Trump will be 'annihilated' by Biden: Anthony Scaramucci | 9 News Australia
9 News Australia
Published on 29 Oct 2020
Former Trump staffer Anthony Scaramucci says Joe Biden will annihilate Donald Trump at the 2020 US election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HSOjp_jlXM
QAnon QLD: Conspiracy theory turns up in State election
An online conspiracy theory that began life in dark corners of the web has surfaced in Far North campaign grounds. So how has QAnon wormed its way into the Queensland state election?
Pete Martinelli - October 30, 2020'
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A WHISTLE stop campaign tour by a small party against mandatory vaccination was hardly the place to expect the tendrils of a paranoid extreme right group to emerge.
It was during a modest gathering by the Informed Medical Option Party in Fogarty Park that like a silent alarm, they showed themselves.
A placard propped up against party posters declared “No to Bill Gates … No to Fake News … #Wake Up;” each declaration was a trope of QAnon, an adaptable and intensely paranoid theory that has seeped into popular consciousness in Queensland since the pandemic lockdown.
About two dozen supporters cheered IMOP’s Queensland Senate candidate Allona Lane and the candidate for Barron River, Adam Rowe.
During his speech, Mr Rowe referred to standing up against a “New World Order.”
“The awakening has begun,” Mr Rowe said.
He may not have been aware of it, Mr Rowe’s speech was dotted with recycled QAnon-isms.
QAnon, which emerged from the corners of the internet in 2017, has swept through the US like a mass hysteria and is inching its way through Australian electorates among disparate and on face value, opposed political movements.
Ms Lahn spoke after the rally.
In an interview recorded by a party supporter, she distanced herself from QAnon.
“I have never posted QAnon ever … I am for truth, transparency and accountability,” Ms Lahn said.
The party secretary also stated that IMOP “has no affiliation with the QAnon phenomenon.”
Over the last six months and since the crackdown by Facebook and Twitter on openly QAnon accounts, the online conspiracy theory has evolved in Australia.
Often people who post subjects that parallel or related to QAnon are not aware that they are doing so.
Common QAnon themes include a conviction that the world is subject to a shadow deep state, an elite cabal of cannibal paedophiles has engaged in widespread and organised child sex trafficking, unverifiable pseudo science, and that Donald Trump is a Messianic figure who will save the world.
Of the 20 Queensland candidates listed on the IMOP party website in September, 14 had made or shared QAnon related posts on Facebook including the ‘Plandemic’ documentary, videos by QAnon followers and a now famous video of ‘America’s Frontline Doctors’ spruiking hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19.
IMOP currently has 31 candidates for the Queensland election listed on its website.
The ‘doctors’ include Dr Stella Immanuel, who has preached that infertility issues and endometriosis is the fault of women who sleep with demons.
In July, Ms Lahn posted an openly QAnon video on the Allona Fit To Parent Network Facebook page, and the same month IMOP’s candidate for Hill, Tara Garozzo, posted a now removed QAnon cover photo.
Her Twitter Feed remains supportive of QAnon and Donald Trump.
“If that is what is on her page, it is private, that’s her call,” Ms Lahn said.
The senate candidate said she had not hashtagged QAnon her own Facebook accounts.
She said she hoped Donald Trump did well in the upcoming presidential elections.
“We just want a happy, abundant future,” Ms Lahn said.
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QAnon’s bipartisan appeal is its hallmark; that members of a seemingly left-leaning grassroots party would share and post material from the extreme right.
Senior lecturer of Political science at the University of Queensland, Dr Frank Mols said this blurring was not a new phenomenon in popular politics.
“In Europe, populist radical right parties knew quite well that you can gel together the extreme right and the extreme left,” Dr Mols said.
“There is nothing new here, QAnon is very much an example of something much older.”
On the other side of the Australian political spectrum as IMOP stands One Nation.
Queensland Senator Malcolm Roberts, in Cairns to push for an Office of Scientific Integrity, has posted social media rails against the UN, Antifa and Black Lives Matter, and is vocally supportive of President Trump on social media.
In turn he has stirred QAnon sentiment, with followers of the theory posting their beliefs on his Facebook page.
“Senator Roberts is a big supporter of Donald Trump and often shares posts so as to inform his own social media followers of current events in the US,” a spokeswoman for the Senator said.
“Senator Roberts has little to no knowledge of QAnon or their agenda, his workload does not allow him to spend time following US politics that closely.”
Dr Mols said the North American character of QAnon had rubbed off locally and had a telling effect on state and federal electorates.
“We are underestimating the influence of QAnon in Australian politics, watch this space, Dr Mols said.
“The theme is very much anti establishment, it dawns on you that there is a very North American evangelical Christian theme; there is an end of times, a new world order, George Soros and Bill Gates are sharing some dark secret.”
Dr Mols said the paranoia and misinformation inherent in QAnon was not new.
“A lot of this seems new; the actual stories are really, really old,” he said.
“Fascism in the 1920s and 30s used exactly these same tropes; Nazi Germany was quite prolific and the Soviets picked up those same techniques.”
More recently, the troll farms in Russia which accelerated the QAnon’s early spread in the US had their roots in the Cold War.
“These troll factories are inflating Trump support,” Dr Mols said.
“In the last few days Microsoft detected another surge … there is a danger of underestimating what it can do.”
In the leadup to the US federal elections, watchdog Media Matters has identified 92 current or former congressional candidates who have embraced QAnon.
Dr Mols said the pandemic had exposed community vulnerability to QAnon.
“There is a sense of disempowerment, there is a hyper urge to see patterns everywhere, a sense of powerlessness - (QAnon) is a way for people to claw back authority.”
IMOP’s Adam Rowe has declined to be interviewed.
“I fail to see any advantage for our Party engaging with you or your paper as the piece you are writing will very likely be nothing more than a hit piece to discredit our Party in order to further push the Government Pharmaceutical agenda,” Mr Rowe wrote responded to the Cairns Post.
Ms Garozzo has been asked for comment.
https://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/qanon-qld-conspiracy-theory-turns-up-in-state-election/news-story/a6bad4b191710be2dcfc0dd819b5880c
Facebook heeds Holocaust message
Naomi Levin - Oct 30, 2020
After significant global campaigns led by the World Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee and joined by dozens of key Jewish community organisations, including AIJAC, Facebook has agreed to crack down on Holocaust denial on its social media platforms.
In a statement on Oct. 12, Vice President of Content Policy Monika Bickert said Facebook would ban any content that “denies or distorts the Holocaust”. She added that, starting later this year, anyone who searches for terms associated with Holocaust or Holocaust denial will be directed to “credible information off Facebook”.
Facebook’s move against Holocaust denial followed its step earlier this year to prohibit users from using the ubiquitous digital platform to spread antisemitic stereotypes.
Content that accuses Jews of running the world or controlling the media is no longer permitted to be published on Facebook. This ban came after Jewish organisations consulted with Facebook in order to implore the social media giant to share some of the responsibility for growing global antisemitic sentiment.
In response to the Holocaust denial ban, Greg Schneider, president of the Claims Conference, whose mission is to provide a measure of justice to Holocaust survivors, welcomed the changes.
“You cannot deny the atrocities Holocaust survivors suffered; we applaud these first steps. Holocaust survivors bravely came forward to ensure that their voices were heard. We now urge Facebook to take immediate action to implement its new policy,” Schneider said.
However, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jason Greenblatt accused Facebook of acting too late.
“In reality, we believe Facebook is acting now because of external pressure coming from a variety of sources: the Stop Hate for Profit campaign led by ADL and other civil rights organisations; the #NoDenyingIt effort led by the Claims Conference; alarming new polling on Holocaust awareness among young people; regulatory pressure in Europe and America; the recent congressional hearings in Washington DC and a hard-hitting letter from 20 state attorneys general,” Greenblatt said.
There was an obvious shift of emphasis by Facebook in October from unfettered free speech towards a more nuanced approach. This was reflected in the tech giant’s decision to remove content associated with increasingly popular conspiracy theory QAnon.
YouTube, owned by Google, announced it too would tighten the rules on QAnon-related content, which led to the removal of some popular, but dangerous, videos. However, although YouTube stopped short of an outright ban, analysts have noted that the majority of the most popular QAnon Facebook pages and groups became inaccessible quite quickly. Experts have warned, however, that QAnon is already morphing to evade capture, and some users are spilling over into less popular – and less regulated – alternative social media platforms.
QAnon – which originated in the US and is based on the crazy notion that Democrats and Hollywood elites are paedophilic child traffickers and that Donald Trump is working to #savethechildren – has spread beyond American shores and capitalised on the pandemic to pick up thousands of followers around the world.
QAnon has been associated with antisemitism, with researchers recently finding dozens of graphically violent death threats from QAnon supporters towards Jewish financier and philanthropist George Soros, many references to Rothschild banking conspiracies, and connections being drawn between the supposed child trafficking ring and the antisemitic canard of blood libel.
American researcher Gregory Stanton put it most succinctly: “QAnon’s conspiracy theory is a rebranded version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
With social media the new printing press, tech giants stepping up to the plate to remove hateful content seems central to restraining the spread of racist extremism – and the violence it can spawn.
https://aijac.org.au/australia-israel-review/facebook-heeds-holocaust-message/
How a fake persona laid the groundwork for a Hunter Biden conspiracy deluge
A 64-page document that was later disseminated by close associates of President Donald Trump appears to be the work of a fake "intelligence firm."
By Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny - Oct. 30, 2020
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One month before a purported leak of files from Hunter Biden's laptop, a fake "intelligence" document about him went viral on the right-wing internet, asserting an elaborate conspiracy theory involving former Vice President Joe Biden's son and business in China.
The document, a 64-page composition that was later disseminated by close associates of President Donald Trump, appears to be the work of a fake "intelligence firm" called Typhoon Investigations, according to researchers and public documents.
The author of the document, a self-identified Swiss security analyst named Martin Aspen, is a fabricated identity, according to analysis by disinformation researchers, who also concluded that Aspen's profile picture was created with an artificial intelligence face generator. The intelligence firm that Aspen lists as his previous employer said that no one by that name had ever worked for the company and that no one by that name lives in Switzerland, according to public records and social media searches.
One of the original posters of the document, a blogger and professor named Christopher Balding, took credit for writing parts of it when asked about it and said Aspen does not exist.
Despite the document's questionable authorship and anonymous sourcing, its claims that Hunter Biden has a problematic connection to the Communist Party of China have been used by people who oppose the Chinese government, as well as by far-right influencers, to baselessly accuse candidate Joe Biden of being beholden to the Chinese government.
The document and its spread have become part of a wider effort to smear Hunter Biden and weaken Joe Biden's presidential campaign, which moved from the fringes of the internet to more mainstream conservative news outlets.
An unverified leak of documents — including salacious pictures from what President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and a Delaware Apple repair store owner claimed to be Hunter Biden's hard drive — were published in the New York Post on Oct. 14. Associates close to Trump, including Giuliani and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, have promised more blockbuster leaks and secrets, which have yet to materialize.
The fake intelligence document, however, preceded the leak by months, and it helped lay the groundwork among right-wing media for what would become a failed October surprise: a viral pile-on of conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden.
Behind Typhoon
The Typhoon Investigations document was first posted in September to Intelligence Quarterly, an anonymous blog "dedicated to collecting important daily news," according to its "about" section. Historical domain records show the blog was registered to Albert Marko, a self-described political and economic adviser, who also lists the blog on his Twitter bio. When asked about the provenance of the document, Marko said he received it from Balding.
Balding, previously an associate professor at Fulbright University Vietnam who studied the Chinese economy and financial markets, posted the document on his blog on Oct. 22, seven weeks after it was initially published.
"I had really not wanted to do this but roughly 2 months ago I was handed a report about Biden activities in China the press has simply refused to cover. I want to strongly emphasize I did not write the report but I know who did," Balding said in an email.
Balding later claimed to NBC News that he wrote some of the document.
"I authored small parts of the report and was involved in report preparation and review. As a researcher, and due to the understandable worry about foreign disinformation, it was paramount that the report document activity from acknowledged and public sources," Balding said. "Great care was taken to document, cite, and retain information so that acknowledged facts could be placed in the public domain."
Balding said Aspen is "an entirely fictional individual created solely for the purpose of releasing this report." Balding did not name the document's main author, saying "the primary author of the report, due to personal and professional risks, requires anonymity."
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Balding claimed that the document was commissioned by Apple Daily, a Hong Kong-based tabloid that is frequently critical of the Chinese government. A spokesperson for Apple Daily confirmed it had worked with Balding on the document.
In addition to posting the document to his blog, Balding also promoted it in far-right media, appearing on Bannon's podcast and on "China Unscripted," a podcast produced by The Epoch Times, a pro-Trump media outlet opposed to the Chinese government.
Balding, an American who taught economics at China's Peking University HSBC Business School until 2018, is often critical of the Chinese government. He made news this year as a source uncovering a global bulk data collection operation by the Chinese company Shenzhen Zhenhua Data Technology.
Blog posts highlighting the most salacious parts of the document, including articles from the Intelligence Quarterly Blog, Revolver News and Balding's blog, received 70,000 public interactions — which includes reactions, comments and shares — across Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, according to the social media analysis tool BuzzSumo.
Balding's blog was the primary driver of virality in conservative and conspiracy communities. The report itself was shared across Facebook and Twitter around 5,000 times, according to BuzzSumo, and more than 80 sites linked back to the blog, which was shared more than 25,000 times on Facebook and Twitter. Hyperpartisan and conspiracy sites like ZeroHedge and WorldNetDaily led the pack.
After the promise of a big reveal one day earlier, the document was also posted on the extremist forum 8kun by Q, the anonymous account behind the QAnon conspiracy theory movement.
On Twitter, the document was pushed by influencers in the QAnon community, as well as by Dinggang Wang, an anti-Chinese government YouTube personality who works for Guo Wengui, a billionaire who fled China amid accusations of bribery and other crimes. Republican Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, tweeted the document to his 2.3 million followers.
'Immediately suspicious'
The document gained attention from disinformation researchers in part because of the image of the document's author.
Elise Thomas, a researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, first spotted telltale signs of a fake photo when she went searching for Typhoon Investigations' Aspen on the web. Thomas found a Twitter account for Aspen named @TyphoonInvesti1, which had posted a link to Typhoon's WordPress page that contained the document on Aug. 15.
The profile picture for Aspen immediately showed signs of being a computer-generated image that can be created by computers and even some websites. Aspen's ears were asymmetrical, for one, but his left eye is what gave away that he did not really exist. Aspen's left iris juts out and appears to form a second pupil, a somewhat frequent error with computer-generated faces.
"The most obvious tell was the irregular shape of the irises," Thomas said. "The profile picture looks pretty convincing in the Twitter thumbnail, but when I popped it up into full view I was immediately suspicious."
Thomas then consulted with Ben Nimmo, director of investigations at the analytics company Graphika, who noted the other telltale sign of a computer-generated face.
"One of the things he and his team have figured out is that if you layer a lot of these images over the top of one another, the eyes align," Thomas said. "He did that with this image, and the eyes matched up."
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Other parts of Aspen's identity were clearly stolen from disparate parts of the web. Aspen's Facebook page was created in August, and it featured only two pictures, both from his "new house," which were tracked back to reviews on the travel website Tripadvisor. The logo for Typhoon Investigations was lifted from the Taiwan Fact-Checking Center, a digital literacy nonprofit.
Aspen claimed on his LinkedIn profile to have worked for a company called Swiss Security Solutions from 2016 to 2020. Swiss Security Solutions denied having ever employed anyone named Aspen, and it said it had found fake accounts for two other people pretending to have worked for the company.
"Martin Aspen was never a freelancer or worker of the Swiss Security Solutions. We do not know this person. According to our Due Diligence Software, this person does not exist in Switzerland," Swiss Security Solutions Chairman Bojan Ilic said, adding that the company has reported the profile to LinkedIn.
Fake faces
Computer-generated faces have become a staple of large-scale disinformation operations in the run-up to the election. In December, Facebook took down a network of fake accounts using computer-created faces tied to The Epoch Times. Facebook removed over 600 accounts tied to the operation, which pushed pro-Trump messages and even served as moderators of some Facebook groups. Stephen Gregory, publisher of the U.S. editions of The Epoch Times, has denied any connection to the accounts.
Last month, Facebook removed another batch of computer-generated profiles originating in China and the Philippines, some of which made anti-Trump posts.
Renee DiResta, a researcher at the Stanford Internet Observatory, said computer-created identities are becoming common for disinformation campaigns, in part because they are easy to create.
DiResta, who helped examine a ring of AI-generated faces tied to the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA last month, said computer-generated profile pictures can be used to "build an army of fake people" to artificially support a cause or to make "disinformation operations harder to discover."
"One of the things that investigators look at to understand the narrative that is spreading is whether the accounts are authentic, whether they're real," DiResta said. "If they were to use a stock photo, it confirms something dishonest is likely happening. By using an AI-generated face, you're guaranteeing you won't find that person elsewhere on the internet."
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/how-fake-persona-laid-groundwork-hunter-biden-conspiracy-deluge-n1245387
https://twitter.com/TyphoonInvesti1
https://twitter.com/BaldingsWorld
—
Q Post #4936
Oct 22 2020 11:11:25 (EST)
https://www.baldingsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/KVBJHB.pdf
Q
https://qanon.pub/#4936
President of Kevin Rudd’s International Peace Institute quits over Jeffrey Epstein loan
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The president of the International Peace Institute has resigned after the New York think tank – chaired by former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd – discovered he had borrowed money from US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Terje Rod-Larsen apologised to the board of the United Nations-affiliated institute for his “failed judgment” after it was revealed he personally secured a $US130,000 loan and a string of donations from the convicted pedophile.
“Epstein’s crimes were hideous,” the think tank said in a statement. “The notion that IPI would be in any way engaged with such an odious character is repugnant to the institution’s core values.”
Mr Rod-Larsen’s shock departure comes after Mr Rudd convened an extraordinary board meeting overnight to deal “swiftly” with the fallout from the growing scandal that has engulfed the prestigious 50-year-old think tank.
Current vice-president Adam Lupel has been appointed acting president and will oversee an “immediate” audit of the institute’s finances in an effort to ensure that every donation from foundations set up by Epstein had been identified.
“Epstein’s foundations collectively donated more than $30 million to dozens of charitable and teaching institutions prior to his death,” the think tank said. “Although many institutions have decided to keep some or all of these donations, the IPI Board takes the strict view that every dollar should be re-donated.”
The IPI said the board were “unaware” of Mr Rod-Larsen’s decision to secure donations and a personal loan from Epstein in 2013.
It also denied allegations that the IPI misused the organisation’s funds to pay off Epstein in a bid to shore-up future financial support from the pedophile financier.
“IPI’s financial officers have confirmed to the Board that no payment has ever been made by IPI to Epstein, despite some press speculation to the contrary.”
On Thursday, Mr Rudd said the IPI acted swiftly to deal with links to Epstein, even though he had known of the connection for more than a year.
Years after Epstein paid think tank, Rudd says it acted fast
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says the New York think tank he chairs has acted swiftly to deal with links to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, even though he has known of the connection for more than a year.
On Wednesday, Mr Rudd finally answered detailed questions about Epstein and his donations of $US650,000 to the International Peace Institute, 12 months after first being queried by journalists at Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.
Last October, Mr Rudd told the journalists he was unaware of any connection between Epstein — who committed suicide in jail in New York in August last year — and the IPI.
This week he said it was at his initiative that the IPI introduced a new gift-acceptance policy last December and committed to donate an equivalent sum to programs to support victims of human trafficking and sexual violence.
Mr Rudd told The Australian he would continue to act in relation to a $US130,000 private loan of Epstein gave to IPI president Terje Rod-Larsen in 2013.
‘’Any assertion that Mr Rudd has not previously commented on these matters is untrue,’’ Mr Rudd’s office said in a statement.
