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Three reforms on the agenda

There are three reforms that governments will increasingly demand. The first is to ensure they pay tax on the basis of the provenance of their earnings. This is an issue that has been addressed from time to time over the last few years.

Secondly, social media platforms will have to accept they are publishers not just platforms.

The decision by Twitter to cancel President Trump’s account and to take political positions simply proves the point: Twitter is a publisher even if it is exempt from US publishing laws.

The same is true of Facebook, Instagram and so on.

These platforms have become forums for some of the most hateful and disgusting language I have ever seen in print. Even for those of us who are lovers of freedom of speech and hold in contempt the cancel culture so favoured by the political left, the same rules that apply to mainstream media should apply to social media platforms when it comes to defamation.

What is more, it is inviting trouble to allow people to publish their extreme opinions and low-grade personal abuse anonymously.

The social media platforms should abandon the veil of anonymity and ensure people who use social media are responsible for what they write. After all, few of the people who write abusive messages on Twitter or Facebook would ever dare say those things to someone face-to-face!

Thirdly, governments will want to ensure that markets remain competitive.

The major tech companies are in effect monopolies or, at best, oligopolies. They totally dominate their markets and make huge profits which economists would call monopoly rents.

The amount of money people like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos have made is beyond the dreams of almost anybody in history. Zuckerberg is said to be worth over $US90 billion ($114 billion) whereas Bezos’ wealth is said to be nearly $US200 billion (although some of that has gone to his ex wife who I hear is the world’s largest philanthropist).

Now normally you would expect left wing activists to be campaigning against this sort of monopoly capitalism and the super profits these companies and their owners make.

But apparently it’s okay because these entrepreneurs profess to be somewhat left of centre – though I suspect they are only virtue signallers: they apparently want to maximise their profits and minimise their taxes after all.

My expectation is that pressure will build to break up these monopolies just as monopoly capitalism was broken up by anti-trust laws in the US in earlier decades.

All the same arguments about the importance of competition, reducing rents and putting consumer interest ahead of producer interests will re-emerge with gusto.

So my message to the tech companies, and specifically to Melanie Silva of Google Australia and Nick Clegg at Facebook, is to get the very best political advice they can find and start working out how to navigate through these upcoming regulations rather than just try to resist outright the role of government in protecting consumers.

Alexander Downer was Australia's longest serving foreign minister, from 1996 to 2007, and most recently Australian High Commissioner to the UK.

https://www.afr.com/politics/big-tech-bully-about-to-learn-its-not-beyond-the-law-20210218-p573pm