Beijing's new warning for Australia as it calls for 'change' from US

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in an online forum, where Australia was warned to not become part of a US-led "coalition against China".

Mr Wang blamed the US for the bitter trade war and crumbling relationship between the two superpowers that has the world on edge.

He said the relationship between China and the US was at "the lowest level since the establishment of diplomatic ties 41 years ago", and called on President-Elect Joe Biden to change course.

"It is important that the US, toward China, return to objectivity as early as possible," Mr Wang said.

"China was bullied by western powers (but) those days are long gone."

Mr Wang pointed towards US (and Western) concerns over the contested South China Sea, human rights issues in Xinjiang, and Chinese companies being blacklisted by Washington over national security concerns, saying such things were "unacceptable".

The message for change echoed similar sentiments to Beijing's list of 14 grievances with Australia, which 9News initially reported on recently.

An embassy official told 9News relations with Australia would improve if the Morrison government reversed key policy decisions.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has so far refused, saying, "Australia's sovereignty is never for sale".

China has progressively established tariffs on Australian imports, including wine, beef, lamb and coal.

The relationship between the two countries hit a nadir after a Chinese government spokesperson posted a doctored image of an Australian soldier appearing to slit the throat of an Afghani child.

Mr Morrison demanded an apology and was rebuffed, with the stoush attracting international attention.

Mr Rudd said, however, that in the feud between the US and China, concessions would need to be made.

"Both the US and China will have to change some of their policy positions at present if we are to have a common future," he said.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/china-us-tensions-australia-told-not-to-become-part-of-coalition/da474d5a-9969-4d4b-b322-c2522d104670

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

>>12090253

China: State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi

Asia Society

18 Dec 2020

Wang Yi, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China will deliver an address. He will be introduced by Asia Society Policy Institute President Kevin Rudd.

To learn more visit: https://asiasociety.org/new-york/events/china-state-councilor-and-minister-foreign-affairs-wang-yi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9c1tPn-Kic

—

China: State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi

Special Event

Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute are pleased to host His Excellency Wang Yi, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, for a special address. The minister will be introduced by the Hon. Kevin Rudd, President of the Asia Society Policy Institute and former Prime Minister of Australia.

Speakers

H.E. Wang Yi is State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. He is a member of the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Leading CPC Members Group. Previously, he was the Minister and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) (2013-2018), Director of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (2008-2013), Secretary of the CPC Committee and Vice Minister at the MFA (2007-2008), and Ambassador to Japan (2004-2007), among many other positions at the MFA. He also served as Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs at the MFA (1995-1998), when he also served as a Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University (June 1997-January 1998). He is a graduate from the Department of Asian and African Languages of Beijing Second Foreign Languages Institute where he completed an undergraduate program in Japanese, and he also holds a Master of Economics degree.

The Hon. Kevin Rudd AC is inaugural President of the Asia Society Policy Institute. He served as 26th Prime Minister of Australia (2007 to 2010, 2013) and as Foreign Minister (2010 to 2012). He is Chair of the Board of the International Peace Institute in New York, and Chair of Sanitation and Water for All – a global partnership of government and non-governmental organizations dedicated to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6. He is a Distinguished Fellow at Chatham House and the Paulson Institute, and a Distinguished Statesman with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a member of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization’s Group of Eminent Persons.

https://asiasociety.org/new-york/events/china-state-councilor-and-minister-foreign-affairs-wang-yi

Tucker Carlson Defends Julian Assange’s Journalism as Pardon Campaign Grows

Amid a growing campaign for the pardon of Julian Assange, Tucker Carlson hosted the WikiLeaks founder’s fiancée, Stella Morris, on his Fox News Channel show last night to make the case for his pardon.

In her comments to Tucker, Morris said that if Assange were extradited to the United States, it would put the WikiLeaks founder at the mercy of the foreign policy Deep State, which worked tirelessly to undermine President Trump’s authority over the past four years.

Morris urged Trump to exercise his legal authority to issue a pre-emptive pardon to Assange to keep him out of the hands of the Deep State.

“Once he [Assange] gets to the U.S. he will be in the hands of the Deep State. That’s why I pleaded with the President to show the mercy the Deep State will not show Julian if he is extradited,” she said.

Carlson defended the work of the WikiLeaks founder as legitimate journalism, a point that has also been made by President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Lawyer Alan Dershowitz has also argued that there is “no constitutional difference” between WikiLeaks and the New York Times.

“Whatever you think of Julian Assange and what he did, he is effectively a journalist. He took information and he put it in a place the public could read it,” said Tucker.

“One of the striking things about this case is that he is in jail because he released documents — which he did not steal, he simply provided a platform for those documents — that showed the U.S. government was illegally spying on me, and everybody else in this country,” Carlson continued.

“350 million Americans illegally spied upon by their government. Now, the people who did that — Clapper, Brennan, people who knew about it, participated in it, they are not being punished. But the guy who revealed that they were doing it is.”

“For what it’s worth, I think the President probably does want to pardon him,” said Tucker as he wrapped up the segment.

“I think there are a lot of sinister people who don’t want the pardon to happen.”

Despite staunch opposition from the deep state and foreign policy establishment, pardoning Assange has bipartisan support.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), a defender of President Trump’s foreign policy and a critic of the Deep State, urged a pardon for both Assange and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Both, said Rep. Gabbard, helped expose “the deception and criminality of those in the deep state.

Snowden indicated that Assange should have priority with regards to a presidential pardon.

“Mr. President, if you grant only one act of clemency during your time in office, please: free Julian Assange,” said Snowden.

“You alone can save his life.”

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/12/17/tucker-carlson-defends-julian-assanges-journalism-as-pardon-campaign-grows/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U68BClYNwco

Sarah Palin: Julian Assange Deserves a Pardon

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin added her voice to the growing chorus of conservative figures favoring a pardon of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

“I made a mistake some years ago, not supporting Julian Assange — thinking that he was a bad guy… I’ve learned a lot since then,” said Palin in a short video posted online.

WikiLeaks and Palin were once at odds, the former publishing leaked emails from the latter during the 2008 presidential campaign when Palin was the Republican candidate for vice president.

But Palin appears to have moved on from that incident, offering an unequivocal call for President Donald Trump to use the presidential pardon on behalf of Assange.

Palin said that Assange ultimately worked “on the people’s behalf to allow information to get to us so that we could make up our minds about different issues.”

“He deserves a pardon. He deserves all of us to understand more about what he has done in the name of real journalism, and that’s getting to the bottom of issues that the public really needs to hear about and benefit from,” said the former Alaska governor.

Palin joins a range of figures from across the political spectrum calling for Assange to be pardoned. These include Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), and congresswoman-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican who will represent Georgia’s 14th district in the next U.S. Congress.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has also weighed in, defending the work of WikiLeaks as legitimate journalism. In a segment on Carlson’s show, Assange’s fiancée, Stella Morris, urged President Trump not to let Assange fall into the hands of the deep state.

“Once he [Assange] gets to the U.S. he will be in the hands of the Deep State. That’s why I pleaded with the President to show the mercy the Deep State will not show Julian if he is extradited,” said Morris.

Lawyer Alan Dershowitz has also argued that there is “no constitutional difference” between WikiLeaks and the New York Times, comparing the WikiLeaks case to that of the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s.

The same comparison was made by the President’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who called the case of Assange a “First Amendment issue.”

“It is stolen property, but it has a different nature when it’s information. Let’s take the Pentagon Papers — the Pentagon Papers were stolen property, weren’t they? They were stolen from the Pentagon!” said Giuliani in a segment on Fox & Friends. “Given to the New York Times and the Washington Post. No one went to jail at the New York Times or Washington Post.”

“We’ve had revelations under the Bush administration… Abu Ghraib, all of that is stolen property, taken from the government against the law.”

“Once it gets to a media publication, they can publish it. They can publish it for the purpose of informing people.”

“You can’t put Assange in a different position than that — he was a guy who communicated. We may not like what he communicated, but he was a media facility. He was putting that information out. Every newspaper, station, grabbed it and published it.”

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/12/19/sarah-palin-julian-assange-deserves-a-pardon/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-KLfmgRwk

Why Cardinal Pell’s prison diaries are an inspiring read

Cardinal ­George Pell’s prison diary may not sound like an uplifting read, but its narrative reveals a man who has grown, transcended even, through his trials.

Piers Akerman - December 19, 2020

A prison diary may not seem like cheery Christmas reading but the first volume of Cardinal ­George Pell’s Prison Journal trilogy is that and more, it’s a tonic, an inspiration and an instruction in humanity and decency in the face of adversity.

Cardinal Pell, now in Rome, spent more than 400 days in solitary confinement after suffering at the hands of the Victorian government’s police and ­judiciary.

It took his final appeal to the High Court nearly nine months ago to ­endorse the view of a single member, Justice Mark Weinberg, of that state’s three-member Court of Appeal, that the cardinal was innocent.

Lesser men than George Pell might well have despaired in the face of the outrageous reporting by the ABC and the Nine Media of the clearly implausible charges, the incomprehensible claims made by the police and prosecution, and the flawed findings of the Victorian Supreme Court but the cardinal’s faith and resolve only strengthened during his ordeal.

It was a truly shameful episode for the Victorian police, already deeply compromised by their corrupt ­engagement of Lawyer X, Nicola Gobbo, as an informant while she was acting as counsel for a number of ­alleged criminals.

Equally grotesque was the decision by Melbourne University Press to rush into print with a disgraceful book by former Moove milk model Louise Milligan, who was disgustingly promoted by the taxpayer-funded ABC and even presented with a Melbourne Press Club Golden Quill award and the Walkley Book award for her work titled Cardinal: The Rise And Fall Of George Pell.

A narrative which has had to be ­corrected and should — if MUP and Milligan had a skerrick of the integrity of Cardinal Pell — be withdrawn with apologies.

Knowing he was innocent, finding solace in his actual suffering, and ­greatly supported by friends and ­family, the cardinal has grown, transcended even, through his trials. I asked him early on Thursday via a Zoom conference, whether he intended to pursue the Victorian government for wrongful or malicious prosecution and whether he would seek damages for the defamatory claims made against him by the Left-wing media, but he told me he would not.

Now 79, he is more focused on the positive experiences he found in prison.

He has, he said, been delighted with the progress on the inquiries into the Vatican finances, which he led before the false charges were laid against him.

The climate for reform is now very different from when he took on the challenge in the face of great ­resistance from powerful forces within the Church.

However, he believes there may have been a connection between his work on reforming Vatican finances and the prosecution though he is clear that there is no proof that money from Rome was used to pervert the course of justice.

“What we can say is that one of the monsignors quoted in the Italian press has said he has seen evidence of money going from Rome to Australia,” he added.

The most depressing thing, he found, was that the Supreme Court of Victoria found that he was guilty when great legal minds around the world pointed out the numerous flaws and fallacies in the case.

He believes that the Victorian police were either duped or that their work was very sloppy and said he had been told the Office of Public Prosecutions had refused three times to consent to the charges going forward and that the gossip was that the Victorian police took the action themselves and paid for the prosecution out of their budget.

Just as the disgraced Gobbo was paid to breach lawyer-client confidentiality to provide Victorian police with information and convictions.

The cardinal said there was a point of view, which he supported, that there was a current of anti-Catholicism ­running through the whole state like osmosis. Through the Labor government, the police, the legal framework, inducing a state of mind which affected even some members of the conservative ­Opposition.

He called it “woke thinking”, or “Green thinking” and said there was a need for greater social conservatism.

On that point, the thousands of ­people who wrote letters of support to Cardinal Pell during his shameful per­iod of imprisonment could only agree.

Merry Christmas. Be uplifted.

Cardinal George Pell: Prison ­Journal Volume 1 is available through Freedom Publishing Books and Ignatius Press.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/why-cardinal-pells-prison-diaries-are-an-inspiring-read/news-story/30ce9b238a277dc51efaa12c11c5e846

The damage Donald Trump is doing may never be undone

TROY BRAMSTON - DECEMBER 19, 2020

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Donald Trump’s refusal to accept that he lost the presidential election, his failure to concede to Joe Biden and his many attempts to overturn the result is more than just the deranged and demented actions of a sore loser. It is a repudiation of the grand American tradition of a dignified and graceful transfer of power.

It is convention for the defeated candidate to accept the election outcome, congratulate their opponent, wish them well, and call on their supporters to do the same.

This is a heavy responsibility that every defeated candidate in the past century has readily embraced. And it is fundamental to bringing the country together after an election and legitimising the new president.

Al Smith gave the first radio concession speech in 1928, and Adlai Stevenson gave the first on television in 1952. Some of the greatest speeches have been delivered by candidates in the crucible of defeat, still hurting and disappointed. It usually takes place on election night or in the days or weeks after election day. Trump has not given any such speech.

There is also the customary private phone call between the victor and the vanquished. It requires humility. This convention began with William Jennings Bryan who sent a congratulatory telegram to William McKinley in 1896. There has been no such gracious message or phone call from Trump to Biden.

Then there is the meeting between the incoming and outgoing president. The media are invited to record for history the handshake that is emblematic of a change of government conducted in a spirit of goodwill. Barack Obama invited Trump to the White House in 2016. Biden has not received his invitation. Biden did, however, meet with incoming Vice-President Mike Pence four years ago.

Nor has there been top-level co-operation between the Biden-Harris transition team and the White House. This custom was started by Harry Truman who invited Dwight D. Eisenhower to send his staff and cabinet members to meet his team in 1952. Jimmy Carter — a one-term president like Trump — sent this message to Ronald Reagan in 1980: “I congratulate you and I pledge to you our fullest support and co-operation in bringing about an orderly transition of government.”

Then there is the traditional letter left on the Resolute Desk for the incoming president. Reagan wrote to George H.W. Bush in 1989: “(I) wish you all the very best. You’ll be in my prayers.” Bush wrote to Bill Clinton in 1993: “Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you.” Clinton wrote to George W. Bush in 2001: “I salute you and wish you success and much happiness.” Bush wrote to Obama in 2009: “You will have … a country that is pulling for you, including me.” And Obama wrote to Trump in 2017: “Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best … we stand ready to help in any ways which we can.”

Will Trump pen such a letter to Biden? Not a chance.

(continued)

>>12098003

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The most visible sign of the transfer of power from one president to another is the inauguration, traditionally held on the steps of the US Capitol. This is a celebration of democracy where presidents past, outgoing and incoming gather to legitimise the election result. Biden, as vice-president, attended Trump’s inauguration in 2017 with Obama.

Trump has not yet said whether he will attend Biden’s inauguration. Trump’s no-show would represent another trashing of convention. John Adams and John Quincy Adams — father and son — refused to attend their successors’ inaugurations in 1801 and 1829. The only other president to refuse an invitation is Andrew Johnson in 1869. Trump would be the fourth.

The meeting of the Electoral College in state capitols this week, where electors cast their votes for president reflecting the will of the voters, is past time for Trump to accept that he lost the election and Biden won.

Biden’s Electoral College victory effectively ends any hope Trump had for remaining president. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell finally congratulated Biden this week. It is shameful that it took him so long.

It is worth noting there were no so-called “faithless electors” this year. In other words, no elector decided to break ranks and not vote for who they were pledged to vote for. Some states make this illegal. But in 2016, there were seven faithless electors so Trump received 304 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 227. This year, Biden received 306 votes to Trump’s 232. So, Biden won more votes than Trump.

But Trump has not accepted Biden’s Electoral College mandate. Nor has he faced up to the fact that he lost the popular vote by a large margin of more than seven million votes. Trump received 46.8 per cent of the vote to Biden’s 51.3 per cent. Trump’s defeat was clear and convincing.

Instead, Trump launched an assault on the electoral system. While Trump’s presidency has gone from farce to tragedy — manifest in his disastrous response to COVID-19 — it is now in a new toxic phase. Trump has done what no other US president has done before: rejected the democratic process and systematically tried to overturn it. These are the actions of an autocrat not a democrat.

Trump’s claims of a rigged election and widespread fraud have not changed the result. His call to stop counting votes was ignored. His recounts did not produce a different outcome. His lawsuits have not succeeded. The Supreme Court ruled that his claim of vote fraud had no merit. And his intimidation of state officials to overturn results have failed. This behaviour is contemptible.

But this reprehensible presidency has opened a new battleground in US politics. The US electoral system is under strain, even though its integrity has endured. In trying to change the election result, Trump has shattered yet more norms and conventions, and sought to subvert legally certified votes. Trump has poisoned the electoral process by not accepting its legitimacy. This will have a lasting impact.

The upshot is that this is a perilous and pitiful moment for the US. It is what many of the founders feared. In his farewell address in 1796, George Washington warned against “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” who would “subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government”.

For now, the electoral institutions and the individuals responsible for them have upheld the will of the voters to determine their president. They have not broken but they have been stress-tested.

Danger has been averted but only because they held fast to the founding creed and values of the great republic that Trump has tried to destroy.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/the-damage-donald-trump-is-doing-may-never-be-undone/news-story/6efc1f8e7adbcbdc453e841bf335a726

Cardinal Pell claims public opinion turned against him because of his 'conservative views'

The former Vatican treasurer also likened jail to being in seminary

Cardinal Pell has said that his “conservative views” turned public opinion against him, as he likened being in prison to being in seminary.

The 79-year-old former Vatican treasurer, who was one of the Pope’s most senior advisors, left the Vatican in 2017 to fight criminal charges in Australia.

However in December 2018 the cardinal, who always maintained his innocence, was convicted of sexually molesting two choirboys in Melbourne cathedral in the mid-1990s. He was the highest-ranking Catholic figure to receive such a conviction and the case rocked the church.

He spent 404 days in prison – much of it in solitary confinement – while his conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal, before the Australian High Court unanimously overthrew it in April this year.

In his first broadcast interview in the UK following his release, Cardinal Pell said he would not apologise for his conservative views, but had said sorry "many times" for the Church's crimes of sexual abuse.

The Australian cleric rose in prominence as a strong supporter of traditional Catholic values, often taking conservative views and advocating for priestly celibacy.

He was asked if he accepted any responsibility regarding public anger with the Catholic Church at the time of his trial.

In response, he told BBC's Radio 4's Sunday programme: “Public opinion was very hostile to the Catholic Church both because of the extent of the paedophilia, [and] the way it was sometimes dealt with….

“The atmosphere was hostile, I was certainly one of the figures identified with this old bad church.”

He also said there was "no doubt" that his direct style and traditional approach to issues such as abortion had contributed to a hostile atmosphere.

He added: “I think my style is rather direct. I think there's no doubt whatsoever that my social conservatism, the fact that I actually defend christian teachings on life, family, seuxality, beginning and end of life, I think there's no doubt this is irritating to a lot of people.

“My direct style probably contributed, but for my basic Christian positions I make no apology at all, although I've many times apologised for the crimes committed by church people.”

He said that while he regretted what had happened within the Church, he was "able to sleep quite well on most occasions".

"I deeply lament the suffering of so many people, but I am also proud of the efforts that we have made in Australia for over 25 years - as inadequate as those might have been."

Cardinal Pell also likened his time in segregation in prison to being in a seminary, where those training to be priests used to endure periods of silence and isolation.

In his new book, Prison Journal, which marks the first volume of his prison diaries, the Cardinal reflects on being accused and imprisoned, and on the wider meaning of suffering in Christianity.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/20/cardinal-pell-claims-public-opinion-turned-against-conservative/

—

BBC Radio 4 - Sunday

Cardinal Pell's prison journal

In 2019 Cardinal George Pell was sentenced to six years in prison for 'historical sexual assault offences'. Earlier this year the Australian High Court voted 7-0 to overturn the original convictions. In a frank interview, the man who was once the third most powerful person in the Catholic Church reflects on his time inside jail, what he feels about his past handling of abuse allegations and the man whose accusations put him behind bars for 404 days.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000qhft

22:40

Ben Roberts-Smith pictured cheering soldiers drinking from the prosthetic leg of a man he shot

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Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith was photographed cheering on an American soldier drinking from the prosthetic leg of a suspected Afghan militant whose death is now the subject of a war crimes investigation into the war hero.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have obtained two photographs that show Mr Roberts-Smith, the country’s most decorated living soldier, posing with the prosthetic leg which was used as a novelty drinking vessel.

The photographs appear at odds with claims made by Mr Roberts-Smith’s lawyer in the Federal Court last year that the war hero was utterly disgusted by the use of the leg as a drinking vessel. Lawyer Bruce McClintock stressed Mr Roberts-Smith “never drank from that thing … Because he thought it was disgusting to souvenir a body part, albeit an artificial one from someone who had been killed in action."

Mr McClintock also told the Federal Court Mr Roberts-Smith had been the one who had killed the disabled Afghan militant, saying he was a member of the Taliban. That killing is suspected by police to be an execution and is now the subject of an Australian Federal Police war crimes inquiry and a preliminary prosecution brief of evidence.

The first photo depicts Mr Roberts-Smith some time after the killing in 2009 fist-pumping as an American soldier drinks a beer from the leg in a makeshift Afghan bar known as the Fat Lady’s Arms set up inside Australia’s special forces base in Tarin Kowt.

In the other photo Mr Roberts-Smith is seen grinning with his arm draped around a different US soldier wearing a cowboy hat and posing with the prosthetic leg.

The Age and Herald reported two years ago that the leg had been removed from a dead Afghan by another soldier in March 2009 and had been taken to use as a beer drinking vessel. In 2018, The Age and Herald reported how the leg was sometimes mounted on a wooden plaque with an Iron Cross and the heading “Das Boot”.

The fake limb gained further notoriety earlier this month when photos of soldiers and non-commissioned officers drinking from it were leaked to The Guardian. The photos supplied to The Guardian did not include any images of Mr Roberts-Smith posing with the leg.

Multiple official sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing, have told The Age and Herald Mr Roberts-Smith will face fresh war crimes inquiries in addition to ongoing federal police taskforces already probing him.

The sources confirmed that the federal police are investigating Mr Roberts-Smith over multiple eyewitness accounts from his fellow Special Air Service Regiment soldiers who allege he executed the unarmed Afghan militant wearing the leg in an operation in Kakarak, Southern Afghanistan, on Easter Sunday, 2009. That alleged execution is the subject of a preliminary criminal brief recently submitted by the federal police to Commonwealth prosecutors.

Police are also investigating allegations, made by SASR insiders, that Mr Roberts-Smith and a second soldier pressured a junior trooper to execute a second Afghan found in the same Kakarak compound in a “blooding” incident. “Blooding” is the pressuring of junior soldiers to summarily execute prisoners. The practice was identified in the Brereton Inquiry report into allegations of war crimes by a small clique of Australian SAS soldiers in Afghanistan.

The Brereton report identified a “warrior culture” that allowed war crimes to be allegedly committed. Without naming any individual, the Brereton report found 25 special forces soldiers may have executed 39 Afghans and called on the federal police to launch multiple fresh inquiries.

It separately criticised the unruly or skylarking behaviour of some soldiers at the Fat Lady’s Arms.

The Brereton Inquiry intensively investigated Mr Roberts-Smith for three years, but his suspected role in multiple war crimes has only been publicly exposed by whistleblower accounts provided to The Age and Herald.

A confidential AFP letter sent in late 2019 stated detectives had obtained “eyewitness” accounts implicating him in suspected war crimes. In addition to the Kakarak killings, the taskforces have also submitted a preliminary brief of evidence to prosecutors about allegations Mr Roberts-Smith kicked a prisoner named Ali Jan off a cliff in 2012.

The AFP letter was revealed in defamation proceedings that Mr Roberts-Smith has launched against The Age and Herald. Mr Roberts-Smith has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

(continued)

>>12113707

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Hundreds of photos exist depicting dozens of soldiers and officers drinking from the boot and the selective leaking of a small number of them at the Fat Lady’s Arms to The Guardian has partly shifted the focus onto whistleblowers or witnesses, and away from soldiers accused of actually executing prisoners.

The Guardian story, written by freelance journalist Rory Callinan, included photos of two soldiers with faces blurred posing with the boot. The story claimed “rank-and-file” soldiers believe they have been unfairly criticised by the Brereton report and suggest that drinking from the boot could be classified as the war crime of pillaging because the leg was property taken without the consent of its owner.

The article did not mention the allegation the Afghan man wearing the leg had been allegedly executed, or that Mr Roberts-Smith was a police suspect.

More than a dozen defence sources said the two soldiers in the photos published by Mr Callinan and the Guardian were part of a group of suspected witnesses rumoured to be assisting the federal police war crimes taskforce. The sources said one of the two soldiers depicted in The Guardian had, in 2017, disclosed his own role in removing and handling the leg. This was also not reported in the Guardian article.

Despite efforts to contact him, Mr Callinan could not be reached before deadline. Sources at The Guardian said the British media giant was unaware the two soldiers depicted in the photos it published could be police witnesses.

There is no suggestion Mr Roberts-Smith provided the photos of the two soldiers turned suspected police witnesses or is connected to the Guardian reports. However, the former soldier is working with public relations firm Cato & Clive and public relations operative and former journalist Ross Coulthart.

The work of the two federal police taskforces will be reviewed and subsumed in coming weeks by the Office of the Special Investigator, created by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in November, as it creates a 75-strong team of federal and state police detectives, prosecutors and experts.

Multiple official sources said a key task for the office, partly led by former top Victorian judge Mark Weinberg, will be deciding how to manage the evidence about Mr Roberts-Smith’s alleged war crimes already uncovered by federal police taskforces.

Some commentators, including former head of defence Admiral Chris Barrie, have queried if the Brereton inquiry adequately considered the question of officer and senior command responsibility, despite exhaustive investigations into this issue by the Brereton probe. Others have attacked defence force chief Angus Campbell over his handling of the Brereton Report and his call to support the stripping of a meritorious unit citation to from the SASR.

The Brereton report said forensic investigations and hundreds of interviews had unearthed no direct knowledge or involvement by officers in war crimes. But the inquiry still concluded some commanders bore a moral and leadership responsibility for the alleged executions concealed from them by soldiers. Suspected war crimes whistleblowers and witnesses have also been targeted in some recent media reports, according to defence sources.

Australian Defence Association chief executive Neil James wrote on Friday that, “to our national detriment, much of the public discussion on war crimes alleged to have been committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan is focusing on secondary, peripheral or irrelevant issues.”

“Straw-man arguments have also been peddled by those with other agendas, including a wish to obscure the key fact that premeditated and systemic war crimes were [allegedly] committed, and that they were inexcusable,” he wrote. Mr James stressed individuals accused were entitled to presumption of innocence.

Mr Roberts-Smith has made several media statements including the false claim that a media tip off - and not a referral from the Brereton Inquiry and the defence force - had prompted the police inquiries into his behaviour.

A statement promising the release of new photos showing officers drinking out of the boot was circulated this week among the SASR, veterans groups and journalists, although its authenticity could not be verified.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-pictured-cheering-soldiers-drinking-from-the-prosthetic-leg-of-a-man-he-shot-20201220-p56p2y.html

>>12088511

'CLEARLY A WITNESS' French investigators want to quiz Prince Andrew after charging modelling boss with abusing girls

FRENCH investigators want to quiz Prince Andrew after yesterday charging a modelling boss with abusing girls.

Jean-Luc Brunel, 74, is alleged to have shared Jeffrey Epstein “sex slave” Virginia Roberts Giuffre with the royal.

Brunel is also accused of supplying girls for an orgy on the billionaire’s “Paedo Island” in the Caribbean.

He and Andrew strongly deny any wrongdoing.

Epstein died in jail last year.

French officials have been probing Epstein’s crimes since August.

A source said: “We have issued numerous appeals for witnesses and Prince Andrew is clearly a witness to Epstein’s conduct over many years.

“Beyond that Andrew is said to have visited Epstein’s home in Paris and had relations with the victims Brunel is accused of abusing.

“Andrew’s testament is crucial and he could of course be summoned.”

Investigators could legally apply to quiz the Duke, 60, in France but his royal status would create difficulties.

Lisa Bloom, lawyer for an alleged victim of Brunel, said yesterday: “At long last another accused Epstein enabler is being brought to justice.

"Prince Andrew — time to make good on your promise of co-operating with authorities, or you may be next.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13526408/investigators-quiz-prince-andrew-model-agent/

Australian writer detained in Beijing has trial delayed by three months

Chinese authorities appear to have delayed Australian writer Yang Hengjun's trial by three months, almost two years after he was detained in Beijing.

Australian officials visited Dr Yang on Thursday last week but government sources said they had still not been informed on the exact details of the allegations being levelled against the University of Technology Sydney PhD graduate.

Dr Yang was formally charged in October with espionage, paving the way for him to face trial later this month or in January. But sources familiar with the case have confirmed the trial has now been postponed by three months, meaning it is likely to be moved to April next year.

There are still no details about the exact nature of the espionage charges against Dr Yang, a pro-democracy blogger who was born in China and once worked for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 55-year-old has been isolated in a Beijing prison and allegedly tortured in an attempt to extract a confession on the unspecified claims. Chinese authorities have been unable to extract a confession from Dr Yang, despite more than 300 rounds of interrogation using forms of alleged torture including severe sleep deprivation.