But journalists Gard Oterholm and Tore Gjerstad told The Australian it has taken a year for him to meaningfully respond: “We received a statement from a spokesperson at Mr Rudd’s office in November 2019, stating that he knew nothing of links between IPI and Epstein and directing questions to IPI. We have sent several emails to his office since, after we published our first story in the middle of November about Epstein donations to IPI. We did not hear back until Wednesday.’’
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Mr Rudd was a board member of the Bahraini-backed IPI from 2014 and has been its chairman since 2018. Epstein made donations to IPI through his foundation Gratitude America in 2016 and 2017, including its largest donation of 2017, $US375,000.
Epstein was a sex abuser looking to whitewash his 2008 conviction and 13-month sentence with a slew of donations to various charities and moving among the highest levels of society and influence.
He knew IPI’s president and Norwegian diplomat Rod-Larsen, and the two had more than 20 documented meetings over the years. There is evidence that other monies flowing in and out of IPI years earlier had Epstein’s fingerprints over them too.
DN reported that in 2014 the IPI had set up an advisory board for the Mongolian government comprising six influential persons, including Mr Rudd, as well as former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, and former Harvard president and US Treasury secretary Larry Summers to advise about regional and global peace and security.
Mr Rudd said he was involved in a call and provided advice to the Mongolian president on the future of his country’s mining industry. Both Mr Barak and Mr Summers have long-standing, close financial links to Epstein. All were to be paid $US100,000.
Mr Rudd says he didn’t know at the time that Epstein was part of the Mongolian teleconference.
The year before, in 2013, there was a flashy IPI event attended by Mr Rod-Larsen, Mr Barak, Epstein and dignitaries such as former US secretary of state John Kerry. Mr Rudd was there too but can’t remember meeting Epstein.
By early 2016, Mr Rod-Larsen chased up outstanding payments and discovered Mr Rudd had not been paid the $US100,000 for the Mongolia work.
This was when Mr Rudd was pushing hard for the UN top job.
Mr Rod-Larsen documented that he spoke to Mr Rudd, who told him the IPI could keep the $US100,000 he was owed. Mr Rod-Larsen authorised the money to be forwarded to Epstein. “For forms (sic) sake we should send it to Jeff, however I am sure we will get it back many fold!’’, he wrote.
Mr Rudd, a friend of Rod-Larsen’s for several years, said this week that when he was told last November of the Epstein financial links to IPI he ‘’was blindsided’’.
IPI said it had not paid any remuneration to Epstein, nor did it pay him the $US100,000 that had been waived by Mr Rudd. Mr Rudd said he had not received any remuneration from the IPI.
IPI, with its New York offices opposite the UN, touts itself as an independent, international, not-for-profit think tank dedicated to managing risk and building resilience to promote peace, security, and sustainable development.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/years-after-epstein-paid-think-tank-kevin-rudd-says-it-acted-fast/news-story/9fd55d484b50870c7d89d825bf8f0177
https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20201029_IPIBoard_Final.pdf
HIV+ pedophile Jadd William Brooker beats legal deadline to try to get lighter sentence
A pedophile who allegedly wanted to infect children with HIV will be eligible for a greater sentencing discount, after he entered early guilty pleas to some of the charges against him.
Jadd William Brooker, 38, had his matter listed before the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday to beat changes to sentencing laws that take effect from next week.
Through his lawyer, he pleaded guilty to seven of the 44 charges against him.
Those seven offences are counts of possessing child exploitation material, which took place in 2019 and 2020.
Some of the charges are aggravated, meaning they involved children under the age of 14.
Brooker will remain eligible for a 30 per cent discount on those offences, instead of the reduced 15 per cent that he would have been allowed under the new regime.
The court has previously heard Brooker had ongoing, illegal sexual relationships with two teenage boys — one of whom has since committed suicide.
It has also been alleged he pursued 19 other children, aged between 13 and 19, for sex over social media apps, and had a “desire to infect” both children and adults with HIV.
Prosecutors said a search of Brooker’s computer revealed footage of him having unprotected sex with a child, who had to undergo testing for HIV.
They said he can be connected to 40 other alleged criminals as part of a global pedophile ring.
After his arrest, Brooker was granted bail in the magistrates court but the decision was overturned after prosecutors lodged a Supreme Court review.
In revoking bail, Justice Mark Livesey said the offending was “appalling”.
Brooker, who is being held at Mount Gambier prison, will return before the court in April next year.
He was one of several defendants who on Friday rushed to take advantage of the current discount scheme.
Under the new system, the maximum discount for an early guilty plea will drop from 40 to 25 per cent.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/hiv-pedophile-jadd-william-brooker-beats-legal-deadline-to-try-to-get-lighter-sentence/news-story/047c160d472d2f0557e7809d4fabde4a
'I don't give a f**k what you think about me': Vegan cafe brands itself a Trump-supporting 'safe zone' ahead of the US election - with the owner labelled a 'racist' by online trolls
Mark Da Costa is not your average inner-city vegan.
The Sydney cafe owner has branded his plant-based eatery Hale and Hearty a 'Trump safe zone' ahead of Wednesday's US election, sparking outrage in the Sydney community of Waterloo.
Mr Da Costa has faced a barrage of hate-fuelled comments in recent days labeling him a racist and a bigot.
In a video posted on the cafe's Facebook page, Mr Da Costa added fuel to the online fire by saying 'if you want Sydney's best pancakes with a side of racism come and see us'.
The saga began when a university student posted screenshots from Mr Da Costa's private social media accounts to a popular online group for vegans.
The posts show Mr Da Costa's support for US President Donald Trump and controversial Australian One Nation politician Pauline Hanson, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Since then, Mr Da Costa says the 'left wing fake vegan community' have called for his business to be boycotted.
Social media users have also flooded review websites to leave negative ratings and comments.
'You may have a few Trump supporters onboard in the social chat, but when most of them aren't even vegan, who's going to bring in the revenue, now that you've alienated your main customer base?' One person posted to their Facebook page.
'In a few years, you'll be out of business and be used as a case study. You're not even American you utter muppet.'
Another said: 'This guy is a nut case. Why would any intelligent individual eat or drink at his establishment? The place will be closed within six months.'
Others loyal customers pleaded with Mr Da Costa to change tack.
'Seriously focus on your business. Your business is suffering. Stop with all this political crap. Focus on what's positive and exciting… You're only doing yourself and your business a disservice by posting things like this,' one person wrote.
'I was going to come to your restaurant and eat there but I'll be taking my business elsewhere.'
Mr Da Costa said the outraged social media users leaving comments understand him to be something he is not.
'We just want to spread love. We have created a venue for you and for vegans and if you are not going to turn up because of what you have read, we are okay with that,' he said.
'Everyone that has hated on Hale and Hearty and myself… calling me a paedophile for being a Trump supporter and supporting Pauline Hanson, calling me a racist, a bigot and a homophobe, I don't give a f**k what you think about me,' he said in an online video.
'Here is a message to you p**s weak vegans, Hale and Hearty is going nowhere.'
But although Trump supporters and their MAGA hats are more than welcome at the cafe, Mr Da Costa says so is everyone else.
'Our staff are amazing and all from different cultures… It is a Trump safe zone, as it is an LGBT safe zone, gay zone, everyone, have fun,' he said.
For the moment the move appears to be paying off with Wednesday night trade this week coming in at a record high for the business.
'That was largely in part due to the Trump supporters that turned out to support me,' he said.
Ahead of next week's election, polls indicate Democratic candidate Joe Biden has a commanding lead over Donald Trump and is the favourite to take office.
Mr Da Costa and the Hale and Hearty cafe have been contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8895033/Vegan-cafe-branded-Trump-supporting-safe-zone-ahead-election.html
Iran moves detained academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert back to Tehran prison
Moore-Gilbert, who has Australian and British citizenship, had been held in Qarchak, widely regarded as the worst female prison in Iran
The detained British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been moved back to Tehran’s Evin prison, sources with knowledge of her case have confirmed to the Guardian.
Moore-Gilbert is understood to be back in the secretive ward 2A of Tehran’s largest prison, where she had spent much of the past two years under the control of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
A Cambridge-educated Middle East scholar, Moore-Gilbert was convicted in a secret trial and given a 10-year sentence for espionage after being arrested in September 2018 in Tehran, where she had attended a conference.
She was suddenly removed from Qarchak women’s prison last Saturday, and for days her whereabouts were unknown to family and friends.
Other political prisoners have been moved back to 2A as a prelude to their release, sources have told the Guardian, but there is no firm evidence this is the case with Moore-Gilbert.
Her move could be related to conditions at Qarchak prison or other concerns about her detention, sources said.
Last week Moore-Gilbert met the head of Iran’s Prisons Organisation, Mohammad Mehdi Haj-Mohammadi, and the secretary of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights, Ali Bagheri-Kani, and reportedly raised issues about her incarceration.
After the meeting, reported by Iranian judiciary’s official news agency Mizan, Haj Mohammadi told prison staff they should act to fix shortcomings at Qarchak.
“We understand that a prisoner is a criminal before entering the prison, but after entering the prison, we consider them a needy, capable person deserving of correction and assistance.”
Isolated in the desert outside Tehran, Qarchak is widely regarded as the worst women’s prison in Iran, and known as a site of extrajudicial killings, torture and other rights violations.
But Moore-Gilbert was in good condition in the days before she was moved from her ward in Qarchak, according to activists, including one who shared a cell with her last week.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian human rights lawyer and political prisoner, was a close friend of Moore-Gilbert’s when they shared a cell in Evin. Last week Sotoudeh was moved to Qarchak where she was reunited with Moore-Gilbert, Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, told the Guardian on Thursday.
They shared a cell together for about five days, he said. Sotoudeh could say little on their monitored calls, but told him: “She was in a good and comfortable condition in that ward compared with other wards of Qarchak prison and Evin which she had previously been. But unfortunately she spent only a few days in that ward … and then moved.
“They were talking in English,” Khandan said. “[Kylie] was in a good condition in those final days and had someone around to talk to.”
The eyewitness account confirms reports by the Human Rights Activists News Agency that Moore-Gilbert was moved on Saturday with all her possessions.
Iranian activists including Khandan have spoken to contacts inside the public wards of Evin prison, who say Moore-Gilbert has not appeared there.
He said if Moore-Gilbert was in ward 2A, controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, she would have no contact with the outside world.
“Inmates there are either in a single-person cell or two in one cell, and have no phone,” Khandan said. “Prisoners in this ward have no such freedom which they have in other wards. It has very tough restrictions.”
No evidence of Moore-Gilbert’s alleged crimes has ever been publicly presented. She has denied the allegations against her, and the Australian government rejects them as baseless and politically motivated.
Late on Friday, a DFAT spokesman told the Guardian that Australia’s ambassador in Tehran, Lyndall Sachs, had been advised that Moore-Gilbert has been moved to Evin prison.
“Our ambassador last visited Dr Moore-Gilbert at Qarchak prison on 19 October. The ambassador has requested that the regular access to Dr Moore-Gilbert continue at Evin prison.”
Free Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a group of friends, colleagues and supporters of the jailed academic said: “After a stressful six days, we’re relieved that the Australian government has finally managed to locate our friend Kylie Moore-Gilbert in Evin prison. But make no mistake: this is not a victory, nor does it suggest that progress is being made in Kylie’s case.”
The group said the Australian government should concede it had failed Moore-Gilbert.
(continued)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/30/iran-moves-detained-academic-kylie-moore-gilbert-back-to-tehran-prison
Adviser to three Liberal PMs is the nation's new top spy
A close adviser to three Liberal leaders will be vaulted to the top of the nation's spy agencies in a cabinet decision that installs one of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's trusted advisers in the crucial role.
Former national security adviser Andrew Shearer will be the next director-general of the Office of National Intelligence in a key appointment to oversee the nation's wider security community.
A former diplomat and intelligence official, Mr Shearer was the national security adviser to prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott in a long career before he joined Mr Morrison as cabinet secretary.
Labor has taken issue with the appointment because of that background, describing Mr Shearer as a "partisan operative".
"Labor has indicated to the Prime Minister that it does not have confidence in his choice to head the Office of National Intelligence," a Labor spokeswoman said.
Labor pointed to public reports several years ago that said Mr Abbott considered sending Australian troops to protect the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine and sending troops on a "unilateral mission" to fight Islamic State in Iraq, questioning Mr Shearer's part in those plans.
"He is not an appropriate choice and Mr Morrison should reconsider in the national interest," the Labor spokeswoman said. "This position requires public confidence in independent, contested and apolitical assessments of our security."
One of Mr Shearer's defenders said he talked Mr Abbott out of the Ukraine deployment, which did not go ahead.
Mr Morrison's decision installs a security chief with strong connections in the United States as well as a background in building stronger ties with Japan and other Asian neighbours over the past two decades.
The move clears the way for Chris Browne, currently the chief of staff to Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, to be named the next cabinet secretary.
The Prime Minister's office confirmed the appointment to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and issued a brief statement on Thursday night saying Mr Shearer would start as director-general in December with a five-year term.
"Mr Shearer has served Australia and its national interests domestically and overseas through a long and distinguished career in national security and intelligence," Mr Morrison said.
A government spokesman rejected the Labor criticism of Mr Shearer.
"There are none more qualified or more capable of dealing with the current global strategic environment," he said.
"That is an accepted position within government, the intelligence community and Labor figures who understand the world we live in and the threats to Australia."
Mr Shearer will replace Nick Warner, the first director-general of ONI, which was created in December 2017 as the peak intelligence assessment and co-ordination agency.
Mr Morrison lauded Mr Warner two weeks ago for serving Australia over four decades in defence and intelligence.
"He's a great Australian, who has done an outstanding job, spanning some four decades in areas of national security, foreign policy and so many other areas," the Prime Minister said.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull set up the ONI in a restructure to create a stronger peak group to co-ordinate the work of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Australian Signals Directorate and other agencies across several departments.
At the time, Mr Turnbull said the job of the director-general was to "lead Australia's intelligence community" and co-ordinate strategy.
Mr Shearer worked in intelligence and foreign affairs before joining Mr Howard's office and becoming national security adviser on issues including the moves in 2007 to establish a "quadrilateral" dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the US.
While the Rudd government froze the quadrilateral effort amid criticism from China at the concept, the dialogue resumed a decade later.
Mr Shearer also served in the Australian embassy in Washington DC and as director of studies at the Lowy Institute in Sydney before rejoining the government when Mr Abbott became prime minister.
He left Australia after Mr Abbott lost power and became senior adviser on Asia Pacific security at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/adviser-to-three-liberal-pms-is-the-nation-s-new-top-spy-20201029-p569v8.html
ASIO pushes for greater questioning powers
Australia's domestic spy agency has pleaded its case to be able to question children as young as 14 and people suspected of foreign influence.
The federal government wants to give the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation greater powers with fewer safeguards.
Legislation before parliament would expand the circumstances in which ASIO could apply for a compulsory questioning warrant.
It would also remove the "double lock" authorisation process, which requires warrants to be signed off by the attorney-general and an independent judge.
The attorney-general would be allowed to approve a warrant without the involvement of a judge.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said the security environment had rapidly changed.
He said younger people were becoming involved in extremist activity and the threats posed by espionage and foreign interference had reached a scale not previously seen in Australia.
Mr Burgess said ASIO would be quick to embrace the expanded questioning powers.
"I would use it this year. I would have used it already in espionage and foreign interference," he told a parliamentary inquiry on Friday.
"And just this week, in considering a warrant to go to the attorney-general, I would have been minded to look at using it for counter-terrorism."
The legislation would allow ASIO to seek to question minors aged 14 to 18 with a lawyer present.
Currently, the spy agency is unable to question anyone aged under 16.
The bill would also broaden the types of cases that could trigger questioning warrants, allowing them to be used in relation to espionage, politically motivated violence and acts of foreign interference, rather than just in relation to terrorism offences.
Labor committee members peppered the ASIO boss with questions about leaving warrant authorisations to the attorney-general alone, removing a key layer of oversight.
Mr Burgess said the attorney-general already made independent decisions on a wide range of intrusive powers.
He said the changes would also speed up the process, saving crucial time during critical situations.
The existing compulsory questioning rules were originally introduced after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
They have only been used 16 times, most recently in 2010.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6992113/asio-pushes-for-greater-questioning-powers/
Q Post #4941
Oct 30 2020 00:55:52 (EST) NEW
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https://qanon.pub/#4941
—
OPEN LETTER
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DONALD J. TRUMP
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Solemnity of Christ the King
Mister President,
Allow me to address you at this hour in which the fate of the whole world is being threatened by a global conspiracy against God and humanity. I write to you as an Archbishop, as a Successor of the Apostles, as the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America. I am writing to you in the midst of the silence of both civil and religious authorities. May you accept these words of mine as the “voice of one crying out in the desert” (Jn 1:23).
As I said when I wrote my letter to you in June, this historical moment sees the forces of Evil aligned in a battle without quarter against the forces of Good; forces of Evil that appear powerful and organized as they oppose the children of Light, who are disoriented and disorganized, abandoned by their temporal and spiritual leaders.
Daily we sense the attacks multiplying of those who want to destroy the very basis of society: the natural family, respect for human life, love of country, freedom of education and business. We see heads of nations and religious leaders pandering to this suicide of Western culture and its Christian soul, while the fundamental rights of citizens and believers are denied in the name of a health emergency that is revealing itself more and more fully as instrumental to the establishment of an inhuman faceless tyranny.
A global plan called the Great Reset is underway. Its architect is a global élite that wants to subdue all of humanity, imposing coercive measures with which to drastically limit individual freedoms and those of entire populations. In several nations this plan has already been approved and financed; in others it is still in an early stage. Behind the world leaders who are the accomplices and executors of this infernal project, there are unscrupulous characters who finance the World Economic Forum and Event 201, promoting their agenda.
The purpose of the Great Reset is the imposition of a health dictatorship aiming at the imposition of liberticidal measures, hidden behind tempting promises of ensuring a universal income and cancelling individual debt. The price of these concessions from the International Monetary Fund will be the renunciation of private property and adherence to a program of vaccination against Covid-19 and Covid-21 promoted by Bill Gates with the collaboration of the main pharmaceutical groups. Beyond the enormous economic interests that motivate the promoters of the Great Reset, the imposition of the vaccination will be accompanied by the requirement of a health passport and a digital ID, with the consequent contact tracing of the population of the entire world. Those who do not accept these measures will be confined in detention camps or placed under house arrest, and all their assets will be confiscated.
Mr. President, I imagine that you are already aware that in some countries the Great Reset will be activated between the end of this year and the first trimester of 2021. For this purpose, further lockdowns are planned, which will be officially justified by a supposed second and third wave of the pandemic. You are well aware of the means that have been deployed to sow panic and legitimize draconian limitations on individual liberties, artfully provoking a world-wide economic crisis. In the intentions of its architects, this crisis will serve to make the recourse of nations to the Great Reset irreversible, thereby giving the final blow to a world whose existence and very memory they want to completely cancel. But this world, Mr. President, includes people, affections, institutions, faith, culture, traditions, and ideals: people and values that do not act like automatons, who do not obey like machines, because they are endowed with a soul and a heart, because they are tied together by a spiritual bond that draws its strength from above, from that God that our adversaries want to challenge, just as Lucifer did at the beginning of time with his “non serviam.”
Many people – as we well know – are annoyed by this reference to the clash between Good and Evil and the use of “apocalyptic” overtones, which according to them exasperates spirits and sharpens divisions. It is not surprising that the enemy is angered at being discovered just when he believes he has reached the citadel he seeks to conquer undisturbed. What is surprising, however, is that there is no one to sound the alarm. The reaction of the deep state to those who denounce its plan is broken and incoherent, but understandable. Just when the complicity of the mainstream media had succeeded in making the transition to the New World Order almost painless and unnoticed, all sorts of deceptions, scandals and crimes are coming to light.
Until a few months ago, it was easy to smear as “conspiracy theorists” those who denounced these terrible plans, which we now see being carried out down to the smallest detail. No one, up until last February, would ever have thought that, in all of our cities, citizens would be arrested simply for wanting to walk down the street, to breathe, to want to keep their business open, to
want to go to church on Sunday. Yet now it is happening all over the world, even in picture-postcard Italy that many Americans consider to be a small enchanted country, with its ancient monuments, its churches, its charming cities, its characteristic villages. And while the politicians are barricaded inside their palaces promulgating decrees like Persian satraps, businesses are failing, shops are closing, and people are prevented from living, traveling, working, and praying. The disastrous psychological consequences of this operation are already being seen, beginning with the suicides of desperate entrepreneurs and of our children, segregated from friends and classmates, told to follow their classes while sitting at home alone in front of a computer.
In Sacred Scripture, Saint Paul speaks to us of “the one who opposes” the manifestation of the mystery of iniquity, the kathèkon (2 Thess 2:6-7). In the religious sphere, this obstacle to evil is the Church, and in particular the papacy; in the political sphere, it is those who impede the establishment of the New World Order.
As is now clear, the one who occupies the Chair of Peter has betrayed his role from the very beginning in order to defend and promote the globalist ideology, supporting the agenda of the deep church, who chose him from its ranks.
Mr. President, you have clearly stated that you want to defend the nation – One Nation under God, fundamental liberties, and non-negotiable values that are denied and fought against today. It is you, dear President, who are “the one who opposes” the deep state, the final assault of the children of darkness.
For this reason, it is necessary that all people of good will be persuaded of the epochal importance of the imminent election: not so much for the sake of this or that political program, but because of the general inspiration of your action that best embodies – in this particular historical context – that world, our world, which they want to cancel by means of the lockdown. Your adversary is also our adversary: it is the Enemy of the human race, He who is “a murderer from the beginning” (Jn 8:44).
Around you are gathered with faith and courage those who consider you the final garrison against the world dictatorship. The alternative is to vote for a person who is manipulated by the deep state, gravely compromised by scandals and corruption, who will do to the United States what Jorge Mario Bergoglio is doing to the Church, Prime Minister Conte to Italy, President Macron to France, Prime Minster Sanchez to Spain, and so on. The blackmailable nature of Joe Biden – just like that of the prelates of the Vatican’s “magic circle” – will expose him to be used unscrupulously, allowing illegitimate powers to interfere in both domestic politics as well as international balances. It is obvious that those who manipulate him already have someone worse than him ready, with whom they will replace him as soon as the opportunity arises.
And yet, in the midst of this bleak picture, this apparently unstoppable advance of the “Invisible Enemy,” an element of hope emerges. The adversary does not know how to love, and it does not understand that it is not enough to assure a universal income or to cancel mortgages in order to subjugate the masses and convince them to be branded like cattle. This people, which for too long has endured the abuses of a hateful and tyrannical power, is rediscovering that it has a soul; it is understanding that it is not willing to exchange its freedom for the homogenization and cancellation of its identity; it is beginning to understand the value of familial and social ties, of the bonds of faith and culture that unite honest people. This Great Reset is destined to fail because those who planned it do not understand that there are still people ready to take to the streets to defend their rights, to protect their loved ones, to give a future to their children and grandchildren. The leveling inhumanity of the globalist project will shatter miserably in the face of the firm and courageous opposition of the children of Light. The enemy has Satan on its side, He who only knows how to hate. But on our side, we have the Lord Almighty, the God of armies arrayed for battle, and the Most Holy Virgin, who will crush the head of the ancient Serpent. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).
Mr. President, you are well aware that, in this crucial hour, the United States of America is considered the defending wall against which the war declared by the advocates of globalism has been unleashed. Place your trust in the Lord, strengthened by the words of the Apostle Paul: “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). To be an instrument of Divine Providence is a great responsibility, for which you will certainly receive all the graces of state that you need, since they are being fervently implored for you by the many people who support you with their prayers.
With this heavenly hope and the assurance of my prayer for you, for the First Lady, and for your collaborators, with all my heart I send you my blessing.
God bless the United States of America!
Carlo Maria Viganò
''Tit. Archbishop of Ulpiana''
''Former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America''
Shocking Perth 'sex ring' link to state care children sparks independent review into government department
The state's failure to protect a sexually abused teen girl after placing her in a residential care home with a teenage boy who she claims ended up sexually assaulting her has sparked an independent investigation into WA's Department for Child Protection.
Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk conceded to having knowledge that department children were "implicated" in Operation Timing Belt before WA Police went public in August with allegations that more than a dozen sexual assault offenders groomed their 140 teenage victims on social media.
The courageous story of 17-year-old Macie*, exclusively reported by WAtoday, detailed how some of the males accused of being part of the alleged paedophile ring met their victims when they were housed together in Department of Communities care homes.
“They didn’t actually groom the girls on social media,” Macie said. “They groomed them by living with them in group homes.”
In an interview with WAtoday this week, Ms McGurk said she had called for an independent review by the Commissioner for Children and Young People into WA’s child protection system policies and practices, and questioned their appropriateness.
"Sadly, it was not that unusual for children in care to be caught up in police investigations," Ms McGurk said.
"I have asked for an independent review of our practices and also that particular case (Macie’s) to make sure whether our policies and practices are right and, if they are right, were they adhered to, and what needs to change."
Ms McGurk said the review would not be limited to Macie’s case but also a "couple of case studies that have come to light through Operation Timing Belt".
In Macie’s case, the Department of Communities placed a 15-year-old teenage boy, who had knowingly been accused of sexual assault offences, in a home with Macie, who was 13 at the time.
The department was also aware Macie had suffered sexual abuse and rape before the boy was placed with her in the same residential care home in Perth’s east.
Macie said a year later she was sexually abused by him. Her alleged abuser was due to appear via video link in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Department staff followed their casework practice manual and implemented safety plans for each of the teenagers. In one email exchange discussing Macie’s safety plan and her abuser’s pending placement, a department psychologist said they "sadly" hoped Macie "manages the risk for us".
Ms McGurk said she wished the department could "always remove risk and always properly manage it", but that wasn’t always the case.
"It is very very difficult and I think the public – while they worry about this, I worry about it – these young people have come from very difficult upbringings and so have got very challenging behaviours and are difficult to manage," she said.
"The risk assessment, by its nature, means a decision is made that the risk or the safety plan that can be put in place will mean both the young person who has harmful sexual behaviours, or other young people in the home, or staff, that their safety won’t be compromised.
"That’s the nature of managing the risk and putting safety plans in place. A safety plan isn’t a set-and-forget arrangement, a safety plan isn’t simply put in place and then left; it might be revised over time as new information comes to light or the dynamics, in this case, in a group home may change.
"If the risk can’t be managed, that is the risk is too high for other children or staff, then that placement won’t go ahead."
Commissioner for Children and Young People Colin Pettit told WAtoday he recently raised concerns with Ms McGurk about placement decisions for young people with harmful sexual behaviours living in residential care, following two discussion papers in as many years with several recommendations.
"Based on discussions with the minister, it was agreed I will undertake an independent review of Department of Communities' policies, practices and services regarding the placement of children with harmful sexual behaviours in residential care," he said.
"To inform this review, I intend to speak to young people with experience of residential care. Timelines for the independent review are currently being developed."
''*Names have been changed to protect the identities of those involved.''
(continued)
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/shocking-perth-sex-ring-link-to-state-care-children-sparks-independent-review-into-government-department-20201027-p5691x.html
Peter Dutton right on abuse, says US body for exploited children
The US organisation that refers online child sexual abuse material to global investigators is warning of an impending “massive” drop in the detection of abuse as Facebook and other tech giants push ahead with end-to-end encryption.
National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children vice-president John Shehan said that, as tech companies increased encryption in response to privacy and security concerns, the abuse of children would be undetected.
The NCMEC’s CyberTipline received 16.9 million reports of online child exploitation last year, and used information about upload locations to forward reports to the world’s law-enforcement agencies.
The organisation estimates more than half its CyberTipline reports will vanish with end-to-end encryption, a figure that law-enforcement sources say is highly conservative.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton issued a broadside against Facebook last week for moving to expand end-to-end encryption by default across all its platforms, including Messenger and Instagram.
Facebook was facilitating child sexual abuse at “incomprehensible” levels, and would be starving investigators of referrals that had previously allowed them to remove children from harm, Mr Dutton said.
Mr Shehan said that without new technical developments, such as the ability to detect signals and indicators of abuse material and grooming, “Australia’s Home Affairs Minister is correct about the referrals”.
“There will be a massive decrease in the number of CyberTipline reports received from electronic service providers, such as Facebook and others,” Mr Shehan said.
“With no technological exception to end-to-end encryption, the dehumanising abuse of children will continue undetected. Their abusers and the people who trade the images and videos of this abuse will be protected.”
The vast majority of reports to the NCMEC last year — 15.8 million or 93 per cent — were referred by Facebook. With end-to-end encryption, which prevents any third party from viewing communications, those report numbers will plummet.
One experienced online child abuse investigator told The Weekend Australian that Facebook was “turning off the tap and we don’t know why”.
Mr Shehan said Facebook “leads the way” in identifying and reporting abuse. He did “not want to see a degradation”.
“It’s because of that massive investment by Facebook that NCMEC is most concerned about what will be lost without new tools to detect the activity in an (end-to-end encryption) environment,” Mr Shehan said.
More than 33,600 reports of online child sex abuse were forwarded to Australian police by the NCMEC last year, resulting in a stream of arrests.
Facebook argues end-to-end encryption is the best defence against scammers, hackers and foreign interference and that creating a “back door” for law enforcement would weaken the system. “Facebook leads the industry in combating child abuse online and we’ll continue to do so,” a spokeswoman said.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/peter-dutton-right-on-abuse-says-us-body-for-exploited-children/news-story/4cebb22a9d472fb93b816dd997fba26f
Washington Insider Anthony Scaramucci On Trump’s Chances Of Another Term As U.S. President
The Project
Published on 30 Oct 2020
Donald Trump and Joe Biden are crisscrossing the USA, as the country heads into the last weekend of the election campaign. While the numbers don’t look good for Trump, nobody in Biden’s camp is popping champagne corks just yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K43pSojW2v4
Disability Royal Commission needs more time to explore ‘endemic’ abuse
The chair of the disability royal commission says the complicated inquiry needs more time to explore ‘endemic’ failings.
1/2
Almost 2.4 million people with a disability in Australia aged 18-64 said they had experienced violence in their lifetime in 2016, a damning report tabled by the Disability Royal Commission has revealed.
That sheer scale of neglect, violence, abuse and exploitation of people with a disability in Australia meant the inquiry tasked with investigating the widespread failings needed more time, its chair Ronald Sackville QC said on Friday.
Mr Sackville announced he would ask the federal government for an extension until September 2023, saying the terms of reference for the inquiry were broader than any other held this century.
Data from 2016 showed two in three people with a disability aged 18-64 had experienced violence, while people with a disability are twice as likely to experience harm than the general population.
He agreed with a reporter who asked whether the scope of the inquiry had been “underestimated”.
“There are no quick fixes for the endemic and deep-rooted issues we have identified and explored and we will continue to explore,” Mr Sackville said, adding the inquiry was a “marathon not a sprint”.
“We are looking at violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in all settings. In education, the justice system … the health system.
“The terms of reference in the beginning were extremely broad.”
The extension sought would expand the length of the inquiry to four years and five months.
Mr Sackville’s request came as the commission handed over its interim report to Governor-General David Hurley on Friday, outlining the first 15 months of the commission’s work.
The commission has received more than 1600 submissions and held weeks of public hearings, where tragic stories of the inhumane treatment of people with a disability across all ages have been aired.
The report found people with a disability faced daily barriers of segregation and exclusion, negative attitudes towards disability, a lack of choice and control, a lack of access to services, general oversights and complaints, plus a lack of data and funding.
They were restrained physically and chemically in setting such as schools, group homes and detention centres, it found.
“What is happening to people (with disability) is not okay and the stories need to be told’,” Mr Sackville said in the report’s first page.
Commissioner and disability advocate Rhonda Galbally thanked those who had so far come forward and credited the families and organisations fighting for the rights of people with a disability.
“Their message is very clear – it is completely unacceptable that people with a disability in Australia are subjected to violence, neglect and exploitation,” she said.
(continued)
2/2
Ms Galbally relayed testimonies given to the inquiry by family members of people with a disability that laid bare the shocking treatment of some vulnerable Australians.
One man spoke of how his brother, who lived in a group home, suddenly began to lash out and stopped eating.
After this continued for two months, it was finally discovered the man had been silently suffering from a broken hip and was in severe pain.
The man could “get no answers” about how his brother was injured from either the home or the Ombudsman, as no report had been filed on his injury.
One mother told the inquiry how a dentist said her disabled son “had no mental capacity” to care that he was losing his teeth, and that the mother was only concerned because it affected her.
Another witness said how they were forced to take medication not related to their treatment plan as a “tranquilising sedative”.
Some of the 28 witnesses living in group homes were spat on, assaulted and robbed by co-tenants and even the people who were supposed to be looking after them.
Commissioner Andrea Mason said on Friday that 38 per cent of Indigenous Australians had a disability, which is significantly higher than the general population.
The fact many First Nations people already experience violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation makes them less likely to access mainstream health services, Ms Mason said, leading to them facing “double discrimination” due to their disabilities.
Ms Mason said many young Indigenous people entering the justice system have a disability than is only recognised once they are are incarcerated.
This issue is set to be probed at an upcoming public hearing.
The royal commission was established in April 2019 in response to widespread community concerns about the mistreatment of people with a disability.
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/disability-royal-commission-needs-more-time-to-explore-endemic-abuse/news-story/fd5bfe127b10542806e2a2a82cd883aa
—
Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability
Interim report
The Interim Report was published on 30 October 2020. It sets out what the Royal Commission has done in its first 15 months, the cut-off point being 31 July 2020. The report says people with disability experience attitudinal, environmental, institutional and communication barriers to achieving inclusion within Australian society. It shows that a great deal needs to be done to ensure that the human rights of people with disability are respected and that Australia becomes a truly inclusive society.
https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2020-10/Interim%20Report.pdf
https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/interim-report
https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/
Children feature in COVID-19 and QAnon conspiracies, but these just most recent examples of a 'very old, powerful fear'
Ariel Bogle and Jane Lee - 1 November 2020
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Conspiracy theories that centre on fears about child abuse and removal are being shared in Australia, as part of a broader trend of misinformation related to children.
In addition to the gamut of #baking shots, pet pics and lockdown selfies, coronavirus has seen an upswing in the sharing of conspiracy theories on social media.
Recently many of these have focused on children, with the ABC's COVID-19 misinformation tracking project being sent screenshots of posts focused on the theme of children's removal from their families.
They make a range of false claims including that children will be removed if their parents refuse to give them a COVID-19 vaccine, or that children will be taken from their families if they have symptoms of coronavirus.
These posts are part of a broader trend, and long history, of conspiracy theories related to children.
Political themes in misinformation
The most well-known is the mega-conspiracy theory QAnon, which centres on the belief that global political elites are engaged in satanic child abuse, and that US President Donald Trump is engaged in a secret war against this cabal.
Its central idea — that President Trump is saving children from paedophiles — is a way of saying that he is engaged in a battle against the ultimate evil, said Anna Merlan, journalist and author of a book about American conspiracy theorists.
"It is, at its heart, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory. The most heroic thing he could be doing is saving children," said Ms Merlan.
The graphic allegations of sexual abuse that tipify QAnon also serve to characterise the movement's political enemies — Democrats, for instance — as unfathomably evil and deserving of the most extreme punishment, even execution, according to Dr Michael Salter, an expert in child sexual exploitation and gendered violence at the University of New South Wales.
QAnon, Pizzagate and #MeToo
The connection between alleged child abuse and right-wing conspiratorial thinking gained mainstream attention after Pizzagate.
Back in 2016, a North Carolina man Edgar Welch drove to the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, DC with a gun and fired it in the building. He'd read online that children were being abused by Democrats in the venue's basement and wanted to investigate.
The Pizzagate conspiracy theory, linking high-ranking Democratic Party officials with restaurants and an alleged paedophile ring, that motivated Welch has been debunked, but it is widely credited to be the predecessor of QAnon.
Dr Salter suggests QAnon and Pizzagate were able to gain popularity online more recently because they followed the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and prosecutions of celebrities like Jeffrey Epstein for sexual offences against children, which raised greater public awareness of the complexities of sexual violence and power.
"What MeToo uncovered is that it is very difficult to bring claims of sexual violence against powerful wealthy figures," Dr Salter said.
When it comes to child sexual abuse, media outlets often struggled to report on credible allegations because they lacked the high level of evidence needed to publish them, Dr Salter said.
This left "fertile territory" for conspiracy theories to grow.
And platforms like Facebook and YouTube have also allowed conspiratorial communities to find each other and fuse together in an unprecedented way.
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History of child-related conspiracies
But this isn't an entirely new phenomenon. Allegations of child abuse have featured in conspiracy theories for centuries.
"The idea that elites kidnap and abuse children is a very old, powerful fear," Ms Merlan said.
Blood libel, the anti-Semitic superstition that claims Jews kill Christian children as part of religious ritual, emerged in medieval Europe and has returned repeatedly to the public consciousness, particularly during moments of social unrest.
James Kline, professor of psychology at Northern Marianas College, said that child abuse was among a handful of taboos, including blood-drinking and cannibalism, that have historically been viewed as both anti-human and sacred.
Pizzagate and QAnon are both part of a conspiracy archetype that involves such taboos, evil groups of powerful elites and a struggle for political power.
"We want to say 'That's not part of us, it's got to be them, not us'. But it remains a fascination," he said.
"These types of taboos generate this sense of fascination because they are things we're not supposed to think about (or) associate with. So we project them upon other people."
Professor Kline likened Pizzagate to a scandal in the US in the early 1980s, when child abuse allegations involving Satanic rituals against a family that ran a children's day care centre in California were widely reported in the media and later discredited.
He said that while no one was ultimately convicted over the scandal, similar accusations later spread to other pre-schools in the United States.
Philip Jenkins, professor of history at Baylor University, agreed, saying that more recent child-related conspiracies in the US appeared to be "recycled" from false claims made in the 1980s.
"I can say, 'well they're going to show up (again) in times of stress and a crisis of values' but the problem is I can apply a term like that to almost any time," Professor Jenkins said.
"The biggest thing that's new here, and is not going anywhere, is the internet… nothing dies on the internet."
Who are the children?
While adherents of QAnon claim they are motivated by child safety, their depiction of perpetrators who are strangers bears little relationship with the real-world problems of child abuse and child pornography rings.
Dr Salter said that the primary traffickers of prepubescent children were their parents, while post-pubescent children were also targeted in institutions, particularly out-of-home care.
"It's not just conspiracy theorists who ignore the evidence of child exploitation, very broadly it's been an overlooked issue for a long time," he said.
It's important to note that QAnon and Pizzagate did not originate from reports or investigations of child abuse by children or adult survivors themselves.
"The child really just (features) as sort of an empty symbol or an empty signifier that can be manipulated within the conspiracy theory as a kind of vessel for a whole set of inchoate concerns and anxieties and projections," Dr Salter said.
Dr Salter said that QAnon followers did not seem to be particularly concerned with the Jeffrey Epstein case, for example, which contained legitimate evidence of child exploitation against wealthy, powerful people.
"And that's because QAnon is largely a right-wing conspiracy theory and the Epstein case is politically explosive for all sides of the aisle," he said.
Damaging child wellbeing
But misinformation related to children is likely to have real impacts on actual survivors of child abuse.
As well as flooding the #SaveTheChildren hashtag, QAnon adherents have reportedly clogged trafficking hotlines in the United States with false claims, meaning genuine cases can't get through.