He was also denied any visits from friends, family and Australian officials for an eight-month period from December, 2019, which Chinese authorities blamed on the COVID-19 outbreak. Prior to that, Dr Yang was allowed a monthly half-hour visit from a representative from the Australian consulate.

Dr Yang was detained in January last year and formally arrested by the Beijing State Security Bureau on August 23 on suspicion of endangering Chinese national security. Chinese authorities have declined to specify the claims against the pro-democracy activist who became an Australian citizen in 2002.

Espionage law in China applies the death penalty to particularly serious cases that involve sabotage causing heavy losses or instructing an enemy attack.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International called on Chinese authorities to release Dr Yang "immediately and unconditionally unless there is sufficient credible and admissible evidence that he has committed an internationally recognised offence and is granted a fair trial in line with international standards".

Pending his release, the human rights group said China needed to ensure Dr Yang had regular, unrestricted access to visits from consular staff and family and lawyers, and give him immediate access to any medical care he may need.

Dr Yang is among several Australians detained by Chinese authorities. Chinese-Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei is also being held by state security on unknown claims.

Concern from friends and family of Australians detained in China have heightened amid an escalating diplomatic and trade dispute between Canberra and Beijing this year.

But earlier this month, Australian citizen Sadam Abdusalam, was able to reunite with his wife Nadila and and three-year-old son Lutfy, members of China's Uighur Muslim minority who had been under house arrest.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australian-writer-detained-in-beijing-has-trial-delayed-by-three-months-20201221-p56p90.html

Kyle Daniels: Jury dismissed after failing to reach a verdict on most child sex abuse charges faced by Mosman swim coach

The jury in the trial of Kyle Daniels, the former Mosman swim instructor accused of sexually abusing his young students, has been discharged after failing to reach a verdict on most of the charges faced by the young coach.

The jurors had deliberated for a day and a half before being discharged by District Court Judge Kara Shead on Monday.

They cleared Mr Daniels of five charges relating to the same girl at 1pm on Thursday, about 3.5 hours after beginning their deliberations.

But an early note to the judge made it clear there were deep divisions.

A second note, advising the five verdicts had been reached, contained a declaration of stalemate on the remaining 21 charges.

By Thursday afternoon the jury had sent a third, reading: “With all due respect we are at a deadlock and no amount of time would result in a different outcome.”

One juror was discharged on Friday due to travel plans and another on Monday due to the northern beaches COVID-19 lockdown.

At about midday on Monday, the remaining 10 jurors wrote yet another note, which Judge Shead described as “expressing in considered and absolute terms that there is no prospect of agreement”.

It came after the jury asked for clarification on the meaning of “reasonable doubt”.

Judge Shead thanked the 10 jurors for their service and discharged them, noting it may be “a relief” for some.

Mr Daniels now faces a potential retrial over the remaining charges, which involve all nine girls.

The Knox Grammar graduate was 20 years old and studying sports science at Sydney University when he was arrested for child sex abuse on March 12, 2019.

He was initially charged over police allegations involving the touching of a girl, 8, and her 6 year old sister.

Seven more girls came forward after Mr Daniels was arrested in a blaze of publicity.

He was ultimately hit with 26 charges relating to 23 alleged incidents at the Mosman swim centre between February 2018 and February 2019.

Mr Daniels has vigorously denied the allegations.

His trial in the NSW District Court ran for seven weeks, much of it consumed by evidence from the nine girls and their parents.

The prosecution claimed the youngest was five years old when she was allegedly touched by Mr Daniels; the oldest 10.

Crown prosecutor Karl Prince argued Mr Daniels was driven by a sexual interest in his students and brazenly touched them for his own sexual gratification despite the high risk of getting caught.

Mr Daniels’ barrister Leslie Nicholls attacked the Crown case from multiple directions in his forceful closing address.

He honed in on inconsistencies and errors in the girls’ stories, including one who said she had been touched 3-5 times in eight lessons she had with Mr Daniels when the swim centre records showed she had just three.

Mr Nicholls sought to paint a picture of a police investigation that targeted the young coach from the minute he was arrested.

Mr Daniels remained on bail throughout the trial and was supported by his parents, usually both of them, every day in court.

The matter will return to court for a mention in February 2021.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/kyle-daniels-jury-dismissed-after-failing-to-reach-a-verdict-on-most-child-sex-abuse-charges-faced-by-mosman-swim-coach/news-story/b3f59542fb2aacf15d97d69a0bf85b89

Scathing hotel quarantine report exposes failures by Andrews, ministers and public servants

Clay Lucas - December 21, 2020

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It’s hard to know where to start when dissecting the many and varied failings by Premier Daniel Andrews, his ministers and his public servants detailed in retired judge Jennifer Coate’s scathing 325-page report into Victoria’s hotel quarantine program.

So shoddy were the processes behind the Victorian government’s decision to use private security to guard Melbourne’s 16 quarantine hotels from April to June that Coate has found neither the Premier "nor his ministers had any active role in, or oversight of, the decision about how that enforcement would be achieved".

Proceeding with the hotel quarantine program was a decision made entirely without forward planning – despite a decade of warnings that a pandemic would one day hit Australia.

"None of the existing Commonwealth or state pandemic plans contained plans for mandatory, mass quarantine," Coate’s report found. The concept of hotel quarantine was "considered problematic".

It also proved fateful – it was security guards who inadvertently seeded the vast majority of Victoria’s tragic second wave of infections.

Among thousands of documents handed to the inquiry, not one shows why the decision to use private security was taken – a finding "likely to shock the public", Coate wrote.

What might surprise the Victorian public further is the extent to which the default position within the state government has become to simply outsource anything it can – in part to cover itself from blame for failures.

What Coate's report makes clear is that, when the decision on how to run a hotel quarantine program for Victoria came up, almost no one in the political class or the public service thought for a moment of anything but private security.

That decision seems to have been made with barely any process being followed by Andrews, his ministers and public servants.

Coate found that using private security in quarantine hotels instead of the police or army should have been decided after carefully weighing the benefits, risks and options available. However, at the fateful meeting on March 27 where it was decided, "there was no evidence that any such considered process occurred … until the outbreaks occurred".

Ironic, then, that the group establishing hotel quarantine, led by the Health Department, named it Operation Soteria after the Greek goddess of safety.

(continued)

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This report is comprehensive in its way – it is certainly highly critical of the government – but not even a $5.7 million inquiry could work out precisely who made the decision to use private security.

"Somewhat ironically," Coate points out, the pursuit of an answer there "occupied a far greater amount of time and energy during the inquiry than it did" in the March 27 meeting that settled on private guards.

"No person or agency claimed any responsibility for the decision to use private security as the first tier of security. All vigorously disputed the possibility they could have played a part in 'the decision'."

Worse, when deciding who should staff quarantine hotels to "guard" 21,821 returned travellers, no one even considered the police or army.

"At no time" at the March 27 meeting, Coate found, "did it appear there was any consideration of the respective merits of private security versus police versus Australian Defence Force.

"Instead, an early mention of private security rather than police grew into a settled position."

Coate’s report finds a discussion on which private security firms to use went on in a WhatsApp group between Jobs Department public servants. These officers appeared not to know there was a list of firms they could use that had "publicly available details, including email and mobile numbers, on a website" – a list The Age found in June using Google.

The guarding of quarantine hotels was one of the most important jobs Andrews’ government had to decide on in March as the pandemic unfolded.

And yet nobody objected when a highly subcontracted industry with a high proportion of shonks working in it was given the job. Adding insult, his government blithely released a report on how broken the private security industry was at the same time that the industry was becoming the vector for the spread of COVID-19 outside quarantine hotels.

Private security firms outsourced their work to subcontractors despite there being "no adequate oversight", Coate found. This largely casualised workforce was then employed "in an environment where staff had a high likelihood of being exposed to the highly infectious COVID-19".

This, Coate found, was inappropriate.

Ideally, "a fully salaried, highly structured workforce with a strong industrial focus on workplace safety, such as Victoria Police, would have been a more appropriate cohort", she wrote.

On Tuesday, Andrews concurred, telling reporters that, if he had his time again, "I would prefer that police had been chosen to do that work".

He won’t get his time again. Neither will the 801 people who died, nor 18,000 more who got coronavirus after it escaped Victoria’s quarantine hotels because of the stark failings of Andrews and his government that this report lays bare.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/scathing-report-exposes-failures-by-andrews-ministers-and-public-servants-20201221-p56paf.html

—

COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry Final Report and Recommendations

https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/file_uploads/0387_RC_Covid-19_Final_Report_Volume_1_v21_Digital_77QpLQH8.pdf

https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/file_uploads/0387_RC_Covid-19_Final_Report_Volume_2_v21_Digital_h1LPjbnZ.pdf

https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council/tabled-documents/search-tabled-documents/details/3/10188?fromForm=1

More transmissible strain of COVID-19 brought into Australia from UK

A strain of COVID-19 that transfers quicker than previous mutations has been brought into Australia by UK travellers, NSW Health has confirmed.

A more virulent strain of COVID-19 that has stopped the United Kingdom in its tracks has arrived in Australia, it has been confirmed.

On Monday, NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant confirmed two travellers from the UK had brought the new strain into the country.

“Today I’m advised that we’ve had a couple of UK returned travellers with the particular mutations you’re referring to,” Dr Chant told reporters.

The World Health Organisation first identified the new strain in September and it has been named the “VUI-202021/01” variant.

The genetic material in the virus that controls the spike protein – which allows COVID and other viruses to penetrate hosts cells – are where the mutations have occurred.

Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, says there are 23 changes to the virus’ genetic material – which is an unusually large number and helps it to spread quicker than earlier strains.

It is believed to be 70 per cent more transmissible than previous strains, according to modelling, but it is not known whether it leads to a more intense illness.

However, scientists believe the new strain will not be resistant to a vaccine.

“Our working assumption from all the scientists is that the vaccine response should be adequate for this virus,” Dr Vallance said on the weekend.

Although Dr Chant confirmed VUI202012/01 was in Australia, she did not say whether the two people who tested positive for it were currently in hotel quarantine.

None of the 83 cases that have arisen out of the cluster in Sydney’s northern beaches have matched the UK strain through genomic sequencing.

“Can I be very clear that the Avalon cluster strain does not have those mutations,” Dr Chant said.

“But the key point, regardless, is that we need to treat all people with that end-to-end process of making sure that they’re not coming in contact and there is not a risk of exposure to any residents in New South Wales.”

The UK’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said the new variant was responsible for 60 per cent of infections in London in December, which have nearly doubled in the past week.

The new strain has forced London and the UK’s southeast to be placed under the strictest lockdown rules, known as “Tier 4”.

They are the strongest restrictions in the UK since the beginning of the pandemic in March.

Non-essential shops, gyms, cinemas, hairdressers and bowling alleys will be forced to close for two weeks, while people will be restricted to meeting one other person from another household in an outdoor public space.

Canada and several European nations including Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands have slammed their borders shut to the UK.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/more-transmissible-strain-of-covid19-brought-into-australia-from-uk/news-story/38ab9a0522ab61cfa2295c09342c6b7d

Trump awards Scott Morrison legion of merit for 'leadership in addressing global challenges'

Scott Morrison has been awarded a prestigious US military decoration for “leadership in addressing global challenges” and strengthening the Australia and United States partnership.

Donald Trump gave the legion of merit to Morrison, along with former and current leaders of US allies including Japan and India.

The awards to Morrison, Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi were presented by the US national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, on Monday evening Washington time.

The legion of merit is a US military decoration which is also conferred on military and political figures of foreign governments.

According to the official national security council Twitter account, Morrison’s award was “for his leadership in addressing global challenges and promoting collective security”.

It was accepted by the Australian ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos, who said the US president had also recognised that Morrison had “strengthened the partnership between the United States and Australia”.

Morrison is not the first Australian recipient of the award. It has been awarded to, among others, former prime minister Robert Menzies, former chiefs of army Angus Campbell and David Morrison, and former chief of the defence force and current governor general David Hurley.

The awards for Indian prime minister Modi and former Japanese prime minister Abe were also accepted by those countries’ ambassadors.

Modi was praised for “elevating the US-India strategic partnership” while Abe was awarded “for his leadership and vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

Since becoming prime minister in August 2018, Morrison has closely courted Trump, and was rewarded in September 2019 with a full ceremonial welcome on his US trip.

During that trip Morrison attended a Trump rally in Wapakoneta, Ohio and praised Trump’s political priorities, expressing a view that the pair “share a lot of the same views”.

Although friendly relations with the president of the US are generally considered a positive for the Australian prime minister, polling suggests most Australians would have voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Following Trump’s defeat in the November presidential election, Morrison joined other world leaders in congratulating Biden on the win.

The former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has accused Morrison of being “dazzled and duchessed” by Trump, warning that after Morrison went “full-in” with his US counterpart on foreign affairs and climate change, he now needs to change direction to avoid Australia being seen as a “Trump-lite refuge in the southern hemisphere”.

Since Biden’s election Australia has become increasingly isolated on climate change policy, as the US pursues net zero emissions which Morrison has resisted nominating as Australia’s official emissions reduction target.

Australia is also embroiled in a trade dispute with China partly motivated by Morrison’s call for World Health Organization inspectors to gain “weapons inspector” style powers to investigate the origin of Covid-19, a move in line with Trump’s harsh rhetoric on China’s handling of coronavirus.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/22/trump-awards-scott-morrison-legion-of-merit-for-leadership-in-addressing-global-challenges

https://twitter.com/WHNSC/status/1341154229537435650

https://twitter.com/A_Sinodinos/status/1341216915147075589

https://twitter.com/WHNSC/status/1341151618306363393

Five Malaysian men detained as ABF target foreign worker exploitation in Perth construction industry

Five Malaysian men in Perth have been detained by the Australian Border Force following their suspected involvement in a foreign worker exploitation syndicate within the construction industry.

The men — all living in Australia illegally — were arrested during a series of nation-wide Operation Battenrun raids targeting labour hire firms exploiting vulnerable foreign workers and illegal immigrants.

ABF officers found three of the men, aged 50, 51 and 64, at an Embleton residence last Thursday.

A week earlier, on December 10, a 52-year-old man was also detained during a raid at a Dianella home, while the fifth man, aged 46, was detained at a commercial property in Beckenham on the same day.

The 52-year-old has already been deported back to Malaysia, while the other four will remain in immigration detention pending their departure from Australia.

ABF Commander Operations West, James Copeman, said the pandemic had not diminished the ABF’s ongoing operations to target criminals and unscrupulous individuals exploiting vulnerable foreign workers.

“We are always on the lookout for cases of foreign workers being underpaid, deprived of entitlements, and treated poorly,” he said.

“The ABF will not tolerate those people who are making significant profits by exploiting foreign workers.

“Information gathered during these warrants will form the basis of further investigations into a number of Australian registered companies suspected of using the services of this syndicate.

Commander Copeman said companies would be significantly fined in they employed contract workers who are illegal immigrants or foreign citizens working outside the conditions of their visas.

“On top of the unacceptable exploitation of those workers it also disadvantages local businesses who do the right thing by paying and treating their workers properly,” he said.

The Department of Home Affairs has encouraged all employers to conduct regular checks using the Visa Entitlement Verification Online system to ensure that their workers are permitted to work.

People who are being exploited, regardless of visa status, are also encouraged to come forward and provide information so action can be taken against those involved.

https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/five-malaysian-men-detained-as-abf-target-foreign-worker-exploitation-in-perth-construction-industry-ng-b881754435z

—

Border Watch Online Report

Use the form below to report suspected illegal or criminal immigration, visa, customs and trade activity. We take all reports of suspicious activity seriously and you can choose to remain anonymous.

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-and-support/departmental-forms/online-forms/border-watch

First person charged with possessing childlike sex doll in SA pleads guilty to multiple child sex offences

The first person to be charged with possessing a childlike sex doll in South Australia has pleaded guilty to multiple child sex offences.

James David Ryan Sharp, 31, appeared in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court for a short hearing during which he entered guilty pleas to five major indictable charges.

The charges included using a carriage service to access child abuse material and possessing a childlike sex doll — an offence which came into force last year.

Sharp was arrested and charged and his premises searched by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in January.

He is currently residing on bail in Victoria.

During the search, police allegedly located and seized the childlike doll, children's clothing, a computer, a mobile phone and a bank card.

Police alleged Sharp purchased the doll from a supplier in China in 2018.

He also allegedly purchased a variety of children's clothing, including school uniforms, swimwear and underwear.

Defence lawyer Dylan Walsh previously said his client had relocated to the eastern state after receiving several death threats following his arrest.

He will reappear in court for sentencing in July.

A court date in March was initially flagged, but his lawyer requested more time.

The maximum penalty for possessing the anatomically correct dolls is 15 years in prison.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-21/child-sex-doll-accused-pleads-guilty-to-five-charges/13005144

Vatican’s secret $2bn flummoxes Australian church leaders

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The Vatican and its associated entities have transferred $2.3bn to Australia since 2014 without the knowledge of senior Australian Catholic Church leaders.

Transfers from the Vatican to Australia rapidly increased from $71.6m in 2014 to $137.1m in 2015 before doubling again to $295m in 2016 and peaking at $581.3m in 2017, the new disclosure shows.

More than $422m was transferred in 2018, $491.8m in 2019 and $294.8m this financial year to date — in total more than 40,000 transactions, Austrac, the nation’s ­financial crime regulator, found.

Despite the volume and sum of transfers, several senior Catholic Church figures told The Australian on Tuesday they were utterly surprised by the transfers and were not aware of the money arriving in the Australian church.

Those church figures declined to be named, citing sensitivities around discussing finances.

The Australian Federal Police last week confirmed to The Australian it was continuing to investigate information received from Austrac about transfers to Australia from the Vatican.

The Vatican has been embroiled in scandal in recent months over allegations of embezzlement and nepotism levelled against Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a senior member of the church’s ­bureaucracy until this year.

Cardinal Becciu was fired by the Pope in September over the ­allegations; Cardinal Becciu has denied any wrongdoing.

Neither the Vatican’s press office in Rome nor the Holy See’s Papal Nunciature in Canberra responded to requests on Tuesday.

The Austrac figures also show $117.4m was sent from Australia to the Vatican, likely part of an annual fund for charities. Those transfers have risen from $17.7m in 2014 to $32.4m in 2019. Only $7.5m had been transferred to date this year.

While Austrac has not disclosed the individual identities of the recipients of the money in Australia, some church sources cautioned it may have been for investment in the Australian bond and equities market.

The new transfer figures were disclosed in response to questions from Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who told The Australian it was “a surprisingly large amount of money”.

“In the light of the investi­gations at the Vatican into corruption, embezzlement and money laundering, with charges already being laid and Vatican officials suspended, we need to know where the money went,” she said.

“It’s also worth noting that the transfers accelerated during the period Cardinal (George) Pell was facing investigations in Australia and peaked when he was sidelined from financial control of the Vatican while facing charges and trial in Australia,” she said.

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The financial corruption scandal roiling the Vatican began over claims of $360m improperly transferred for a building project in London and spread to allegations that money was sent to Australia to adversely affect the sexual abuse trial of Cardinal Pell, a rival of Cardinal Becciu.

To date, there has been no evidence produced to show any Vatican money was transferred to influence that trial.

Cardinal Becciu’s associate Cecilia Marogna has been charged with embezzlement and a broker who organised the London building investment, Gianluigi Torzi, has been charged with extortion and money laundering.

In 2014, Francis appointed Cardinal Pell as the Vatican’s treasurer with the task of cleaning up the Holy See’s finances and making the antiquated system transparent and accountable.

Victoria Police charged Cardinal Pell with two cases of historical sexual abuse in Melbourne.

After two trials in 2018 and 2019 — one hung jury and one guilty verdict — Cardinal Pell was sentenced to six years’ jail and served more than a year in prison before he was acquitted unanimously by the High Court in April.

In October, The Australian reported Vatican investigators were examining at least four transfers from the Vatican secretariat, including two from Cardinal Becciu, between 2017 and 2018 totalling $2m to Melbourne.

In the same month, the Vatican changed its laws to combat money laundering and financing terrorism after a two-week investigation of the Holy See’s finances by the EU’s financial controller, Money­val.

The COVID-19 pandemic has squeezed the Vatican’s public fin­ances, with recent reports noting a plunge in tourism would likely cut back a large part of the €100m ($161.8m) in ticket sales to the Vatican Museums — closed for months — that the city state uses to keep its budget in surplus.

Cardinal Pell, in an interview with the Reuters news agency earlier this month, warned that the Vatican was “slowly going broke”.

“Now that’s a bit of an exaggeration (but) it’s slowly happening,” Cardinal Pell said. “You can’t go on like that forever … the only thing that I’m keen on is that people, in a very clear-headed way, face up to the situation.”

The Vatican’s newly appointed president of the Financial Information Authority, Carmel Barbagallo, said the changes were “aimed at making the management of Vatican finances ever more transparent, within a framework of intensive and co-ordinated controls”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/vaticans-secret-2bn-flummoxes-australian-church-leaders/news-story/a23f538721b8d15cb06380f57d4972cf

Cardinal Pell: Why God’s providence will prevail

Cardinal George Pell, Angelus News - Dec 22, 2020

2020 was a year marked by sickness, death, unrest, isolation, and economic difficulty — a year that has challenged the faith of many.

And so, one might ask: What good could come out of a year like this one?

So, for our final issue of 2020, Angelus invited a lineup of writers — some regular contributors, others guests — to reflect on how they've seen God's providence at work in their own lives during this difficult year. Their reflections will be published on AngelusNews.com from Dec. 21-24.

This year, 2020, has not been a good year with the COVID-19 plague raging through the United States and most parts of the world. As well, the economic consequences, e.g., job losses and struggling businesses, will last much longer than the pandemic.

I went against the trend, because this year was better for me than 2019.

On the Tuesday of Holy Week, I was released after 404 days in jail for sex crimes I had never committed, found not guilty seven-to-zero by the judges of the High Court of Australia.

Where was God in all of this? Is there a God, or the one God, who might be watching and interested in our suffering? An enormous amount depends on how we answer this question, because being a monotheist or an atheist, or not knowing, makes a world of difference. Being naturally religious, having a love of nature, does not help much when catastrophe strikes.

I write as a believing Christian and a Catholic. For us the one true God is not only the Creator of the universe, immense beyond our imagining, home to billions, perhaps trillions, of stars, black dwarfs, black holes, blue giants, red supergiants, and our tiny planet earth, but this Creator is the only transcendent mystery outside the universe, and he has clear ideas of how we should live and where we go after death.

He sent his only Son to take on our human nature, live among us, teach us the importance of love and forgiveness, and demonstrate through his life and death that suffering can be used for good, in the next life if not in this one.

God is in charge. As he is good and just, all will be well eventually and the scales of justice will balance out in eternity, where the poor and the unfortunate will be helped by positive discrimination. God’s providence will prevail.

My leading barrister (a lawyer in the English court system) at the trials was an agnostic Jew who observes the basic Jewish seasonal rituals, loves the music of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion,” and knew the story of Job very well, the first Jewish attempt to wrestle with the problem of innocent suffering, of why bad things happen to good people.

The prison authorities allowed me to keep my breviary, the official prayer book of the Church, from the first night, and readings from Job came up regularly in those early days. My barrister compared my situation to Job’s, and I replied that I was happy with this, because Job’s fortunes were restored in his lifetime. I was not sure that would be my lot.

Job’s sufferings were far worse than mine. His flocks and farms were attacked, he lost all his property, was covered in ulcers, ostracised to live on a rubbish dump, and abandoned by his friends. Even his wife urged him to curse God and die. While he complained to God more than I did, he refused to condemn or curse God.

But I had advantages Job never enjoyed. The Jews then had no clear ideas of a personal afterlife of reward and punishment, of ultimate justice, beyond a shadowy semipersonal existence in Sheol or Hades, and they had no clear ideas on redemptive suffering.

Their Messiah had not been linked to the suffering servant of Isaiah, so their misfortunes remained exclusively misfortunes. In faith, but only in faith, we know better. We hail the cross, our only hope (“Ave crux, spes unica”). This is God’s providence at work, redeeming us through his Son’s suffering.

During my years as a priest many have asked me why this or that disaster, e.g., death, sickness, etc., has happened to them or their family. I don’t know, but I reminded them that Jesus, God’s only Son, did not have an easy life and suffered badly. I, too, remembered this in gaol. And it helped.

+George Cardinal Pell

Rome, 16th December 2020

https://angelusnews.com/faith/cardinal-pell-why-gods-providence-will-prevail/

As churches prove 'fertile ground' for conspiracy theories, some pastors are taking a stand

Joey Watson - 23 December 2020

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During the whirlwind of 2020, Sydney reverend and radio host Bill Crews has noticed a surge in an old foe within his flock — conspiracy theories.

Christian groups have long been susceptible to conspiracy theories, he says, but the rise of the internet, and more recently COVID-19, has exacerbated the issue.

"Churches can become petri dishes of this stuff, particularly if you've got really charismatic people who don't have any ethics," says Reverend Crews.

This increased acceptance of conspiracy theories within church groups is part of a broader social trend, religious leaders say, as people turn to outlandish ideas to make sense of the times.

But some pastors are taking active measures to fight the potential spread of conspiracy theories within their congregations.

The rise of 'the church of QAnon'

Kaz Ross, a researcher at the University of Tasmania, has been monitoring the spread of conspiracy theories online, and says evangelical Christians have been particularly drawn to QAnon.

This theory purports that a figure called Q leaves cryptic clues on internet forums about a "war" being waged between child-abusing global elites and figures within the Trump administration.

According to Dr Ross, the suggestion that people should put their faith in a saviour preparing to rescue the world from evil has similarities to some strands of evangelical thought.

"It's a very parallel structure," she says.

"[There are] a group of people that are in on a secret plan, which is very good, and the secret plan will save you in troubling times.

"The belief framework is that God has a plan, we don't know the plan, God will unfold the plan, and the chosen will be chosen."

Marc-Andre Argentino, a researcher from Canada's Concordia University, has also been studying the connection between religion and conspiracy theories — focusing on the growth of QAnon in North American evangelical groups.

Not only do these churches broadcast QAnon conspiracy theories to huge online audiences, he says, they're also reimagining Christian belief from the Bible to marry the two ideologies.

In fact, he argues, conspiratorial ideas have become so fundamental to the way these groups operate that they can be described as "the QAnon church".

Fringe voices, big impact

While these groups are largely an American phenomenon, similar thinking has taken hold in some fringe Christian communities.

It's something that Pastor Rob Buckingham, the founder of Bayside Church in Melbourne, has noticed both on social media, and in conversations with friends.

"Conspiracy theories are definitely more prevalent in recent times and are one of the symptoms of pandemics," he says.

He says that Christians are more susceptible to some conspiracy theories because "a futurist understanding of Bible prophecy has become very popular".

"This interpretation leads Christians to be on the lookout for the Antichrist, one-world government, and a cashless society," he says.

"They believe the devil is trying to take over the world.

"Seeing the world through such a lens causes them to be susceptible to anything that would indicate these things are imminent."

Christian groups around the world have also been targets for Russian disinformation campaigns, experts say, which may be exacerbating the impact and reach of conspiratorial ideas emanating from online pulpits.

James Der Derian, the director of the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney, says "snake oil has been around a long time", especially in time of insecurity and uncertainty — and foreign states have been known to capitalise on this.

While there is no evidence that Russia has targeted Australian Christian groups, Dr Der Derian says that because social media is intrinsically borderless, the impact of misinformation destined for US audiences can be far reaching.

"This information is not a precision munition, but because of the very nature of social media, it can spread quite rapidly to other communities," he says.

(continued)

>>12142346

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Trusting the government

On Facebook, religious pages apparently based in Australia can attract thousands of followers.

Alongside wisdom from saints and other holy imagery, one page shared claims that the coronavirus vaccine would encourage the Antichrist to take one's soul.

Meanwhile, some religious leaders are drawing support from anti-vaccination groups by using social media to speak out against lockdowns.

Anne Kruger, the director of the Asia-Pacific bureau at First Draft, a non-profit organisation that studies misinformation, says religious leaders with conspiracy agendas do use social media to amplify their views.

But she cautions: "It's worth noting that they most likely represent fringe voices in their communities and do not reflect where their religion stands."

Justine Toh, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity, points out that most Australian Christians are not conspiracy theorists.

She points to data from the National Church Life Survey, which surveys millions of Australian Christians, that indicates people who are more active in their faith and go to church regularly tend to be trusting of government.

"Whereas sometimes Australians might be a little bit critical of the government, people who go to church tend to be more conservative and trusting in the government and the system," she says.

Saving the faith

As the host of a popular Sunday night talkback program on Sydney radio station 2GB, Crews has a unique insight into the thoughts and outlook of Australian Christians.

He says there's been a shift this year to more conspiratorial thinking — perhaps because they've been distanced from positive influences in their lives.