Dr Salter recalled that several child abuse survivors had espoused QAnon material to him in recent years, with many of the themes involved resonating with their own experiences of not being listened to or believed.
He was concerned that such material could derail their own recovery.
"A crucial part of trauma therapy is about empowering people to make their own decisions about what's real and what's not," he said.
"If you've got an external force about QAnon that's deliberately blurring the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction then naturally that's going to introduce complexities for some clients who've been exposed to this material.
"In the trauma field, we're going to be unpicking the damage that QAnon has done for some survivors… for years to come."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-11-01/children-covid-19-pandemic-misinformation-conspiracies-qanon/12669096
'No matter who wins, the country is still going to be divided': Americans in Australia gear up for US Election
Americans living in Australia are gearing up for next week's US Election, watching the vote count thousands of kilometres from home.
Democrats candidate, Joe Biden is challenging US President, Donald Trump, a Republican, for the White House, amid the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says almost 87,000 Americans live in the country.
While voting is not compulsory in the US, Americans living here have already cast votes by post or online, depending on which state they're from.
While election day is on Tuesday, November 3 US time, results won't filter though until late morning on Wednesday, AEDT.
Marketing worker Laura Meyers, who lives in Sydney, is the NSW chairwoman of Democrats Abroad Australia.
Ms Meyers said record early turnouts across the US have also been reflected in expats here, with more than double the amount of people joining her organisation than signed up before the 2016 poll.
"I think a lot of people voting from overseas think it doesn't matter - it absolutely does," she said.
"I think we'd be the 11th most populous state if we were a state."
Ms Meyers, from Virginia, said she's feeling "cautiously optimistic" about a Biden win- but is also "preparing for the worst."
"It's been a rough four years for a lot of us but it's been really inspiring to see everybody get engaged and get involved," she said.
Fellow Democrat Abroad Australia board member Stephanie Zuniga-Maher, 40, has lived in Australia for 18 years but hails from Washington, DC.
And while Ms Zuniga-Maher has voted for Biden, whose running mate is Kamala Harris, she's not really that keen on him.
"I'm really voting for Kamala, and of course against Trump," she said.
"I think he (Biden) will be a very steadying force as a president.
"Would I have picked him out of all the candidates that were in the primary? No, because I think he's old."
Mrs Zuniga-Maher, who works for an American software firm in Sydney, said she won't be watching the results in public - the NSW Democrats will hold an event at a CBD pub - after her disappointment over Hillary Clinton failing to win four years ago.
"How any sane, rational normal person would look around at what's happened in the US in the past four years, and think, 'I want another four years of this', I don't understand," she said.
"No matter who wins, the country is still going to be divided."
However, Evan Manning, 31, from Pennsylvania, who has been in Sydney for almost four years, and makes a podcast about US politics, wants to see the current President triumph.
The account manager admits while he can have a "harsh demeanor", he thinks Trump's lack of political background actually makes him the best leader.
"I think from his first four years he's shown he gets things done," he said.
Another Trump voter, mother-of-five Tara Moore, is from California but now runs a fitness studio in Sydney.
The 37-year-old said she's voting for the policies, rather than the person.
"It's not about Trump, it goes down to what affects my kids, my dad, my family, my paycheck," she said.
"That's the biggest thing Trumps stands for, having your rights and freedoms protected.
"I feel like he's going to get the economy really back and going and treat coronavirus with the respect it deserves, but also without causing any further damage."
Ms Moore believes he'll be re-elected, which for her, she says, will be a relief.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/us-election-trump-biden-americans-in-australia-voting-trump-biden/f45d6dd7-7535-4d10-9671-12e7e157b578
OPINION: Why we should suspect China’s secret police are at work on our streets
Clive Hamilton - November 1, 2020
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The US Department of Justice has just unsealed an indictment that tells a chilling story of surveillance, harassment and coercion carried out by China’s state security agencies on the streets of US cities.
Several operatives working for China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) targeted two Chinese citizens living in New Jersey in an attempt to force them to return to China to face charges of corruption. The married couple, “John Doe” and “Jane Doe”, were pursued as part of Chairman Xi Jinping’s “Operation Fox Hunt”, which has been used to repatriate dissidents and Xi’s political rivals as well as officials suspected of corruption.
The story is highly relevant to Australia, as Chinese security forces are operating illegally on our streets. Several reports indicate that Chinese police have made covert and unlawful visits to pressure “fugitives” to return to China, threatening harm to families.
In one case, two Chinese policemen arrived in Melbourne in 2015 to coerce a tour bus driver, also a Falun Gong practitioner, to return to China to face corruption charges. The man said the charges were fabricated by a former boss he had offended.
According to the FBI, the MPS began by coercing John Doe’s ailing father to fly to the US to pressure his son to return to China and accept his punishment. His task was to convey to his son “the harm that would befall his family” should he refuse.
The operation was allegedly overseen by a Chinese state security official Hu Ji and co-ordinated by a 33-year-old PRC citizen and US permanent resident, Zhu Feng.
Zhu Feng, who was himself pressured to co-operate with MPS, would later confess everything.
The MPS hired a New Jersey private investigator, Michael McMahon, who allegedly carried out surveillance on the pair, taking photographs of them and providing information on Jane Doe’s social security number, bank accounts and international travel.
Along with seven Chinese citizens, McMahon has been charged with conspiring to act as an illegal agent for a foreign government, as well as stalking offences.
When John Doe was first reunited with his father in a public place, McMahon photographed them. He then followed them back to John Doe’s home, where the father would stay for a few days. Throughout the operation, various state security agents came and went from the US, claiming to be tourists or visiting family but in fact meeting with the various conspirators in New Jersey restaurants.
When John Doe’s father could not persuade his son to return to China, the MPS began stalking John Doe’s daughter in California. Another private investigator was hired to find her address and other personal information, and a campaign of online harassment was launched, with an anonymous Facebook user sending derogatory messages about the family to the daughter’s Facebook friends.
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Back in New Jersey, Fox Hunt moved to the next stage, with direct threats made to John and Jane Doe. According to the FBI, “two Asian males” drove to their house, banged on their door and attempted to get in. They left a note in Chinese stuck to the front door that read: “If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and child will be all right. That’s the end of the matter!”
In 2019, a relative of Jane Doe living in the US received a package from China, apparently sent by Jane’s sister. The sister had been imprisoned to pressure John Doe to return. The package contained a video showing John’s elderly father sitting by a desk on which had been placed a copy of Xi Jinping’s book The Governance of China. An audio message from the sister talked of how unwell their parents are and how they cannot sleep because John will not return to “admit” his crimes.
Commenting on the affidavit, China expert Bill Bishop wrote: “It almost seems like the PRC security services have a network of people in the US they can call on to do their bidding”.
The same can be said for Australia, with several disturbing incidents indicating PRC security agencies are active here.
Chinese security agents helped co-ordinate the at-times violent rally by Chinese students when the Olympic Torch passed through Canberra in 2008. After a tip-off from US authorities, Australia had denied visas to some of the Chinese intelligence officers making there way here after a melee in San Francisco.
More recently, it’s likely that Chinese security agents co-ordinated the violent attack on pro-democracy students on the campus of the University of Queensland last year. Although it doesn’t name China, ASIO’s latest report implies that Chinese authorities are threatening harm to members of the Chinese diaspora in Australia, including their families in China.
Announcing the charges in Washington, FBI Director Christopher Wray said: “Today’s charges reflect yet another example of China’s ongoing and widespread lawless behaviour – and our refusal to tolerate it.”
Chinese-Australians live in constant fear of the same lawless behaviour, and we aren’t doing enough to protect them.
Clive Hamilton is professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University in Canberra and co-author of Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party Is Reshaping the World.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/why-we-should-suspect-china-s-secret-police-are-at-work-on-our-streets-20201030-p56a17.html
Rudd backs FriendlyJordies as serious ‘broadcaster’ despite controversial acts
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says controversial Labor YouTuber FriendlyJordies should be treated as a serious journalist and has defended working with the satirist, as NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay appeared to distance herself from him after a week of stunts and off-colour remarks.
The performer, whose real name is Jordan Shanks, is becoming an active force in state politics on account of his 500,000 YouTube subscribers, 50,000 Twitter followers and engagement from high-profile Labor figures. His podcast has also notched up two million downloads.
But Shanks' rise also poses questions for the political and journalistic establishment grappling with his unorthodox antics and explicit partisanship.
Last week one of Shanks' associates was escorted from a Gladys Berejiklian press conference after heckling the Premier and calling her "Ms Maguire", in reference to her former lover Daryl Maguire, while Shanks directed a homophobic tweet at two male NSW ministers.
It follows Shanks' remarks on his podcast a fortnight ago about the persecuted Uighur Muslim minority in China's Xinjiang region, an estimated one million of whom are detained in camps.
"The reason the Uighur population is detained is because they're causing trouble. That is actually the reason," Shanks said, claiming they had been radicalised by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mr Rudd has twice been interviewed by Shanks in videos watched more than 650,000 times on YouTube, including one as recently as last month, and has contributed to at least one other FriendlyJordies video. His wife Therese Rein also tweeted in support of Shanks in response to a September story in The Sun-Herald.
A Sinophile and Mandarin speaker, Mr Rudd did not respond directly to Shanks' remarks about the Uighurs, or other concerns about Shanks, when asked. But the former prime minister said he considered Shanks a "broadcaster" and he supported media diversity. "That means speaking to lots of different media from across the ideological spectrum, even if I sometimes profoundly disagree with them," he said.
Mr Rudd - who made headlines last week when it was revealed deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein had donated $650,000 to his International Peace Institute think tank - said Shanks approached him directly for the interviews and the Labor Party was not involved.
Mr Rudd questioned why Prime Minister Scott Morrison was not asked to explain his regular appearances alongside "extremists on the far-right fringe of Sky News" and "conservative provocateurs" such as Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt.
He also noted Australia's political system "allows wide scope for free speech", but defamation and vilification laws applied equally to all, and people were free to make complaints under those laws.
Ms McKay, a former journalist, has also appeared on FriendlyJordies' channel. A spokeswoman said she would assess any future interview request if and when it was made, but appeared to distance Ms McKay from the comedian.
"The Opposition Leader has done one interview with Jordan Shanks and has not spoken to him since," she said. "What Mr Shanks and his team does is a matter for them."
Shanks did not answer questions about his activities or whether he had received payment from Labor, but asked why he was of interest to The Sun-Herald.
Mr Rudd, who is calling for a royal commission into Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, also said: "I doubt that FriendlyJordies is anywhere near as influential to shaping our democracy than the American billionaire who abuses his monopoly to push his own narrow interests, advance far-right myths and maintain a culture of fear in our public life that chills free speech."
https://www.smh.com.au/national/friendlyjordies-a-serious-broadcaster-and-part-of-diverse-media-rudd-20201030-p56a6f.html
They once peddled misinformation for Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon. Now they're speaking out
By Echo Hui, Hagar Cohen - 1 November 2020
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In late September, a US-based Chinese YouTuber called Lude delivered a cryptic message to his 200,000 subscribers.
He said there were "three hard drives" that contained explosive materials about Hunter Biden, the son of presidential candidate Joe Biden.
It was alleged that the hard drives held evidence of Hunter Biden's secret deals in China and Ukraine, as well as sex tapes with graphic scenes of sexual abuse.
"A fellow fighter of our whistleblowers' movement got it," Lude said in his show.
Lude is part of a group of online influencers led by the controversial Chinese billionaire, Guo Wengui (also known as Miles Kwok) and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
Their "whistleblowers' movement", rebranded this year by the duo as The New Federal State of China, soon became the centre of Hunter Biden's laptop scandal.
The unverified videos and photos they posted allegedly showing Hunter Biden "engaging in sex and drug acts" have been watched by tens of millions of viewers, although most mainstream US media have not reported the allegations because the source and substance of the material could not be verified.
Former core members told the ABC the group is "very, very dangerous to any country", and the misinformation it recklessly spreads will seriously harm democracy.
"[Guo's media] is spreading misinformation. I think it's trying to interrupt the United State elections," said John Pan, a former core member of the group, speaking out for the first time.
Bannon and the billionaire
Guo Wengui is a fugitive from China who fled to the US in 2014 claiming political persecution.
He made his billions in property development in China, and in America runs media streaming platforms online.
Together with Steve Bannon, Mr Guo launched an aggressive anti-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) movement called the New Federal State of China in June this year, with branches in countries like the US, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
Through a plethora of media channels, spot rallies, flyer and email spam campaigns, the movement has been instrumental in pushing out Mr Guo's conspiracy theories and misinformation.
However, his controversial tactics and role in spruiking a number of dangerous conspiracy theories has made critics question his real motives.
Mr Guo's company GTV Media Group is reportedly being investigated by the FBI and the Securities Exchange Commission.
His media partner, Mr Bannon, was arrested in August by US federal agents on fraud charges while on Mr Guo's yacht.
Yet, Mr Guo and his supporters have also maintained the appearance of a united front.
They called it "the whistleblowers' movement", a media campaign with an aim to "take down the CCP" by any means necessary.
Dr Anne Kruger, the director of Asia Pacific at the fact check organisation FirstDraft, studied the group's operations and said followers flood the internet with questionable material.
"Their main tactic is really to try to appeal to people that might have a gripe against the Chinese Communist Party and to push conspiracy theories," Dr Kruger said
While their content usually only circulates around Mr Guo's own media networks, there have been some instances where it crossed over to mainstream media.
One of the group's most successful campaigns popularised discredited claims by a virologist who said COVID-19 was deliberately manufactured in a Chinese lab.
More recently, FirstDraft's researchers found that Mr Guo's supporter's post about the Hunter Biden scandal from late September is the first traceable mention of the now-viral rumours.
In the following weeks, Guo's websites have been flooding the internet with the Hunter Biden rumours.
"The timing of this just weeks out from the election at a crucial time in the US [election] campaign, shows that this has been planned and there's been some coordination here to do maximum damage against the Biden campaign," Dr Kruger said.
"I guess it's not surprising when you see that they are very much anti-CCP and pro-Trump because that suits their political purposes."
Within hours of the release of the sex tapes allegedly of Hunter Biden, Twitter and Facebook suspended more than a dozen social media accounts controlled by Mr Guo's group.
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A calculated political move
A former key insider from Guo's movement agrees that YouTuber Lude's release of incriminating but unverified material from Hunter Biden's laptop was a calculated political move.
"Lude is the number one propogandist for Guo Wengui. His channel is today supported by Guo Wengui," said John Pan, who was amongst Mr Guo's inner circle until December 2019.
Mr Pan is a Brisbane-based Chinese migrant-turned-dissident who came to Australia in 2010.
In recent years, he started his own YouTube channel, where he hosts political debates about Chinese politics and human rights issues.
As a human rights advocate, Mr Pan was immediately fascinated by Guo Wengui's outlandish claims about officials' corruption in China.
"I think this person may be saying something important. I should support him," he said he thought at the time.
Mr Pan was referred to Mr Guo via a friend, and quickly became a core member of his inner circle, a group of Chinese dissidents and social media influencers.
This group, which started out with 18 members, discussed how to orchestrate viral media campaigns against the CCP.
"We're talking about how we would promote the information that Guo was leaking out, how we spread that information to the world. No matter [if it was] true or false," said Mr Pan.
Mr Pan says Mr Guo would usually share with the group "new information" about corruption in China and ask them to spread it across their networks.
Another one of Guo's favourite topics according to Pan, was outing Chinese individuals as "CCP spies".
For example, Mr Pan says Mr Guo instructed the group to out a Chinese woman and US resident as a CCP agent. There was no credible evidence to support Mr Guo's allegations.
"Guo will say, 'Everyone should criticise her on your own channel.' That was misinformation."
Leaked audio from the core group's meetings also shows Mr Guo once encouraged his key followers during the Hong Kong democracy protests in 2019 to spread a rumour that martial law was imminent in the territory.
"The martial law command will impose massive restrictions on the movement of people in and out of Hong Kong … they will also clean up US and European institutions based in Hong Kong and foreigners with US and British passports," Mr Guo shared from a document he claimed to receive from a "reliable informant within the CCP".
As Mr Pan's videos' popularity skyrocketed, with some posts attracting tens of thousands of views, he also impressed the NY-based billionaire and Mr Bannon.
In a private message to Mr Pan, Mr Guo filmed Mr Bannon praising him and his show, and expressed his wish to make him a hero.
"I look forward to being on your show very shortly," Mr Bannon said to Mr Pan.
"I would love to host him when he comes, bring him to Washington and have him give a speech and make sure there is a big audience … you guys are really the heroes," Mr Bannon turned and told Mr Guo.
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'Go, bomb the CCP bandit'
After witnessing the movement's dangerous tactics, Mr Pan became uncomfortable with its direction.
In late 2019, he decided to branch out and create his own charity to fight for human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang province.
A few days after having a conversation about it with Mr Guo, Mr Guo told his 1.4 million followers in his online broadcasts that Mr Pan was a "CCP spy", and urged them to attack him.
"He started calling me a fraud and a scam. A Chinese government spy. I should deserve to die," Mr Pan said.
"I can't sleep. I'm quite shocked. I had a panic attack."
On October 8 this year, a group of the online harassers picketed outside his house in Brisbane, waving flags and banners of the New Federal State of China and chanting slogans: "Kick the CCP agent out of Australia."
This incident frightened Mr Pan, who said his "whole body" was shaking.
The protesters have openly broadcast on social media they will return.
As recently as October 9, Mr Guo's organiser in Sydney published a call-out to Mr Guo's Australian followers to travel to Brisbane where Mr Pan lives, once the Queensland border restrictions are lifted, and "carry out the campaign to eliminate the traitor to the end".
Mr Pan's name is on a Guo hit list with about 10 other Chinese dissidents around the world.
Mr Guo recently launched on his livestream an "eliminate the traitors campaign", calling on his supporters to harm those on the list.
One of the dissidents has already been beaten up on the streets of LA.
Another, Texas-based pastor and human rights activist Bob Fu, told the ABC that he's had the bomb squad in Midland Texas searching his house for hidden explosives.
Mr Fu said he had no idea why he was being targeted by Mr Guo's group.
"What on Earth is this about? I have never done anything with him for him. We had no financial dispute. Nothing," Mr Fu said.
Mr Guo has made at least three livestream videos encouraging his followers to "eliminate Pastor Fu".
Fearing for his and his family's safety, Mr Fu rang local police and wrote to the FBI, saying:
Urgent memo (October 21, 2020): Bomb threat at Guo's Media, mobilizing his followers to come to Midland TX to besiege my home. Then from around 5:57am images of special kind of dynamite were posted. The images were posted with the text message urging 'GO, BOMB CCP BANDIT.'
After he contacted police, the bomb squad searched his house and the riot squad escorted Mr Fu's daughter from school.
Mr Fu and his family were sent to protective police custody. They are still residing in an undisclosed location.
"They publicly called for the … elimination of me and others on his hit list. I'm certainly worried for my family members and myself for our life," he said.
'I think he is a liar'
New York-based Chinese dissident and former land-grab protest leader Zhuang Liehong is another previous close affiliate of Mr Guo who has decided to speak out.
Mr Zhuang had appeared at the UN and US congresses to express his concerns about China's human rights records.
Mr Zhuang was introduced to Mr Guo in 2017 and worked with Mr Guo on a daily basis for about three months in 2019.
"He asked us to spread his bombshell revelations, most of them were unverifiable, but due to my disgust of the CCP, I chose to trust him," Mr Zhuang said.
Mr Zhuang said Mr Guo kept boasting about his "close contacts" in the White House.
"He always said he was meeting important people, to make us feel we are part of something big, and like we are influencing American politics," Mr Zhuang said.
"But I was there with him, I knew he was just looking at his phone, not meeting any politicians.
"I think he is a liar."
Mr Zhuang said he now regrets helping Mr Guo.
"I have seen who he truly is. He won't do anything that can truly help democracy," he said.