"People feel isolated and have no way of sharing their innermost feelings," he says.

"Instead of looking inwards and emptying themselves out, they're looking to lay blame."

Pastor Buckingham says Christian leaders should be reaching out to those who might be susceptible and trying to help them navigate misinformation.

"Ask questions, stay in touch with people, so they don't isolate themselves, and try and talk about other things to bring them out of their tunnel vision," he says.

His regular blog posts, which attract thousands of readers from with Christian communities, have been part of his response.

He's also using the Bible to actively decry ideas like QAnon. For example, he points to Ephesians 4:25: "So, stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbours the truth."

For Crews, it's important that churches give people the same sense of belonging they are finding in the murky forums of the internet.

"The church has a responsibility to squash itself down, so it ceases being obsessed with power and control and money and gets back to being with the people."

"It's all about people communicating with each other."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-23/christian-churches-fertile-ground-qanon-conspiracy-theories/13006868

Trump grants full pardon to Russia probe aide George Papadopoulos

Washington: President Donald Trump granted a full pardon on Tuesday to George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide who pleaded guilty as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, 36, the Dutch son-in-law of Russian billionaire German Khan. Van der Zwaan was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $US20,000 for lying to US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators about contacts with an official in Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Their names were included in a wave of pre-Christmas pardons announced by the White House. Trump granted full pardons to 15 people, including three former Republican politicians and commuted all or part of the sentences of five others.

Papadopoulos, 33, was an adviser to Trump's 2016 campaign. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI agents about the timing and significance of his contacts with people who claimed to have ties to top Russian officials.

His role came to light after he had drinks in 2016 in London with Australia's then-High Commissioner to the UK, Alexander Downer, and let slip that the Russians had a "dirt file" on Hillary Clinton, which Downer relayed back to Canberra.

“The defendant’s crime was serious and caused damage to the government’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” a sentencing recommendation memo from then-US Special Counsel Robert Mueller had said.

He served 12 days of a 14-day sentence in federal prison, then was placed on a 12-month supervised release.

The White House said Papadopoulos was charged with "a process-related crime, one count of making false statements," as part of the Mueller probe, which Trump had denounced as a witch hunt.

"Today’s pardon helps correct the wrong that Mueller’s team inflicted on so many people," the White House said.

The pardons were part of a flurry of such actions expected by the outgoing Republican president before Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20. Trump, who has refused to concede, has made unsubstantiated claims of widespread voting fraud and pursued a series of unsuccessful lawsuits to overturn the result.

Late on Tuesday night, local time, Trump threatened to torpedo Congress’ bipartisan $900 billion COVID-19 relief package. In a late-night tweet, he called on politicians to increase direct payments for most Americans from $US600 to $US2,000 for individuals.

Railing against a range of provisions in the bill, including for foreign aid, he told Congress to "get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill.”

Trump did not specifically vow to veto the bill, and there may be enough support for legislation in Congress to override him if he does.

Last month, Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation.

Also receiving pardons were three former Republican politicians, including former Representative Chris Collins of New York. Four former US service members, convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007, were also pardoned by Trump.

Collins, 70, had been the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump's candidacy in 2016 and was a strong defender of the president. He resigned in 2019.

"In 2019, Collins pled guilty to the charges of conspiring to commit securities fraud and making false statements to the FBI. Mr. Collins is currently serving his 26-month sentence," the White House said. Trump also issued a full pardon to former Republican Representative Duncan Hunter of California, 44, who pleaded guilty a year ago to conspiring to convert campaign funds to personal use.

Also pardoned was former Republican Representative Steve Stockman of Texas, 64, who was convicted in 2018 of misuse of charitable funds.

The White House said he had served more than two years of his 10-year sentence and would remain subject to a period of supervised release and an order requiring that he pay more than $US1 million in restitution.

Trump also commuted the remaining term of the supervised release of Crystal Munoz, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Munoz spent years in a federal prison in Fort Worth, with Alice Johnson, who was granted clemency by Trump in 2018 in a case championed by reality TV star Kim Kardashian West.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-grants-full-pardon-to-russia-probe-aide-george-papadopoulos-20201223-p56prr.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-regarding-executive-grants-clemency-122220/

>>12142551

George Papadopoulos Tweets

Thank you, Mr. President!!! This means the world to me and my family!

https://twitter.com/GeorgePapa19/status/1341536081301291010

—

I lost friends, business associates and even family over the last years. Had my reputation tore up for a while with fake stories and nonsense. But there was one person who stood through it all with me until the end, my @simonamangiante. I love you! We both thank @realDonaldTrump!

https://twitter.com/GeorgePapa19/status/1341557502467395584

—

Thank you all for your support! Has been overwhelming. Very grateful

https://twitter.com/GeorgePapa19/status/1341612994736705537

—

Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos Tweet

Thank you from the bottom of my heart @realDonaldTrump for pardoning my husband @GeorgePapa19! I must confess I am crying right now. We were right since day one. The best Christmas present ever ! Thank you

https://twitter.com/simonamangiante/status/1341536752167649280

Catholic Church's insurance company in financial trouble over abuse payouts

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The Catholic Church’s private insurer spent more than $58 million paying out the victims of sexual abuse last year and the company is being forced to raise fresh capital and liquidate investments to cover a future compensation bill worth at least another $238 million.

Catholic Church Insurance (CCI) has posted nearly a $250 million loss as it struggles to meet a wave of new claims in the wake of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

CCI, which insures Catholic parishes, religious institutions, welfare groups, aged care facilities and schools across Australia for incidents of property damage, loss and injury, has also covered compensation and legal costs for sexual abuse committed in many church organisations since 1969.

The insurer's sexual abuse payouts – known as "professional standards" liabilities – topped $58 million in the financial year 2019-20, according to figures obtained by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

CCI has declined to provide data from earlier years.

However, the group’s annual report shows the number of professional standards claims it received in 2019-20 drove a 74 per cent rise in total insurance claims.

The ballooning current and anticipated costs mean CCI is moving to liquidate investments, to raise capital to meet what it now expects to be at least $238 million in future sexual abuse payouts.

It also stopped paying dividends and distributions to the Catholic organisations that are shareholders in the non-profit, cutting off an important source of income for some of these entities.

Among its shareholders are the Australian Episcopal Conference of the Roman Catholic Church, archdioceses of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, and the Jesuits, Marists, De La Salle Brothers and Sisters of Mercy.

"Although it is not certain that these efforts will be successful, CCI has determined that the actions that it is taking are sufficient to mitigate the uncertainty and has therefore deemed it appropriate to continue to prepare the financial report on a going concern basis due to its ability to realise its assets and settle its liabilities in the ordinary course of business at the amounts recorded in the financial statements," CCI’s annual financial report said.

Chief executive Roberto Scenna said the capital management plan "is doing what it was designed to do".

"CCI is now seeking to restore the capital levels to a level that it believes reflects the future risks to CCI," he said.

"The other actions in our capital raising initiative are still in progress and given the nature of the activity and conversations, it is not appropriate for us to make further comment on these initiatives."

(continued)

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Mr Scenna said the nature of the reporting of sexual abuse claims – some of which are decades old – made it difficult to assess CCI’s future liability, which could "ultimately be higher or lower than actual experience as it develops over time".

The Australian church and local religious orders, as well as schools and outreach organisations, have been inundated with compensation claims and lawsuits since the start of the royal commission in 2013 and the establishment of the National Redress Scheme, which is due to run until 2027.

"The introduction of the National Redress Scheme approximately two years ago has resulted in a significant increase in the number of reported claims and significant uncertainty in establishing the potential exposure in order to predict the exposure to abuse related claims," CCI’s annual report said.

In 2015 CCI had estimated it would cost $150 million to settle all outstanding and anticipated sexual abuse claims, but its financial liabilities have continued to grow.

The church and its long-time insurer have also been exposed to a raft of new claims and lawsuits following legal changes and court decisions allowing sexual abuse victims to set aside settlement agreements made decades ago as unjust and to seek new compensation.

Since 2019 the church has also paid a series of landmark settlements worth more than $1 million, compounding the financial pressure.

The conduct of the church and CCI in billing legal costs for processing sexual abuse claims has also recently come under fire from a judicial figure in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

In a lawsuit over abuse suffered at the hands of notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale, CCI and the church sought to bill the alleged victim more than $65,000 in costs to respond to a series of subpoenas. They had originally sought up to $151,000.

Judicial registrar Julie Clayton said while CCI and the church were entitled to reasonable costs, she did not consider it reasonable for an argument for costs to be made by three solicitors and two barristers.

"It seems perverse that an organisation [the church] which is prepared to comply with a subpoena, provided its costs are met, will spend more than six times that amount in objecting to the subpoena," Ms Clayton wrote in a decision in September.

The Age and the Herald have previously revealed that only 28 per cent of the $34.27 million the church spent on compensation under the Melbourne Response scheme from 1996 to 2014 went to victims, with the rest spent on legal fees and administrative expenses.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/catholic-church-s-insurance-company-in-financial-trouble-over-abuse-payouts-20201222-p56pg0.html

Perth man charged for advocating terrorism

A 52-year-old Perth man is scheduled to appear before the Perth Magistrates Court today (23 December) charged with terrorism-related offences following an investigation by the Western Australia Joint Counter Terrorism Team (WA JCTT).

The investigation began in February 2020 after the WA JCTT – comprising Australian Federal Police (AFP), Western Australia Police Force and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation – became aware of an online video-sharing platform account hosting content that called for acts of politically-motivated violence offshore.

In April 2020, a search warrant was executed on the home and vehicle of the man believed to own the online account, resulting in a number of electronic devices being seized for evidentiary purposes.

A second search warrant was executed at the man’s residence yesterday (22 December 2020) and the 52-year-old man was arrested and charged with four counts of advocating terrorism, contrary to section 80.2C of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

AFP Assistant Commissioner Counter Terrorism Scott Lee said extremist ideology that incited violence – onshore or offshore – was a criminal offence.

“The AFP and our partner agencies, through the Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) will arrest and charge Australian-based individuals allegedly involved in engaging in violent, extremist ideologies,’’ Assistant Commissioner Lee said.

“In this instance, it is alleged the individual was intending to incite politically motivated acts in a foreign country.

“I commend our investigators for the hundreds of hours spent diligently gathering and examining evidence to put this matter before the courts.”

Commander Pryce Scanlan from WA Police Force’s Counter Terrorism & Emergency Response Command said the arrest reinforces the need for all community members across Australia to remain vigilant.

“Online content advocating for terrorist acts to be carried out has the potential to reach people anywhere in the world, including our local communities, and it is critical we identify and prosecute those responsible for such incitement. It is also just as important that our investigations and operations prevent those people in our community who are vulnerable to radicalisation from being exposed to such material.

“We have seen the devastating impacts that such online radicalisation and incitement can result in, and everyone in the community can play a critical role in keeping our community safe by reporting concerns about online material, or individuals, to authorities.

“Yesterday’s arrest shows the community that law enforcement and intelligence partners across Australia are working together to protect the community.”

Anyone with information about extremist activity or possible threats to the community should the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400.

Editor's note: images and footage available via hightail - https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/fjjmqMcucd

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/perth-man-charged-advocating-terrorism

Facebook removes Pete Evans' page

Celebrity chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans has had his Facebook Page permanently removed after he repeatedly breached its misinformation policies with posts about the coronavirus.

A Facebook company spokesperson said the platform does not allow anyone to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm, or misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines that has been debunked by public health experts.

"We have clear policies against this type of content and we've removed Chef Pete Evans' Facebook Page for repeated violations of these policies," the spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Facebook has previously removed individual posts by Evans for violating its Misinformation & Harm Policy.

Evans posted on Instagram on Wednesday telling his followers he had been "shut down" on Facebook "for a few days" over his vaccine posts. Facebook says the ban is permanent.

Evans was a judge on My Kitchen Rules between 2010 and 2020. He had over one million Facebook followers.

Evans has repeatedly made posts opposing COVID-19 vaccines and masks, and claimed in a podcast that the coronavirus is a hoax.

Evans' company was fined more than $25,000 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in April after he promoted a device called a 'BioCharger' on a Facebook live stream, claiming it could be used in relation to the coronavirus.

The TGA said the claim had "no apparent foundation".

Evans' publisher ended its contract with him in November after he used a neo-Nazi symbol in a Facebook post.

"Pan Macmillan does not support the recent posts made by Pete Evans. Those views are not our views as a company or the views of our staff," the company said at the time.

Big W, Coles, Dymocks, Kmart and Booktopia were among the retailers to declare they would not sell his products after the post.

Evans later denied he used the symbol intentionally.

Evans' account on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, is still active. Evans regularly uses the account to cast doubt on official information about COVID-19, vaccines, and other parts of mainstream science.

Posts that share misinformation but do not violate the letter of Facebook's policies usually have their distribution reduced, rather than being removed.

https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/7067477/facebook-removes-pete-evans-page/?cs=10229

Online powers to silence the trolls

Australia is set to introduce the world’s first trolling take-down scheme, giving the nation’s cyber watchdog new powers to order social media platforms to remove harmful online adult abuse.

The proposed new laws would also widen existing online protections for children by enabling the eSafety Commissioner to remove cyber-bullying material from a broader range of online platforms than social media, including gaming and messaging sites.

The bill would halve the time social media platforms have to remove offensive content from 48 to 24 hours before the commissioner steps in. It also requires platforms to report on how they are dealing with a range of online harms, including “digital lynch mobs” who seek to overwhelm a victim with abuse.

And if a website or app systematically ignores take-down notices for serious cases such as child sexual abuse material, the eSafety Commissioner can require search engines and app stores to remove access to that service, and impose further civil penalties.

Ahead of releasing the new Online Safety Bill for public comment on Wednesday, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said abusive trolling had to stop.

“Too many Australians are victims of vicious, intimidating trolling on the internet,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Too often people feel they can say and do the most atrocious things online with complete impunity. We are giving the eSafety Commissioner strong, practical, speedy tools to go after the really bad trolls, including new powers to require social media platforms to reveal details about the identity of end-users who indulge in this hateful conduct,” he said.

Mr Fletcher said it would be a world first if the government’s eSafety Commissioner was given power to order websites, social media platforms and other online services to take down harmful abuse directed at an adult.

But the new adult cyber abuse scheme would only apply in cases where online content was sufficiently harmful to constitute a criminal act under the Criminal Code. This is a higher standard than current laws allowing the commissioner to issue take down notifications to platforms for cyber-bullying material.

The different standard is a recognition of an adult‘s greater resilience and the need to protect legitimate freedom of speech.

Mr Fletcher said while cyber abuse was confined to a few, it was nevertheless incredibly harmful for those targeted. “By establishing proper protections to help keep Australians safe online, we can, in turn, help Australians to realise the substantial benefits that come from using the internet,” he added.

The government created the world’s first cyber watchdog, the eSafety Commissioner, in 2015 because experience had shown many platforms did not offer the digital safety features required by law, or had failed to appropriately enforce their terms of service.

The new bill will require online services to provide specific information to the commissioner about online harms, such as their response to terrorism and abhorrent violent material, or how they are dealing with digital lynch mobs. Services will be penalised if they fail to report.

The eSafety Commissioner would also be given stronger powers to demand information from the digital platforms to discover the true identities of anonymous or fake accounts used for serious trolling or exchanging illegal content such as child pornography.

And if an online crisis event occurred, such as the Christchurch terrorist attack last year, the commission would be given powers to order internet service providers to block access to terrorist or extreme violent content.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/online-powers-to-silence-the-trolls/news-story/19862b5faf70680710f891460cb17fd1

Cyber spy agency on high alert over hack

The nation’s top cyber spy agency is working with potential victims of the SolarWinds Russian hacking offensive, including some of the most sensitive government departments and agencies, to assess whether their networks have been breached.

The Australian can reveal the departments of Defence, Finance and Home Affairs, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission are users of the ­network-management software infiltrated by the hackers.

Government tender records show the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, the Bureau of Meteorology, trade promotion agency Austrade and the Department of Education, Skills and Employment are also SolarWinds clients.

It’s understood the Australian Signals Directorate, which also uses SolarWinds software, was unaffected by the attack.

But the agency declined to say if any government systems had installed the “trojanised” updates sent to SolarWinds users as far back as March.

“The ACSC continues to monitor the situation and is ­engaging with international ­partners and potentially ­impacted Australian organisations,” a spokesman for ASD’s Australian Cyber Security Centre said.

The SolarWinds cyberattack is one of the biggest in history, hitting at least 18,000 companies and government agencies including the US departments of State, Homeland Security, Commerce and the Treasury, and big tech firms such as Microsoft, Cisco and Intel.

Infiltrated organisations in Australia include NSW Health, Serco Asia Pacific, and mining giant Rio Tinto.

The attack, first identified by US cybersecurity company ­FireEye, used a compromised version of SolarWinds Orion — a widely used IT system management platform — to insert a backdoor into computer systems.

Australian-based malware expert Sergei Shevchenko, co-founder of cybersecurity company Prevasio, said the federal government departments and agencies had not shown up in logs he had decrypted revealing 445 ­affected organisations.

But Mr Shevchenko said all SolarWinds clients should assume they were vulnerable to second-stage attacks.

“The list that we have decrypted doesn’t include everything. It’s just a snapshot, with multiple records fragmented or missing. It’s not a guarantee that if you are not on the list that you are not affected,” he said.

“There were three trojanised updates that were supposed to be rolled out to the software.

“The bottom line is this. If you are a client of SolarWinds, if you run the software in a company, you have to do an instant response. Period.

“They need to look inside their network, look for evidence, look for telltale signs. It’s a good exercise anyway, but they have to do it. Because this software simply means that the attackers have backdoor access.”

Mr Shevchenko’s analysis of data logs revealed the malware transmits information on the infected system’s security software, allowing it to be turned off by the hackers in subsequent attacks.

“In the second stage, the attackers may choose (which systems to penetrate). They might say ‘we infected this network, how are we going to make the money?’.”

An Australian Cyber Security Centre spokesman said users of SolarWinds products should ­immediately install security patches, or isolate their servers from the internet.

“Australian organisations that have concerns, or believe they may have been impacted, should contact the ACSC for assistance,” he said.

The hack, which US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attributed to Russia, is categorised as a “supply chain attack”, for its use of a trusted third-party vendor to ­install malware in an organisation’s network.

Thomas Bossert, a former security adviser to Donald Trump, said the size of the attack was “hard to overstate”. He said evidence suggested Russia’s SVR intelligence agency was responsible.

“The Russians have had access to a considerable number of important and sensitive networks for six to nine months,” he wrote in the New York Times.

The attack comes as the ­Morrison government moves to force key companies and institutions across the banking, finance, defence, communications, food, and higher education sectors, to strengthen cyber defences and co-operate with national security agencies. An exposure draft of the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill, released in November, includes new step-in powers allowing national security agencies to actively disrupt and repel cyber attackers.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/cyber-spy-agency-on-high-alert-over-hack/news-story/a4879aac7be8536b662af8b29f2d3d20

Australia signs deals to distribute tens of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses around the country

The mammoth effort of safely distributing tens of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to all Australians is a step closer to reality after the Federal Government inked several deals to operate and monitor the national vaccine network.

Under new contracts, logistics firms DHL and Linfox will work with the Department of Health to vaccinate people across Australia, while digital security firm Accenture will then track vaccine doses and monitor any adverse effects.

Audit and accounting firm PwC has also partnered with the Department of Health to help roll out the COVID-19 program.

The scheme is due to begin in March next year, with all Australian citizens, permanent residents, and most visa-holders being promised a free jab.

The Federal Government has secured agreements for the supply of three COVID-19 vaccines: from Pfizer, Novavax and Oxford University-AstraZeneca, but of those, Pfizer's vaccine will be the hardest to distribute.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said he did not want to set any expectations that a vaccine would be rolled out earlier than March, even though the process is currently "ahead of schedule".

"Our goal is to make sure that everthing's in line for a safe, effective distribution beginning in March, we always aim to under-promise and over-deliver, but March is our national guideline and expectation," he said.

Pfizer vaccine will require ultra-cold 'eskies'

The Government has opted to buy 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine — enough to vaccinate 5 million people — from overseas in the event it receives approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, rather than produce it in Australia.

That is because the Pfizer vaccine is based on new technology, which has never been successfully manufactured or distributed locally before.

The Pfizer vaccine has already received emergency use approval by health authorities in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

The virus that causes COVID-19 enters healthy cells using the so-called "spike" protein and many vaccines inject an amount of that protein, so the body can produce antibodies and learn to fight the coronavirus.

But Pfizer's vaccine contains genetic material called mRNA, which effectively comes with a DIY kit — instructions to assemble the spike protein, so the body can mount an immune response.

The Pfizer vaccine was shown to be 95 per cent effective in preventing the disease in a late-stage trial, but it comes with complex logistical challenges.

The vaccine must be shipped and stored at -70 degrees Celsius, requiring specialised ultra-cold "eskies" stocked with dry ice.

Under the new agreement, DHL and Linfox will be required to track and report the temperature of the successful vaccine at all times.

They will also be responsible for transporting the vaccines from manufacturers to vaccination administration sites — even in very remote areas.

Accenture will then design, develop, and implement software to enable "point in time" visibility of COVID-19 vaccine doses across the delivery chain.

That will allow those with access to the system to see which health services have received the vaccine, who has had the jab, and whether any adverse reactions have been recorded.

Experts have described the logistics challenge as unprecedented, saying Australia has not faced such a mammoth distribution task since WWII.

But the Government is expecting to vaccinate the entire Australian population within 2021.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-24/australia-signs-deals-to-distribute-millions-of-covid-19-vaccine/13011476

Lieutenant General Frewen Covid Taskforce message

Department of Defence Australia

24 Dec 2020

Commander COVID-19 Taskforce Lieutenant General Frewen spent some time answering questions about the year that has been 2020. This year has seen the largest ever domestic deployment of ADF personnel- and we’ve undertaken all sorts of tasks, some you might not expect as a part of Operation COVID-19 Assist. Lieutenant General Frewen has also shared a Christmas message to our troops who are deployed at home and overseas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAuceza–A8

Kevin Spacey's 2020 Christmas video.

1-800 XMAS

Kevin Spacey

24 Dec 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6_N8uxJQ3g

Download:

https://www.y2mate.com/youtube/w6_N8uxJQ3g

Hillsong slammed for mentioning pervs — but not Jesus — in Christmas email

Scandal-plagued megachurch Hillsong is being crucified for failing to mention Jesus in a Christmas email and instead dedicating the greeting to clarify details about a pastor’s child abuse.

“It’s the only Christmas email I have ever seen that doesn’t mention Jesus. It’s quite bizarre,” longtime Hillsong critic and Australian pastor Bob Cotton told The Post of the internal email, which was shared with him via a current Hillsong member. The letter, signed by the international institution’s board, was sent to church members on Monday, the source told him.

“Dear church,” it begins. “It’s certainly been a year to remember, but the great news is that Christmas, the most joyous time of the year, is almost upon us.” The email then proceeds to dismiss recent reports of members being abused, subjected to “slave labor,” homophobia and a general lack of empathy as “primarily gossip.”

Despite reportedly admitting that at least some of the allegations are true, the holiday letter says “we ignore [the allegations] in the knowledge that we know the truth and God is in control.”

The rest of the email is dedicated to bringing “some clarity” to an ongoing investigation into Hillsong founder and current senior pastor Brian Houston’s failure to report “his father’s abuse of children.” The late Pentecostal pastor and pedophile Frank Houston confessed to sexually abusing a boy in 2004 and was accused of abusing up to eight others. (Frank founded the Sydney Christian Life Centre which, in 1999, merged with a church pastored by Brian to become Hillsong.)

“From the moment Pastor Brian discovered this shocking news, around 20 years ago, he has always been very open and clear about the circumstances around this, and our church has stood with him and his family,” the email reads.

Its final sentence expresses thanks to the congregation’s “ongoing prayers for the Houston family as they continue to deal with the legacy of Pastor Brian’s father with grace, humility and strength.”

Cotton, who is not affiliated with Hillsong, finds the letter to be anathema to Christian values not only for not naming Christ, but also for encouraging members to pray for abusers, not victims.

“Frank Houston repeatedly raped 7-year-old Brett Sengstock. That is not gossip, it is a fact that was well established by the Royal Commission,” said Cotton, a former family friend of the Houstons who now calls Frank a “shameful and evil man” whose real “so-called “legacy’” is being a “child rapist.”

By framing media reports as “gossip,” Cotton added, “the abuse and crimes committed against victims seem intentionally minimized.” He said the victim Sengstock and “the other children who were raped” are the ones who really “deserve our prayers.”

“There is no grace humility and respect to being choked raped & brutalized by Frank Houston,” tweeted Sengstock alongside the email.

Hillsong did not immediately return a request for comment.

https://nypost.com/2020/12/24/hillsong-slammed-for-mentioning-pervs-but-not-jesus-in-christmas-email/

Response to Royal Commission report - from Hillsong Church Board and Elders - 23 November 2015

https://hillsong.com/media-releases/response-to-royal-commission-report-from-hillsong-church-board-and-elders/

Pastor, Hillsong Church Re: Royal Commission – Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse - 12 October 2014

https://hillsong.com/media-releases/statement-from-brian-houston-re-royal-commission-institutional-responses-to-child-sexual-abuse/

Accused Chinese spy slapped with harsh bail conditions

A Surrey Hills man accused of spying for China in Australia has been banned from contacting foreign intelligence agencies.

A man accused of spying for China in Australia has been banned from contacting any foreign intelligence agencies or elected officials.

The restrictions are part of a host of bail conditions imposed on Surrey Hills man Di Sanh Duong, also known as Sunny Duong, who was last month charged with preparing an act of foreign interference.

Domestic spy agency, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), and the Australian Federal Police swooped on the former Liberal party candidate following a year long probe.

It is understood Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge was the target of the alleged interference.

The Saturday Herald Sun can reveal Mr Duong is barred from contacting any embassy and consulate staff, must surrender his passport and cannot possess any mobile phones while he awaits his next court date in March.

He is also banned from leaving Australia or going near any points of international departure including airports and ports.

Mr Duong was slapped with a total of ten conditions, which were relayed to him via a Vietnamese interpreter during the November 5 bail application.

Federal Agent Paul McDonald, a member of the counter foreign interference and sensitive investigations team, said authorities did not oppose bail and investigators had taken steps to curtail any risks posed by Mr Duong.

“I don’t believe there to be risks to the community in relation to the offending,” Mr McDonald said.

“He has strong ties to the jurisdiction, runs a business and has a young family and sister that live at (his home),” he said.

The Herald Sun last month revealed China was the country behind the alleged plot to target Minister Tudge.

Mr Duong, who has lived in Melbourne for decades, is the first person to be charged under foreign interference laws which went through the Federal Parliament in 2018.

If convicted, Mr Duong could face up to 10 years behind bars.

It is understood the charges do not allege an actual interference attempt, but rather a plan to attempt to influence Mr Tudge, by an organisation linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

Mr Duong ran as a Liberal Party candidate in the 1996 state election for the seat of Richmond.

He was set to be expelled from the party following news of his arrest, but quit ahead of the upcoming party meeting.

The alleged spy has also been stood down from his role at the Museum of Chinese Australian History.

Mr Duong must report to the Box Hill police station twice weekly via phone and will return to court for a committal mention on March 11.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/accused-chinese-spy-slapped-with-harsh-bail-conditions/news-story/3bdd8c17308fa151e35816c91728c7ce#top

Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet

Merry Christmas to all, may your day be filled with love, laughter and wine lol #MerryChristmas2020 #lovelive @pinkPeptobismol #WorldDayofPeace

https://twitter.com/VRSVirginia/status/1342303415540404225

US Embassy Canberra Tweet

"This holiday season, I hope your heart is filled with the love and joy of your faith, family, and friends. Along with my staff at the U.S. Embassy and Consulates General across Australia, I wish you a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year." - Ambassador Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr.

https://twitter.com/USAembassyinOZ/status/1342213461951057921

Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivers 2020 Christmas message

7NEWS Australia

24 Dec 2020

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has recorded a Christmas message to Australians:

"If there's one overwhelming feeling we have this Christmas, I think it's one of thankfulness, a sense of gratitude.

For all of us this year has been a time of stress and a lot of uncertainty.

Yet through it all, once again, we have rallied to each other, together.

Australians are an amazing people with an amazing spirit. And this year the Australian spirit has shone brightly again.

My prayer for Australia this Christmas comes from the great verse: "Let us not grow weary of doing good. For in due season we shall reap a harvest, if we do not give up."

Merry Christmas, Australia."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwtU0W27ENQ

Malka Leifer is due to be extradited from Israel to Australia, but how do you do do that during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Six years after Australia first put in a request for extradition, Israel signed an extradition order last week to send former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer back to Australia.

Ms Leifer is accused of abusing three sisters during her time as headmistress of the Adass Israel School between 2001 and 2008 and faces 74 charges of sexual abuse.

But now that an order has been signed, there are still questions over what happens next in the process and when Ms Leifer is due to arrive in Australia.

Here's what we know.

A quick summary of the case

Ms Leifer, an Israeli citizen, left Australia for Israel in 2008.

Australia lodged an extradition request for Ms Leifer in 2014, but the case has been repeatedly delayed.

Ms Leifer maintains her innocence and the six-year legal battle surrounding her extradition strained relations between Israel and Australia.

What is happening now?

The Israel office of Interpol will liaise with Victoria Police about the "technical" arrangements for the extradition.

These include when it will occur, whether Victoria Police will send officers to pick up Ms Leifer and whether she will have to quarantine and undertake any coronavirus tests before travelling.

When will she be extradited?

We don't know yet. It depends largely on the Australian Government and how quickly those technical details can be arranged.

Israel has 60 days to carry out the extradition but can (and often needs to) seek an extension from the Supreme Court of another 60 days.

These are usually granted without any problems, according to Israeli legal sources.

Will the pandemic complicate the extradition?

It's most likely the coronavirus will disrupt the process, as other extraditions this year have already been complicated by the pandemic.

One particular issue posed by COVID-19 is the lack of commercial flights into Australia.

Another will be quarantining, although Ms Leifer can be quarantined inside the women's prison she is currently in, if Australia wants.

Could anything stop the extradition going ahead?

Yes. Even though her lawyer has said he does not intend to appeal, Ms Leifer can change her mind at any time before the extradition and instruct him to appeal the decision of the Justice Minister to sign the extradition order.

They can no longer appeal the order itself, only that the Minister did not properly exercise his discretion.

Israeli lawyers say these appeals are uncommon and almost always fail.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-26/malka-leifer:-how-do-you-extradite-during-a-pandemic/12999356

Mike Pompeo Tweet

Tonight, we’re freely worshiping Jesus Christ and drinking Australian wine — two things that the CCP does not allow #FightForFreedom

https://twitter.com/mikepompeo/status/134296266284669

>>12188234

Q Research General #15562: Jesus Christ and Australian Wine Edition

https://8kun.top/qresearch/res/12188633.html

Australia fights back against China to build relationship with East Timor

Australia has found a new way to offset China’s relentless billion dollar investment and expansion program in the Pacific.

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Fruit pickers from East Timor arrived in Australia earlier this month on a special Qantas charter to help farmers in Tasmania harvest berries for the season.

They were the first of the up to 150 seasonal workers from the impoverished nation to be brought over to fill worker shortages under the Federal Government’s Seasonal Worker Program. A similar number also went to Bowen in Queensland.

The numbers are small but the COVID-19 related prompt has un-expectantly boosted Australia’s relations with its tiny neighbour and critically somewhat balanced the ledger, offsetting the multi-billion dollars of investment China has put into the country as it continues its relentless Pacific expansion program.

To suggest the Federal Government and its security agencies are concerned about China’s influence in that country, in the vacuum created by the government’s own poor relations handling with Timor, would be an understatement.

Canberra is alarmed and has good reason to be.

Like in many countries across the Pacific and nations such as Papua New Guinea, China has debt-trapped Timor-Leste through loans for what ultimate ends are not fully clear.

But while China has for years sidelined Australia which has struggled with its own missteps and policy failures by successive governments, coronavirus has now opened a backdoor to diplomacy.

China’s early intentions for East Timor were writ clear along the walls of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in capital Dili.

While East Timor has renowned natural landscapes and seas, there running for several metres in the ministry’s main conference hall is a tapestry of the Great Wall of China.

“That was a very interesting signal,” a senior government security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“It told us where they were thinking … China has been messing about the Pacific this last year approaching Vanuatu about a military capability, Solomon Islands, Fiji, PNG but more concerningly East Timor.

“Timor is 600km north of Darwin, that’s a 30-minute flight in a jet fighter and if there is any sign of their interest, it’s everywhere.”

With minimal fanfare, China money has built Timor’s foreign ministry, defence department headquarters, military headquarters, the president’s palace, the airport, the main hospital, a sealed four-lane freeway along the south of the country and infrastructure in the capital.

It is also in the midst of this year building a $650 million Tibar Bay deep harbour container port and terminal, by the Beijing Government owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and part of the Tasi Mane “economic hubs” being created on a 155km stretch of the south. As of today, China-state owned firms have 20 projects underway in Timor, an indebtedness many Asian nations cite for quietly pushing to keep East Timor out of an ASEAN bloc it has long sought to join. They effectively own those assets through loans and ultimately the country’s natural assets including potential for oil and gas.

“Strategically that’s the sort of worries we’ve got, ” the security official said. “We’ve got a China now increasingly using coercion bullying, with or without a military presence moving into our strategic space from all sides of Australia including north with East Timor. Like PNG, what their government’s do next is being watched closely.”

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Australia has had a fractured relationship with Timor firstly over maritime boundaries then the split of the spoils around the Greater Sunrise oil and gas projects potentially worth $50 billion. In 2012 they were at their low when it was revealed Australian ASIS spies covertly planted listening devices in an office adjacent to the Timor’s Cabinet room where the Timor Gap discussion of Australian negotiations were being held, to seek upper-hand advantage. The controversy went all the way to The Hague’s Court of Arbitration.

Indeed such is the messiness, no-one officially from the office of Foreign Minister Marise Payne, her foreign affairs department, Pacific Minister Alex Hawke nor the Australian embassy in Dili would comment to News Corp Australia on anything to do with East Timor, positive or negative.

ANU’s National Security College Timor expert Andrea Fahey said without a doubt relations were sour but have markedly improved, ironically since COVID-19.

Australia has led foreign aid to Timor since its independence from Indonesia in 2002 and most recently provided a one-off $304.7 million COVID-19 response package for the Pacific and Timor. This has included testing equipment, isolation facilities and associated health crisis programs.

“Because of Covid I think Australia has a chance to go back into improving relations with East Timor,” Ms Fahey who was in the UN Integrated Mission in East Timor in 2007 and 2012 and working locally with an NGO in between.

“Australia I think is seen as having a clear plan for the Pacific and East Timor for vaccination and economic help, even though China sent a few PPE equipment in the beginning it’s nothing compared to what Australia is doing. Just allowing East Timorese the chance to come and work here temporarily with visas for workers that’s actually more important for the East Timorese government.”

Former Australia’s former deputy head of mission in Jakarta David Engel said Australian’s shouldn’t believe they were alone in their concerns about China.

He said Indonesia also look at all the activities of China on their doorstep, from East Timor and surrounds.

“The fact that China has been doing what it has been doing in the South China Sea has obviously struck a nerve in Indonesia particularly around the Natuna archipelago area in the northern part of Asia,” he said.

“They look at the fact that Chinese coast guard vessels are guarding Chinese trawlers that are that fishing in Indonesia’s economic exclusion zone as cause for real concern and real appreciation that just hoping that Chinese will behave themselves in that area is no longer going to be good enough. Timor yes but the rubber hits the road so to speak for Indonesia around Natunas, that’s about fish and hydro carbons, tangible economic issues but also their sense of sovereignty what they consider legitimately what is theirs under international laws.”

Independence hero and former president and prime minister Xanana Gusmao has long courted China’s involvement in East Timor’s progress on a vague promise of jobs and prosperity but his recent departure has allowed for more balance and what security analysts brand a “relations reset”.

“East Timor is just 80km away from Australian territory but dealing with China’s expansion plans anywhere in the Pacific is like playing Whac-A-Mole, they keeping popping up elsewhere to pursue their interests and we just have to deal with that in our own way,” a DFAT source said.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/australia-fights-back-against-china-to-build-relationship-with-east-timor/news-story/7aa101b4d2dd41d1cbd15c32526d4eb7

Repost from Q Research General #15577

>>12200598 (pb)

>>12200523, (pb) >>12200499 (pb) Australia goes to bread 12 - Congrats Mates!

Crackdown on far-right groups opens a Pandora’s box

A new federal parliamentary inquiry into extremist movements will throw the spotlight on a ­“Pandora’s box” of far-right groups active in Australia, offering them a public voice as MPs consider whether new rules are needed to ban them.

The inquiry, which gets under way next year, will face difficult questions about “what we will and won’t tolerate” in Australia, experts say, and whether groups promoting violent, revolutionary ideologies should be treated in the same way as terrorist groups.

Australia has 27 organisations listed as terrorist groups, none of which is a right-wing outfit.

Peta Lowe, a consultant in countering terrorism and violent extremism, said there were many groups active in Australia espousing far-right extremist views.

But Ms Lowe, who prepared a sentencing report on far-right terrorist Phillip Galea, said determining which groups should be banned was a difficult task.

“It’s like a Pandora’s box. Once you start to look at it, you realise it’s actually a lot bigger and more complex than you previously assumed, and many right-wing and far-right discourses are becoming much more mainstream,” she told The Australian.

“We need to invest in understanding and deciding what we will and won’t tolerate. And then we need to call it out when we see it. I think there will be some groups where we have to say ‘that is outside the bounds of what is ­acceptable in our country’.”

ASIO told parliament’s intelligence and security committee in September that far-right extremists now made up 30-40 per cent of the agency’s counter-terrorism caseload, compared with 10-15 per cent four years ago.

Galea, who was sentenced in November to 12 years in jail over plans to wage war against “Muslims and lefties”, was a member of extreme-right groups Reclaim Australia and the True Blue Crew.

Other far-right groups active in Australia include the United Patriots Front and the Lads Society — both established by neo-Nazi Blair Cottrell — and the US-based Atomwaffen Division.

Ms Lowe warned the inquiry, by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, would require engagement with some of those groups.

“I think some of them will take the opportunity to make submissions. It will give them the opportunity to publicly air their narrative,” she said.

Under the inquiry’s terms of reference from Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, the committee will consider potential changes to federal laws on the listing of terrorist organisations to ensure they “provide a barrier to those who may seek to promote an extremist ideology”.

Senior criminology lecturer at Macquarie University Julian Droogan said proscribing extreme-right groups would be “tricky” because they were unlike Islamist groups like al-Qa’ida and Islamic State, which were designed to fight for global revolution using terrorist tactics.

“Very few of these far-right groups have clearly articulated ­violence as a goal,” Dr Droogan said. “But at the same time, they ­incite hate crimes and potential mass shooter attacks like we have seen in New Zealand.”

Under current laws, extremist organisations can be banned if they are engaged in planning or fostering terrorist acts, or advocate terrorism. But Dr Droogan said involvement in terrorism should not be the criteria for organisations to be proscribed.

“If you use terrorism as your reason for proscribing, you are going to be making it very difficult because they don’t openly proclaim violence and they are not set up in the way international terror organisations are set up,” Dr Droogan said.

All of Australia’s Five Eyes ­security partners — the US, Canada, Britain and New Zealand — have proscribed some right-wing extremist groups.

Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said Australia needed to send a clear message about the sort of conduct that was unacceptable in the community.

“Listing a right-wing group as a terrorist organisation is not a silver bullet, but given our Five Eyes partners have already made this move, the upcoming inquiry is a good opportunity to ensure our laws remain fit-for-purpose in the face of the rising terrorist threat from right-wing extremism.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/crackdown-on-farright-groups-opens-a-pandoras-box/news-story/02f633ab19bfc4f07ea32ed8b27a42cb

International celebrities still call Australia home after COVID closed borders

Overseas-based Aussie stars fled home, while Hollywood stalwarts moved here for work and found themselves putting down roots as COVID took hold.

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Overseas-based Aussie celebrities fled home and Hollywood stars moved here for work and found themselves putting down roots as COVID closed international borders and ravaged the US and Europe.

Some stars like Zac Efron and Kate Walsh initially came for short stays, but have found themselves staying indefinitely.

Take a peek at those who have called Australia home this year.

TOM HANKS AND RITA WILSON

It was a case of bad timing for Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who tested positive for coronavirus the same day it was officially declared a global pandemic.

The 64-year-olds were in Brisbane at the time, telling fans via Instagram, “We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches … Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”

While Hanks was admitted to hospital for a period, the Forrest Gump star assured the public he was safe and well, and within weeks the duo returned to their home in the US.

The couple were even able to return to the Gold Coast in September to continue filming Baz Luhrmann’s latest biopic, Elvis, which Hanks is set to star.

ZAC EFRON

What was scheduled as a quiet holiday quickly turned into a full blown love affair for Zac Efron, after the High School Musical star’s three month Australian getaway became an indefinite relocation.

Touching down in June, sources close to the A-lister said Efron simply wanted to ride out the coronavirus pandemic in peace before filming began on his upcoming Stan series, Gold, which is being filmed in Adelaide.

But within weeks of landing Down Under, Efron had struck up a romance with Byron Bay local Vanessa Valladares and extended his visa for a further 12 months.

In the months that followed, the couple reportedly travelled the country together, celebrated his birthday with a lavish party filled with local celebs, and were even looking at purchasing a permanent pad together.

Sadly, things were all over between the two by November, with the romance proving to be just another COVID confinement fling.

LIAM NEESON

He may be Hollywood royalty, but there was no special treatment for Liam Neeson when he arrived in Australia to star in his upcoming movie, Blacklight.

The 68-year-old Irishman underwent two weeks of mandatory self-isolation in Sydney before touching down in Melbourne, where the majority of the upcoming $43 million action thriller is set to be filmed.

Since his November arrival, Neeson has been spotted out and about filming scenes in South Yarra and Noble Park, eating lunch along the Yarra River, taking strolls along South Bank, and hanging out near the Melbourne Convention Centre, which has been turned into a makeshift set for the film.

Neeson, along with the rest of the film’s cast and crew, seems to have embraced the state’s strict mandatory mask policy, with the Taken star seen donning disposable masks between takes and whenever he’s not filming. Talk about leading by example.

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NATALIE PORTMAN

It’s not every day you see an Oscar winner at the local Woolworths pushing a trolley, but Natalie Portman seems to be enjoying the quiet – and very regular – life during her life in Australia.

The Black Swan star is currently based in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Double Bay while filming Marvel’s latest instalment, Thor: Love and Thunder, in which she plays Chris Hemsworth’s love interest, Jane Foster.

The 39-year-old vegan is visiting with her husband Benjamin Millepied and their two children Aleph, nine, and Amalia, three.

Prior to filming, the four spent a mandatory two weeks in quarantine before holidaying in Hemsworth’s hometown of Byron Bay alongside a slew of other famous faces.

According to Sydney locals, the super star has been spotted a handful of times in recent weeks dining at local cafes and restaurants, and yes, even doing the grocery shopping.

KATE WALSH

A holiday to WA turned into an indefinite stay for Kate Walsh earlier this year.

The Grey’s Anatomy star was visiting Perth in March when borders closed, and instead of trying to head back to her home in the US, Walsh settled in and began exploring the many wonders of the stunning state.

“There’s so much to explore and see,” Walsh told The West Live podcast. “I’m just in love with it,” she said, adding that Rottnest Island, Broome and Ningaloo Reef have been among her favourite spots.

Walsh, who now has an extended working visa, also kept busy starring in the Freemantle Theatre Company’s latest production, The Other Place.

“As much as I would like to be able to go home and come back, there are surges and different rounds [of COVID] coming. How it’s been handled here … is so exemplary and I feel very fortunate to be able to have a normal life here,” Walsh said.

ISLA FISHER AND SACHA BARON COHEN

If Australia’s latest returns are anything to go by, NSW is in the midst of a mass Hollywood migration.

Having called Los Angeles home for over a decade, Aussie comedy queen Isla Fisher and her British husband Sasha Baron-Cohen appear to have made their recent trip to Sydney a permanent one, enrolling their three young kids into a local school and spending their days scoping out dining spots in the beachside suburb of Coogee.

While 44-year-old Fisher has been spotted working from a laptop at a number of local cafes, Baron-Cohen seems to be taking a break after the global success of his latest mockumentary, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. The 49-year-old has been seen swimming laps of Bronte pool and taking strolls with pals.

And while Fisher may hail from Perth, Sydney is surely a city closer to the couple’s heart given it’s where they first met and fell in love almost 20 years ago.

MARK WAHLBERG

The Hollywood star of Transformers and Boogie Nights avoided local COVID quarantine and choosing a $400,000 private self-isolation stint in Byron Bay to film a TV campaign for the Ladbrokes betting agency.

Super-fit father of four Wahlberg, 49, is believed to have brought in a full gym set-up for the property to keep his health in check.

He flew back to Sydney after quarantine to shoot the commercial.

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>>12202411

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SARAH SNOOK

A visit home took an unexpected turn for Sarah Snook when she found herself in the nation’s COVID-19 hotspot, Melbourne, and faced months of lockdown.

The Succession star had originally planned to spend just a few weeks in her native country, but with filming for the next season of her HBO drama delayed, the 33-year-old chose to stick it out and make the most of her time off.

Snook joined the 2020 Emmys via Zoom from her lounge room (she was nominated in the Best Supporting actor category for her portrayal as Siobhan ‘Shiv’ Roy but lost out to Julia Garner) and celebrated the show’s group wins in her bathtub with champagne and a tinfoil statue made by her flatmate.

Speaking to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard on A Podcast of One’s Own in November, Snook said Shiv’s “dubious moral compass” appeals to her as an actor, adding, “I don’t agree with her, but I like to back her.”

NICOLE KIDMAN

A string of Hollywood stars descended on the trendy coastal town of Byron Bay led by Nicole Kidman and the cast of her upcoming Hulu drama, Nine Perfect Strangers.

The Oscar-winner, her husband Keith Urban and the couple’s two daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret moved into a $20,000-a-week eco mansion rental.

The rest of the cast, including Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy and her actor husband Ben Falcone, Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans, as well as Manny Jacinto and Bobby Cannavale (whose significant other is Australian actor Rose Byrne), joined them in Byron, as did Australian star-on-the-rise Samara Weaving.

Set in fictionalised wellness resort Tranquillum, Nine Perfect Strangers – rumoured to be a $100 million production – was filmed at luxury retreat Soma Byron Bay.

Though the influx of celebrities to the coastal town drew a mixed reaction from Byron locals, some of whom were less than impressed at the disruption.

ADRIAN GRENIER

Entourage star has been in Melbourne most of the year shooting miniseries, Clickbait.

Sightings of the 44-year-old, who played Hollywood star Vinnie Chase on cult HBO series, have dated back to January and the 2020 Australian Open, until as recently as last month in the trendy suburb of Fitzroy, where he has often been spotted in female company.

The enviro activist seems to have taken up woodwork as a hobby while Down Under, crafting a stool at The Shed.

“Thanks The Shed Melbourne for sharing your tools. Check out their studio, a great wood-work-share,” he posted on Instagram.

IDRIS ELBA

British actor Idris Elba touched down in Sydney to star in George Miller’s upcoming movie, Three Thousand Years of Longing.

The Avengers star has been spotted taking a morning stroll in Drummoyne and out with his model wife Sabrina having lunch at Apollo in Potts Point.

The couple have kept a low profile since arriving in Sydney last month, where they went through the mandatory two-week COVID quarantine period.

Elba, 48, is one of the highest profile Hollywood stars to have contracted the virus earlier in the pandemic.

Production on Miller’s film was due to begin in March but was pushed back due to coronavirus.

It is Miller’s first movie since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

MIRANDA KERR

The Australian supermodel returned home last month via private jet.

It was reported that the trip Down Under from her Los Angeles base was for private family reasons, with a report suggesting it was a “mercy dash” due to the health of an older relative.

Kerr, 37, flew in with her sons her sons Flynn, 9, Hart, 2, and 13-month-old Myles, while her husband, Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, joined her in Sydney shortly after.

The couple kept a low profile while in the country. Spiegel avoided hotel quarantine, with NSW police confirming that he was “compliant with the Public Health (COVID-19 Air Transportation Quarantine) Order (No 2) 2020, which states a person can put a proposal forward to acquire independent locations meeting the same standards as NSW Police-managed hotels to be nominated as ‘Quarantine Facilities’ as allowed under the Public Health Order”.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/international-celebrities-still-call-australia-home-after-covid-closed-borders/news-story/8352e24ffaebbc0f26f3a54a7496ae9d

Canberra considers axing Victorian research agreement with China

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The federal government is considering tearing up a research agreement between the Victorian government and China's Jiangsu province that experts say could allow the work of Australian scientists to be used by the Chinese government.

The deal, signed by the Labor state government in 2015 and renewed in 2019, provides grants of up to $200,000 for Victorian companies and universities to share intellectual property and develop new products with companies from the Chinese province.

Two senior federal government sources with knowledge of the review process for foreign agreements, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the Victoria-Jiangsu Program for Technology and Innovation Research and Development was on a list of agreements the Department of Foreign Affairs had identified as potentially contrary to Australia's national interest.

The sources said the deal was among agreements on the list that the government would scrutinise.

Legislation created by the federal government this month allows the Commonwealth to cancel agreements with foreign powers made by states, local governments or universities if the deals are deemed harmful.

Dr Paul Monk, former head of China analysis in Australia’s Defence Department, said the Jiangsu deal could allow firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party to obtain access to Australian intellectual property, and it should be viewed through the prism of President Xi Jinping's recently stated intention, reported by Chinese state media, of increasing military-industrial strength with the aim of winning wars.

“They have a rapidly growing, high-tech military sector that is strongly integrated between private firms and the Chinese government. This deal must be seen in that context,” Dr Monk said.

“For this deal to be getting promoted by the Chinese government, there is likely to be something we can provide that they want – otherwise they would do it themselves. So we must ask: what [intellectual property] do we bring to the table that they are seeking?”

The Jiangsu deal links Victorian businesses and universities with Chinese counterparts, and supports the Australian entities to travel to Jiangsu, a province in China’s east of about 80 million people, for research and development related to innovations in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, aerospace, biotechnology, medicine, information and communication technology, and environmental protection.

Two previous rounds of the program's grants have funded CSIRO research on manufacturing and materials technology; Walter and Eliza Hall Institute work on a potential cure for hepatitis B;membrane technology for mining wastewater treatment by Deakin University; Swinburne University 3D concrete printing technology; development of bio-organic fertilisers by the University of Melbourne; and a quantum information technology project involving Monash University, Deakin University, the University of Melbourne and the Burnet Institute.

The program guidelines say that at the conclusion of the projects, both the Chinese and the Australian parties receive beneficial ownership of the existing background intellectual property and the fresh intellectual property created during the collaboration.

Dr Monk said a research and development deal with the government of an ally such as the US or Britain would not pose similar risks because it would be clearly apparent whether an Australian company was dealing with a private firm or the government itself.

“Any notion that China is some kind of normal, open, free-market economy is delusional. This is a militaristic, mercantilist country where [strategic] industries are owned by the government and directed to increasing military power,” he said.

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The Burnet Institute's deputy director of partnerships, Associate Professor David Anderson, is involved in a project with a Jiangsu biotech company to develop antibody tests to immediately diagnose medical conditions including COVID-19 and measles.

He said his institute struck an agreement with its Chinese partner to ensure background intellectual property would not be transferred as part of the project, contradicting the program guidelines. He said the IP clause in the guidelines was "bad wording" and that no Australian institution would ever sign up to an agreement under which its existing IP, which might have been years in the making, was handed over.

Professor Anderson said the Victoria-Jiangsu program provided significant benefit for Victorian institutions and that the Burnet Institute's Chinese partner would gain a 10 per cent financial benefit but no ownership of the final product. All project applicants must come to an agreement with their Chinese partners on IP arrangements before the project commences.

"The Victoria-Jiangsu relationship is coming up to 40 years, and this deal is an extension of that. The Chinese have a lot of people banging down their door wanting to do things … and the Victorian government should get lots of credit for embracing genuine collaboration," he said.

Professor Anderson said Chinese universities and companies had more capacity to do resource-intensive "big science", such as genomic sequencing and X-ray crystallography, than any other country.

"And Australians, in particular, are great at innovation but we do not fund big science very much, so it's an area we can work together to make better things," he said, adding: "Everything we do with China is about increasing the value of jobs created in both countries."

Western officials have expressed concern for years that China has exploited research collaboration and used subversive tactics to gather IP from other countries. The US IP Commission, a non-government research body, estimated in 2017 that Chinese IP theft cost the American economy between $US225 billion ($296 billion) and $US600 billion each year. The dispute over IP has been at the centre of the trade war between those two countries.

Nathan Attrill, a researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which is partly funded by the US government, said the Victoria-Jiangsu program illustrated how “hidden” and highly technical clauses in deals with foreign nations could create considerable risk.

“Maybe five years ago, these kinds of deals would have been more common but in the last 18 months, these deals are coming under a lot more scrutiny,” he said.

“There was a little bit of naivete on the Australian side, a desire to just have agreements for agreements’ sake. This is particularly true of the university sector in Australia.”

Mr Attrill said the sectors that featured in the Jiangsu program — including aerospace, information technology, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing — aligned with the fields in which China was attempting to learn from countries with sophisticated economies like Australia.

Dr Monk said China was displaying “blatant aggression” and attempting to “humiliate and subordinate” Australia through trade strikes on exports including coal and beef. Those moves followed diplomatic tussles over an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, human rights and national security.

(continued)

>>12202772

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been criticised by federal and state Coalition MPs over his government's memorandum of understanding with China on the Belt and Road infrastructure program. The federal government has given Victoria three months to show how the deal accords with Australia’s foreign interests.

Belt and Road deal critics say it is an attempt by China to strengthen its influence through debt diplomacy, but the Victorian government says its involvement in the deal is about trade and jobs for the state.

A Victorian government spokesperson said the Jiangsu agreement was "about driving innovation and creating jobs for Victorians".

“We expect the Commonwealth is providing strong representations to China and all trading partners and advocating for all of our exporters," the spokesperson said.

Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said that by signing up to the deal, the Premier had shown he was willing to risk "Victorian jobs, intellectual property and the national interest to pursue his relationship with the Chinese communist government”.

The federal government is also involved in a scientific research program with China, but the program guidelines do not stipulate that background IP becomes mutually owned at the conclusion of projects.

In November, federal Education Minister Dan Tehan quietly announced he was holding back 18 research grants to Australian scientists until they were reviewed by security agencies.

The Australian Research Council grants, often worth several million dollars, are recommended by independent panels of scientists but must be approved by the federal education minister.

Typically this is a rubber-stamping process, but under Mr Tehan scrutiny of the foreign research partners Australian universities pair with has dramatically increased.

The minister announced new voluntary guidelines last year urging universities to examine the background of their research partners and any ties they had to foreign governments.

China, which invests half a trillion dollars in research every year, overtook the US as Australia’s leading research partner this year, with 16.2 per cent of Australian publications involving a researcher affiliated with a Chinese institution.

Alex Joske, a Chinese Communist Party analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said past Australian Research Council grants had been used in projects that collaborated with the Chinese military.

“I hope security agencies are careful in their assessments to ensure grants are used appropriately, but also not to overreach,” he said.

“It’s important for people to understand that this is a relatively small segment of grants that seems to be in line with the level of past grants that raised concerns. If it’s carried out effectively, this process should be a step towards making sure research collaboration is transparent and based on a complete understanding of risks.”

Mr Tehan's office declined comment further on the withheld grants and Universities Australia and the Australian Academy of Science both declined to comment.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/victoria/canberra-considers-axing-victorian-research-agreement-with-china-20201217-p56oiz.html

Timber crisis after China hit

The nation’s timber industry says it will need government assistance to stave off job losses and mill closures if Chinese trade sanctions continue, after Beijing banned logs from NSW and Western Australia claiming it had found “live forest pests” in earlier shipments.

In the latest blow for Australian exporters, China effectively ended the timber trade between the two countries when it banned imports from those states, two days before Christmas.

Australian timber from Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania was banned earlier this year amid serious trade tensions between Canberra and Beijing, which now has restrictions on wine, barley, beef, lobsters and coal.

An Australian Forest Products Association spokesman said the industry group had already implemented a comprehensive package of reforms to address China’s phytosanitary concerns.

“AFPA is in ongoing discussions with Australian governments on the significant impact the suspension of the log trade is having across the forest industries supply chain,” he said.

“Should the situation continue into 2021, the need for short and long-term assistance to support workers and businesses already impacted, and to avoid further, widespread job losses and mill closures.”

Australia exports $1.6bn of logs and wood chips to China each year.

Former trade minister Simon Birmingham this month launched formal World Trade Organisation action over an 80 per cent tariff China applied to $2.5bn of Australian barley.

China has slapped bans on more than $20bn worth of Australian exports this year, including choking off thermal coal despite winter energy shortages for its people.

On Friday, the South China Morning Post reported almost 9000kg of craft beer exported from Sydney had been stopped at the port city of Xiamen, in southeastern China, because it was incorrectly labelled.

The General Administration of Customs of China extended the ban on Australian timber on Wednesday in line with its sanitary measures and quarantine laws, the agency said.

“Recently, customs in Tianjin, Nanjing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Huangpu discovered live forest pests in logs imported from NSW and Western Australia,” the notice said.