Both Mr Pan and Mr Zhuang are suing Mr Guo for defamation in US courts.
Mr Guo and his Australian-based representatives did not respond to ABC's request for comment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-01/behind-the-scenes-of-the-guo-and-bannon-led-propaganda-machine/12830824
一大群被雇佣的人，号称新中国联邦来昆士兰州灭鸡行动。 其中包括两个保安，一个摄像师，还有一些本地人根本只知道闫丽梦是男是女的群众演员。
Oz Media
Published on 23 Oct 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP8M5sB4ziA
—
(Google translation)
"A large group of hired people, known as the New China Federation came to Queensland to kill chickens. Among them are two security guards, a cameraman, and some locals who only know that Yan Limeng is a male or female extra."
FBI fugitive Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes secretly extradited from Adelaide to the US
An American fugitive has been secretly extradited from Adelaide to the US to face trial over the 2017 hit-run death of a father-of-four.
An American businesswoman wanted by the FBI over a cyclist’s hit-run death in the US has been secretly extradited from Adelaide.
Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes, 34, is accused of fleeing suburban Los Angeles more than three ago after allegedly mowing down father-of-four Agustin Rodriguez Jr, 46.
The Advertiser revealed how the FBI tracked her down to a North Adelaide apartment in April 2018 when she was arrested and taken into custody.
In a secret operation this week, the US Marshals service and the Australian Federal Police flew her back to Los Angeles to face trial.
She left Adelaide on Thursday before arriving at LA’s Van Nuys airport, in the city’s northwest, at 7.15am Thursday morning local time, where Whittier Police Department detectives formally arrested her.
In a statement, a force spokesman said she was transferred to the custody of the United States Marshals in Australia.
“She was flown to the United States and landed this morning at the Van Nuys airport,” he said.
“Upon arrival, Reyes was transferred to the custody of the Whittier Police Department. Reyes will be charged with felony hit and run and felony vehicular manslaughter.”
She is due in court at a later date. She has previously denied the allegations.
Comment is being sought by Australian authorities.
Chan Reyes, a Filipino-born accountant who claims to be a fraud security expert, had fought US Government attempts to extradite her over the January 30, 2017, vehicular manslaughter.
She has been held in Adelaide Women’s Prison.
Chan Reyes, who has multiple aliases and had been among the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted, should have been extradited to Los Angeles in May.
But this was halted because of COVID-19 restrictions, the Federal Court heard. It later dismissed her bid to be freed pending her extradition.
In 2018, a magistrate found she was eligible for extradition and refused bail.
The force spokesman said the “the fugitive investigation and the successful return of Chan Reyes” to the US was part of an international effort involving the federal agents from the FBI, local police, government lawyers, the AFP, diplomats and airport officials.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts/fbi-fugitive-andrea-dorothy-chan-reyes-secretly-extradited-from-adelaide-to-the-us/news-story/310e9afacaacba17b5cc80e03860a956
Whittier Police Department Facebook Post
PRESS RELEASE: Vehicular Homicide Suspect Extradited from Australia, in Whittier Police custody this morning.
On Monday January 30th, 2017 the Whittier Police Department responded to a hit-and-run vehicle versus bicyclist traffic collision in the area of Calmada Ave and Flomar Drive. A female driver, driving a white Lexus sedan struck the bicyclist, dragging him under the car for a long distance, and then fled the scene. The bicyclist, Agustin Rodriguez Jr., age 46, succumbed to his injuries.
Investigators from the Whittier Police Department Traffic Bureau received information identifying Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes, as the driver of the white Lexus sedan and were able to locate the involved vehicle at a residential garage in the state of Idaho. Additional evidence was also located in the state of Nevada.
Investigators also determined Reyes fled the United States soon after the collision and was living in Hong Kong. Working cooperatively with the FBI, an international arrest warrant was obtained for Reyes. As the investigation progressed, the FBI determined Reyes was now living in Australia. Through cooperation with Australian law enforcement authorities, Reyes was taken into custody.
A lengthy extradition proceeding has been in the works for over a year, and yesterday, Reyes was transferred to the custody of the United States Marshals in Australia. She was flown to the United States and landed this morning at the Van Nuys airport. Upon arrival, Reyes was transferred to the custody of the Whittier Police Department. Reyes will be charged with felony hit and run and felony vehicular manslaughter.
The fugitive investigation and the successful return of Chan Reyes was the result of a collaborative international effort among the following officials: the Whittier Police Department; the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office; the Federal Bureau of Investigations Los Angeles Field Office: the United States Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs; the United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles; the Australian Federal Police; the United States Embassy in Canberra, Australia; the FBI's Legal Attaché in Canberra, Australia; the United States Marshal's Service in Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Airport Police, Van Nuys.
For more information, contact WPD Watch Commander 562-567-9255.
https://upload.facebook.com/whittierpd/posts/1857199017751612
Kevin Rudd name-dropped by Hunter Biden’s jailed associate
The jailed business partner of presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son Hunter claimed ex-pm Kevin Rudd was coming to one of their company’s banquets in order to celebrate a controversial Chinese takeover deal.
But Mr Rudd denies he was involved in the event. He says he wasn’t even in China that week and has “no knowledge or record of any such event”.
New emails have surfaced from fraudster Devon Archer touting the former Labor leader’s name in a bid to snare important guests to a Chinese celebration dinner on October 28, 2015, hosted by Hunter Biden’s firm BHR Partners.
The company was also part-owned by Chinese Communist Party state firms, and had just bought out a militarily-sensitive US automaker.
“It would be a great honour if you could attend the evening banquet as our special guest,” Devon Archer wrote to US ambassador Max Baucus, signing the letter as Vice-Chairman.
“As well as our partners and investors there will be a number of foreign dignitaries such as Kevin Rudd and the Vice President of the Bank of China at the event.”
But a spokesman for Mr Rudd, who has been busy dealing with the fallout over the Jeffrey Epstein donations to his peace think-tank, said “his diary shows he was in London and Abu Dhabi that entire week”.
“Mr Rudd is not aware of this event and has no record of it,” he said.
Mr Rudd gave a speech at the Imperial Springs forum at Guangzhou on October 16-17 and later attended a Beijing conference with President Xi Jingping on November 3.
US media is reporting the invite was contained in a string of 26,000 emails released by jailed Biden associate Bevan Cooney – a separate bundle to the Hunter Biden laptop emails.
In one email dated September 15, 2015, Cooney and Archer discuss the Chinese deal, codenamed Operation Hanson, under the heading “proof of concept again”.
Cooney then writes to Archer saying the $600 million purchase of Henniges was “great”. “Let’s get a letter out to Ambassador Baucus ASAP Archie”, he says.
The invite to Mr Baucus then says “strategic partners … will be in attendance, as will our investors, including the Bank of China and China Development Bank”.
Asked if he was concerned his name was used to approach the US ambassador, Mr Rudd’s spokesman said: “It’s hard to say given he knows nothing about this purported event or the company involved.”
The deal was criticised by some senators at the time because auto-parts maker Henniges had state-of-the-art “anti-vibration technologies”, categorised as “dual-use” because of their military applications and Chinese military aircraft-maker AVIC was also part of the deal, despite being previously black-listed.
“Mr Rudd cannot offer comment on a financial transaction about which he has no knowledge or records,” Mr Rudd‘s spokesman said.
“It is quite plain that the Murdoch media is trying to establish guilt-by-association.“
The spokesman provided a long list of people Mr Rudd has met over the past five years, including presidents.
The New York Post broke news of the cash-for-influence scandal last month surrounding the Biden family, after emails were discovered in Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop.
Separately, another tranche of 26,000 emails by a jailed associate of Hunter Biden, Bevan Cooney were released to New York Times best-selling investigative author Peter Schweizer.
Mr Rudd’s spokesman questioned the “profound ethical questions” for the media involved in any dealings with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who helped expose the emails on the abandoned laptop.
Mr Rudd is the president of the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/kevin-rudd-former-pm-apparently-invited-to-chinese-banquet-linked-to-biden-associates/news-story/9d73181ed4da54c81d3ada31cc053327
https://www.scribd.com/document/482258731/Baucus-Letter-2-Sept-2015
Kevin Rudd Tweets
Surprise, surprise — the Murdoch personal smear efforts continue. Here's the latest effort: they want to know what meetings I may have had with… wait for it… Hunter Biden!
Of course, this'd have nothing to do with the #MurdochRoyalCommission petition:
https://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?id=EN1938
https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1323037803081469952
—
Replying to @MrKRudd
Here are the questions Murdoch put to my office last night, and the answers that were sent back.
The idea that US Ambassador Max Baucus needed Hunter Biden (or anyone else) to obtain “access” to me is absurd— Max and I have known each other since well before he started that job.
https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1323038979566891009
Resignations in the news
Christine Holgate resigns as Australia Post boss after Cartier watch scandal
Under-fire Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate has quit her position, saying the scrutiny on her over a luxury watch scandal was a “distraction” for the company, because it didn’t pass “the pub test”.
Ms Holgate, who was the target of an extraordinary Scott Morrison spray in Parliament two weeks ago, had signalled she was going to ride out the investigation. But on Monday, she abruptly announced she was leaving Australia Post – and despite last week complaining of the PM “humiliating” her, that she bore “no animosity” toward the government.
“I have offered today the chairman and board of Australia Post, with great sadness, my resignation as chief executive with immediate effect,” she said in a statement.
“I am not seeking any financial compensation.”
Ms Holgate was the target of an independent investigation into profligate spending at the government enterprise, with questions over credit card bills, staff parties, and four Cartier watches given to senior employees.
The watches, valued at nearly $20,000 total, were given as “awards” for staff that helped stitch up a deal for customers to do banking at post offices.
“I firmly believe the ‘ship’ needs a strong captain at the helm to help navigate through this time. The current issue I am managing is a significant distraction and I do not believe it is good for either Australia Post or my own personal wellbeing,” Ms Holgate said.
The New Daily has contacted federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher for comment.
Ms Holgate said she was disappointed that the purchase of the four watches in 2018 led to the outrage, saying she was a firm believer in rewarding the good work of staff.
“However, I deeply regret that a decision made two years ago, which was supported by the chair, to recognise the outstanding work of four employees has caused so much debate and distraction and I appreciate the optics of the gifts involved do not pass the “pub test” for many,” she said.
‘Optics’ was the same word her lawyer, Bryan Belling of Kingston Reid, used last week in defending Ms Holgate from sustained public attack. In a statement, Mr Belling claimed Ms Holgate had received no official notice of her employment status.
“Legally, in my opinion there are no grounds for Ms Holgate to be stood down, and ‘optics’ is not a legally valid defence,” he said in the statement.
Ms Holgate said despite her resignation, she would continue to participate in the investigation into spending at Australia Post.
“I have no animosity towards the government and have enjoyed working with the Prime Minister, the shareholder ministers and many other political leaders during my tenure,” she said.
“My sincere apologies if my words or actions have offended others as this would never have been my intention because I have always held Australia Post in the highest regard.”
Australia Post chair Lucio Di Bartolomeo confirmed the news, saying her resignation was “effective immediately”.
“Ms Holgate has indicated her willingness to participate in the recently announced shareholder departments investigation into aspects of Australia Post expenditure. The board and management are providing full co-operation and assistance to this review,” he said in a statement.
“Christine Holgate has held the role of group chief executive officer and managing director since October 2017 and while noting the current review, I would like to acknowledge and recognise the significant contributions she has made during her tenure.”
Mr Di Bartolomeo called 2020 “one of the toughest years in Australia Post’s history” and noted “the extraordinary efforts made across the organisation to meet the challenges of COVID-19.”
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/11/02/christine-holgate-australia-post/
Why I would grit my teeth and vote for Trump
There's no perfect choice, but President Donald Trump has not been bad for our national interest – and would be better for the next four years than Joe Biden, who is well past his prime.
Alexander Downer Columnist
Nov 1, 2020
1/2
There’s one dilemma I don’t have to face: who to vote for in the US presidential election. I’m not an American citizen. But I do have a sister, Angela, who is. She lives in Austin, Texas.
Over the years she has tended to vote for the Republican candidates in presidential as well as congressional elections. But in 2016 she voted for Hillary Clinton. She didn’t warm to Donald Trump's personality and antics. But this time, Angela has voted for Trump.
There are three reasons why she did so. The first is that his tax cuts and deregulatory agenda have been good for her small business. It was thriving until the coronavirus shutdowns.
And secondly, she says the anti-Trump bias of the media has become hysterical. She’s not going to be bossed around by the almost universal anti-Republican partisanship of the American television networks and newspapers. The famous New York Times has become little more than an anti-Trump pamphlet.
And thirdly, Angela has had a look at Joe Biden. She thinks he is way too weak to hold the office of president of the United States. He’s well past his best.
For me, I’ve had to put up with four years of Trump and some of his fringe cronies claiming I was part of a conspiracy with Hillary Clinton, the FBI, CIA, MI6, Italian intelligence, ASIS, Ukrainian spies and who knows who else, to bring him down. Twitter is full of demands from the hysterical right that I be sent to Guantánamo Bay.
If Trump were to lose, at least I would be spared this abuse. It’s doolally and it does demonstrate how social media, in particular, is replete with wacky theories. Twitter says it edits out statements that are untrue. They don’t seem to have made much of an effort on this issue!
But there’s another way of looking at it. As a president, Trump has not been bad for Australia. There have been downsides. The withdrawal by the Trump administration from the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a regional setback. It was disappointing. Still, if Hillary Clinton had been elected she too would have withdrawn from the TPP.
Beyond that, the two Australian prime ministers who have dealt with Trump have got on rather well with him. Many were surprised that the urbane, centrist and rather intellectual Malcolm Turnbull was able to build such a strong rapport with the showman billionaire.
But Malcolm knows their type. After all, he was Kerry Packer's lawyer for a number of years and in some respects Packer was a Trump-like figure. I like the story of Trump turning to Turnbull and saying to him: “You’re a good lawyer. You kept Kerry Packer out of jail!"
(continued)
2/2
As with Turnbull, Scott Morrison has also developed a good rapport with Trump, and there is no doubt the President has a soft spot for Australia.
Trump honoured the Obama deal with Turnbull on asylum seekers, he decided not to impose tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium when tariffs were imposed on most of the rest of the world, and his secretaries of defence and state have showed energetic interest in maintaining a power balance in the Indo-Pacific region.
To be frank, it is plain silly partisanship to say the Trump administration has been isolationist and turned its back on its allies. That was a narrative developed during the last presidential election campaign by the Democrats. It’s just nonsense.
In the Indo-Pacific region, as distinct from Europe, there is much less focus on Trump’s tweeting and rather degrading political antics. Asian leaders are more impressed with the broader administration positioning in the region and on the whole they have been happy with that.
Trump built up a good relationship with Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe. He seems to have engaged well enough with other regional leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. And the US Navy, intelligence services and diplomats have remained heavily committed to the region.
Given the size of the US economy, its performance inevitably has an impact on Australia. Until the coronavirus crisis hit, the American economy was motoring along, driven by those tax cuts that Angela liked so much and a strong agenda to deregulate business. This has been good for the Australian economy.
So, overall, the Trump administration has been as good as any for Australia to deal with. Australia has been seen as a great and loyal ally by Washington, as it was in years gone by.
Deeply partisan commentariat
You don’t hear this very often. That is because so many of the foreign policy commentariat in Australia are deeply partisan when it comes to American politics. They love the Democrats.
Besides, it’s not just a choice about Trump. We have to weigh up what we think about Biden. What is incredible is how little scrutiny Biden and his agenda have been subjected to by the media. We hardly know anything about his plans for government.
Last week I spoke with the Trump administration’s Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger, and Kurt Campbell, a strong Democrat and former senior official in the Clinton and Obama administrations.
What interested me was the similarity of their analyses and policies on the Indo-Pacific region. Both would pursue very similar policies towards China, which they see as a “strategic competitor”, remain loyal to their allies in the region, try to further strengthen relations with India and engage constructively with ASEAN.
My guess is that some Australian commentators will find the Biden domestic agenda more appealing than that of Trump. For example, they will like the Democratic Party’s commitment to identity politics, critical race theory, intersectionality and the rest. Personally, I think all of that is deeply illiberal and divisive, and will not help to heal an already divided America.
So for me, I’m with Angela. I’d vote through gritted teeth for Trump. There is no perfect choice in this election. There is the slightly crazy, out-of-control Donald Trump, who reminds me of a mixture of Kerry Packer and John Elliott. And then there is poor old Joe Biden, bumbling along without any clear plans, and likely to be a hostage to a bevy of querulous advisers.
My guess is that Biden will win. And beyond that, his administration will be divided and directionless.
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/world/north-america/why-i-would-grit-my-teeth-and-vote-for-trump-20201101-p56afm
The contrast between Trump and 'shadowy' Biden 'couldn't be more dramatic'
Sky News Australia
Published on 1 Nov 2020
Former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer says the contrast between Biden and Trump couldn't be more dramatic as Trump has shown huge amounts of energy, while Biden comes across as “very hesitant and very weak and shadowy".
“The Democrats campaign is about the personality of Trump,” Mr Downer said.
“Assuming Biden wins, he will only win, not because he’s going to be a great president, but because people didn’t like Donald Trump’s personality and some of the things he’s said and perhaps the Democrats have succeeded in blaming him for the toll caused by the coronavirus outbreak.”
Mr Downer added it was likely that Biden would win the upcoming election.
“The polls might have been wrong last time, but the pollsters have made substantial adjustments since,” he said.
“I suspect you’re going to see Trump ousted from office.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNWantkKLR8
Ben Roberts-Smith asked wife to lie about his affair, court told
Ben Roberts-Smith asked his wife to lie about an affair he had with another woman, a court has heard, amid revelations the former Australian soldier heavily redacted information from documents sent to news outlets as part of a defamation case.
Mr Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, is suing The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald over reports he allegedly committed murder on deployments to Afghanistan and that he punched his mistress in the face in Canberra.
He denies the allegations and says the reports are defamatory because they portray him as a criminal.
The news outlets are defending the claim on a truth defence. The defamation trial is to start next year.
On Monday the Federal Court was told that without its permission Mr Roberts-Smith redacted information from documents before they were sent to the news outlets as part of the defamation case.
The court heard that among the papers was a document from Mr Roberts-Smith's wife, Emma, in which she said her husband asked her to lie and say that they were separated at the time of the affair.
Mr Roberts-Smith and his wife have previously publicly said they were separated at the time he had the relationship with the woman and that the relationship was not an affair.
But the other woman, referred to as Person 17, alleges she and Mr Roberts-Smith had an affair between October 2017 and April 2018 and that he punched her hard to the left side of her face when the pair left a function at Parliament House in March 2018.
Barrister Lyndelle Barnett, appearing for the news outlets, told the court on Monday the information in the affidavits raised questions about the credibility of Mr and Ms Roberts-Smith, which could be an issue at trial. Ms Roberts-Smith is expected to be called as a witness for her husband.
Bruce McClintock, SC, appearing for Mr Roberts-Smith, said the material was redacted from the documents because it was "deeply personal" and irrelevant to the allegations at the centre of the defamation trial.
But Ms Barnett said a party didn't have the right to redact information without a court's permission.
She said she was conscious of the sensitivities surrounding the documents and conceded some redacted information might be irrelevant but suggested the documents could be released only to lawyers for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
In response, Mr McClintock said his client opposed the disclosure of the information "including to lawyers for hostile parties" and that it would be unfair to Mr Roberts-Smith if disclosed.
Mr McClintock applied for Justice Anthony Besanko to rule on the matter. The judge will do so at a later date.
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have also alleged that Mr Roberts-Smith was involved in multiple unlawful killings as an Australian soldier in Afghanistan, including that of Ali Jan, a farmer who in 2012 was kicked off a cliff in Darwan while handcuffed and was then shot dead.