“In order to prevent the introduction of harmful organisms and protect our country’s agricultural and forestry production and ecological safety, we have hereby decided to suspend log imports from Australia’s NSW and WA states.”

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the government was committed to working with all industries hit by recent trade disruptions including the suspension of log exports to China.

Mr Littleproud said the government had already provided $72.7m to farmers and forestry exporters in a bid to assist them expand the markets they sold to next year.

The timber bans started on October 31 when Chinese customs officials claimed they had found the bark beetle in logs from Queensland. Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian logs were banned soon after on the same grounds.

Senator Birmingham, who was succeeded in the trade portfolio by Dan Tehan in a pre-Christmas reshuffle, accused Beijing of undermining the “letter and spirit” of the China-­Australia free-trade agreement and its obligations under World Trade Organisation rules.

Beijing has laid the blame for the increasingly toxic bilateral relationship with Australia, setting out 14 grievances with Canberra including the ban on Huawei from Australia‘s 5G network, new foreign interference laws, and a push for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

It is also angry at forthright comments by Australian leaders about the South China Sea and China’s detention of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and “thinly veiled” allegations of cyber intrusions by Chinese hackers.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released last Wednesday show the trade surplus for goods fell to a two-year low in November hit by a slump in exports to China. It showed a $1.2bn decrease in exports to China, pushing the trade surplus to just $1.9bn compared with $4.7bn in October.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/timber-crisis-after-china-hit/news-story/4e097cd16e9103affee2923dc6fe9fd7

Pope formally strips Vatican secretariat of state of assets

Nicole Winfield - December 22, 2020

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has formally stripped the Vatican secretariat of state of its financial assets and real estate holdings following its bungled management of hundreds of millions of euros in donations and investments that are now the subject of a corruption investigation.

Francis signed a new law over the weekend ordering the secretariat of state to complete the transfer of all its holdings to another Vatican office by Feb. 4. The law also calls for all donations to the pope — the Peter’s Pence collections from the faithful as well as other donations that had been managed by the secretariat of state — to be held and managed by the Vatican’s treasury office as separate funds that are accounted for in the Holy See’s consolidated budget.

The changes are a response to a spiraling Vatican criminal investigation into years-long allegations of mismanagement of donations and investments by the Vatican’s secretariat of state which has resulted in losses of tens of millions of euros at a time of financial crisis for the Holy See.

Francis had already ordered the transfers in August and followed up in November by appointing a commission to put the changes into effect. The new law makes the changes permanent and sets a firm date for their execution.

Francis said he was making the changes to improve the administration, control and vigilance over the Holy See’s assets and ensure a more “transparent and efficient management.”

Francis moved against his own secretariat of state amid an 18-month investigation by Vatican prosecutors into the office’s 350-million-euro investment into a luxury residential building in London’s Chelsea neighborhood and other speculative funds.

Prosecutors have accused several officials in the department of abusing their authority for their involvement in the deal, as well several Italian middlemen of allegedly fleecing the Vatican of tens of millions of euros in fees.

The scandal has exposed the incompetence of the Vatican’s monsignors in managing money, since they signed away voting shares in the deal and agreed to pay exorbitant fees to Italians who were known in business circles for their shady dealings.

Francis’ decision has been an embarrassing blow to the secretariat of state’s standing as the most powerful Holy See office, reducing it to essentially any other department that must propose a budget and have it approved and monitored by others.

The outcome is essentially what was sought years ago by Cardinal George Pell, Francis’ first economy minister who clashed with the secretariat of state over his financial reforms and efforts to wrest control of the department’s off-the-books funds.

Pell had to abandon those reform efforts in 2017 to face trial for sexual abuse in his native Australia, but he was acquitted and recently told The Associated Press he felt vindicated that the wrongdoing he tried to uncover was being exposed.

The Holy See is facing a major cash crunch as its main source of revenue, ticket sales from the Vatican Museums, evaporated this year due to coronavirus closures. The Holy See last year narrowed its budget deficit from 75 million euros to 11 million euros.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-pope-francis-europe-laws-3fe8e4aa2a68d8a02dd5f18f64e4026b

—

Communiqué of the Holy See Press Office on the Motu Proprio “A better organization”, 28.12.2020

https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/12/28/0694/01625.html

Apostolic Letter in the form of a "Motu Proprio" from the Supreme Pontiff Francis concerning certain competences in economic and financial matters

https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/12/28/0694/01624.html

>>12088267

Ghislaine Maxwell is denied bail by U.S. judge

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday denied bail to Ghislaine Maxwell, citing the risk the British socialite might flee from charges she assisted in the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of girls.

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan said federal prosecutors persuaded her that Maxwell “poses a flight risk” despite her proposed $28.5 million bail package, and should remain jailed because “no conditions of release” reasonably assured she would appear in court.

Lawyers for Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan declined to comment.

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom girls as young as 14 years old for sex in the mid-1990s, and not guilty to perjury for denying her involvement under oath.

She has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following her July 2 arrest at her New Hampshire home, where prosecutors said she was hiding out.

The proposed bail package included $22.5 million posted by Maxwell and her husband, as well as home confinement with electronic monitoring and 24-hour guard to ensure Maxwell remained safe and would not escape.

Maxwell said she wanted to stay in New York to clear her name, while her lawyers objected to jail conditions including invasive searches and surveillance by flashlight-toting guards who woke her every 15 minutes to ensure she was still breathing.

But Nathan, who rejected a $5 million bail package for Maxwell in July, said none of the new arguments had a “material bearing” on whether Maxwell was a flight risk.

In opposing bail, prosecutors cited Maxwell’s abilities to hide her wealth and evade capture, and the prospect she might flee to France or the United Kingdom, where she holds citizenships and they said she might elude extradition.

Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. Her trial is scheduled for July 12, 2021.

Epstein, 66, killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr criticized errors by jail personnel that he said contributed to Epstein’s death.

Nathan described her “bottom line” conclusions in a two-page order. A longer opinion explaining her reasoning will be filed after lawyers for Maxwell and the government propose redactions to account for potentially confidential information.

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2921TV

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.104.0_5.pdf

>>12219001

Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet

Ghislaine Maxwell is sensibly kept under lock & key behind bars, where she belongs @FBI @SDNYnews & all the amazing survivors like @anniefarmer & @ArtisticBlower who have shown what bravery looks like against wealthy tyranny. #DemandJustice - ABC News

https://twitter.com/VRSVirginia/status/1343773880708517888

—

Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of helping Jeffery Epstein groom girls, denied bail in New York despite bail package offer

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell will remain behind bars after her bail application was denied.

Ms Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to helping Jeffery Epstein recruit and groom girls as young as 14 years old for sex in the mid-1990s, and not guilty to perjury for denying her involvement under oath.

On Monday local time, US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan said federal prosecutors persuaded her that Ms Maxwell "poses a flight risk" despite her proposed $US28.5 million ($37.5 million) bail package.

Judge Nathan said Ms Maxwell should remain in jail because "no conditions of release" reasonably assured she would appear in court.

Lawyers for Ms Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss declined to comment.

Ms Maxwell has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, following her July 2 arrest at her New Hampshire home, where prosecutors said she was hiding out.

The proposed bail package included $US22.5 million ($29.7 million) posted by Ms Maxwell and her husband, as well as home confinement with electronic monitoring and 24-hour guard to ensure she remained safe and would not escape.

Ms Maxwell said she wanted to stay in New York to clear her name, while her lawyers objected to jail conditions including invasive searches and surveillance by flashlight-toting guards who woke her every 15 minutes to ensure she was still breathing.

But Judge Nathan, who rejected a $US5 million bail package for Ms Maxwell in July, said none of the new arguments had a "material bearing" on whether she was a flight risk.

In opposing bail, prosecutors cited Ms Maxwell's abilities to hide her wealth and evade capture, and the prospect she might flee to France or the United Kingdom.

Ms Maxwell holds citizenships in both countries and prosecutors said she might elude extradition.

Ms Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. Her trial is scheduled for July 12, 2021.

Epstein, 66, killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Former US Attorney General William Barr criticised errors by jail personnel that he said contributed to Epstein's death.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-29/ghislaine-maxwell-accused-of-helping-jeffery-epstein-denied-bail/13018858

First case of 'more contagious' South African coronavirus strain detected in Australia

An overseas traveller who arrived in Queensland has tested positive for a "more contagious" South African variant of the coronavirus.

The woman tested positive while in hotel quarantine when she arrived in Queensland on December 22 and was immediately transferred to hospital for monitoring.

She is believed to be the first detected case of the overseas strain in Australia.

The new strain is believed to be more contagious than the existing COVID-19 virus.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said there is no risk to the public from the positive case but the new strain being detected showed the importance of the state's mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine.

"This will be the first positive case of the South African variant in Australia," Ms D'Ath said.

"We have seen other jurisdictions record a UK variant, but this is the first time the South African one has been identified in Australia.

"It is important people continue to get tested if they experience any symptoms at all."

Today Queensland reported two new COVID-19 cases, both from returned overseas travellers.

Today's confirmed cases are not linked to the woman's positive result for the new COVID-19 strain.

Viral fragments were also detected in treatment plants in five Greater Brisbane testing facilities, but it cannot be confirmed if these are from previously detected cases or new developing cases.

The facilities are located at Victoria Point, Oxley Creek, Goodna, Fairfield and Redcliffe.

"We are seeing increased cases across the world and increased cases returning to Queensland – with two new variants of the virus being detected in the UK and now South Africa, my advice is that we continue quarantining returned travellers in hotels," Queensland Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeanette Young said.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/first-case-of-south-african-coronavirus-strain-detected-in-australia-in-queensland-returned-traveller/26cb85c6-1fc0-45ad-968d-b5a689dda620

>>12142216

Please explain $2bn, bishops ask Pope Francis

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Australia’s Catholic bishops are working on a direct request to the Pope to investigate and explain how $2.3bn was transferred from the Vatican City to Australia over six years without their knowledge.

The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference is considering the request after they were “astonished at the scale of the transfers” from the Holy See’s secretariat of state between 2014 and this year.

The Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, told The Australian on Tuesday that no Australian Catholic, diocese, charity, religious order or church entity had received any of the money.

“In the current atmosphere of dark speculation about money transfers, the lack of transparency and the way in which it was revealed is very unhelpful,” he said. “We are considering asking the Holy See to explain the transfers in a way that provides clarity and transparency.”

Last Wednesday, The Australian revealed that an official report from Australia’s international fin­ancial watchdog, Austrac, had found $2.3bn had been transferred from the Vatican City over the past six years.

The Australian Federal Police is investigating some of the transfers from the Vatican to Australia.

These transfers rapidly increased from $71.6m in 2014 to $137.1m in 2015 before doubling again to $295m in 2016 and ­peaking at $581.3m in 2017, the Austrac disclosures made in response to questions asked at Senate estimate hearings.

More than $422m was transferred in 2018, $491.8m in 2019 and $294.8m this financial year to date — in total more than 40,000 transactions, Austrac found.

Archbishop Coleridge said: “What is certain in the middle of great uncertainties is that Australian bishops did not know about these transfers until the disclosure last week and we were astonished at the scale of transfers.

“I have spoken to other bishops and the Papal Nuncio in Canberra and nobody knew of these transfers and we don’t know of any Australian Catholic charity, diocese, order or agency receiving any of this money from the Holy See.

“We do know that despite some speculation, the money was certainly not used for the church’s costs in relation to royal commissions or for Cardinal (George) Pell’s legal costs. We are baffled.”

Archbishop Coleridge, who served in the Vatican secretariat of state for four years from 1997, said he was aware of claims that “cipher accounts” were being used in the Vatican’s name by people who were not part of the Holy See to make international transfers and investments.

He said cipher accounts and obscure financial accounts were “part of the problem” Cardinal Pell had to confront when the Pope appointed him as his financial controller in 2014.

(continued)

>>12233266

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On Monday in Rome, Francis signed a new law that stripped the Vatican’s secretariat of state of all its financial and real estate assets amid a growing scandal of dubious investments, the removal of charitable funds and a troubled $360m building project in London’s Chelsea district.

The Austrac figures also show $117.4m was sent from Australia to the Vatican, likely part of an annual fund for charities. Those transfers have risen from $17.7m in 2014 to $32.4m in 2019. Only $7.5m had been transferred to date this year.

The Vatican has been embroiled in scandal in recent months over allegations of embezzlement and nepotism levelled against Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a senior member of the church’s ­bureaucracy until this year who was an opponent to Cardinal Pell’s reforms at the Vatican.

Cardinal Becciu was fired by the Pope in September over the ­allegations. Cardinal Becciu has denied any wrongdoing.

There have also been alle­gations to Vatican investigators that money was sent to Australia to adversely affect the sexual abuse trial of Cardinal Pell.

To date, there has been no evidence produced to show any Vatican money was transferred to influence that trial.

After Cardinal Pell’s appointment as the Vatican’s treasurer with the task of cleaning up the Holy See’s finances, Victoria Police investigated and charged him with two cases of historical sexual abuse in Melbourne.

After two trials in 2018 and 2019 — one hung jury and one guilty verdict — Cardinal Pell was sentenced to six years’ jail and served more than a year in prison before he was acquitted unanimously by the High Court in April.

In October, The Australian reported Vatican investigators were examining at least four transfers from the Vatican secretariat, including two from Cardinal Becciu, between 2017 and 2018 totalling $2m to a company in Melbourne.

While Austrac has not disclosed the individual identities of the recipients of the money in Australia, some church sources cautioned it may have been for investment in the Australian bond and equities market.

Archbishop Coleridge said the Holy See, like other governments and sovereign funds, was entitled to invest in Australia and had in the past, “but, particularly given the large amounts, we can’t understand why the bishops here would not be aware of it”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/please-explain-2bn-bishops-ask-pope-francis/news-story/3438eeef29e4357bcf68b9d30ace604c

>>12210640

George Pell vindicated by Vatican finances clean-up

Tess Livingstone - December 29, 2020

In a humiliation of the Vatican’s most senior department, the Secretariat of State, Pope Francis has removed its role as manager of many of the church’s financial investments and real estate holdings.

The Pontiff’s announcement, dated December 26, takes effect from New Year’s Day. The move comes after decades of corruption, theft, bad investments, incompetence, kickbacks to corrupt associates, nepotism and the squandering of money donated in good faith by churchgoers.

The problems stretch back at least to the 1960s, or even earlier.

The radical change is a vindication of George Pell’s work as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy from 2014 to 2017, when he sought to centralise and professionalise the Vatican’s sclerotic money and asset management systems and introduce professional auditing and transparency to its operations.

His efforts were thwarted repeatedly, by the Secretariat of State, especially its former deputy, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu. While Cardinal Becciu initially enjoyed the confidence of the Pope, revelations over the past two years of secret Swiss bank accounts and the purchase of a London property at an inflated price appear to have changed the Pontiff’s mind. In September, Cardinal Becciu resigned the privileges that are extended to members of the College of Cardinals.

The changes are also a major blow to the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s second most senior official. The Pope told Cardinal Parolin of the changes in a letter in August. The process was then set out by a special “Commission of transfer and control’’.

In his statement, Pope Francis said control and supervision of the economic and financial activities of the Holy See was fundamental in the reform of the Curia “to ensure transparent and efficient management’’.

From January 1, “the ownership of funds and bank accounts, of securities and real estate investments, including investments in companies and investment funds, up until now registered in the name of the Secretariat of State” would be transferred to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, or APSA, the Pope wrote in his statement.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/george-pell-vindicated-by-vatican-finances-cleanup/news-story/1fda6cdc4cf570b1a99007e34863555b

How conspiracy theories led a 'fringe scientist' to escape quarantine

Harriet Alexander - December 29, 2020

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Trapped under quarantine and ravaged by allergies in a Perth hotel room, Jenny D'Ubios slid into an internet vortex of conspiracy theories in the week before her Boxing Day escape.

The self-described "fringe scientist" shared with her Facebook followers articles about the dangers of 5G, a post by an anti-fluoride group that suggested coronavirus was a hoax, a video about the COVID-19 test (which was blocked by Facebook) and support for Reignite Democracy Australia, an activist group that sprang up in protest against the Melbourne lockdown.

Anti-COVID testing, anti-COVID vaccination and heavily populated by COVID-deniers, Reignite Australia was a group that clearly spoke to Ms D'Ubios and emboldened her to take drastic action against her confinement. By her seventh day in quarantine, she was spitting with fury.

"Everyone in the world is lazy and fearful," she said in a video posted to Facebook.

"They're going to use the army to mass vaccinate you for a 0.03 per cent contraction rate of a virus that doesn't exist with a 99 per cent healing rate. I'm done having to suffer because people won't stand up for their rights.

"If they don't let me out of here today I'm going to get back on here and ask someone to do a drive-by, meet me out the front and throw all my stuff in the car."

Later that morning, she walked out of the hotel.

The coronavirus pandemic has sharpened focus on the harms caused by the dissemination of false information, with the internet variously peddling false cures, denialism and rampant speculation about who might have caused outbreaks in particular areas.

Between March and October, Facebook and Instagram removed more than 12 million pieces of misinformation and displayed warnings on 167 million pieces of content. A Facebook spokesman said the group had a clear policy on vaccine misinformation to remove false claims, including conspiracy theories.

Several groups and individuals, including controversial chef Pete Evans, have been banned from Facebook. Most of them moved to other platforms, where they were free to become more radical but lost most of their followers.

But the material posted by Reignite Democracy has stopped short of breaching the tech giant's policies and the group, though its founder Monica Smit has frequently warned that it may be shut down at any moment. Its more than 50,000 members are a loose coalition of anti-vaccination wellness activists and conservative libertarians.

(continued)

>>12233485

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Since it was founded in August, Reignite Democracy has helped advertise protests at testing stations and given a sympathetic forum to federal Liberal MP Craig Kelly to air his concerns about police overreach during the lockdown protests and which coronavirus treatments should be available in Australia.

Extremist researcher Kaz Ross said, like "Digital Warfare", an activist group linked to the far-right conspiracy group QAnon, Reignite Democracy had engaged with the political process in a way that other groups had not. Its tactics were suggestive of a Victorian political connection.

Digital Warfare organised spam sessions among its followers to lobby and troll independent MPs at predetermined times. Reignite Democracy raised thousands of dollars from supporters to charter a bus emblazoned with the words "Sack Andrews" during Melbourne's lockdown protests and has engaged with politicians on legislation.

"Reignite always stuck out as a much different type from the other Facebook groups," Dr Ross said. "They've always had a much bigger game than the lockdown and they've always had their eye on the politics of the situation."

Ms Smit did not respond to a request for an interview. She posted a video on Christmas day, telling supporters that she planned to take a week off because big things were planned for 2021.

Craig Kelly said he met Ms Smit when she contacted him through Facebook. She interviewed him for the Facebook page and later asked him for political advice.

"She said, 'I've never been involved in politics before. Who is on the left and who is on the right and how should I work it all out?'" Mr Kelly said. "I said, 'It's too difficult to explain those things. You describe yourself as libertarian'."

Divisions over the government response to coronavirus had shifted the political landscape, he said.

"A lot of younger people in their 20s and 30s have had a political awakening and realised that they come down probably on the libertarian side of politics, more the right side of politics, whereas before they would have considered themselves swinging voters.

"A few older people have gone the other way and you probably saw that in the Queensland election, the demographic of elderly, retired people like the idea of big government keeping them safe."

Ms D'Ubios' interest in alternative health long pre-dated her interest in Reignite Australia. She began her quarantine in the Pan Pacific Hotel by giving her followers a demonstration in how to renew their body cells by priming their drinking water with a tuning fork.

“Don’t pay any more than $70 for your tuning fork," she said. "You don’t need to.”

By the end of the week, she was worn down by her allergies and exhorted her followers to rise up against the government.

"Dust is my worst enemy, besides the governments of the world and the people running this show," she said.

At the end of her day on the run, she turned herself in at a hospital.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/how-conspiracy-theories-led-a-fringe-scientist-to-escape-quarantine-20201228-p56qhj.html

Greg Norman praises Donald Trump after detailing harrowing COVID-19 battle

COVID-19 has brought America to its knees but after his scary brush with the virus, Greg Norman has heaped praise on Donald Trump.

Greg Norman has praised outgoing American president Donald Trump’s handling of COVID-19 after detailing his frightening experience of contracting the virus.

The Australian golf legend, who lives in the US, was struck down by coronavirus and forced to spend Christmas Day in the emergency room as he experienced pain “on another level”. Norman was discharged but forced to return to hospital a day later after testing positive again, and is now isolating at home.

More than 330,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and nearly 20 million cases have been recorded. On some days this month, the country has witnessed more than 3000 deaths in a 24-hour period.

The country is still caught in the grips of the pandemic but Norman believes Trump has done a great job dealing with it — and feels the same way about Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“Irrespective of whether you like Trump or not, he did a phenomenal job at warp speed,” Norman told Channel 7.

“I think Prime Minster Scott Morrison down there did a phenomenal job … Yes there’s a few lingering COVID cases down there but it’s not to the tune or magnitude of what’s happening here (in America).”

Norman said the virus “hit me from the top of my head all the way down” and first noticed troubling signs on the golf course, where the 65-year-old was playing in the PNC Championship with his son Greg Norman Jr — who also contracted coronavirus.

“I was getting really bad back pains and I couldn’t swing the golf club and I was wondering what the heck went wrong,” Norman told Seven.

“Just before Christmas Eve I went to walk me dog, I couldn’t even open the door handle with my hands — my hands hurt that much.

“My sense of taste was disappearing. My quad muscles and my hip flexors didn’t want to work.

“I couldn’t remember people’s phone numbers, I couldn’t remember people’s names. I was always cold and shivering.”

Norman is in good health and regularly works out, but admitted the virus “kicked the crap” out of him.

“I am fit and strong and have a high tolerance for pain but this virus kicked the crap out of me like nothing I have ever experienced before,” Norman wrote on Instagram on Monday.

“Muscle and joint pain on another level. Headaches that feel like a chisel going through your head scraping little bits off each time, fever, muscles that just did not want to work.”

Norman has a message for those conspiracy theorists still doubting the validity of the pandemic, telling Seven: “Get a life, understand the facts and reality. This is real.”

Speaking before the US election in November, Norman — who is friends with Trump and has played golf with him — gave a ringing endorsement of the man who will be replaced in the White House by Joe Biden.

“You name me one individual on this planet, one individual that has experienced a pandemic like this — nobody,” Norman said. “It was 100 years ago, right?”

Norman praised Trump for giving “a rudder to millions and millions of Americans that never had a rudder before”, adding the famous businessman turned politician “gave them a voice, he gave them a belief”.

“(From) my business perspective, he’s done a phenomenal job,” Norman told The Australian. “He has ­pretty much stuck to all his promises he made when he was elected.

“Very few people who are elected as president follow through on their promises.

“Yes, he is bombastic; yes, he has a different style; but to see him actually commit to his word about what he wants to do is actually pretty impressive.”

https://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/greg-norman-praises-donald-trump-after-detailing-harrowing-covid19-battle/news-story/63124bb34ef35eb0e5ab0c13e9a911e6

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJO7DQoJytX/

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

>>12219001

>>12219109

Geraldo Rivera Tweet

Bullshit She’s denied bail because the judge is afraid of the NYPost

https://twitter.com/GeraldoRivera/status/1343722558131216386

Judge again denies bail for Ghislaine Maxwell, citing flight risk

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/531865-judge-again-denies-bail-for-ghislaine-maxwell-citing-flight-risk

—

Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet

Shame on you @GeraldoRivera - when you say something stupid like that you are spitting in the face of the countless victims who have spent the last 2 decades trying to hold #GhislaineMaxwell accountable! Show some courtesy please. @ArtisticBlower @anniefarmer #Change #EndTheChaos

https://twitter.com/VRSVirginia/status/1343815990400847872

Taiwanese MP calls for enhanced cooperation with Australia in face of Chinese aggression

A senior Taiwanese politician has called for greater security and economic cooperation with Australia as his nation tries to counter China's increasingly assertive military.

Wang Ting-yu, the co-chair of Taiwan's Foreign Affairs and National Defence Committee, is pushing for closer ties with other democratic states to enhance regional security.

"We need to cooperate with democratic countries," the member of Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party told the ABC.

"If we can have more close cooperation that means benefits mutually for economy, security and capability."

Diplomatically Australia does not formally recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state but has recently increased unofficial cooperation with Taipei in areas such as combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Some kind of cooperation in some areas would be a good direction for these two countries — we need a bilateral relationship," Mr Wang said.

He argued an important step in deterring China would be to allow Taiwan to join security networks such as the Quad which comprises the United States, India, Japan and Australia.

"Your role in this region is increasing — that's good, and we have many chances to have dialogue with Australian officials," Mr Wang said.

Liberal Senator and former army general Jim Molan agrees Australia should increase ties with Taiwan, and also fears a military confrontation with China could soon eventuate.

"I think we can do a lot more with Taiwan apart from trade," Senator Molan told the ABC.

"I think we can encourage the United States and our military and our own foreign affairs and trade people to prepare not just for the easy case, but for the worst case."

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds acknowledged growing military tensions between China and Taiwan were of concern to the Federal Government.

"Australia is observing very closely what's happening not just around Taiwan but also in the South China Sea," she said.

"We would always call on people to exercise caution and restraint and work together to ensure all nations abide by international law."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-30/taiwan-australia-deter-china-coercion-politician-wang-ting-yu/13019864

>>12234671

Unwise for Australia to play ‘Taiwan card’

Xu Shanpin - Dec 29, 2020

China-Australia relations experienced a downward trend in 2020. This bilateral relationship might have hit the "lowest ebb in decades" as some Australian scholars said.

Meanwhile, as the Trump administration upgraded relations with the island of Taiwan as a direct and defiant challenge to China's sovereignty and core interests, secessionist forces on the island became more active. They meddled with the Hong Kong affairs by smearing the "one country, two systems" principle and the national security law for Hong Kong. This also put cross-Taiwan Straits relations at an impasse.

Now, certain forces in Taiwan are even trying to engage with Australia directly. Indeed, Australia and the island of Taiwan share common interests in terms of attacking the national security law for Hong Kong and creating a negative image of the Chinese mainland. As the Biden administration will probably reverse Trump's dangerous Taiwan policy, but the China-Australia tensions are escalating while cross-Straits relations sour, Taiwan and Australia may get closer in 2021 to cope with the Chinese mainland and the rapid changes in regional environment.

Australia and Taiwan may share information and strategically coordinate to smear China: namely interfering in the Hong Kong affairs, and attacking the Chinese mainland with the excuse of the so-called human rights records. Currently, Taiwan has been active in a bid to counter the mainland. But Australia has remained restrained, except for shrill noises made by a few right-wing members of parliament.

So what "Taiwan card" can Australia play?

Even after China and Australia established formal relations in 1972, Australia has retained close non-official exchanges and economic relations with Taiwan. Australia's Taiwan policy has always been affected by the US. In fact, Canberra sings the same tune as Washington with regards to Taiwan.

Australia has avoided being directly involved in a military collision between major powers across the Taiwan Straits. In particular, it has avoided directly provoking the Chinese mainland and challenging China's core interests and national territorial integrity.

Former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer said in 2004 that "other military activity elsewhere in the world… doesn't automatically invoke the ANZUS Treaty." This means Canberra will not make up "two Chinas" policies unless Washington explicitly abandons its "one China" policy.

Australia's policies toward the island of Taiwan are somewhat ambiguous as it wants to keep a proper distance from the US' dangerous Taiwan policy, meanwhile it does not want to harm or weaken the Australia-US alliance. Australia does not want to see a war in the Taiwan Straits, especially one between the US and China.

Canberra wants to maintain some flexibility on whether to intervene in the Taiwan question. Yet it also avoids taking a clear stance on whether it would put up a fight there or not if called upon. Canberra worries that Washington would weaken its security commitments, so it had to back US position on Taiwan question, hoping Washington will not start an actual firing conflict there ever.

The Taiwan regional authority hopes to restore "diplomatic relations" with Australia. It seeks to enhance strategic cooperation and intelligence-sharing mechanisms with Australia for the sake of counterbalancing the Chinese mainland and rejecting reunification by force. Despite these overtures, Australia has expressed a relatively indifferent response considering its national security and diplomatic strategies.

However, Australia's diplomatic posture, especially its China focus, is undergoing an important and dangerous transition. Geopolitical issues are overtaking matters of geoeconomics in its strategic thinking toward China. It is shifting from rational and pragmatic to hard-line and conservative.

With intensifying gravity, it is viewing China as a security threat rather than a partner that brings opportunity of development. Due to the ANZUS Treaty (Australia, New Zealand and United States Security Treaty) signed in 1951, it is possible for Australia to directly involve itself in military conflicts across the Taiwan Straits.