Mr Roberts-Smith is also alleged to have ordered soldiers in his command to shoot dead detained Afghan men.
The Australian Federal Police is investigating Mr Jan's death and, the court has heard, considers Mr Roberts-Smith a suspect. The AFP has interviewed Mr Roberts-Smith and has obtained eyewitness accounts implicating him in war crimes. No charges have been laid.
If you are a current or former ADF member, or a relative, and need counselling or support, contact the Defence All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036 or Open Arms on 1800 011 046.
https://www.defence.gov.au/health/dmh/allhourssupportline.asp
https://www.openarms.gov.au/
https://www.smh.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-asked-wife-to-lie-about-his-affair-court-told-20201102-p56aqk.html
Trump’s energy amping up race
Donald Trump’s passion, policies and unprecedented rally schedule mean he can still win.
JOE HOCKEY - November 1, 2020
1/2
Anyone calling the outcome of the US presidential election is either guessing or gambling.
Opinion polls, advertising spends, rallies and media advocacy can’t make up for the fact that a phenomenal early voting turnout combined with a rampant pandemic have made this election unreadable.
To make it even more confusing, the American electoral system is a mess. Already over 240 lawsuits challenging the voting process have already been filed in the courts.
Behind the scenes there is optimism and pessimism in both teams.
Insiders in the Republican National Committee tell me that the party is on track to lose the Senate to the Democrats. Normally a senate race is closely aligned with the presidential race. Or so you would think!
This is not a normal election. Donald Trump is on track to win some States by large margins and then lose local representatives. Steve Bullock may win Montana for the Democrats and Senator Lindsay Graham may lose South Carolina for the Republicans, both states Donald Trump will win by 15 points.
Similarly Trump may win Arizona, Georgia and Colorado but lose key senators like Martha McSally, David Perdue and Cory Gardner.
And Democrat insiders are now despondent about lower than expected minority Black and Hispanic voter turnouts in key states like Florida and Pennsylvania. These are crucial demographics that have traditionally supported the blue team.
Trump’s energy has also forced commentators and critics to take another look at the numbers. When 29,000 people turned up at an airport in Omaha, Nebraska for yet another pumped up Trump rally it spooked the nay sayers. The Republicans claim that up to 30 per cent of attendees have neither voted before or have voted Democrat. More importantly it’s a stark visual comparison with Joe Biden’s more coronavirus-friendly car rallies.
And the intensity will grow. This President is amping it up to four rallies in four cities each day.
It’s an unprecedented schedule for a sitting president. The transportation and security logistics are extraordinary and hugely complicated. But Trump’s energy is infectious both ways.
When a work colleague in New York told me that she had queued up with her daughter for five hours and 15 minutes to vote against Trump last week it simply confirmed the passion he generates.
Trump has created a level of enthusiasm amongst voters that is almost beyond comprehension. This election is on track for the highest voter turnout since 1968.
And his rallies are working. They are great entertainment but they are also honest, indulgent, humorous and frightening. Trump is like a cult leader to his supporters and Lucifer to his critics. His campaign cut-through line is that he is “not a politician”. Maybe that’s why the Republican politicians in the Senate are in trouble.
I won’t call a possible election result unless there is no way a candidate can win.
Hillary Clinton couldn’t win in 2016 because the FBI started investigating her just one week out from polling day. It gave credence to Trump’s claim that she was “crooked”.
Because of passion, policies and participation, Trump can still win.
His call to battle is working. As of today more people have voted in Texas before polling day than voted in the entire 2016 election. The numbers are mind-blowing. Across the nation, no one knows how many more people will vote on Tuesday. Normally bad weather has an impact on polling day but social distancing has complicated the equation.
At the same time, Trump has smashed voting stereotypes. For example, he is getting a larger than expected Black vote in Michigan. On the other hand, the anti-Trump vote is winning over more white suburban women for Biden.
And each state is now reporting demographic variations. My friends in Florida indicate that more Hispanics and young people are voting early for Trump than anyone expected. Miami is apparently wallpapered in Trump posters.
Alternatively in the safest Republican strongholds of Texas, friends report an avalanche of Biden signs. They say it’s not worth the fight putting up Trump signs in their yards and being yelled at.
(continued)
2/2
I know that few people are prepared to put candidate signs in their front yards let alone in support of someone that has been so vilified. Trump has been accused of everything from sexual molestation to corruption and racism. There has been no let up in the vilification since he won the nomination more than four years ago.
Still some have had the courage to speak out. This week Golf God Jack Nicklaus and a host of others came out to endorse the president. Many have decried Trump’s tweets and vindictive words, but they all said they are voting for him because they support his policies.
This confirms my suspicion of a very large “quiet Trump vote”.
In 2016 Trump did much better than expected in key states that decided the election. His “overperformance” in Wisconsin 6.4 per cent, Pennsylvania 4.9 per cent, North Carolina 4.5 per cent, Michigan 4.3 per cent and Florida 1.9 per cent turned states the polls said he was losing into winners on election night. This time around if just 3 out of every 100 Trump supporters who have refused to answer a pollster turns in a vote, then Trump will win.
According to the respected Real Clear Politics website, the current Biden margin in key battleground states is an average 3 per cent. It may not be enough to win. In smaller states people are polled to death. I am sure they are over the polling.
In South Carolina alone the two senate candidates have spent over $200m on this campaign. That excludes presidential and down the ticket candidate spending which could exceed another $100m. For voters it’s exhausting. They must be running away screaming hysterically when they see another advertisement or get another phone call.
At the moment it looks like Pennsylvania will hold the keys to the White House. If Trump’s “quiet voters” go and vote, then he will hold enough states to be close to Joe Biden on Tuesday night. With a quirky election process, the 20 electoral votes of Pennsylvania will not be decided on the night unless someone has a thumping victory. That makes for a long week.
It’s a real possibility. Trump has been clawing back his opponent’s narrow lead in the state with a combination of high energy rallies and capitalisation on Joe Biden’s only policy mistake in the campaign, opening the debate on fossil fuels and fracking.
There is much symbolism in Pennsylvania’s voting history. It is traditionally a working class state that has been a Democratic stronghold as a bastion of manufacturing and mining. However, in recent years union membership has halved and blue collar families blame free trade and environmental policies for the demise of their industries.
Biden has done a good job clawing back the perceptions that his party has abandoned the workers, but his stumble on fuel policy left many wondering whether he really is controlled by the “greens and socialists”.
Trump’s strength has been his ability to win over the disenfranchised white working class of America. They forgive him for his words and tweets. They love that he speaks for them and their values.
Like our own Jimmy Barnes, rock legend Bruce Springsteen is a great symbol of working class values. His ballads from “Born in the USA’ to “Streets of Philadelphia” encapsulate the struggles of modern America. Over the last few weeks Springsteen has been railing against Trump and has even threatened to move to Australia if Trump is re-elected.
Perhaps, Springsteen has lost touch with his fans. Perhaps he no longer sings for the workers.
Biden can’t be blamed if Trump wins this election on the back of states like Pennsylvania. America has changed and the major political parties have been slow to react. Individuals react faster to changing environments than institutions. Trump is speaking to the audience that Springsteen eulogised but now lectures and threatens.
There is a transition in American society that is still unfolding and the two main parties are still coming to grips with it.
No matter what happens on Tuesday the political and economic disruption in the world’s most powerful nation has only just started.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/trumps-energy-is-amping-up-the-race-for-president/news-story/17ee8aaaff88890843043a3f123453c4
Australia’s federal ICAC to conduct phone taps, undercover surveillance but not public hearings
MPs or public servants suspected of corruption could have their phones tapped by a federal ICAC – but the public couldn’t refer matters for investigation.
Politicians or public servants suspected of corruption could have their phones tapped, passports confiscated or face two years’ jail if they fail to co-operate under the powers of a new federal ICAC.
Attorney-General Christian Porter unveiled draft laws for a Commonwealth Integrity Commission on Monday, saying it would have “greater powers than a royal commission”.
MPs and Senators, political staffers, more than 150,000 public servants, and universities that receive Commonwealth funding would be able to be investigated.
Corruption watchdog officials would also be able to go undercover with false identities as part of their investigations.
But the proposed CIC would not be able to hold public hearings and members of the public cannot refer matters for investigation.
The CIC would also not report publicly on its findings, but would deliver evidence to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr Porter said Australians expected politicians and public servants to be “held to the highest standards of honesty and accountability” but also expected that “those who come under scrutiny are not denied procedural fairness and are not subjected to trial by allegation”.
He said the proposed model learnt from “the significant mistakes” of state integrity bodies, but Labor’s attorney-general spokesman Mark Dreyfus called it the “sort of integrity commission that you would have when you don’t want to establish an integrity commission”.
He criticised that the body could not hold public hearings and could not initiate its own investigations.
Crossbench senators will be crucial to whether the laws pass when they go before parliament, likely in mid to late 2021.
SA senator Rex Patrick said he would look at the bill but criticised that the CIC would likely not be established in this term of parliament.
Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie said the proposed model did not appear to cover all the suggestions from former judges but added: “I don’t believe we can allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.”
“South Australia’s ICAC doesn’t have public hearings so I will look with interest at the feedback from stakeholders during the consultation period,” she said.
Ms Sharkie also said referrals to the CIC needed to be broad.
Under the proposed model, politicians could self-refer matters for investigation or refer their staff, while the AFP, Commonwealth Ombudsman, or Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority could also refer suspected corruption.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Australian Federal Police, the Home Affairs department, and the Australian Taxation Office would be covered under a separate second branch of the CIC, which would replace the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity.
The law enforcement side of the CIC could hold public hearings and take referrals from the public.
It would also be mandatory for heads of law enforcement agencies to refer any corruption issues for investigation.
https://www.themercury.com.au/news/south-australia/australias-federal-icac-to-conduct-phone-taps-undercover-surveillance-but-not-public-hearings/news-story/c1860e416983d18305ea8acc7e927b80
Notables
are not endorsements
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>>10753446 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: One year ago this week: The United States hosted Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny
>>10766769 FBI offers $15k reward for info on New Zealander facing charges - Michael James Pratt has ties to, or may visit Australia
>>10766781 PDF: WANTED BY THE FBI - MICHAEL JAMES PRATT - Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Production of Child Pornography
>>10780602 Video: President Donald Trump has emphatically declared “the best is yet to come” - Sky News Australia
>>10780815 (2016) Andrews Labor Government Forging Early Childhood Links With China - Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos
>>10781504 Leftist media ‘willing to have lives lost’ as a result of hatred for Trump - Sky News Australia
>>10794782 A warrior culture and the murders that followed: What went wrong with the SAS
>>10794991 Darwin man charged with exit trafficking his wife from Australia to India
>>10795091 Cocks and Stirrers: Markers on the path to the SAS going rogue
>>10804582 What are the Keating kids up to these days?
>>10806162 The Fabian Society and Julia Gillard
>>10830920 Owner of some of Australia’s biggest retail brands slammed as ‘unethical’
>>10831100 Lisa Barsoomian in Gumshoe News - Mentions Alexander Downer, 2001-2005 and Clinton Foundation
>>10832471 Fallen police honoured on National Police Remembrance Day
>>10832471 Video: Australian Federal Police - National Police Remembrance Day 2020 - #NeverForgotten
>>10832521 Video: The ‘Trump Doctrine’ earns President third Nobel Peace Prize nomination - Sky News Australia
>>10866643 Trump's Rare Earth Executive Order boosts Australia's Lynas Corp
>>10866643 Executive Order on Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain from Reliance on Critical Minerals from Foreign Adversaries
>>10866956 Australian government cites 'chilling effect' on cabinet in bid to block release of papers in Timor-Leste spy case
>>10881623 Former Australian foreign minister ALEXANDER DOWNER: We kept people traffickers out… Britain can too
>>10889784 Troops warned of Afghanistan war crimes shock - Chief of Army Lieutenant General Rick Burr
>>10892890 Army sharpens focus on ethical soldiering amid war crimes allegations
>>10907296 Sovereign citizens on NSW counter-terrorism police watch list
>>10917597 Video: The Tara Reade interview: accusing Joe Biden of sexual assault | 60 Minutes Australia
>>10927542 Trump will lose by making it all about himself - Alexander Downer, Australian Financial Review
>>10928251 ADF Special Forces to receive ethical leadership training
>>10941290 President Trump Tweets @MirandaDevine @NYPost Thank you Miranda. Was over until the Plague came in from China. Will win anyway!
#10 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>10941290 Miranda Devine is a conservative Australian columnist and writer…As of early 2020, her columns appear in the New York Post
>>10941290 Coronavirus battle shows the bravery of President Trump: Devine - Miranda Devine - nypost.com
>>10941326 "Those who know Cardinal George Pell, the pope’s honest former finance minister, always suspected he had been set up" - Miranda Devine
>>10960152 2020 race: Donald Trump on track to lose by a landslide - Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au
>>10976399 US Embassy Canberra Twitter Thread: Ambassador Culvahouse will be sharing his outlook on the future of the #USwithAUS
>>10976399 “As long as the United States and Australia continue to work together, I am confidently optimistic about the future.” - Ambassador Culvahouse
>>10976399 Transcript: Ambassador Culvahouse Speech – ASPI Indo-Pacific Leaders Dialogue - October 7, 2020
>>10976426 Video: Indo-Pacific Leaders Dialogue: The future of US-Australia relations - US Ambassador to Australia, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. - ASPICanberra
>>10977747 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Great to meet again with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne…to discuss Quad cooperation
>>10977747 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: The #Quad is a diplomatic network with a positive agenda: a region governed by rules, not power
>>10979128 Awkward moment Scott Morrison confronts Leigh Sales over her 'irresponsible question' when she grills him about the US presidential election
>>10994627 National Australia Bank didn’t maintain records of human traffickers until 2019
>>10994640 PDF: Parliament of Australia - Review Of The Four Major Banks - National Australia Bank - Anti-money laundering
>>11007426 SAS at war: Internal military investigation finds Ben Roberts-Smith may have threatened to shoot a fellow soldier in the back of the head
>>11008088 Freemasons NSW & ACT recruitment add in a local paper
>>11008922 ADF personnel warned about social media use after offensive Instagram account uncovered
>>11020501 US elections were changed for better (and worse) by the secret 'Australian ballot'
>>11034788 Trump needs to take fight up to Biden and land some punches - Joe Hockey - theaustralian.com.au
>>11035007, >>11035014 Democrat Barbara Bollier’s praise of strict Australian gun laws roils Kansas Senate race
>>11048335 US election: Joe Biden in the White House would be good for us - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au
>>11048472 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: They operate in the shadows, but shed light that helps keep Australia safe - Defence Intelligence Organisation
>>11048507 Alarm as neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network expands to Adelaide
>>11063585 'An apocalyptic list': Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo says climate change, pandemics warrant security rethink
>>11063601 Video: Securing Australia: In conversation with Michael Pezzullo - national security in an increasingly complex and interconnected world
>>11079845 Bruce Springsteen: ‘If Trump wins I’m moving to Australia’ - Poppy Reid - tonedeaf.thebrag.com - tonedeaf logo symbolism
>>11080248 Pacific Marines Tweet: The ninth iteration of @mrfdarwin has wrapped up in the Northern Territory of #Australia
>>11080248 Video: Colonel David Banning, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Commanding Officer
>>11080293 Police won't charge ABC journalist over 'Afghan Files' stories
>>11098507 NBC Moderator Savannah Guthrie (born in Melbourne, Australia) hailed for keeping Trump in check at town hall
>>11098719 Video: Savannah Guthrie: Australian-born town hall moderator who held Trump to task, married to former Al Gore political operative Michael Feldman
>>11098850 Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch Predicts a Landslide Win for Biden - THE GREAT OZ HAS SPOKEN
>>11099297 Video: Lowy Institute Live: In conversation with General James Mattis and Sir Angus Houston - https://qanon.pub/?q=mattis
>>11099672 Australian Defence Force orders ban on destruction of evidence from Afghanistan war, as inquiry into alleged war crimes nears end
>>11100195 ASIO warns foreign spies are secretly 'cultivating politicians' across Australia
>>11100315 PDF: ASIO Annual Report 2019-20 "Parliament grants ASIO extraordinary powers, but those powers must always be exercised legally and ethically"
>>11100891 'Without peer': Top spy Nick Warner, Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence to retire this year
>>11112388 US election 2020: Voters are tired of Trump’s catastrophic presidency - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au
>>11125093 Murder and abduction claims have Rwandan Government accused of intimidating critics in Australia
>>11125850 Video: Australia One - Riccardo Bosi Talks To Sacha Stone
>>11134109 PDF: Bit-chute replacements for YouTube patriot accounts
#10 - Part 3
Australian Politics and Society - Part 3
>>11138660 Video: Joe Biden's son emailed shop owner about hard drive to 'get it back': Former Trump chief - Sky News Australia
>>11148533 Facebook, Google are ‘likely’ to ban news stories in Australia, study finds, with dangerous fallout
>>11148533 PDF: Tech-xit: Can Australia survive without Google and Facebook? - Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology
>>11148648 US election 2020: Cult of Trump is not going away - Joe Hockey - theaustralian.com.au
>>11149121 Australia: Most of 1,100 refugees in US deal have resettled
>>11149121 President Donald Trump Tweet (2017): Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why?
>>11149154 Video: 'I don't tend to have communications with Donald Trump' says Jacinda Ardern - Guardian News
>>11165826 Riccardo Bosi's Virus views prompt Liberal National Party to scrap how to vote cards
>>11165826 Marty Hunt MP Facebook Post: Vote 1 Marty Hunt…here is where I appear on the ballot paper…
>>11186038 US marine says Australian special forces soldiers made 'deliberate decision to break the rules of war'
>>11127935 Pandemic linked to rise of conspiracy theories - Riccardo Bosi does not align himself with QAnon
>>11186313, >>11186335 US allege Australian gemstone trader Ahmed Luqman Talib funded al-Qaeda terror plots
>>11186561 Australia to join India, US, Japan in large naval exercises in the Indian Ocean
>>11207235 Tech giants part of a 'galactic empire': Home Affairs boss Michael Pezzullo
>>11207253 Q Post #3602 - (star-wars-commander) How do 'select' bad actors attempt comms w/o SIGINT collection? Rebellion or Empire?
>>11207253 Q Post #4000 - https://www.starwarscommander.com/transmissions/game-closure-announcement/
>>11207298 'Consequences catastrophic': Dutton says cyber attacks on critical infrastructure rising
>>11207523 National Redress Scheme: Scott Morrison names and shames groups refusing to sign up
>>11207523 Video: National Redress Scheme - Scott Morrison calls out groups refusing to sign up
>>11207934 Video shows SAS soldiers discussing a fellow operator apparently killing a 'compliant' prisoner in Afghanistan
>>11207950 Actual footage of the SAS raiding Shina village in May 2012
>>11234465 60 Minutes Australia and The Age are Fake News: American financial commentator Peter Schiff defends himself against fraudulent hit piece
>>11247677 Request For Further Dig - Foreign infiltration/influence into UNESCO Trust Funds - Great Barrier Reef Foundation
>>11248666 Biden ‘child porn’ shock - Hunter becomes the hunted amid claims of underage pics on his laptop - The Chronicle, October 22 2020, p. 37
>>11250005 ABC Australia shows its true colour by not reporting the Biden’s scandal - gnews.org
>>11263015 Cuties retains its MA 15+ rating after Australian Christian Lobby call for review
>>11263593 Kylie Moore-Gilbert moved from Qarchak prison in Iran to mystery location
>>11283542 Australian Secret Intelligence Service Director-General Paul Symon talks about ‘reasonable force’, initial risks of agency
>>11283575 Video: The ASIS Interviews - No 1. The formation of ASIS - ASPICanberra
>>11283994 Australian miners urged to beware of modern slavery risks - Minerals Council of Australia and advisory firm Pilar Two
>>11283994 PDF: Respecting human rights: Guidance to assist mining companies to identify and manage modern slavery risks associated with COVID-19
>>11284162 Every restriction that is ending in Melbourne - Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has finally resolved to open Melbourne up
>>11284366 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Facebook Post: Well done and thank you to all Victorians for your patience and perseverance
>>11284386 Donut coms - Daniel Andrews also spoke of a 'dark opening' - does this link to Biden's 'dark winter' comment at the last debate?