Therefore, China should be on guard against Australia's Taiwan policy and send a clear signal to policymakers in Canberra that China's sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be challenged and that China is determined to safeguard its core national interests, so as to deter those who seek Taiwan secession and those far-right politicians in Australia. China will never allow Australia to play the "Taiwan card." The bottom line of the "one China" principle cannot be challenged.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202012/1211359.shtml

Year in a word: QAnon

Courtney Weaver - December 31 2020

Rumours of a cabal of satanic sex traffickers plotting to overthrow the US president shifted from far-right fringes to the mainstream

(noun) A far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of satanic paedophiles are running a global sex-trafficking ring while simultaneously working to overthrow US president Donald Trump

In a year punctuated by dark, digitally viral conspiracy theories, QAnon might be the one that trumps them all.

Born on the controversial Reddit message board 4chan, the conspiracy theory was originally put forth by an anonymous individual named “Q” who claimed to have inside knowledge of the supposed sex ring’s existence thanks to high-level government clearance.

QAnon is the ideological successor to Pizzagate, the 2016 conspiracy theory that claimed Democrats were secretly running a human trafficking ring at restaurant establishments, including a Washington pizzeria. But it has proven to have more longevity.

Since it was first propagated in 2017, the movement has quickly shifted from the far-right fringes towards the mainstream. An internal Facebook analysis this summer found that millions of the site’s subscribers followed QAnon-linked groups and pages. The liberal non-profit Media Matters, meanwhile, found that Mr Trump had amplified QAnon followers on his presidential Twitter account on at least 265 separate occasions.

In an August press conference, Mr Trump said he did not know much about the movement other than “I understand they like me very much” and had “heard that these are people that love our country”. In an October town hall with NBC News, the president declined to denounce the group.

What happens to QAnon after the president leaves office? While some followers were apparently shaken by Mr Trump’s election loss, Mr Trump has done nothing to cut ties with the movement, and has praised Marjorie Taylor Greene — a new Republican congresswoman who has publicly promoted QAnon theories.

Few expect Mr Trump to disappear quietly into the night — and they should not expect QAnon to either.

https://www.ft.com/content/ff3fa8fd-2761-4c24-a933-bbf915c6871a

—

Is QAnon a game gone wrong? | FT Film

Financial Times

15 Oct 2020

Izabella Kaminska explains how QAnon stems from the worlds of online gaming and Playboy magazine. It's not a conspiracy. It’s a way to hack reality. Read more at: https://on.ft.com/2Hdmvkw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4vb6UWhf3o

>>12090289

China wants Australia relationship back on track 'as early as possible'

1/2

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that the deterioration in China's relationship with Australia is not something Beijing wanted to see and that he would like the relationship back on the right track "as early as possible".

However, Wang also said that the ball was in Australia's court, despite the Australian government repeatedly complaining that calls to Beijing to mend the relationship had gone unanswered.

The comments made during a conversation with former prime minister Kevin Rudd at a private event livestreamed two weeks ago offered hope of reconciliation even as the relationship between the two nations reached a new nadir.

Wang said Australia and China could again be partners, not enemies, on Saturday, December 19 (AEDT), just days after Australia asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to investigate the tariffs China had imposed on Australian barley in May.

The complaint to the WTO marked a formal escalation in Australia's year-long $20 billion trade stoush with the superpower, as China also imposed trade sanctions on Australian timber, wine, lobster and coal.

In late November, Prime Minister Scott Morrison extended an olive branch to China in a livestreamed appearance at a UK policy event, saying he was "happy to have a discussion" about the list of 14 grievances Chinese officials released to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

But the relationship soured swiftly after Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian goaded the Prime Minister by tweeting a fabricated image of an SAS soldier slitting the throat of an Afghan child.

Wang did not address the faked image or the 14 grievances in his conversation with Rudd, who is the president of the New York think tank Asia Society, which hosted the event.

At a public event streamed live on YouTube, Wang called for better ties with the incoming Biden administration, but in the following private session for 100 online guests, Rudd pressed Wang about China's treatment of Australia.

Rudd, who is fluent in Mandarin, asked if there was "a practical way in which we can also accommodate … a re-stabilisation of the relationship between Beijing and Canberra."

"And is there any role for any informal diplomacy in the meantime so that we can get both sides to put their megaphones away and get back to normal diplomacy?" Rudd asked, according to a transcript of the event obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Wang said Australia needed to decide if China was a threat or partner but struck a more conciliatory tone than his "wolf warrior" spokesman Zhao.

"If Australia sees China as a threat, then the improvement of this relationship would be difficult," Wang said.

"If Australia sees China not as a threat, but a partner, then for the issues between us there are better chances that we find solutions. So I would kick the ball to Australia.

"We hope that the relationship can come back to the right track as early as possible and we would welcome efforts by all who want the relations to improve to make some efforts."

(continued)

>>12249109

2/2

Wang expressed concern about the "largely negative" views about China being expressed in Australia, echoing the message from the list of grievances that criticisms by Australian MPs or news outlets was unhelpful.

"But when they are publicised, they will for sure affect the atmosphere for bilateral relations and that will discourage both sides to engage in further exchanges," Wang said.

A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister declined to comment, referring to Senator Marise Payne's remarks on December 19 on Sky News where she said: "We would never trade away our national interest. And that is a respectful approach to the relationship [with China], and to any bilateral relationship."

Rory Medcalf, head of ANU's National Security Colleges, warned that Wang's comments should "not be over-interpreted as some kind of positive signal".

"They are at best mild and conditional," Medcalf said. "Of course it’s nice at one level to receive some hint that China too would like a stable relationship, but the bottom line is that Wang’s words still place all the responsibility on Australia.

"There’s no admission that China bears any fault in the deterioration in ties, or even acknowledgement that it is using ongoing coercive measures – economic restrictions or hostage diplomacy – against countries like Australia and Canada.

"And in then end, everything seems to depend on how Beijing chooses to define how Australia treats and perceives China - as if there is a simplistic choice between all threat and all partner. That’s not a healthy starting point for pragmatic and mutually beneficially relations."

Peter Jennings, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, agreed and said there was "nothing conciliatory" in Wang's comments.

"He avoids any substance and simply says this is all a problem of Australia's attitude," he said. "But Australia did not invent China's military annexation of the South China Sea, nor did we invent China's full on cyber and human intelligence spying, or the growth of an assertive Chinese military, or the mass violation of human rights of minority groups in China."

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/china-wants-australia-relationship-back-on-track-as-early-as-possible-20201229-p56qr2.html

>>12219001

'Your lack of candor only solidifies the risk of you fleeing': Unsealed bail document reveals extent of judge's distrust of Ghislaine Maxwell and why she rejected her $28.5M bail bid

Ghislaine Maxwell's attempt to get free from jail on a $28.5m bail package backfired spectacularly after a judge said it 'only solidifies' the risk of her fleeing.

Judge Alison Nathan said the vast sum, including $22.5m from Maxwell and her husband, was so much higher than the $3.5m she claimed to be worth after her arrest in July that it was suspicious.

Judge Nathan wrote that Maxwell was guilty of 'misdirection' to the court by failing to disclose her true worth the first time around.

Maxwell's 'lack of candor is, if anything, stronger now than in July' and her representations back then were 'woefully incomplete', the judge said.

The scathing assessment was part of a 22-page filing to federal court in New York which set out Judge Nathan's reasons for denying Maxwell bail for a second time.

The ruling means that Maxwell will remain in the grim Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until at least July next year when her trial is due to take place.

Maxwell, 58, has been held there since July when she was arrested for allegedly procuring girls as young as 14 for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.

The British socialite is also accused of perjuring herself in a civil case and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Maxwell's second bail application had included more than a dozen letters from family and friends in support.

The $22.5m in cash and assets from her and husband Scott Borgerson, 44, a tech entrepreneur, was on top of $5m in property from her family and a $1m bond from a private security company.

But in the filing Judge Nathan said that Maxwell's new bail application showed she had 'extraordinary financial resources' she could use to 'flee the country undetected'.

The judge wrote: 'The new information provided in the renewed application only solidifies the court's view that the defendant plainly poses a risk of flight and that no combination of conditions can ensure her appearance'.

Judge Nathan said that Maxwell 'providing incomplete or erroneous information to the court or pretrial services' was a 'significant' factor in her decision.

After her arrest in July Maxwell claimed she had no access to her financial records and was piecing her assets together from memory.

But Judge Nathan said that the difference between $3.5m and $22.5m was so big that Maxwell's explanation stretched credibility.

The judge wrote: 'Even if the defendant was unable to provide an exact number, however, the difference between the number she originally reported to pretrial services and the number now presented to the court makes it unlikely that the misrepresentation was the result of the defendant's mis-estimation rather than misdirection.

'In sum, the evidence of a lack of candor is, if anything, stronger now than in July 2020, as it is clear to the court that the defendant's representations to pretrial services were woefully incomplete.

'That lack of candor raises significant concerns as to whether the court has now been provided a full and accurate picture of her finances and as to the defendant's willingness to abide by any set of conditions of release'.

Judge Nathan noted that Maxwell had leaned heavily on a letter from Mr Borgerson - who she acknowledged as her husband for the first time in the bail application - saying that she would never leave the US and abandon him.

Borgerson wrote that Maxwell was a 'wonderful and loving' person and he believed in her innocence.

Judge Nathan wrote: 'The defendant now argues that her newly revealed relationship with her spouse signals her deep effective ties in the country, but at the time she was arrested, she was not living with him and claimed to be getting divorced.

'Indeed, she does not propose to live with him were she to be released on bail, undercutting her argument that that relationship would create an insurmountable burden to her fleeing'.

Elsewhere in the ruling Judge Nathan said that, contrary to Maxwell's claims, the case against her remained 'strong'.

The allegations from the three accusers would be backed up by flight records and other witnesses' corroborating testimony, the judge said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9100117/Judge-scathingly-shuts-Ghislaine-Maxwells-bail-bid-unsealed-order.html

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.106.0_5.pdf

Australia's war crimes commanders to soon learn their fate

Army commanders under whom the Afghanistan war crimes allegedly occurred will not have to wait much longer to learn how the Defence Force chiefs intend to respond to their alleged command failures.

Command-level leaders and Army lawyers who allegedly white-washed earlier investigations were not among the 19 individuals earmarked by criminal charges by Justice Paul Brereton's Afghanistan report, but he did recommend Army undertake administrative actions.

Their fate, along with expected structural and cultural reforms, will become clearer with the release of Australia's full response to the alleged war crimes. That announcement could occur as soon as January, after Defence Minister Linda Reynolds confirmed this week that the independent criminal justice response will begin next month once the Office of the Special Investigator begins operating.

The government put the brakes on the defence force plans to crack down swiftly following last month's release of Justice Brereton's report alleging 39 murders by 25 special forces personnel while on operations in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2013.

The government insisted that decisions and announcements be put on hold until the full implementation plan of the Brereton recommendations, including the delicate and lengthy process for criminal prosecutions, be announced simultaneously.

The three-person oversight panel, led by former inspector-general of intelligence and security Dr Vivienne Thom, is already working with ADF chief General Angus Campbell and Army chief Lieutenant General Rick Burr on the administrative and disciplinary components of the implementation plan. Only the plan for criminal prosecutions is yet to make progress.

Senator Reynolds said the oversight panel has hit the ground running working with defence and her as minister.

"I've been working very closely with the Chief of Defence Force over the last few weeks, and he is working through the recommendations, and he is preparing a draft implementation plan," the minister told reporters this week.

"I'm satisfied that when the implementation plan is released, [it will be] transparent, comprehensive, and it will address all of the matters that have been canvassed to date, and many more in that report."

"There's also in the report, a wide range of issues that the Chief Defence Force and the Chief of Army need to address administratively under Defence Force Discipline processes and Act. Those are the sorts of things that the CDF is reflecting on now, and working through how he deals with those, and all of those matters legal disciplinary and administrative will be contained in the implementation plan."

Justice Brereton identified 19 patrol-level individuals for criminal prosecutions in his report. None of the names have been released publicly, and even the Senator Reynold's copy of the complete report had the name redacted to preserve integrity of any decisions she may have to make.

Additionally, the army sent notices to 13 current serving special forces soldiers asking them to explain why they should not be immediately sacked.

The lack of visible action against the army commanders who were "ignorant" of the actions under their leadership, according to Justice Brereton, has been a cause for concern among current serving ADF personnel and veterans. The Canberra Times understands these issues will be confronted in the implementation plan.

The government has announced senior appointments to fill the Office of the Special Investigator, including moving the secretary of the Attorney-General's Department Chris Moraitis into the top role as Director General.

The role of the Special Investigator will be filled by Justice Mark Weinberg QC, and director of investigations will be filled by Ross Barnett.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7070693/ignorant-war-crimes-commanders-to-learn-fate/

Promise of COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 headlines New Year's message from Scott Morrison

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered a video message to Australians marking the end of 2020, thanking healthcare workers, business owners and others for their sacrifices during the year.

He pledged that COVID vaccinations would be available to all Australians in 2021 and they would be a "key step to our recovery in 2021".

"I want to thank all Australians who have sacrificed so much, served so greatly, and even now continue in their steadfast dedication to their duty at this time," he said.

Filmed at The Lodge in Canberra, the Prime Minister said Australia must stay vigilant "as we continue our comeback".

Twelve months ago Mr Morrison delivered a message at the height of the country's Black Summer of bushfires praising the spirit of Australians.

Today the country faces perhaps an even greater challenge, but he again heaped praise on his constituents.

"Even though I know there are a lot more challenges ahead of us in 2021, I have the hope, and I have the optimism and the confidence in my fellow Australians, in you, about our country," he said.

Recovery flagged

He said that around 80 per cent of jobs lost in the pandemic have already been recovered and 450,000 businesses have graduated from JobKeeper, taking two million Australians off income support.

"That's real signs of progress," he said, declaring the path ahead was "stronger, safer, together".

The Prime Minister's dog Buddy also featured in the video, walking around a fountain behind Mr Morrison.

Mr Morrison concluded by wishing Australians "a very happy, a very safe and a prosperous new year from my family to yours".

"God bless you Australia, and thank you."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-31/prime-minister-scott-morrison-new-years-message/13024312

Lin Wood Tweet

I am fully aware of the onslaught of attacks being made against me based on my revelations about Chief Justice John Roberts. Before attacking me, maybe fair-minded people would first ask Roberts to tell the truth.

Or ask Jeffrey Epstein. He is alive.

https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1344652363861258243

>>12202755

Canberra going further on the wrong track: China Daily editorial

chinadaily.com.cn - 2020-12-29

It has been reported that the Australian federal government will pressure the State of Victoria to cancel its cooperation program with China's Jiangsu province.

Although it was said to be on the list of programs that the Department of Foreign Affairs had identified as potentially contrary to Australia's national interest, the bid to scrap the Victoria-Jiangsu Program for Technology and Innovation R&D, which was agreed in 2015, is obviously intended as an act of revenge by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for China's probes into imports from Australia.

To the disappointment of those who have been hoping for a turnaround in relations, the Australian government is still heading down the road of no return for bilateral relations.

Paul Monk, former head of China Analysis at Australia's Defense Department, said something to the effect that the program should be viewed through the prism of China's intention of increasing its military-industrial strength.

It is such politicization of bilateral relations that has damaged ties between the two countries. Australia has accused China of engaging in "intervention and infiltration" activities in the country. It has even proposed a so-called "independent international inquiry" into the novel coronavirus outbreak in an attempt to lay the blame for the pandemic at China's door.

It has also launched 106 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into imports from China, and imposed unreasonably harsh scrutiny on Chinese investments in Australia.

China-Australia relations would not have worsened to the extent they have today had the Australian government not associated bilateral ties with political ideologies or geopolitics with the intention of stigmatizing and demonizing it.

China has no intention of seeking global hegemony. It pursues a peaceful rise, and seeks to develop reciprocal and equal relations with all countries.

Economic cooperation between China and Australia are in the interests of both countries and both peoples. That explains why China has become Australia's largest trade partner.

However, it seems the current Australian government is unsettled by that. Looking through an ideological and geopolitical prism, it sees a distorted image of China, and perceives it to be a threat. The Australian government is even considering seeking assistance from its "Five-Eye" allies in response to China's reaction to its provocations, naively believing sanctions from the five allies would be able to pressure China onto its knees.

Terminating the Victoria-Jiangsu Program for Technology and Innovation R&D, which benefits both sides in many ways, will be another step astray from the right track of amicable bilateral relations. Canberra should reconsider.

It is high time that the Australian government acquired a clear understanding of the nature of Sino-Australian relations. It will otherwise be impossible for it to adopt the right approach to handle bilateral relations with its largest trade partner.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202012/29/WS5feb20d0a31024ad0ba9f637.html

Possible Trump Pardon Overshadows Assange Extradition Ruling

A U.K. judge will rule Monday on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal charges after weeks of talk about a possible pardon from Donald Trump.

The decision from a London judge will come after President Trump, whose administration brought the charges, issued a plethora of pardons to political allies. And lawyers say the odds of clemency from Trump are better than a judge buying Assange’s arguments that his human rights will be trampled on in America.

“It’s very rare for the magistrates to refuse extradition requests from the U.S.,” said Anthony Hanratty, a lawyer at BDB Pitmans in London, who specializes in extradition cases. “There’s a quite strong presumption that the U.S. will comply with obligations in relation to human rights and legal process.”

Assange, 49, has been in custody or self-imposed exile in London for the better part of a decade. He initially sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 rather than face questioning in a Swedish sexual assault case, which was later dropped. Last year, when he was expelled from the embassy, he faced U.S. charges related to WikiLeaks disclosures.

He’s accused of working with U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to get classified documents from databases containing about 90,000 Afghanistan war-related activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related reports and 250,000 State Department cables.

At a pair of extradition hearings earlier this year, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, Assange’s lawyers focused their arguments on allegations that he couldn’t receive a fair trial in the U.S.

But Assange drew praise from Trump during the 2016 campaign when WikiLeaks released emails that undercut Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. And it seems that Assange’s supporters have moved on from the extradition battle to focus on a possible pardon.

Assange’s fiancée, Stella Moris, has spent the last few months making direct pleas to Trump via Twitter and appearances on Fox News.

“I beg you, please bring him home for Christmas,” she tweeted last month.

Officials at WikiLeaks declined to comment ahead of Monday’s ruling and instead referred to Moris’s tweets. The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment.

The prospect of presidential intervention first gained traction early last year when Assange’s lawyers said a congressman and a Trump associate met Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in the summer of 2017 to discuss a pardon if he revealed the source behind the leaked Democratic National Committee emails.

The pardon fever has only grown in recent weeks after Trump issued pardons to more than a dozen people. The recipients were mostly political allies, including Paul Manafort, his former campaign manager, and Charles Kushner, the real estate developer and father of the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Trump would face opposition to a pardon from inside his own administration. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo when he was CIA director described WikiLeaks as a hostile force that threatens the U.S.

Barring a pardon, the extradition process in London will likely drag on no matter how Judge Vanessa Baraitser rules Monday. Appeals could take 18 to 24 months with possible challenges going to the U.K. Supreme Court and even the European Court of Human Rights, Hanratty said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-31/possible-trump-pardon-overshadows-assange-extradition-ruling

Cabinet papers reveal Howard government's concerns about an independent East Timor

The development of a domestic security force in East Timor was a matter of "fundamental importance" to Australia's strategic interests, newly declassified documents released for the first time on Friday reveal.

Cabinet papers from 2000 outlined post-independence security scenarios in documents marked AUSTEO - "for Australian Eyes Only" - which were considered by the Howard government's national security committee in August of that year.

The passage of East Timor to independent statehood had formally begun a year earlier when the United Nations took over the territory's administration from Indonesia.

Heavily redacted on the grounds it could damage Australia's standing with foreign governments to this year, the submission from Alexander Downer, then Foreign Minister, revealed the government wanted a "substantial strategic relationship" with its northern neighbour.

"An important part of this will be a defence relationship and the future shape of the East Timorese defence force is therefore a key issue for us," he told his cabinet colleagues in documents today released by the National Archives.

"We also need to remain open-minded about East Timor's future security and not assume that the UN will hand over a stable and secure country to self-government."

Cabinet, the papers show, wanted a "modest and affordable" domestic security force which was "disciplined", operated within the rule of law and was subordinate to civil power. It would have between 1000-1500 personnel and lightly armed.

Later that year, John Moore, the Defence Minister, recommended – and cabinet agreed – that 300 M16 rifles with ammunition be supplied to enable the East Timor Defence Force to begin basic training.

Australia's preferred option was a police-based security model but the papers acknowledged this "may not command East Timorese support".

It stipulated that it must promote "constructive relations with Indonesia".

Cabinet endorsed Mr Downer's view that Australia wanted a secure and stable East Timor, but not one requiring an ADF presence. Should one prove necessary, it should only happen with other international participation.

Cabinet agreed Australia's strategic interests included the safety of Australians in East Timor, border control and resource security, in particular the effective management of the Timor Gap resources.

The contentious Timor Gap negotiations, for joint petroleum exploration of the Timor Sea by the two countries, are among a number of cabinet papers from 2000 concerning foreign affairs that remain closed on the grounds they contain information which could affect relations with the current government of a foreign country.

The issue would erupt in scandal years later, when the Australian Secret Intelligence Service clandestinely planted covert listening devices in a room adjacent to the Prime Minister's Office at Dili, to obtain information in order to ensure Australia held the upper hand in negotiations over the rich oil and gas fields.

A legal case involving an intelligence officer who allegedly revealed details of the bugging is expected to continue in the ACT Supreme Court this year.

In June 2000, Chief of the Defence Force, Admiral Chris Barrie, briefed cabinet's national security committee that serious armed attacks had occurred on a handful of occasions against the ADF personnel serving in operations under the United Nations.

During an attack on June 21 several ADF personnel "had been in grave danger of being killed", notes of the briefing show, and they "appeared to be the work of a small group of pro-integrationist insurgents operating without support from any Indonesian government entity".

The committee agreed to provide more support, including a plan to allow ADF helicopters which were assigned to security to the Sydney Olympic Games to be used if there was no serious detriment to Games security.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/cabinet-papers-reveal-howard-government-s-concerns-about-an-independent-east-timor-20201230-p56qt4.html

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=202981829

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=202981829&T=PDF

Historic change to Advance Australia Fair, Australia's national anthem, in the 'spirit of unity'

More than 140 years after it was first composed and performed, Advance Australia Fair is again being updated in a move the Prime Minister says reflects a "spirit of unity".

From January 1, 2021, the second line of Australia's national anthem will change from, "For we are young and free" to "For we are one and free".

Governor-General David Hurley has agreed to the Commonwealth's recommendation to make an amendment to the anthem for the first time since 1984.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement that the change was being made for all Australians.

"During the past year we have showed once again the indomitable spirit of Australians and the united effort that has always enabled us to prevail as a nation," he said.

"It is time to ensure this great unity is reflected more fully in our national anthem.

"Also, while Australia as a modern nation may be relatively young, our country's story is ancient, as are the stories of the many First Nations peoples whose stewardship we rightly acknowledge and respect.

"In the spirit of unity, it is only right that we ensure our national anthem reflects this truth and shared appreciation.

"Changing 'young and free' to 'one and free' takes nothing away, but I believe it adds much."

Composer Deborah Cheetham is a Yorta Yorta woman and says the new wording is long overdue.

"It's an important acknowledgement. The word young has underestimated the lives that have lived on this continent for some millennia," the soprano and educator said.

First Nations Foundation chairman and Yorta Yorta man Ian Hamm also welcomed the change, which was suggested last year by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

"In terms of culture, society, and population, we go back 60,000 years. We're very definitely not young," he said.

"We should regard ourselves as a nation that's bonded, as opposed to being divided, and we should recognise our Indigenous history as part of our Australian history.

"'One and free' looks for what brings us together. It's actually a focal point for that discussion about who we are as a country.

"I think it's a really good change."

Mr Hamm said the symbolism behind the action was important for Indigenous Australians.

"Symbolism is important, real action and change is important. If you do one or the other, you only get half the job done.

"You do need symbolic change, you do need real change.

"This is an important indication to ourselves as a country as to what our expectations are going forward, and to recognise in our national anthem the continued human occupation of this continent from 60,000 years plus to 1 January 2021, and beyond, is an important change."

But Labor Wiradjuri woman Linda Burney, the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to the federal House of Representatives, said more needed to be done.

"It flies in the face, of course, of the Government saying that they want to work with Aboriginal people, but the real issue is a constitutionally enshrined voice," she said.

Advance Australia Fair was composed by Peter Dodds McCormick and first performed in 1878.

It was adopted as the country's national anthem on April 19, 1984, replacing God Save the Queen, which had been in place since the time of British settlement.

Prime minister Bob Hawke last recommended a modification of the national anthem to the governor-general in 1984.

The historic change to Advance Australia Fair has involved consultations with state premiers, state governors who have been advised by the Governor-General as well as the Speaker of Federal Parliament and the President of the Senate.

In recent times, leaders from all sides of politics have expressed public support for changing the anthem to better reflect modern Australia and its Indigenous heritage.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-31/advance-australia-fair-national-anthem-historic-change/13024810

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Vatican says $2.3 billion transferred to Australia 'like science fiction'

Vatican City: The Vatican and the Australian Catholic Church have both denied knowledge of transfers worth US$1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) which Australia's financial watchdog says have been sent from Rome to Australia in the past seven years.

"That amount of money and that number of transfers did not leave the Vatican City," a senior Vatican official with knowledge of the city-state's finances said on Wednesday, local time.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Vatican would be seeking details from Australian authorities on the specific origin and destination of the money.

"It's not our money because we don't have that kind of money," he said. "I am absolutely stunned."

The figures were made public in December by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) in response to a parliamentary question by Australian Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, and first reported by the newspaper The Australian.

They involved about 47,000 separate transfers, according to AUSTRAC.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane told Reuters the Australian Church was not aware of any such transfers: "I can assure you that no diocese or other Church entity saw any of the money."

Fierravanti-Wells had asked what funds had been transferred to Australia "from the Vatican or any of its entities, or individuals associated with the Vatican or Vatican entities" since 2014.

The official in Rome said the Vatican had around 100 legal entities, including hospitals and the like, "but they don't have that kind of money".

AUSTRAC said the transfers ranged from yearly totals of $71.6 million in 2014 to $581.3 million in 2017.

In an email to Reuters on December 24, AUSTRAC said it had no further comment. On Thursday, in a further email, it said it could not comment on the specifics of this story before next week.

Two Vatican offices handle money transfers - its bank, commonly known as the IOR, and APSA, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.

The Vatican official said APSA had sent less than €800,000 to Australia since 2014, mostly for payment of salaries and expenses for the Vatican embassy, as well as pensions and travel costs.

Similarly, the money sent to Australia by the IOR for its clients, typically members of religious orders, was nowhere near the amounts listed by AUSTRAC, he said.

"The Holy See's entire yearly budget is about €330 million. The (AUSTRAC) figures are about four times that," the official said. "It seems like science fiction."

He said the Vatican wanted to find out if others had illegally used its name or that of a related entity to move money through banks in other countries.

Archbishop Coleridge said the funds had not been used for financial settlements with victims of sexual abuse or for legal costs related to Cardinal George Pell.

"Given the speculation that is rife, there is a need for clarification," he said.

Pell worked in the Vatican as its treasurer from 2014 to 2017, when he returned to his native Australia to face charges of historical sexual abuse.

He spent 404 days in jail before his conviction was overturned last April, and he is currently in Rome. He did not respond to a request for comment.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/vatican-says-2-3-billion-transferred-to-australia-like-science-fiction-20210101-p56r5p.html

2021 can be a year of recovery for US now Trump is gone

PETER VAN ONSELEN - JANUARY 1, 2021

It’s an obvious thing to say that 2020 was a shocker of a year, the pandemic of course being the primary cause. Frankly, it has been a hard year to find positives in, but here is one huge positive from 2020: Donald Trump lost the US Presidential election.

Sure he might still be in denial about that. Sure some of his supporters are too. And between them they won’t make life easy for incoming President Joe Biden when he takes over later this month.

But for all the negatives surrounding 2020, the demise of Trump is one hell of a positive to round out the year. America needed Trump to get booted out the way he did to help ensure 2021 became a year of recovery, notwithstanding how hard that will be.

Not that everyone agrees of course. Many people voted for Trump. Plenty of commentators also defended him. Some of them prematurely claimed victory on election night, unable to understand the US electoral system as the votes were coming in.

It’s not simply a case of pointing to the odd good thing Trump presided over during his presidency to try and justify his time in office, however. That sort of simplistic analysis is what you get from the conga line of apologists who defended Trump over the past four years.

He did some good, it would be hard not to as President for four years. But that’s not the issue. That’s not why it’s such a good thing that he’s about to be shown the door.

It’s the tone Trump set for America. The cultural erosion of decency and respect. The intolerance he stoked, the divisions he perpetuated. The hate he fostered.

The world’s superpower – in decline, yes, but that is what America still is – needed to reset after what Trump has done to the psyche of the nation.

While conservatives have been in thrall to Trump, his approach has been anything but conservative. He has eroded confidence in political and institutional pillars of American society: the congress, the courts and the media just for starters. And now Biden also needs to repair the reputation of the Presidency, both domestically and abroad. Because of the damage Trump has done.