>>11301316 Video: Josh Frydenberg delivers ‘angry and emotional’ speech to Parliament - Sky News Australia
>>11301336 Video: JOSH FRYDENBERG 27TH OCTOBER 2020 - Jill Jacks - "This should never have happened in the first place"
>>11301383 My wife hates Trump as much as Melania: Anthony Scaramucci unloads on Trump - smh.com.au
>>11301541 OPINION: Trump goes with his gut, even if the world beyond the US goes belly-up - Former US NatSec Advisor John Bolton - smh.com.au
>>11302438 Fairweather friends? Trump needs his fans to vote - Joe Hockey - theaustralian.com.au
>>11302533 Marngoneet prison boss Wayne Harper could be jailed for possessing and transmitting child porn
#10 - Part 4
Australian Politics and Society - Part 4
>>11319051 US Election 2020: Why Donald Trump will win again on November 3 - Ben Graham - news.com.au
>>11319280 Japanese Hentai Is Now Banned in Australia - regarded as “illegal pornography" following fears of child porn being brought into the country
>>11319297 Japanese adult retailer J-List statement - "Australia Bans Waifus, Onaholes, and Fun!"
>>11319746 Video: 'Blood lust, killings, cover-ups': Report describes Australian special forces soldiers' 'Abu Ghraib' moment
>>11338405 Jeffrey Epstein donated $650k to Kevin Rudd’s International Peace Institute
>>11338560, >>11339269 Video: Kevin Rudd’s denial of Jeffrey Epstein donation ‘not credible’ says Peter Dutton
>>11339701 University of Melbourne academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert in ‘secret safe house’ in Iran
>>11353447 Video: Trump will be 'annihilated' by Biden: Anthony Scaramucci - 9 News Australia
>>11355482 President of Kevin Rudd’s International Peace Institute quits over Jeffrey Epstein loan
>>11355493 PDF: Statement by the Board of the International Peace Institute - RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT TERJE RØD-LARSEN
>>11355874 'I don't give a f**k what you think about me': Vegan cafe brands itself a Trump-supporting 'safe zone' ahead of the US election
>>11356010 Iran moves detained academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert back to Tehran prison
>>11356072 Former national security adviser Andrew Shearer will be the next Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence
>>11356149 Australia's domestic spy agency ASIO seeks new powers to question children as young as 14 and people suspected of foreign influence
>>11356523 Q Post #4941 - OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DONALD J. TRUMP - Carlo Maria Viganò, Tit. Archbishop of Ulpiana
>>11369364 Video: Washington Insider Anthony Scaramucci On Trump’s Chances Of Another Term As U.S. President - The Project
>>11371740 Disability Royal Commission needs more time to explore ‘endemic’ neglect, violence, abuse and exploitation of people with a disability in Australia
>>11371777 PDF: Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Interim report
>>11385274 'No matter who wins, the country is still going to be divided': Americans in Australia gear up for US Election
>>11386109 Rudd backs FriendlyJordies as serious ‘broadcaster’ despite controversial acts - 'Uighur population causing trouble, radicalised by CIA'
>>11387695 FBI fugitive Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes secretly extradited from Adelaide to the US over 2017 hit-run death of Agustin Rodriguez Jr
>>11387711 Whittier Police Department Facebook Post: Vehicular Homicide Suspect Extradited from Australia, in Whittier Police custody
>>11399083 Kevin Rudd name-dropped by Hunter Biden’s jailed associate Devon Archer in letter to US ambassador Max Baucus
>>11399083 PDF: Letter from Devon Archer, Vice Chairman BHR Partners, to Max Baucus, US Ambassador to the People's Republic of China - 30th September 2015
>>11399146 Kevin Rudd Tweet: The Murdoch personal smear efforts continue…they want to know what meetings I may have had with… wait for it… Hunter Biden!
>>11399146 Kevin Rudd Tweet: Here are the questions Murdoch put to my office last night, and the answers that were sent back
>>11402713 Why I would grit my teeth and vote for Trump - Alexander Downer
>>11402781 Video: Former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer says the contrast between Biden and Trump couldn't be more dramatic - Sky News Australia
>>11404065 Former Special Air Service soldier and Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith asked wife to lie about his affair, court told
>>11404435 Donald Trump’s passion, policies and unprecedented rally schedule mean he can still win - Joe Hockey
>>11404641 Australia’s federal ICAC to conduct phone taps, undercover surveillance but not public hearings
#10 - Part 5
Australian and Regional Resignations
>>10739647 Australian judge James Spigelman resigns from Hong Kong court - no further reasons for the termination were given
>>10893345 Headmaster of Sydney private school St Joseph's College, Dr Chris Hayes, announces sudden resignation "effective immediately"
>>11034645 Chris Eccles, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' top bureaucrat, resigns after hotel quarantine inquiry requests phone records
>>11282691 ASIC deputy chairman Daniel Crennan quits following housing expenses scandal
>>11282691 ASIC chairman James Shipton stands aside after Australian National Audit Office raises concerns over taxation expenses
>>11402587 Christine Holgate resigns as Australia Post boss after Cartier watch scandal
#10 - Part 6
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Pandemic, Australia and Worldwide
>>10715840 Coronavirus Australia: Victorian Chief Health Officer slams COVID-19 conspiracies
>>10729349 Six fined, two arrested over Chadstone anti-lockdown flash mob
>>10753335 Video: Alyssa Milano's long haul COVID-19 battle | 60 Minutes Australia
>>10765988 Tom Hanks is out of quarantine as filming begins on Elvis biopic on the Gold Coast
>>10793570 Scott Morrison urges sharing of COVID-19 vaccine in his United Nations speech
>>10807158 James Woods Tweet: This cruelty is so vile I can’t stand it. This happened to thousands of lost and bewildered elderly
>>10807158 Heartbreaking video - Elderly woman in medical care prevented from embracing her son due to COVID-19 restrictions
>>10858774 Hope for hydroxychloroquine: Melbourne scientists at Walter & Eliza Hall Institute back trial
>>10867218 Video: Unmasked: Inside Australia’s Coronavirus Lockdown Resistance | 7NEWS Spotlight - Jeff Kennett red shoes at 13:49
>>10889695 Coronavirus: rush to publish may irreversibly harm patients
>>10896404 Qld deputy premier Steven Miles ‘wishes Donald Trump well’ after disinfectant quip
>>10960895 Victoria's Daniel Andrews to scrap controversial detention powers in bid to pass Covid omnibus bill
>>10973858 President Trump Tweet: A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT! (Regeneron - "I call that a cure")
>>10973858 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals evaluating "antibody cocktail" REGN-COV2 - potential to treat people with COVID-19
>>10974034 Regeneron Tweet: Our statement on the White House compassionate use request for our investigational monoclonal antibody cocktail
>>10974221 Regeneron's antibody cocktail REGN-COV2 rapidly reduced viral load and associated symptoms in infected COVID-19 patients
>>11002977 Video: Chef Pete Evans Instagram Post - Listen to every word spoken. New world order and homes are now dangerous (NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard)
>>11127935 Pandemic linked to rise of conspiracy theories - Riccardo Bosi does not align himself with QAnon
>>11127991 New 25km bubble as Premier reveals lockdown rules for Victoria
>>11229568 Remdesivir, the virus treatment given to Trump, gets formal US approval
>>11243745 Re-elected Trump will prioritise reducing global reliance on China - Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger
>>11243851 Video: The Importance of Being Candid: China’s Relationship with the Rest of the World - Matt Pottinger - PolicyExchangeUK
>>11300995 Bill Gates: This is when we’ll have a Covid-19 vaccine - “Early next year" - "We won’t be back to normal"
>>11339862 Video: Dr Fauci praises Australia’s coronavirus response and Melbourne’s face mask rules
#10 - Part 7
Child Exploitation, Pedophilia, Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking Prosecutions - Part 1
>>10753210 Shane Andrew Lunnay, who streamed himself having sex with a child-like sex doll, jailed for importing child exploitation material
>>10753306 Perth escape artist and children's entertainer Dewald Venter ('Ghupi') facing string of child sex charges
>>10766945 Westpac slugged with $1.3 billion fine over Austrac scandal, failed to stop transactions that funded child sex trafficking
>>10766945 PDF: Westpac and AUSTRAC reach agreement on Anti-Money Laundering / Counter-Terrorism and Financing civil proceedings
>>10767015 Paedophiles Mark Anthony Gray and Dylan McCrossin plead guilty to child exploitation crimes, earn up to 40 per cent off sentences
>>10767015 PDF: South Australian Opposition legal affairs spokesman Kyam Maher’s letter to Attorney-General Vickie Chapman
>>10793715 Alarming spike in numbers of online child sex abuse cases - AFP. Warning signs and how you can protect your kids
>>10793950 Perth Trinity College student bullied on social media after alleged rape on school trip
>>10794842 Grooming, paedophilia and child exploitation on the rise in Tasmania say AFP top cops
>>10851953 Senior Catholic William Wade sentenced for concealing child sex abuse at Marist schools
>>10867069 Catholic Church's legal defence 'dismantled' after sex abuse pay-off thrown out
>>10898112 Sydney baseball coach Stuart "Gus" Mould jailed over 'bizarre', 'inhuman' assaults on boys
>>10960966 Alleged Kimberley sex offender Charles Batham to be extradited from Italy nine years after fleeing country
>>10961245 Australian Border Force charges two Geraldton men over child-like sex dolls
>>10979226 Three arrested after alleged forced marriage of Shepparton woman
>>10979226 Australian Federal Police - Human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices (including forced marriage) information report form
>>10994627 National Australia Bank didn’t maintain records of human traffickers until 2019
>>11020227 UK leads global call for Facebook to take action on paedophiles
>>11020270 Home Secretary and international partners tell tech companies to put child safety first
>>11020270 PDF: International statement calling on tech companies to ensure end-to-end encryption does not erode public safety
>>11034465 Australian teacher leaves Cambodia as he protests his innocence over indecent assault charges against children
>>11063089 James ‘Jim’ Geoffrey Griffin, Nurse in Tasmania unmasked as serial paedophile who groomed, molested kids
>>11063143 The Nurse - Camille Bianchi True Crime podcast - James Griffin: At work he was "Just Jim", but he was he hiding something? -
>>11099437 Tasmanian government investigating how alleged pedophile James Griffin went undetected
>>11099561 Perth 'sex ring' members 'housed with victims in government care homes'
>>11185934 Royal Commission files reveal previously unseen details about abuse by priests in Newcastle
>>11185947 PDF: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: Case Study No. 43: Catholic Church authorities in Maitland-Newcastle
>>11186473 Australian Border Force arrests man after seizing parts of 11 childlike sex dolls
>>11205423 Q Post #4915 - A deep dark world is being exposed. The truth won't be for everyone. Have faith in Humanity.
>>11207850 Remote human trafficking: Jessica Borten looks at how the human trafficking industry has continued online throughout the pandemic
#10 - Part 8
Child Exploitation, Pedophilia, Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking Prosecutions - Part 2
>>11208070, >>11208088 Aged Care Royal Commission hears there are around 50 sexual assaults a week of residents nationally
>>11231745 High Court confirms more former staff have raised sexual harassment complaints against former Justice Dyson Heydon
>>11232101 Nationwide Operation Molto removes 16 children from harm, 44 Australian men facing 350 charges of possessing child exploitation material
>>11232253 Western Australian man accused of international ‘sextortion’ of 112 girls
>>11232531 Stepdad who repeatedly raped young girl before she choked newborn baby to death sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison
>>11244780 Facebook facilitates sex abuse, says Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton
>>11244780 Video: Peter Dutton Facebook Post - Fighting online child exploitation - Protecting the most vulnerable in our community is my highest priority
>>11244780 Video: Peter Dutton Facebook Post - Today Show - ACCCE Opening - Stamping out this vile crime and keeping our children safe across the country
>>11247202 AFP restrains assets from a Belgian tourist who bankrolled his Australian holiday by selling online child sex abuse material
>>11263988 Community groups recruited to help Australia's efforts to combat slavery
>>11301623 Publisher Hachette Australia admits true crime book 'Walking Towards Thunder' contained “false allegations” about the Catholic Church
>>11301647 Girl’s post-it note reveals how swim coach Kyle Daniels ‘touched’ her at pool
>>11302187 Australian Border Force works alongside e-commerce marketplace Alibaba.com to shut down offshore vendor selling childlike sex dolls
>>11302334 Video: Cairns man charged over alleged child abuse material offences
>>11319968 Joshua and Shiela McAleer: Sydney couple plead guilty to slavery-like offences against a young female tourist for years
>>11320010 Kyle Daniels trial: Girl used teddy bear to show mum where she was allegedly touched
>>11320974 PDF: Fiona Barnett Abuse Drawings offline archive
>>11340110 Video: Federal Labor MP Chris Hayes in hospital after collapsing in Parliament while delivering emotional speech about child sexual abuse
>>11355569 HIV+ pedophile Jadd William Brooker beats legal deadline to try to get lighter sentence
>>11363792 Shocking Perth 'sex ring' link to state care children sparks independent review into WA's Department for Child Protection
>>11367863 Peter Dutton right on abuse, says US body for exploited children - National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children
#10 - Part 9
Cardinal George Pell, Cardinal Angelo Becciu and Vatican Financial Scandal Allegations
>>10780524 Powerful Vatican cardinal Angelo Becciu resigns amid financial scandal, Cardinal George Pell reportedly had role in uncovering scandal
>>10793246 Cardinal Pell thanks Pope Francis after Cardinal Becciu resigns, “I hope the cleaning of the stables continues…”
>>10818136 Triumphant George Pell returns to the Vatican amid financial scandal
>>10832126 Cardinal George Pell returns to Rome for first time since child sex abuse convictions quashed
>>10866223 Acquitted Cardinal Pell back in Rome amid Vatican scandal
>>10891616 Cardinal Becciu accused of sending Vatican funds to Australia during Cardinal Pell trial
>>10898369 Cardinal Pietro Parolin: There is ‘no connection’ between Pell arrival, Becciu ouster
>>10928382 Sacked cardinal ‘used Vatican funds to bribe witnesses in Pell trial’
>>10928455 Cardinal George Pell's lawyer, Robert Richter QC calls for investigation into bribery reports
>>10939447 Lawyer Viv Waller denies Pell's accuser ever received money for evidence
>>10941326 "Those who know Cardinal George Pell, the pope’s honest former finance minister, always suspected he had been set up" - Miranda Devine
>>10960440, >>10960449 Pell hailed as 'honest George' in Italy
>>10960480 George Pell’s office denies receiving Vatican money to fund his legal defence against child sexual abuse allegations
>>10993867 In midst of cardinal scandal, Pope Francis seeks to reassure money inspectors Moneyval, Council of Europe's financial monitoring arm
>>11006048 Claim bribes paid to frame George Pell as sex abuser 'ludicrous', complainant's father says
>>11006204 Cardinal Pell’s timely return to Rome fuels rumors of his restoration as finance sheriff
>>11006573 Abuse survivors despair as Pell conspiracy breaks cover
>>11039237 Cardinal George Pell meets with Pope Francis for first time since child sexual abuse convictions quashed
>>11047759 Video: Pope Francis meets Australian Cardinal George Pell in Rome on Monday Oct 12 2020 - Channel News Asia
>>11062569 Cecilia Marogna, Italian woman in Vatican financial scandal investigation arrested
>>11148292 George Pell holds public mass in Rome for 10th anniversary of Mother Mary MacKillop’s canonisation
>>11148313 Becciu 'vigorously' denies interference in Cardinal Pell trial
>>11172489 Police given 'information' about claims of Vatican wire transfer during Pell trial
>>11206132 George Pell: Victorian corruption body chasing Vatican’s mysterious $2m cash transfers to Australia
>>11228602 Vatican Ambassador to Australia, Bishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, tests positive to Coronavirus after private meeting with Pope Francis
>>11244971 Victoria police won't investigate claims of Vatican money transfers to Australia linked to Pell case
>>11261745 The Pope and Pell: 'One of the most fascinating relationships in Rome'
>>11337982 Australian Federal Police work with Vatican investigators to probe suspect cash transfers to Australia
#10 - Part 10
George Papadopoulos Tweets, Alexander Downer and SPYGATE Revelations
>>10794132 Australia’s actions I exposed are under criminal investigation now
>>10794132 Just wait until Barr and Durham finally reveal the Australian “diplomat” was sent to secretly record my meeting with him
>>10794132 Alexander Downer is about to become a household name in America for all the wrong reasons
>>10832302 ‘The Comey Rule’ Is Distorted Liberal Fantasy of Lies, Made Up Scenes
>>10832302 Video: The Comey Rule - Scene recreating the London meeting between George Papadopoulos and Alexander Downer
>>10858846 Alexander Downer (“insurance policy”) is about to become a household name in America for all the wrong reasons
>>10866885 Alexander Downer Tweet: Why was Papadopoulos running around London telling people the Russians have dirt on a presidential candidate?
>>10866906 I reported this clown to US authorities in early 2017…glad we will expose Australia’s involvement
>>10866906 Australia wanted Clinton to win. They interfered. They bet wrong!
>>10866906 "There are players now, even ambassadors that are sitting ambassadors that were involved in this with the FBI and DOJ.”—Mark Meadows
>>10866906 Mifsud, Downer, the CIA, DIA, Halper, “Azra Turk,” and more all “bumped” into me in London
>>10872352 Alexander Downer Tweet: We said we’d be very comfortable telling Barr and Durham all we know…I’m just a phone call away!
>>10881623 Former Australian foreign minister ALEXANDER DOWNER: We kept people traffickers out… Britain can too
>>10927542 Trump will lose by making it all about himself - Alexander Downer, Australian Financial Review
>>10933464 The president must declassify records related to the CIA, the UK and Australia, and other foreign governments
>>10939721 The “Australian diplomat”…Alexander Downer. Couldn’t believe he started to record me with his phone and asked strange questions
>>10939721 Chris Steele and Alexander Downer. What did both have in common? MI6 and the Clinton campaign and foundation. Massive scandal
>>10939721 Expose the Clinton errand boy, Alexander Downer, like we did Chris Steele!
>>10959081 The Clinton errand boy is becoming increasingly unhinged. The walls are closing in on him
>>10959081 Alexander Downer, and the Australian government, were willful participants of the Obama administration to help jump start a conspiracy
>>10959081 UK and Australia are trying to stonewall the declassification!
>>10959112 President Trump Tweet: Total Declassification…pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax
>>10959339 Trump authorizes declassification of all Russia collusion, Hillary Clinton email probe documents
>>10994280 Alexander Downer Tweet: Replying to @fillerlitlecrab and @GeorgePapa19 (Any word from Durham yet?) [Laughing Face with Tears of Joy emoji]
>>11007250 Alexander Downer Tweet: The political danger for @realDonaldTrump is people may be tiring of the endless dramas
>>11034229 Donald Trump pushes for release of report into Alexander Downer and Russia inquiry
>>11112911 A little hard to be “drunk” at a meeting when I reported Alexander Downer to US authorities shortly after the meeting
>>11165994 Alexander Downer Tweet: No no! You’ve got the nutty story wrong! He wasn’t even the nominated Republican candidate when we conspired against him!