Trump’s schtick is all about undermining others and aggrandising himself. We’ve seen that play out for years with his boosters in the media constantly finding justification in his actions. Or looking the other way when he tries to shame people.

Even now, as Trump continues to claim he was robbed at the election, his callow defenders only peel off one by one very slowly. Many continue to stand with the president, diminishing themselves in the process.

So with a new year ahead, be positive about one thing: Donald Trump will soon be gone. For that we can all look back extremely gratefully.

Peter van Onselen is a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Western Australia and Griffith University.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/2021-can-be-a-year-of-recovery-for-us-now-trump-is-gone/news-story/3525a316bb0d36fc3ae60f1d8c7c4258

Father takes Assange's fight to New York

The father of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has turned his focus from the UK to the US where he hopes a change of president could advantage his son.

Assange is being held at London's Belmarsh Prison, pending a court decision on a warrant for his extradition to the US to face charges.

A judgment is due to be handed down at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, but Assange's father John Shipton won't be there.

Mr Shipton says there's too much uncertainty about his ability to travel amid a series of border closures in the UK due to a mutant strand of coronavirus.

"It's all up in the air like it is for everybody … except the situation is more tenuous for Julian because it's 10 years long," he told AAP.

So instead of London, Mr Shipton will head to the other side of the Atlantic.

He says the change of US leadership offers a chance to secure his son a presidential pardon from Donald Trump with the pro-Trump One America News Network agitating for it.

Mr Shipton also believes there's a possibility of the Biden-appointed Justice Department dropping the case against Assange.

"I have to go to New York and interview members of the new administration and advocate for Julian to return home," he said.

"That's where the battle is, that's who wants him. The case against Julian is weak and Julian's case is extremely strong."

Mr Shipton said if English District Judge Vanessa rules that his son should be extradited it's important to be putting the ground work in at the next stage, which will be in the US.

Assange has been in de facto captivity for a decade, including time under strict bail in regional England and as an asylum seeker for eight years in London's Ecuadorian embassy.

Belmarsh prison, where he's being held on remand, has been locked down since November 18 and he spent Christmas in isolation.

Mr Shipton said Assange had been able to prerecord a message to his wife Stella Morris and infant sons Gabiel and Max.

"So they playback the recording to try to keep the relationship between Julian and his kids going as best they cane," he said.

The uncertainty of the past 10 years has served to prepare Mr Shipton for the year that was 2020, and the unpredictable year ahead.

Mr Shipton remains stoic about the future and determined to fight for his son.

"What you think about is not 'oh s**t this is no good, I'll go an hide under a tree and go to sleep'," he said.

"It's just simply: 'where is the best place to fight the battle now? How do you best fight it?'."

https://www.standard.net.au/story/7072773/father-takes-assanges-fight-to-new-york/?cs=9676

US ambassador Arthur Culvahouse takes parting shot at China

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Outgoing US ambassador Arthur Culvahouse says America, Australia and like-minded democracies need to work together to ­develop trusted supply chains for critical goods like minerals, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment that don’t rely on China.

Mr Culvahouse said COVID-19 and ­“malign” Chinese influence ­required a determined effort by Five Eyes nations, plus key partners India and Japan, to source economic and national security inputs from friendly countries. In an interview with The Weekend Australian in his final days in the job, the Donald Trump appointee said Australia’s global standing had been enhanced during the COVID crisis, and the ­nation’s treatment by Beijing had opened the eyes of the world to Chinese coercion.

Mr Culvahouse, who will ­return to the US before Joe Biden’s January 20 inauguration, also urged Australians to have confidence in the US and the “profound and sacred” Australia-US alliance.

The lifelong Republican said the post-COVID era would ­require new levels of co-operation and a willingness to pay higher prices to guarantee supplies of ­critical minerals, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. “We are going to have to work creatively in almost a Manhattan Project-way to jump-start some supply chains that were captured by China because they were the lowest-cost producer,” he said in a reference to World War II allied effort to ­develop the atomic bomb.

“These words don’t come naturally out of my mouth, but we’re probably going to have to do a little industrial policy. If you are going to create strategically ­reliable supply chains, you have to have offtake agreements.”

He said trust and shared values would be the bedrock of future ­arrangements for the post-COVID economic and security environment. “Part of doing due diligence today is ‘Can we trust them? Do they believe in democracy? Do they believe in the rule of law? Are their people getting a fair shake?” he said.

“I think the Prime Minister, to his credit, has mapped out the blueprint, which is to build a ­coalition of like-minded, trusted partners … to be the grouping around which, in the post-COVID world, we have defence, economic and humanitarian co-operation.”

Australian rare-earths miner Lynas sealed a much-needed contract earlier this year with the US Defence Department for a proposed processing facility in Texas — the only source of separated heavy rare earths outside China.

But Mr Culvahouse said an even greater collective effort was needed, noting more than 400kg of minerals were required to manufacture a single F-35 stealth fighter jet. “Whether it’s rare earth, PPE or pharmaceuticals, you need strategically reliable supply chains from the mine mouth or the field, to the lab, to the end user,” he said.

He said the US also needed to share more of its cutting-edge technology, streamlining Cold War-era export controls for ­trusted partners.

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As the incoming Biden administration prepares to ramp up US efforts to tackle climate change, Mr Culvahouse said the benefits offered by nuclear power also needed to be considered to deliver energy security while cutting ­carbon emissions.

He said it was not his place to recommend nuclear power for Australia, but declared “all ­options need to be on the table”.

“Nuclear power plants are smaller, safer and environmentally have no carbon footprint,” he said. “We need to get cleaner, quicker. But climate change and economic security go hand-in-hand. You can’t deal with them in isolation.”

Mr Culvahouse said Australia — which has been hit by punitive Chinese trade bans on more than $20bn of exports — was “at the frontlines of the great strategic competition of our times”.

He said Australian and US ­efforts to stand up to Beijing had created “additional space for other democracies in this region to step in and confront malign ­activity — and that is what is happening”.

The Chinese embassy’s list of 14 “grievances” with the Australian government — including the Huawei ban, new foreign interference laws, and the push for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 — had also taught the world about the Chinese Communist Party “in a way we couldn’t have”, Mr Culvahouse said.

“What this really says is if you want to get along with China economically you must be subservient. You must do what we (the CCP) say,” he said.

Now the dominant conversation in Canberra’s diplomatic community was, “How can we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Australia?”, Mr Culvahouse said.

He said Australia had “gained so much credit in the world’s eyes with the way it had dealt with the COVID pandemic” domestically, and in its global push for an inquiry into the virus’ origins.

Australia had also shown leadership in its vocal opposition to human rights infringements in China’s Xinjiang region and Hong Kong, and in calling out Chinese claims in the South China Sea to be illegal, he said.

“Australia has a lot of capacity for leadership, and when Australia speaks, people in this region ­really listen, and people throughout the world listen,” he said.

Mr Culvahouse, whose own appointment as ambassador came after a 2½-year vacancy in the post, said he hoped Australia would not have long to wait to learn who his successor would be.

Despite Mr Trump’s ongoing refusal to acknowledge Mr Biden as the president-elect, and four years of America First disruption to the global order, the ambassador said he remained an optimist and an “American exceptionalist”. “I’m proud of my country. We are a big, messy democracy, but we have self-correcting mechanisms that have worked for ­almost 250 years,” he said.

“The election of President Trump was a direct response to the fact that the elite in our country had ignored a swath of our population. And that was a significant self-correction.

“But I think we’re a force for good. Our values are strong. And our commitment to Australia is solemn, profound and sacred, and there is widespread bipartisan agreement on that.

“The next couple of years, just like the past two years have been, will be an incredibly important chapter in the alliance. We’re going to go through some tough times. But I’m equally confident the best days of the alliance are in front of us.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/us-ambassador-arthur-culvahouse-takes-parting-shot-at-china/news-story/581b7a2b3678b2329a9f0659ce5b4aaf

https://twitter.com/PiKappaAlpha/status/799296805569724417

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George Pell’s Vatican money trail investigation hits home

DENNIS SHANAHAN - JANUARY 2, 2021

Before his 75th birthday in June 2016, Cardinal George Pell went to see Pope Francis to confirm that his appointment as the head of the new secretariat of the economy would extend beyond his birthday.

Pell, the Vatican outsider from Australia who was given the job in 2014 to clean up the Holy See’s antiquated and opaque financial system, needed more than just the formal extension beyond the birthday at which approval is required to keep working.

He was in the middle of a titanic clash of powers within the Curia, he had made many enemies, and he was facing stiff resistance to ­financial changes and audits.

The revelations in The Australian this week that $2.3bn was transferred from the Vatican to Australia between 2014 and 2020, without the knowledge of the Australian Catholic Bishops — and that it is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police — highlight the need for the reforms.

From his appointment in February 2014, Pell had moved quickly, brusquely and effectively. The Pope signed new financial standards laws, and by April 2015, Pell had found more than €1bn ($1.6bn) “hidden” in Vatican accounts.

The Pope confirmed Pell’s five-year appointment would continue through to 2019 but it was derailed in 2016 when Victoria Police investigated Pell for sexual abuse of minors. He was charged in 2017, faced trial in 2018 and 2019 and found guilty and sentenced to six years in jail.

But after the High Court’s unanimous acquittal in 2020, Pell returned in October to Rome. He was given a ceremonial welcome from the Swiss Guard normally reserved for heads of state. Since then, he has watched as the financial scandal emerged from the dark corners of the Vatican.

The Archbishop of Brisbane and president of the Australian bishops’ conference, Mark Coleridge, told The Australian on Tuesday a lack of transparency and clarity in the Vatican finances and international transfers allowed for “dark speculation”.

The Australian bishops are preparing to ask Pope Francis to investigate and explain the $2.3bn in transfers, which they say was not received by any church entity.

Coleridge, who was posted to the Vatican for four years from 1997, said the deeply rooted Byzantine and antiquated culture of the Curia was one of the “big problems Cardinal Pell faced”.

The Archbishop said the timing of the revelation of the astonishing scale of the financial transfers to Australia — at time of a growing ­financial scandal at the Vatican — was “very unhelpful”.

In the past five months, Vatican investigators have uncovered the misuse of charitable funds, the overpayment on a $363m building in London’s Chelsea, and suspicious international transfers from the Vatican secretariat of state. They have also suspended Vatican police and heard allegations of payments to Australia to adversely affect Pell’s trial.

During the same time, the Pope has sacked high-powered Vatican insider Cardinal Angelo Becciu in connection with the London building scandal, stripped the secretariat of state of all its financial powers, and signed new financial standards laws.

Becciu, an opponent of Pell’s reforms who said the Australian cardinal was trying to enforce laws and regulations that weren’t enacted, was also the executor on two transfers in 2016 and 2018 ­totalling almost $2m from the ­Secretariat of State.

Becciu has denied any wrongdoing or anything illegal, and is suing Italian newspapers over the allegations of sending money to adversely affect Pell’s trials.

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In an interview before Christmas with an Italian current affairs program, Pell said everyone who had been appointed to clean up the Vatican finances over the past decades had been resisted, attacked and undermined.

Pell referred to the history of mafia involvement in Vatican finances and said there was a tape recording of a criminal who said: “Pell is out of the game now and we’ve got a clear highway ahead now.” He also said he understood if the mafia was trying to remove him, but hoped it wasn’t anyone within the Church, although there was “a lot of smoke”.

There are two concerns for the Australian authorities: first, that the Vatican is being used as an international “washing machine” to launder money through cipher ­accounts which are in the control of criminals; and, second, allegations that there were attempts to adversely affect Pell’s criminal trials in 2018 and 2019.

The pattern of transfers detected by Austrac, Australia’s international financial watchdog, and being investigated by the AFP, show a sharp increase in transfers after Pell was distracted by the police investigations and later ­removed from his post.

Between 2017, when Pell was charged and returned to Australia, and 2020, when the High Court unanimously acquitted him, $1.8bn was transferred from the Vatican City to Australia.

Australian bishops believe the funds sent to Australia could be explained by investments in Australian bonds and equities, which has occurred in the past.

But in the audited accounts that Pell prepared in 2015, there were no “significant Australian” investments and the funds returning from Australia to the Vatican do not reflect an investment of that size.

As well, at least four of the Vatican transfers — including the two signed by Becciu, totalling almost $3m between February 2017 and December 2018 — had a Melbourne company, Neustar Australia, as the beneficiary.

The Austrac reports show transfers from the Vatican to Australia soared from $71.6m in 2014 to $137.1m in 2015 before doubling again to $295m in 2016 and peaking at $581.3m in 2017. More than $422m was transferred in 2018, $491.8m in 2019 and $294.8m in 2020 in more than 40,000 transactions over the six years.

The Vatican investigators have also looked at transfers of charity funds to the Chelsea building project and to Slovenia.

Coleridge told The Australian: “What is certain in the middle of great uncertainties is that the ­Australian bishops did not know about these transfers until the disclosure last week, and we were astonished at the scale of transfers. We are baffled.”

The Catholic bishops and the AFP are trying to find out who received the money and how it was spent, six years after Pell tried the same thing.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/george-pells-vatican-money-trail-investigation-hits-home/news-story/b56d28fe47ea580015c05eb1118208e5

Soldier drinking from dead Taliban fighter's prosthetic leg in infamous photo is exposed as a highly-respected senior officer - as it's revealed he lectured the entire army on 'good soldiering' just weeks ago

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A senior Special Forces soldier pictured drinking out of a slain Taliban fighter's prosthetic leg recently lectured troops on ethics and integrity in the army's own newspaper.

Warrant Officer Class 1 John Letch, Command Sergeant Major of the Special Operations Command, has voluntarily stood down from his position after a pixelated copy of the photograph was widely published.

A clear version of the image showing WO1 Letch is published by Daily Mail Australia here for the first time.

The highly-regarded 50-year-old veteran of numerous overseas deployments is the most senior enlisted man in Special Forces and one of the most senior soldiers in the entire army.

A source familiar with the photograph - and others showing senior SAS soldiers doing the same thing - said WO1 Letch was still widely respected by the men previously under his command.

'He's leading by example,' the source said. 'That's certainly how it's viewed by the boys.

'He's done the right thing. Yes, he did something in the middle of a war zone ten years ago but he's chosen to be a leader by stepping aside.'

WO1 Letch was pictured drinking from the prosthetic leg at an unofficial Special Air Service bar known as the Fat Lady's Arms at Tarin Kowt in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province in 2009.

Daily Mail Australia understands drinking from the leg was considered a normal bonding exercise among elite troops who were repeatedly deployed to the war zone.

The photograph was first published earlier this month in The Guardian and WO1 Letch was identified as the solider on Wednesday by The Australian.

Photographs of other Special Air Service officers and senior soldiers drinking from the leg are in circulation. The taking of war trophies from enemy combatants is forbidden.

Last month, following the release of the Brereton report into alleged war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, WO1 Letch extolled the virtues of 'good soldiering' in Army newspaper.

The story appeared under the headline 'Be prepared to harness leadership' in the November 26 issue below a picture of WO1 Letch addressing commandos at a Special Forces training facility last year.

WO1 Letch was quoted saying the army relied on 'good soldiering' as its foundation to achieve character excellence and win the trust of the Australian public.

'Integrity and ethics are central to everything we do and every decision we make,' he told the newspaper.

'Personally, I view loyalty to Good Soldiering and sincerity - or genuineness - as crucial necessities to align our thoughts, words and actions to do what is right and achieve the greatest good.

'You think it, talk it and then walk it.'

WO1 Letch said 'walking the walk' was not easy and senior soldiers had to 'harness leadership over being liked to ensure that standards are applied and maintained.'

'The one-percenters, like dress and bearing and having manners, really do count, because perception is reality,' he said.

Being open to mentoring and having examples to look up were are also important to developing excellent character, according to WO1 Letch.

'A good mentor will advise, guide and train you to live, lead, fight and support better,' he said.

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Onetime SAS captain turned Liberal federal MP Andrew Hastie served with WO1 Letch in Afghanistan and described him as a fine soldier.

'We deployed together to Afghanistan in 2013,' Mr Hastie told The Australian. 'He was my squadron sergeant major and looked after our welfare during tough times.'

'John is an honourable man who did the wrong thing more than a decade ago. He accepts full responsibility for it. No one is perfect.'

WO1 Letch was right-hand man to Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) commander, Major General Adam Findlay and his recent successor Major General Paul Kenny.

'SOCOMD'S strategic centre of gravity is trust and we will only protect that trust by displaying integrity and exemplary behaviour,' WO1 Letch said.

'As CSM, I expect everyone in SOCOMD to live the Defence Values and show the strength of character that sets them at the very highest Army standards - no exceptions.

'I also expect them to foster safe workplaces, where everyone is encouraged to come forward and report matters not aligned to Good Soldiering.'

WO1 Letch joined the army in 1988, was initially assigned to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and has had a distinguished career in the Special Air Service.

He has served in combat units, training establishments, Army Headquarters and most recently Headquarters, Special Operations Command.

WO1 Letch holds the Order of Australia Medal and was awarded a Commendation for Distinguished Service for operational service in Afghanistan in 2009, the year the photograph was taken.

He has also participated in training exercises and exchanges in Brunei, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

WO1 Letch holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia.

The Brereton report found evidence of 39 murders of civilians or prisoners by 25 Australian soldiers serving in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2016.

A photographs from 2009 shows the Taliban fighter's leg mounted to a wooden board under the heading 'Das Boot' alongside a German Iron Cross.

The fake leg is believed to have been removed from an Afghan amputee who was gunned down during a raid at Kakarak in Uruzgan in April 2009.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8434661/Special-Forces-soldier-John-Letch-stands-picture-drinking-prosthetic-leg.html

The burger bromance between Col Allan and Donald Trump

Andrew Hornery - January 2, 2021

Rupert Murdoch’s most ardent tabloid terrier Col Allan, the former Sydney reporter who rose to be editor of the New York Post and most recently advised on the paper’s coverage of the US election, is tying up loose ends in the United States before he returns to Australia in coming months.

Part of that house-keeping was a very special lunch date indeed: a private audience with one of his closest mates, the outgoing US president himself, Donald Trump.

Allan’s friends report that Trump hosted Allan in the Oval office, where they dined on … wait for it … hamburgers, washed down with a fine bottle of chilled Chateau de Coca-Cola 2020.

Allan’s pals have been regaling each other with tales of their mate’s lunch date, which has amused them greatly given he can apparently recite the gastronomic delights on the menu and wine list at his former haunt Lucio’s in Paddington off by heart. He is not known for being a burger and Coke kind of guy.

They also report that during the lunch Trump presented the retiring newspaperman from Down Under with the keys to the White House.

PS is not sure if that was a reference to an actual key to the building, or the long established “keys” to predicting presidential election outcomes, which have clearly not gone Trump’s way.

And if it is the former, will they still open the locks after Trump vacates the presidential palace in a few weeks’ time? We can only wonder, especially given his very loud rejection of the election results and discredited claims of voter fraud.

As for the lunch menu, apparently Trump has long held an all-consuming passion for hamburgers, requesting the White House chefs to recreate his favoured version: McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with cheese, though apparently with mixed success according to his former bodyguard Keith Schiller, who was often dispatched to the Maccas nearest the White House to pick up Hamburger One.

We can only hope Trump did not serve Allan the same version of the burger on sale at his own Trump Tower Grille restaurant in New York City.

In 2016 Vanity Fair writer Tina Nguyen described it as “a sad little meat thing, sitting in the centre of a massive, rapidly staling brioche bun, hiding its shame under a slice of melted orange cheese”, though given all the whining coming out of the Oval Office in the dying days of his presidency, she could have been writing about Trump himself, metaphorically speaking of course.

In November The New York Times revealed Allan, “the Australian tabloid wizard who was once seen in the Post newsroom wearing a Make America Great Again cap”, was calling an end to his career of more than 40 years at Murdoch papers in New York and Sydney.

Allan, who was the Post’s editor in chief from 2001-2016, rejoined the paper as an adviser in January 2019, just as the presidential campaign was under way, though its blatantly pro-Trump tone has abruptly changed direction since the Biden victory.

“The Post is not perfect,” Allan told the NYT. “But it articulates a view that is not obedient to liberal orthodoxy. Therefore it is dangerous. I know where I would rather be.”

Allan also worked closely with former Sydney columnist Miranda Devine, who joined the Post in time for the 2020 campaign.

Devine has been a zealous supporter of Trump, likening him to “an invincible hero”. Her secondment to the Big Apple has been extended until May, after which she is likely to return to Sydney – unless she lands a gig flipping burgers at Trump Grille.

https://www.smh.com.au/culture/celebrity/burger-bromance-between-col-allan-and-donald-trump-20201229-p56qp4.html

How foreign intelligence services identify targets in Australia

ASIO believes there are more foreign spies operating in Australia now than at the height of the Cold War.

David Hurley - January 2, 2021

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The message dropped into Jack’s inbox on LinkedIn.

The representative of a consulting company had noticed his profile and was impressed.

A virtual meeting was hastily organised on a popular encrypted app and Jack was told he had “a unique and valuable range of skills and experience”.

He was told he was the perfect candidate to undertake very lucrative consultancy work for the company.

Jack was quickly offered an all-expenses-paid trip to discuss the finer details of the role.

He was also told the job would need him to travel semi-regularly for discussions about “the more sensitive components of the role”.

It all sounded too good to be true.

But what Jack, who is an Australian government clearance holder, did not know at the time was that he was in the early stages of a cultivation attempt by a foreign intelligence service.

Jack had been targeted because foreign spies had gleaned information about him from his professional networking profile and deemed him a worthy target.

He became suspicious of the approach and reported it to his agency’s security adviser.

Further investigation identified the consulting firm was linked to a foreign intelligence service.

It is an approach that is becoming more and more common and Australians have been warned to be careful about what information they post about themselves on social media sites such as LinkedIn.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has been at the forefront of the secret war against foreign spies since it was formed almost 72 years ago.

Espionage has changed a lot in that time but the objectives of overseas governments looking to gain advantage at Australia’s expense has not.

Mike Burgess, Director-General of Security at ASIO, has said in the past 12 months multiple countries have tried to carry out foreign interference in Australia.

China is seen as the most active of those countries attempting to carry out espionage here.

In November, a former Liberal candidate who belongs to groups allegedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party became the first person in Australia to be charged under ­new foreign interference laws.

Di Sanh Duong, 65, former president of the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations and deputy chairman of the ­Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne, was charged with ­preparing an act of foreign ­interference.

The charge followed a year-long probe by the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, led by ASIO and the Australian Federal Police.

The alleged target was acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge.

Sources have told the Saturday Herald Sun they expect more people to be charged under the foreign interference laws in 2021.

(continued)

>>12273156

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ASIO believes there are more foreign spies operating in Australia now than at the height of the Cold War.

The proliferation of technology and communications means foreign intelligence organisations can target Australians — and find out information about them prior to making contact — far more easily than before.

Mr Burgess said there had also been an increase in activity with more people working from home during 2020 due to the global pandemic.

“Espionage is the second oldest profession on the planet, perhaps the first and it hasn’t gone away,” Mr Burgess said.

“More activity online of people, spies are constrained on the streets, so the problem hasn’t gone away, in some cases things have got busier, especially in the online space.”

ASIO made international headlines in the 1950s during a Cold War flashpoint.

Vladimir Petrov, a Soviet intelligence officer based in Canberra, defected along with his wife Evdokia in 1954.

Petrov defected following months of development by his ASIO handlers and agents.

The defection led to diplomatic relations with the USSR being cut off and the Russian Embassy in Canberra was closed.

Since then ASIO has been a pioneer in using technology to carry out surveillance.

Decades ago cameras were hidden in books, bags and cigarette cases to observe targets.

The cameras are smaller now, but the purpose remains the same: who are foreign spies looking to target?

ASIO believes anybody who has access to sensitive information or with a position that gives them insight into cutting-edge research and technology, as well as domestic and foreign policy.

The spy agency also regularly engages with Australian universities, tertiary institutions and academia on national security issues, in a bid to protect information foreign governments are actively trying to get their hands on.

One aspect of ASIO’s role also involves working to protect diaspora communities here in Australia.

ASIO is currently in contact with more than 100 different ethnic and religious groups.

The spy agency says foreign governments have interfered in diaspora communities in Australia, often by using threats of violence.

“Australia’s diaspora communities are diverse, and the issues concerning them originate from a variety of sources: longstanding religious and/or ethnic conflicts, international events, social and economic inequalities, perceived political injustices and the difficulties faced by migrant communities with integrating into Australian society,” an ASIO spokesperson said.

“These diaspora groups are often the victims of foreign interference.

“Some foreign governments seek to interfere in diaspora communities to control or quash opposition or dissent deemed to be a threat to their government.

“Such interference has included threats of harm to individuals and/or their families, both in Australia and abroad.

“In some cases, foreign governments will seek to use members of the diaspora community in Australia to monitor, direct and influence the activities of the same diaspora communities.

“ASIO actively works with diaspora communities to help protect them from attempts at foreign interference.”

ASIO, with the help of the AFP and other agencies, has ramped up its battle against foreign interference in the past 12 months.

With the spectre of an ongoing trade battle with China looming large as one of the key issues of 2021 and beyond, the work of ASIO has never been more important.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/how-foreign-intelligence-services-identify-targets-in-australia/news-story/578c3ebb8679ac5e68bdc34b4ee4e2a7

Researchers targeted by foreign actors: ASIO

Universities are bristling against the prospect of more regulation to combat foreign interference, as Australia's domestic spy agency warns the threat cannot be left unchecked.

ASIO has told the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security's inquiry on foreign interference in the university sector it has learnt of researchers and their families who have been threatened or coerced by actors seeking to provide their sensitive research to a foreign state.

The agency said it was also aware that some universities have been threatened with funding cuts should critical research continue, and of academics self-censoring to avoid being punished.

"In ASIO's view, we cannot leave harmful foreign interference unchecked, given the serious nature of the threat and the corrosive impact it can have on our democratic society," their submission reads.

However the Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson told the inquiry Australia risked damaging important research collaborations if it over-reacted.

"The Go8 agrees that foreign interference is a significant risk in the current global environment and must be taken seriously. The consequences of inaction would be detrimental to the operations of Australia's high quality research effort, which is a critical part of our nation's sovereign capability," Ms Thomson said in her submission.

"The Go8 therefore agrees that the threat of foreign interference must be managed effectively. However … effective management will require nuance care and balance. It could impact negatively both economically and socially if there are any policy missteps, regardless of how well-intentioned."

She said while Australia's relationship with China had been the subject of intense media scrutiny in the past year, Group of Eight universities - which conduct 70 per cent of Australian research - collaborated far more often with institutions in Europe, the US and the UK.

From 2015 to 2019, Australia produced around 28,000 co-publications with China. In the same period, the US and China published more than 260,000 joint papers.

The Australian National University said these figures "help put into context the risk associated with international collaboration across the university sector".

"ANU recognises that the foreign influence transparency scheme, the new Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020, and the Defence Trade Controls Act all individually play a vital role in defending Australia and ensuring that our community does not become subject to foreign interference," their submission said.

"That said ANU does hold concerns that these legislative instruments when taken collectively will create highly regulated environment that may duplicate effort, unduly tie up resources and ultimately not deliver the desired outcome.

"ANU believes that it is imperative that any measures recommended by the PJCIS following this inquiry should support the sector rather than punish it by imposing a deeper regulatory burden."

The inquiry was referred to the committee by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, less than a week after the Morrison government revealed plans to give the Commonwealth the power to tear up agreements struck by governments and institutions that could be a threat to Australia's sovereignty.

A deal between the ANU and the University of South China, where scientists collaborate on fusion energy research, was flagged as one such agreement that could be in the crosshairs.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has previously accused Australian universities like ANU of unwittingly creating major security risks by collaborating with universities in China that operate as arms of China's military, intelligence and political leadership.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7071516/researchers-targeted-by-foreign-actors-asio/

Inquiry into national security risks affecting the Australian higher education and research sector

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Intelligence_and_Security/NationalSecurityRisks

https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=9f0851be-082b-4b56-ac25-873163fb73c4&subId=699731

WikiLeaks: UK judge to rule on Monday if Julian Assange can be extradited to US

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday whether the Australian can be extradited from the UK to the US to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser is due to deliver her decision at London's Old Bailey courthouse at 10am Monday. If she grants the request, then Britain's home secretary, Priti Patel, would make the final decision.

Whichever side loses is expected to appeal, which could lead to years more legal wrangling.

However, there's a possibility that outside forces may come into play that could instantly end the decade-long saga.

Stella Moris, Assange's partner and the mother of his two sons, has appealed to US President Donald Trump via Twitter to grant a pardon to Assange before he leaves office on January 20.

And even if Trump doesn't, there's speculation that his successor, Joe Biden, may take a more lenient approach to Assange's extradition process.