>>11230013 Diplomatic musical chairs announced by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - Erika Thompson Australia’s new ambassador to Colombia
>>11245603 Alexander Downer Tweet: @realDonaldTrump still behind. His best strategy has to be to concentrate on policy differences with @JoeBiden
>>11284519 Trump To 'Immediately Fire' FBI, CIA Directors If Reelected - "Recall that Haspel served as station chief for the CIA's London branch…"
>>11284519 Video: Tucker Carlson - Sean Davis from the Federalist talks about Gina Haspel at the CIA stopping declassification of Russia Hoax documents
#10 - Part 11
Australia / China Tensions
>>10738679 TikTok says it won’t spy on Australians or block content on Chinese orders
>>10738701 PDF: Parliament of Australia - Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media - Submissions - TikTok Australia
>>10739544 Western Australia space tracking station to cut ties with China
>>10766826 TikTok not keen to share information about who runs its Australian arm, mysterious trio listed as directors
>>10766846 Scott Morrison’s call with Japan’s Yoshihide Suga catches Beijing's ire
>>10793446 TikTok denies participation in Australia's security probes into possible interference from China
>>10851719 Beijing unhappy about ‘exclusive clique’ to attend ‘Quad’ meeting’ of Australia, US, Japan and India
>>10866991 FBI gives Australian Federal Police inside running on China tactics
>>10867017 Australian officials granted access to Cheng Lei, the Australian anchor detained in China
>>10909563 'China's gateway': Daniel Andrews' Belt and Road pitch to Beijing
>>10961153 Pompeo says U.S. and "Quad" partners must answer China's rise, "for the soul of the world"
>>11007557 'Transparency' needed in China's Yang Hengjun case, says Morrison
>>11019483 Home Affairs TikTok security review found data security protections 'inadequate'
>>11063687 Yang Hengjun: Detained Australian set to learn fate in China
>>11100143 Australian cotton growers could be the latest victims of increasingly bitter trade tensions with China
>>11124902 'Proud Australian tradition of calling out the bully': Islamic leaders praise Andrew Hastie over plight of Uighurs
>>11207638 Raided, suspended MP Shaoquett Moselmane’s return to NSW parliament
>>11272538 Jennifer Zeng Tweet: How the CCP used a 16 y/o girl to comprise an Australian politician (They secretly videotaped everything)
>>11272784 Video: How Has Biden’s Stance on China Changed while His Family Businesses Developed - Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng
>>11282304 (2005) Australia and U.S. Barring Him, Chinese Says - High-ranking Chinese diplomat defector, Chen Yonglin
>>11319855 Chinese communist party heaping praise on Brisbane City Council has raised eyebrows in Australia
>>11339826 China sends Wuhan crisis diplomat Zhou Limin to be its consul general in Sydney
>>11386043 “Operation Fox Hunt” - Why we should suspect China’s secret police are at work on our streets - Clive Hamilton, CSU Canberra
>>11386109 Rudd backs FriendlyJordies as serious ‘broadcaster’ despite controversial acts - 'Uighur population causing trouble, radicalised by CIA'
>>11386830 John Pan - They once peddled misinformation for Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon. Now they're speaking out - Echo Hui, Hagar Cohen - abc.net.au
>>11387095 Video: Oz Media (John Pan) - "A large group of hired people, known as the New China Federation came to Queensland to kill chickens."
>>11401734 Swamp in Australia that needs to drained - gnews.org
#10 - Part 12
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell - Part 1
>>10706481 Prince Andrew under immense pressure after Jeffrey Epstein's chef, Adam Perry Lang speaks to FBI
>>10730478 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: My heart gave a shudder of excitement knowing how truly scared “They” all should be
>>10730478 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: #Epstein main pilot #LarryVisowski lived it large up until his boss was dead…This is HUGE!
>>10730478 Names of EVERY passenger on Jeffrey Epstein's aircraft to be revealed…'panic among the pedophile's wealthy friends'
>>10739184 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Importing minors for the explicit use of being abused doesn’t result in loss of licence?
>>10739184 Should Epstein’s Pilots Have Foiled His Child Sex Trafficking Ring? (2019)
>>10739389 Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sex slaves ice tea and fruit to keep them ‘prepubescent-thin’, Virginia Giuffre reveals
>>10739389 BROKEN: Seeking Justice Podcast - The Enablers - Virginia Roberts Guiffre wants Jeffrey Epstein's staff to speak up
>>10752876 TRAPPED Ghislaine Maxwell said she ‘hated’ Jeffrey Epstein but she ‘couldn’t leave’ him, perv’s ex-housekeeper claims
>>10752876 BROKEN: Seeking Justice Podcast - Witness - >Some people saw more than others. But will they admit it?
>>10752932 Paul Keating’s daughter Alexandra dating Hollywood director Rupert Sanders
>>10767066 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: #Help
>>10770516 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Please be advised that I may have been hacked. I’m all good, thank you all for your concern!!
>>10794682 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: there are over 60 million people living with the same scars I wear, don’t let fear hold u back
>>10794682 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Speak up with me & help end human trafficking & child sexual abuse!! #BillBarr
>>10794682 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Police: Investigate Prince Andrew for the Historic Child Abuse Allegations Levelled Against Him
>>10794682 Change.org petition - Investigate Prince Andrew for the Historic Child Abuse Allegations Levelled Against Him
>>10927799 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Happy Birthday Queen Elizabeth Here’s my gift to you- just a memorable moment of your son
>>10927871 Video: Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal: The Newsnight Interview - BBC News (2019)
>>11063310 Ghislaine Maxwell urges US court to keep damaging deposition on Jeffrey Epstein secret
>>11166452 Ghislaine Maxwell loses bid to stop paperwork from sex abuse defamation case being made public
>>11166776 Jeffrey Epstein Sex Slave Virginia Roberts was told to drink blood during assault
>>11205423 Q Post #4921 - Ek4G8urXIAEKasf.jpg
>>11205480 Q Post #4923 - Dearest Virginia - We stand with you. Now and always. Find peace through prayer. Never give up the good fight. God bless you.
>>11205480 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: #TheGreatAwakeningWorldwide #DocumentDump #LetThePeopleDecide #EndCSAandSexTrafficking #ThankYou
>>11214488 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: #TheGreatAwakeningWorldwide #SaveTheChildren #kids #EndCSAandSexTrafficking #Epstein #GhislaineMaxwell #JeanLucBrunel
>>11229239 Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre tweeted QAnon slogans just before new Ghislaine Maxwell evidence is due to be unsealed - Alexandra Ma - insider.com
>>11231182, >>11231231 Alleged Jeffrey Epstein victims want justice, but Ghislaine Maxwell's deposition is a determined, redacted denial
>>11231345 Ghislaine Maxwell deposition: Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts Giuffre bathtub sex claim ‘not possible’
>>11231594 'Everything Virginia Roberts says is a lie': Prince Andrew repeatedly told Ghislaine Maxwell his sex accuser was untruthful, court documents reveal
#10 - Part 13
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell - Part 2
>>11245854 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Just to be clear- I am not affiliated with any political group or agenda
>>11246281 Alleged sex slave Virginia Giuffre 'very angry' names of men were redacted in Ghislaine Maxwell's unsealed deposition
>>11246742 Unsealed Maxwell deposition appears to show attorneys questioning Jeffrey Epstein's mysterious relationship with Victoria's Secret founder Les Wexner
>>11246793 Q Post #3366 - Les Wexner. Founder of Victoria's Secret. Connect the dots.
>>11246793 Q Post #3875 - [Epstein] [Wexner] The story goes much deeper [darker].
>>11246793 Q Post #4727 - Victoria's Secret reportedly continued to work with a modelling agency after it was accused of supplying underage girls to Jeffrey Epstein
>>11319526 Robert Giuffre Tweet: Where is the protection for the children victims of these soulless peds?
>>11319526 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Fellow Aussies- I know we’re a laid back country but on this matter we need to be louder than ever! Our kids are not safe
>>11319526 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Protest, Talk About It, Write About it- doing something is better than doing nothing at all.
>>11338405 Jeffrey Epstein donated $650k to Kevin Rudd’s International Peace Institute
>>11338560, >>11339269 Video: Kevin Rudd’s denial of Jeffrey Epstein donation ‘not credible’ says Peter Dutton
>>11339008 Mystery 'recruiter' for Jeffrey Epstein, Rina Oh speaks out - went shopping with victim Virginia Roberts, denies taking part in the abuse
>>11339025 BROKEN: Seeking Justice Podcast - The Recruiters - Epstein relied on a network of women to bring him new victims - one survivor tracked down her own recruiter
>>11339564 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Rina- if you read this I hope you live in shame for the rest of your life. You don’t intimidate me any longer
>>11339564 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Jeffrey Epstein 'recruiter' admits bringing girls but denies abuse” Pathetic excuses from a deranged woman who was NO victim
>>11339564 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Rina, a co-conspirator for #Epstein & #GhislaineMaxwell would go on to marry a fellow co-conspirator involved with #MichaelJackson
>>11339564 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Still being robbed of justice-…I sit here crying my eyes out over rerun & rerun of the abusers still affecting my life
>>11339586 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: This picture that Rina painted with the sliced leg bleeding is exactly what she used to do to me
>>11339586 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Rina- those were the years in which you procured & partook in the abuse of minors with #Epstein
>>11339586 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Ladies & Gentlemen meet Rina who now is pleading innocence since there’s a $VCF$ she has decided to come out as a victim
>>11355482 President of Kevin Rudd’s International Peace Institute quits over Jeffrey Epstein loan
>>11355493 PDF: Statement by the Board of the International Peace Institute - RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT TERJE RØD-LARSEN
#10 - Part 14
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition
>>10705505 Trump administration offered Assange pardon, Australian lawyer claims
>>10737120 Julian Assange removed from Ecuadorean embassy ‘on Donald Trump’s orders’
>>10740241 Assange's fiancee asks Scott Morrison to guarantee family's safety
>>10752687 Depressed Julian Assange ‘at risk of suicide’
>>10752700 Assange extradition: Key medical witness ‘failed in duty to court’
>>10766250 Assange could crochet and play bingo in supermax prison, US prosecutor claims
>>10780956 Julian Assange dramatising about psychotic thoughts, court told
>>10793133 Julian Assange's extradition decision won't be made until after the US election
>>10832076 Julian Assange extradition: US must prove leaked material was ‘closely held’ information
>>10851537 Secret witnesses to testify about plot to 'kidnap or poison' Assange
>>10858744 Trump associate ordered huge surveillance of Assange inside embassy, court told
>>10881453 Julian Assange extradition decision to be made on January 4, 2021
>>10896171 Julian Assange needs Australian government help, says lawyer Jennifer Robinson
>>11318803 Foreign Minister Marise Payne and High Commissioner George Brandis raise Assange case with US, UK
#10 - Part 15
Dassi Erlich Tweets and Malka Leifer Extradition
>>10729992 Dassi Erlich Tweet: BREAKING NEWS - LEIFER WILL BE EXTRADITED TO AUSTRALIA!! (appeal is expected) A victory for justice!!
>>10729992 Malka Leifer, alleged paedophile, should be extradited to Australia, Israeli court rules
>>10752790 Malka Leifer extradition promise ‘illegal’, claims defence
>>10766423 ‘We literally jumped for joy’ - Malka Leifer to be sent back to Australia to face 74 charges of child sex abuse
>>10766470 Video: Israeli court rules Malka Leifer should be extradited - Australian Jewish News
>>10766486 Video: Premier Daniel Andrews: 'Dassi Erlich and her sisters are heroes' - Australian Jewish News
>>11048046 Victorian sexual assault survivors have law win after government agrees to change controversial victim identification law
>>11048046 PDF: Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy: Empowering Victim-Survivors To Speak On Their Terms
>>11185484 Dassi Erlich Tweet: Israel update: As expected, appeal on the Leifer extradition decision was filed in the Supreme court last week
#10 - Part 16
Qanon / Conspiracy Theory Hit Pieces, Australia and Worldwide - Part 1
>>10706258 How Victoria’s Covid lockdown protests are galvanising Australia's right - Michael McGowan - theguardian.com
>>10706380 Just like Australia, disinformation is thriving during the US fire crisis - Jason Wilson - theguardian.com
>>10729596 Ruth Bader Ginsburg: False rumours spread online about former Supreme Court Justice - Benedict Brook - news.com.au
>>10729636 Q Post #2653 - [RBG] Why was she 'selected'? Who appointed her? Remember [her] history.
>>10729636 Senators Overlooked Radical Record of Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Phyllis Schlafly - August 23, 2005
>>10729744 Sex Bias in the U.S. Code: A Report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Key Excerpts from Q Post #2653
>>10766576 Australian Jitarth Jadeja: Former QAnon Followers Explain What Drew Them In, And Got Them Out - EJ Dickson - rollingstone.com
>>10781303 The Death Of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Pushed Me To Join The Satanic Temple - Jamie Smith - huffingtonpost.com.au
>>10781312 Q Post # 2904 - Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
>>10793340 How British grannies are spreading QAnon conspiracy theory memes on Facebook - Sue Greenwood - theconversation.com
>>10804202 'Playing with fire': The curious marriage of QAnon and wellness - Sophie Aubrey - smh.com.au
>>10818272 Why the QAnon conspiracy theory is gaining popularity - Ines Eisele & Mirjam Benecke - dw.com
>>10818469 If your friends or family have fallen for an internet conspiracy cult, here's what you should do - Van Badham - theguardian.com
>>10851652 Video: What is QAnon and why is it so dangerous? - Julia Carrie Wong - Guardian News
>>10866340 The U.S. Exported QAnon to Australia and New Zealand. Now It’s Creeping Into COVID-19 Lockdown Protests - Amy Gunia - time.com
>>10866725 US Conspiracy network comes down under - Naomi Levin - aijac.org.au
>>10940706 Conspiracy Extremism and Digital Complexity – Where to Start? - Elise Thomas - gnet-research.org
>>10940929 Increased Visibility of Far-Right Movements in Australia During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Samaya Borom - gnet-research.org
>>10960694 Facebook bans all QAnon groups as dangerous amid surging misinformation - Joseph Menn - smh.com.au
>>10960694 Facebook Newsroom Tweet: We're strengthening our enforcement efforts against the QAnon conspiracy theory movement
>>10960694 Facebook Newsroom Tweet: Our Dangerous Organizations Operations team is starting to enforce this updated policy today
>>10960706 Facebook to ban QAnon conspiracy theory content from its social media platforms - abc.net.au
>>10960764 Facebook Newsroom Post: An Update to How We Address Movements and Organizations Tied to Violence
>>10960834 Facebook, Instagram ban all QAnon conspiracy theory content ahead of US election - Jack Gramenz - news.com.au
>>10965892 Facebook's QAnon ban omits high-profile Australians linked to conspiracy theory - Christopher Knaus, Josh Taylor & Michael McGowan - theguardian.com
>>10978951 QAnon super-spreader Facebook’s latest crackdown may be doomed to fail, experts warn - Isabelle Lane - thenewdaily.com.au
>>10983442 Facebook is removing QAnon pages and groups from its sites, but critical thinking is still the best way to fight conspiracy theories - Shane Satterley - theconversation.com
>>10983540 Australian wellness celeb 'Paleo Pete' fuels 'infodemic' - Andrew Beatty, Andrew Leeson, Johnny Lieu & Tania Lee - ctvnews.ca
>>10994062 RISE OF ONLINE RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM MAPPED IN LANDMARK NSW STUDY - Macquarie University - mq.edu.au
>>10994062 PDF: Mapping Networks and Narratives of Online Right-Wing Extremists in New South Wales - Dr Brian Ballsun-Stanton, Lise Waldek & Dr Julian Droogan - Macquarie University
#10 - Part 17
Qanon / Conspiracy Theory Hit Pieces, Australia and Worldwide - Part 2
>>10994082 Web of hate: how COVID fuels QAnon and other right-wing extremists in Australia - Margot Saville - crikey.com.au
>>11002977 Video: Chef Pete Evans Instagram Post - Listen to every word spoken. New world order and homes are now dangerous (NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard)
>>11048103 QAnon is tearing families apart - Travis M. Andrews - washingtonpost.com
>>11062798 ‘The Feed’ Tackle How To Talk To Your QAnon-Obsessed Friend In This Painfully Real Sketch - Jared Richards - junkee.com
>>11062798 Video: Comedy: Dealing with your QAnon friend - Freudian Nip - The Feed SBS
>>11080829 Video: Monologue: The real appeal of QAnon - QAnon isn’t about believing conspiracies, it’s about helping to create them - Alex Lee / The Feed SBS
>>11099206 YouTube follows Twitter and Facebook with QAnon crackdown - Associated Press - 9news.com.au
>>11099206 Video: Qanon Conspiracy - Nine Weekend Today Show - Rebecca Maddern interviews former Facebook Australia CEO Stephen Scheeler
>>11100067 Trump talks QAnon and Biden talks pandemic at duelling town hall QandAs - Matthew Knott and Farrah Tomazin - smh.com.au
>>11110804 Australian Jitarth Jadeja went down the QAnon rabbit hole for two years. Here's how he got out - Bronte Lord and Richa Naik - cnn.com
>>11110863 Video: Ex-QAnon believer, Australian Jitarth Jadeja breaks his silence. How he escaped the viral cult - CNN
>>11111509 Expert on QAnon says the movement’s claims are ‘all bull sh–’ - Ellen Whinnett - goldcoastbulletin.com.au
>>11111966 Dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory spread by celebs including Roseanne Barr, James Woods and Pete Evans - Alahna Kindred - thesun.co.uk
>>11148357 TikTok Tightens Crackdown On QAnon, Will Ban Accounts That Promote Disinformation - Bobby Allyn - npr.org
>>11148943 QAnon is more than a conspiracy - Naomi Levin - aijac.org.au and Daily Telegraph, October 19 2020, p.19
>>11172586 'Vector of influence': Labor grills officials about QAnon family friend of Scott Morrison - Katharine Murphy - theguardian.com
>>11185584 Australia hasn’t seen an outbreak of outrage about the PM’s QAnoner buddy. But it should - Tory Shepherd - adelaidenow.com.au
>>11185681 Further Questions Emerge Over PM's Friend And Qanon Conspiracy - Eden Gillespie - sbs.com.au
>>11196185 Despite Reports, FBI Does Not Label QAnon Group a ‘Terrorist Threat’ - Marisa Sullivan - celebmagazine.com
>>11196206 Acting DHS chief says QAnon not a 'significant' threat but condemns the group - Devan Cole - cnn.com
>>11206227 I know a marriage killed by QAnon and Trump, with help from alienation - Matt Dooley - theguardian.com
>>11206404 Magda Szubanski targeted by coordinated 'avalanche of hate' from rightwing extremists over Covid mask ad - Josh Taylor - theguardian.com
>>11206758 Removing QAnon accounts is not the answer - Alexandra Tselios - theaustralian.com.au
>>11229239 Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre tweeted QAnon slogans just before new Ghislaine Maxwell evidence is due to be unsealed - Alexandra Ma - insider.com
>>11245205 Australian Jitarth Jadeja: How I fell into a terrifying conspiracy theory wormhole on YouTube - James Cook and Morgan Meaker - telegraph.co.uk
>>11262138 Australian Jitarth Jadeja: He’s a former QAnon believer. He doesn’t want to tell his story, but thinks it might help - Travis M. Andrews - washingtonpost.com
>>11354270 QAnon QLD: How has QAnon wormed its way into the Queensland state election? - Pete Martinelli - cairnspost.com.au
>>11354364 Facebook heeds Holocaust message - "QAnon has been associated with antisemitism" - Naomi Levin - aijac.org.au
>>11354815 How a fake persona laid the groundwork for a Hunter Biden conspiracy deluge - Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny - nbcnews.com
>>11354834 "Elise Thomas, a researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, first spotted telltale signs of a fake photo when she went searching for Typhoon Investigations"
>>11354873 Q Post #4936 - https://www.baldingsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/KVBJHB.pdf
>>11383789 Children feature in COVID-19 and QAnon conspiracies, but these just most recent examples of a 'very old, powerful fear' - Ariel Bogle and Jane Lee - abc.net.au
NEW OZ BREAD
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
Filling #10…