US prosecutors indicted the 49-year-old Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse that carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the US government said in their closing arguments after the four-week hearing in the fall that Assange's defence team had raised issues that were neither relevant nor admissible.

"Consistently, the defence asks this court to make findings, or act upon the submission, that the United States of America is guilty of torture, war crimes, murder, breaches of diplomatic and international law and that the United States of America is 'a lawless state'," they said. "These submissions are not only non-justiciable in these proceedings but should never have been made."

Assange's defence team argued that he is entitled to First Amendment protections for the publication of leaked documents that exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan and that the US extradition request was politically motivated.

In their written closing arguments, Assange's legal team accused the US of an "extraordinary, unprecedented and politicised" prosecution that constitutes "a flagrant denial of his right to freedom of expression and poses a fundamental threat to the freedom of the press throughout the world."

Defence lawyers also said Assange was suffering from wide-ranging mental health issues, including suicidal tendencies, that could be exacerbated if he is placed in inhospitable prison conditions in the US.

They said his mental health deteriorated while he took asylum inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for years and that he was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Assange jumped bail in 2012 when he sought asylum at the embassy, where he stayed for seven years before being evicted and arrested. He has been held at Belmarsh prison in London since April 2019.

His legal team argued that Assange would, if extradited, likely face solitary confinement that would put him at a heightened risk of suicide. They said if he was subsequently convicted, he would probably be sent to the notorious ADX Supermax prison in Colorado, which is also inhabited by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Lawyers for the US government argued that Assange's mental state "is patently not so severe so as to preclude extradition."

Assange has attracted the support of high-profile figures, including the dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and actress Pamela Anderson.

Daniel Ellsberg, the famous US whistleblower, also came out in support, telling the hearing that they had "very comparable political opinions."

The 89-year-old, widely credited for helping to bring about an end to the Vietnam War through his leaking of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, said the American public "needed urgently to know what was being done routinely in their name, and there was no other way for them to learn it than by unauthorised disclosure".

There are clear echoes between Assange and Ellsberg, who leaked over 7000 pages of classified documents to the press, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. Ellsberg was subsequently put on trial for 12 charges in connection with violations of the Espionage Act, which were punishable by up to 115 years in prison. The charges were dismissed in 1973 because of government misconduct against him.

Assange and his legal team will be hoping that developments in the US bring an end to his ordeal if the judge grants the US extradition request.

https://twitter.com/StellaMoris1/status/1344981277976494080

https://twitter.com/StellaMoris1/status/1344770911250034688

https://www.9news.com.au/world/wikileaks-julian-assange-uk-judge-to-rule-on-us-extradition/9bd72f3f-5b24-49f8-be5b-6737ab1c8138

>>12286751

Mother of Julian Assange's children says if a British court sends her fiancé to face life in a US jail, this country's no longer a safe haven for free speech

Stella Moris - 3 January 2021

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A month ago, I would wake up in the middle of the night seized by a recurring nightmare: my little boys, Max, 22 months, and Gabriel, who is three, had been orphaned. I was still here but their father was not.

Their father is Julian Assange, the publisher of WikiLeaks. Today, that terrible nightmare is all too close to becoming a reality.

Julian has been on remand in Belmarsh prison in South-East London for almost two years.

He is fighting a political extradition to the United States, where he risks being buried in the deepest, darkest corner of the US prison system for the rest of his life. Julian embarrassed Washington and this is their revenge.

The nightmares came to a sudden stop the week before Christmas, when a groundswell of support from all sides of the political spectrum called for President Trump to pardon him.

A leaked audio recording of Julian talking to the US State Department unmasked the trumped-up nature of the charges against him.

Leading figures, from former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to Nobel Prize winners, such as human-rights campaigner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, have been calling for Julian's freedom.

So far, there has been no pardon. But tomorrow, a British magistrate will decide whether to order Julian's extradition or throw out the US government's request.

If Julian loses, I believe that it would not only be an unthinkable travesty but that the ruling would also be politically and legally disastrous for the UK.

That is because Julian's case is not about what some people would have you think it is about.

His role in founding the WikiLeaks website is well known and it is fair to say Julian has angered many government and establishment figures around the world. WikiLeaks has published thousands of sensitive classified documents, many from the US military.

Yet Julian has been acting in the same way as any other journalist would in attempting to hold the powerful to account.

President Obama's administration realised this, and understood that charging Julian would require them to prosecute international media outlets.

After all, newspapers, websites and TV stations had published substantially the same revelations as WikiLeaks. That is why, at the end of his term in office, Obama freed WikiLeaks's US Army Intelligence source, whistleblower Chelsea Manning, from jail.

With Trump, however, the mood has changed dramatically and under his administration, journalistic practices have been pursued as crimes.

WikiLeaks and Julian have been accused of 'endangering national security', but US prosecutors admit they have no evidence to support claims that WikiLeaks publications caused physical harm to anyone. Perhaps that explains why their tactics have become increasingly desperate.

During Julian's extradition hearing at the Old Bailey in September, the court heard evidence that CIA contractors were plotting to kill him with poison while he was in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Agents-turned-whistleblowers, who were granted anonymity by the court due to their fear of reprisals, also admitted targeting our then six-month-old baby to steal his DNA.

They told the court that they had installed hidden microphones to spy on Julian's solicitors' meetings. The offices of his lawyers were also broken into.

It might seem unthinkable that a British court would give its stamp of approval to such rampant, illegal actions by the US.

It might seem equally unthinkable that a man who was practising journalism in this country, perfectly legally according to UK law, could be tried in a foreign land and potentially jailed for life.

But that is what would happen if the UK decides to extradite Julian. It would rewrite the rules of what it is permissible to publish here. Overnight, it would chill free and open debate about abuses by our own government and by many foreign ones, too.

In effect, foreign countries could simply issue an extradition request saying that UK journalists, or Facebook users for that matter, have violated their censorship laws.

(continued)

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Reporters Without Borders and the National Union of Journalists have said that as long as Julian remains in prison facing extradition, the UK is not a safe place for journalists and publishers to work.

The press freedoms we cherish in Britain are meaningless if they can be criminalised and suppressed by regimes in Russia or Ankara or by prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia.

If Westminster Magistrates' Court accepts the US arguments tomorrow, every other country can use them, too. It would place an impossible burden on you, me, everyone, not to violate foreign censorship laws.

Countries such as Azerbaijan are already lecturing the UK about press freedom because of Julian's incarceration. It has become an easy way to score cheap political points against Britain. 'What about Assange?' is the perfect comeback to criticism of human-rights abuses.

The US-UK Extradition Treaty, a relic of the Blair era, is partly to blame. It grants the US privileges the UK does not have: the US can reject an extradition request, as it has done to prevent Anne Sacoolas from facing justice after being charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn following a road crash outside a US military base in Northamptonshire.

There is no prima facie evidence requirement and US claims cannot even be cross-examined in court.

Still, you might say, once extradited, Julian would face a fair trial. You might assume that he would, for example, be allowed to exclude hostile jurors. You might assume that he could defend himself by arguing that it was his duty to expose war crimes, torture and state illegality, and that the public had a right to know. You might assume he would be treated equally according to the law.

In Alexandria, there is a special rule that jury members cannot be excluded because they work for the government. Julian's case could have been tried elsewhere in the US but prosecutors chose to try it there, a state that houses US intelligence headquarters.

The court complex is just 15 miles from CIA headquarters. The state is populated by employees of the very sector that Julian exposed, people who have sworn oaths of allegiance to defend America against all enemies.

The legislation under which Julian is charged does not allow a public interest defence. The US does not dispute that what WikiLeaks published was of the highest public interest – it simply says it is irrelevant and Julian should go to prison regardless.

The Trump administration has argued that because Julian is not a US citizen, he would not enjoy constitutional free-speech rights.

This alone should mean that a UK judge throws out the extradition request. To allow it would expose everyone to the risk of discrimination in a foreign court on the basis of nationality.

In the US, I believe Julian would face a certain and monstrously unjust conviction.

You might think that his case is somehow special. It is not. As far as the precedent is concerned, I believe Julian might as well be a British journalist working for The Mail on Sunday.

The extradition concerns the US and Julian today, but next time it could be Turkey, Saudi Arabia or Russia demanding that we send journalists to stand trial in their courts.

The precedent would make political extraditions permissible. The accepted scope of the Official Secrets Act would radically expand to match the Trump administration's interpretation of the 1917 Espionage Act, under which Julian has been charged on 17 counts.

Even re-reporting information that someone else has already published would be an offence.

Extraditing Julian would be so manifestly unjust that it seems impossible. But it is not. It is precisely at times like these when our rights are most easily taken away from us, while we are distracted with major global issues such as Brexit and Covid.

Tomorrow's ruling comes just four days into Brexit. It could be regarded as a metaphor for Brexit itself: will Britain's values assert themselves against outside interference, or will Britain and its people be pushed around by others?

No matter what happens, we will continue to fight for what we know is right.

It is a fight for our family, to give our sons the right to grow up with their father. But it is also a fight for justice and a fight for everyone's right to live in a free society.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9107069/Julian-Assanges-fianc-e-Britains-no-longer-safe-haven-free-speech-hes-extradited.html

Julian Assange will not be extradited to the US on espionage charges

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London: A British judge has rejected a Trump administration bid to extradite Julian Assange to face charges relating to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified diplomatic cables a decade ago, saying that he would be a suicide risk.

Assange was present in the courtroom in the Old Bailey on Monday evening (AEDT) to hear the ruling. He wore a dark suit, a tie and white shirt and dark face mask covering his mouth but not his nose. He sat in a glass-enclosed dock with his hands folded, resting on his left thigh.

District judge Vanessa Baraitser accepted that Assange suffered from depression and had Asperger's. She said the conditions under which he would be held if sent to the United States would not "prevent Mr Assange from finding a way to commit suicide".

"For these reasons I have decided that extradition would be oppressive by reason of Mr Assange's mental health and I order his discharge," she said.

The US government immediately said it would appeal the decision in the High Court. Assange will remain in custody until a bail hearing set for Wednesday evening (AEDT).

Asked if he understood the new arrangements, Assange responded: "Yes."

Assange's mother, Christine, called for a presidential pardon.

"I implore President Trump and President-elect Biden to order them to stand down," she wrote on Twitter. "The decade long process was the punishment. He has suffered enough."

The US government had argued it was not prosecuting Assange for publishing the cables but for how they were obtained, alleging he conspired with Chelsea Manning, then an army intelligence officer, to hack into government systems to steal three-quarters of a million secret and classified cables.

The Obama administration did not bring charges against Assange – they were brought by the Department of Justice under the Trump administration.

Trump had benefited politically from a separate publication by WikiLeaks of the emails obtained from the Democratic National Committee's servers after a Russian hack. Trump is on record speaking both in favour of and against WikiLeaks.

Baraitser did not read out her written judgment but rejected key arguments made by Assange's lawyers that his actions were justified because he was acting as a journalist when he encouraged Manning to hack into US systems. The cables were later published them on the internet, unredacted.

"In the modern era, where 'dumps' of vast amounts of data onto the internet can be carried out by almost anyone, it is difficult to see how a concept of 'responsible journalism' can sensibly be applied," she said.

(continued)

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In her judgment, Baraitser pointed to the condemnation of WikiLeaks issued at the time by former mainstream media partners, including The Guardian and The New York Times, which had both originally collaborated by publishing information deemed to be in the public interest. They had, however, redacted sensitive information.

"In my judgment, Mr Assange’s alleged activities went beyond the mere encouragement of a whistle-blower," Baraitser ruled.

"Free speech does not comprise a 'trump card' even where matters of serious public concern are disclosed and it does not provide an unfettered right for some, like Mr Assange, to decide the fate of others, on the basis of their partially informed assessment of the risks."

She accepted that his conduct was capable of constituting criminal offences in England and Wales, a blow for those who have argued that Assange's actions were those of a free press and therefore should not be prosecuted.

Assange had claimed he was being politically prosecuted by US President Donald Trump but the judge found "little evidence" of this.

She had also rejected his claims that his human rights would be violated if he were sent to the United States to face judicial proceedings and said that he would get a fair hearing.

But she accepted one crucial plank of Assange's case, relating to the near-solitary conditions in which he would be held in a US prison if extradited and the effects on his mental health, noting the Australian's family history of suicide and upholding evidence that he was depressed.

"The overall impression is of a depressed and sometimes despairing man who is generally fearful about his future," she said.

The judgment was published online immediately after she delivered her verdict, and can be read in full here.

https://www.scribd.com/document/489732759/USA-v-Assange-Judgment-040121

The 49-year-old has been held at Belmarsh prison since September 2019. The US wants to try him on 17 charges that carry a total 175 years' jail.

Stella Moris-Smith Robertson, Assange's fiancee and the mother of their two children, Max and Gabriel, was in court to hear the ruling and wept as it was delivered.

She was comforted by WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, with whom she had arrived at the Old Bailey.

The judge had earlier rejected pleas to consider the impact his extradition would have on his young family saying it was "sadly nothing out of the ordinary in the context of extradition proceedings."

A small throng of supporters chanted "free Julian Assange" as the pair arrived.

Monday's ruling is a major development in the 10-year saga. Assange spent nearly seven years holed up at the Ecuadorian embassy in London to escape being extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault.

He was kicked out by his hosts in dramatic scenes in April 2019 when they invited Scotland Yard to enter the embassy and arrest their long-term resident. Assange has been held in custody ever since.

If you or anyone you know needs support call Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

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

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/julian-assange-will-not-be-extradited-to-the-us-on-espionage-charges-20210104-p56ri6.html

Julian Assange extradition ruling: what happens now?

Decision is another milestone in 10-year fight but focus now shifts to US appeal

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Monday’s ruling is not the end of a decade-long struggle by Julian Assange against extradition to the US – but it heralds the beginning of the end.

Over recent weeks, supporters and those close to the WikiLeaks founder had lobbied and pinned some hopes on Donald Trump granting him a pardon in the final days of his time in the White House, but no Christmas reprieve came via the US president’s Twitter account or elsewhere.

After the ruling at the Old Bailey by district judge Vanessa Baraitser that Assange cannot be extradited from the UK, the focus now shifts to a US appeal, for which leave is expected to be granted in a few weeks time.

After the appeal to the high court, the case could technically go to the supreme court though British legal experts caution that a specific legal point would have to arise for the latter to become involved.

Another option further down the line, for Assange’s defenders rather than lawyers for the US, would be the European court of human rights.

In the event of legal rulings continuing to go his way, he will ultimately be discharged from prison, although the long arm of the US would limit his travel prospects beyond the UK for the rest of his life.

Yet more scenarios – based on more than a few hypotheticals and a disconnect with how the British legal system works – meanwhile continue to hover into view. Mexico’s populist president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, told reporters at his daily press conference that he would ask foreign ministry officials to approach their UK counterparts about “the possibility of Mr Assange being freed” so he could accept a Mexican offer of asylum.

A somewhat more realisable prospect however would involve the incoming White House incumbent pardoning Assange, although Joe Biden’s description of Assange in 2010 as a “hi-tech terrorist” looms large in some memories.

An intervention by Trump cannot still be ruled out, although he would be an unlikely saviour given the role in which Assange’s lawyers sought to cast the president over the course of extradition proceedings at in London last year.

(continued)

>>12311717

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It is almost exactly 10 years since Eric Holder, then serving as US attorney general under Barack Obama and in an administration containing Vice-President Biden, disclosed that he had authorised “significant” actions aimed at prosecuting the WikiLeaks founder over the release of thousands of diplomatic cables from US embassies.

By then, an international arrest warrant had been issued at the request of Swedish authorities who wanted to question Assange about allegations – one of rape and one of molestation – made by two women in Stockholm. He has denied those claims.

After losing an appeal against attempts to extradite him to Sweden, Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012. He was subsequently granted political asylum amid claims by his supporters that his removal to Sweden could be followed by a possible onward extradition to the US on potential espionage charges.

A total of 2,487 days inside the embassy passed – during which time Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, described Assange’s arrest as a priority. Suspicions that he had been charged in secret were bolstered when the US Department of Justice inadvertently named him in a court document.

A diplomatic stalemate between the UK and Ecuador came to an end in April 2019, however, when British police forcibly dragged Assange from the embassy after Ecuador revoked his political asylum. Soon after, a US criminal indictment charging him with conspiring to hack into a secret Pentagon computer network was unveiled.

The first courtroom jostling over a US extradition request brought an extraordinary claim – that Trump had offered Assange a pardon if he would say Russia had not been involved in leaking Democratic party emails.

Months later, Covid-19 was wreaking havoc across the globe when proceedings resumed in earnest at the high court, with evidence being largely delivered by witnesses across often fragile remote links.

What has been unquantifiable meanwhile is been the personal toll on individuals involved, with Assange’s partner, Stella Moris, accusing the US of tearing their family apart as four weeks of hearings were adjourned at the start of October.

She was inside court 2 of the Old Bailey on Monday as Baraitser remarked in her ruling that the “inevitable impact” any extradition would have on her and their children “is sadly nothing out of the ordinary in the context of extradition proceedings”.

But she wept tears of joy when the extradition request was denied. Irrespective of one’s view of Julian Assange, the day when his two young sons will be able to spend unlimited time with their father may have been edged closer.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jan/04/julian-assange-extradition-fate-remains-unclear

Morrison says Assange could come home if all charges were dropped

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London: Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Julian Assange would be allowed to return to Australia if all charges were dropped.

Overnight, British district judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected the United States' bid to extradite Assange on espionage charges, reasoning that the Wikileaks founder was likely to commit suicide if sent to an American supermax prison.

Speaking on 3AW radio, Morrison said: “If that all turns out, he’s like any other Australian, he would be free to return home if he wished. That would be a matter for him when those proceedings and processes end.”

Morrison said that consular support had consistently been offered to Assange, but made clear the government were "not parties to those set of proceedings".

Earlier, Geoffrey Robertson, QC, who unsuccessfully defended Assange against extradition proceedings in 2010, called on the Australian government to throw its weight behind the campaign to get the US Department of Justice to drop their appeal.

"The Australian government should ratchet up their support from the occasional consular visit up to the diplomatic level," Robertson told Radio National.

"It should use its diplomatic facilities to urge a pardon [from US President Donald Trump]", he said, or petition the incoming Biden administration to drop the appeal.

Former US soldier Chelsea Manning, who worked with Assange to acquire confidential diplomatic cables, had her sentence commuted by former president Barack Obama in January 2017.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has already said he will offer Julian Assange political asylum and supports the decision of a British judge to deny extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to the US.

"Assange is a journalist and deserves a chance. I am in favour of pardoning him," Lopez Obrador said. "We'll give him protection."

Assange's team did not immediately comment on the offer and restated calls for Trump to issue the WikiLeaks founder a pardon.

Assange escaped extradition to the US when a British judge on Monday night AEDT agreed he was a suicide risk if sent to a US supermax prison and held in solitary confinement.

It is not the first time he has avoided being extradited. In 2012, Assange escaped being extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations by seeking political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he remained holed up for nearly seven years.

He was kicked out by his hosts in 2019, prompting the US government to request his extradition to face 17 spying charges relating to his publication of hundreds of thousands of secret US documents hacked by former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

Baraitser agreed with all of the US government's arguments, including that Assange's conduct went beyond that of a journalist or whistleblower, and that his human rights would not be violated if he faced trial in the US.

But she agreed with Assange's lawyers that the conditions the 49-year-old was likely to be held under while in prison would make him a suicide risk, noting his family history of suicide and that he is diagnosed with Asperger's as well as suffering depression.

Her ruling is a blow to free speech campaigners, but at the same time a huge victory for Assange, who attended Monday's hearing dressed in a dark suit, tie and light-coloured shirt and wearing a face mask that covered his mouth but not his nose.

The US government is appealing in the High Court and Assange will face a bail hearing on Wednesday. He remains in custody at Belmarsh prison.

(continued)

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Stella Moris, the fiancee of Julian Assange, said the decision not to extradite him was only a "first step" towards justice. Moris, the mother of their two children Max and Gabriel, wept in court as the extradition request was denied.

Outside the Old Bailey, she pleaded with US President Donald Trump to pardon the Australian WikiLeaks founder.

"Mr President, tear down these prison walls. Let our little boys have their father. Free Julian, free the press, free us all," she said.

"Today is a victory for Julian. Today's victory is the first step towards justice in this case."

But she said there would be no celebrations until her fiance was home. "I ask you all to shout louder, lobby harder until he is free," she said.

WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson said, while the ruling was a win for Julian Assange, it was "not necessarily a win for journalism".

Alan Rusbridger edited The Guardian when it collaborated with WikiLeaks' earliest publications. The masthead and others fell out with Assange and condemned the unredacted publication of the cables at the time.

Critically, the judge pointed to this statement in her judgment, saying of the dumping online of the unredacted cables: "it is difficult to see how a concept of 'responsible journalism' can sensibly be applied."

"The judge’s reasoning was hardly a ringing endorsement of either Wikileaks or the function of journalism," Rusbridger said.

"But the extradition outcome is the right one and I hope the US will now drop the pursuit of Assange (and Edward Snowden) and let them get on with their lives."

Human rights campaigners both welcomed and criticised the decision.

"The fact that the ruling is correct and saves Assange from extradition does not absolve the UK from having engaged in this politically motivated process at the behest of the USA and putting media freedom and freedom of expression on trial," said Nils Muižnieks from Amnesty International.

"It has set a terrible precedent for which the US is responsible and the UK government is complicit."

But national security hawks were outraged.

Conservative MP Tobais Ellwood, who chairs the Commons defence committee, said he hoped the US government would win on appeal.

"If the US can satisfy the appeal court that Assange will be responsibly treated given his condition, then I believe there’s every reason to believe he will finally face justice and finally answer the charges that he aided and abetted the theft [of classified documents] and disclosure of US security personnel, thus endangering lives," Ellwood told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Support is available for those who may be distressed by phoning Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/mexico-to-offer-julian-assange-asylum-after-us-extradition-bid-fails-20210104-p56rq9.html

Scott Morrison won't ask Trump to pardon Julian Assange

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will not be appealing to Donald Trump to pardon Julian Assange following a British court's decision to reject the US bid to extradite the WikiLeaks founder.

Assange supporters are calling on Mr Morrison to lobby the US President to free the 49-year-old Australian, but government sources confirmed there was no intention to raise the matter with either the Trump or the incoming Biden administration.

Former American soldier Chelsea Manning, who leaked Mr Assange the confidential diplomatic cables that are the subject of espionage charges against him, had her sentence commuted by then president Barack Obama in January 2017.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was "not a party to the case and will continue to respect the ongoing legal process, including the UK justice system's consideration of applications for release, or any appeals".

Senator Payne said the Australian government has made 19 offers of consular assistance to Mr Assange since 2019 which had all gone unanswered.

British district judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected America's bid to extradite Mr Assange, finding he was likely to self-harm if sent to an American supermax prison.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has already said he will offer Mr Assange political asylum and supports the decision of a British judge to deny extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to the US.

"Assange is a journalist and deserves a chance. I am in favour of pardoning him," Mr Lopez Obrador said. "We'll give him protection."

Labor MP Julian Hill said the decision not to extradite Mr Assange was welcome, although "made for poor reasons".

"The fight to save his life goes on," Mr Hill said.

"Scott Morrison should defend him and demand he return home and promise not to extradite him to the US.

"I never thought I'd say this, but Trump should pardon him."

Crossbench senator Rex Patrick said the Morrison government "should immediately indicate whether they will seek a pardon" from Mr Trump, adding the "humanitarian case is clear".

Nationals MP George Christensen said the prosecution would appeal the extradition denial and a pardon from Mr Trump would "ensure the Deep State and a potential Biden administration cannot pursue further action against Assange".

He called for the British government to immediately release Mr Assange and return him to Australia.

"He is being held without any charge in the jurisdiction where he is being held, so there is no justification for him to stay in Belmarsh Prison for a moment longer," Mr Christensen said.

"Furthermore the Australian government should ensure that when he is returned to Australia, there is no avenue for an extradition from his home country to the United States."

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the court's judgment confirmed the "terrible personal toll on Julian Assange and the grave risk to his life should he be extradited to the United States.

"But regrettably it fails to address central issues like freedom of speech, media freedom and the US claim to extraterritoriality," he said.

"Julian Assange must now be freed and allowed to return to Australia. And the Australian government must rule out any possibility of his extradition from this country should he return home.

"I also call on President Trump and President-elect Biden, to let this be the end of the matter. Julian Assange should be lauded as a hero, not a villain."

Mr Morrison said Mr Assange would be free to return to Australia once the appeals process is finished.

"If that all turns out, he's like any other Australian, he would be free to return home if he wished," he told 3AW.

"That would be a matter for him when those proceedings and processes end."

Mr Morrison said that consular support had consistently been offered to Mr Assange, but made clear the government was not a party to the legal proceedings.

Prominent barrister Geoffrey Robertson, who unsuccessfully defended Mr Assange against extradition proceedings in 2010, called on the Australian government to throw its weight behind the campaign to get the US Department of Justice to drop its appeal.

"The Australian government should ratchet up their support from the occasional consular visit up to the diplomatic level," Mr Robertson told Radio National.

"It should use its diplomatic facilities to urge a pardon [from US President Donald Trump]", he said or petition the incoming Biden administration to drop the appeal."

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-won-t-ask-trump-to-pardon-julian-assange-20210105-p56rtl.html

Anthony Albanese’s demand for a rollout now of COVID vaccine ‘very dangerous’, Scott Morrison says

Scott Morrison has hit out at claims from Labor over the COVID-19 vaccine saying Anthony Albanese’s comments were “dangerous”.

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Scott Morrison has slammed Anthony Albanese’s call to fast-track the COVID-19 vaccine as “very dangerous”, warning Australians don’t want the jabs rolled out “willy nilly” before imported batches are tested.

The Prime Minister has issued a detailed explanation this morning of the vaccine timetable, insisting that we have “choices” that the United Kingdom doesn’t have.

The UK is rapidly rolling out the jabs as an emergency response to the devastation of some 58,000 coronavirus daily cases. Britain today entered a snap six-week national lockdown.

The current timetable for Australians to receive the vaccine is from late March onwards, despite the fact that the vaccine could be approved and imported several weeks earlier.

Mr Morrison told 3AW this morning that even after the vaccine is approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia still needs to complete a fortnight of “batch tests” to check dosages and adverse reactions.

“Those processes don’t just end when the TGA approves the vaccine. You then need to go and test the batches that are coming in that will be administered across the country,’’ the PM said.

“And so, these suggestions that I’ve heard about trying to rush the process I think can be very dangerous. We should let the health officials do their jobs here.

“I mean, I don’t think Australians would want us to just willy nilly to be sending out vials of vaccine that haven’t had their batches tested which is the normal process.”

Labor is calling for the process to be rolled out faster as modest outbreaks in NSW and Victoria spark border chaos and leave thousands locked out of their home state.

But the PM said there’s no need to take “unnecessary risks” given Australia has largely got the COVID-19 situation under control.

“There were 58,000 cases in the UK the other day. If you look at the UK, they are in the early stages of that and they have had quite a few problems,’’ he said.

“They are doing it on an emergency basis, they are not testing batches of vaccines before they are disseminated across the population, is my understanding. They are the processes that we have in Australia.

“Now, we have our scheduled timetable. We are moving this as swiftly as it safely can be done.”

(continued)

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In a later interview on 2GB, the PM also said Mr Albanese’s views were “misinformed” and claimed the Opposition knocked back an offer of a briefing on the vaccination strategy.

Mr Morrison also said Labor’s health spokesman Chris Bown hadn’t attended a COVID-19 briefing since November.

Rubbishing the Prime Minister’s claim that his vaccine strategy puts Australia at the “front of the queue” Mr Albanese said this week the rollout wasn’t happening fast enough.

“Well, quite clearly, we’re not at the front of the queue,’’ Mr Albanese said.

“The fact is that it makes no sense for the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) to have recommended, as it is likely to do, in January, the approval of the Pfizer vaccine, but then for the rollout to not occur until March.”

Hospitals in the United Kingdom have started offering the vaccine after the UK government approved the COVID-19 jab and thousands of citizens have been vaccinated in Israel.

But Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly insisted on Monday that safety must be paramount as officials observe the rollout in the United Kingdom and the United States and learn the lessons of any potential adverse reactions or logistic issues.

“We have zero people in intensive care and no-one, of course, therefore on ventilation. That is, again, a major difference between us and the rest of the world,’’ he said.

His warning was echoed overnight by Victoria’s deputy chief medical officer Allen Cheng who is also intimately involved in the vaccine rollout as the chair of the Advisory Committee for Vaccines.

“An example of side effects only picked up later are the cases of anaphylaxis that have been reported in the UK and the US,’’ he said.

“We want to know that there is the correct amount of vaccine in each dose. We want to know they are free from contamination. That there are no differences between different batches or those made in different factories. We need to know the shelf life under different conditions.

“That’s not all – there are questions about toxicology of the vaccine or its components (such as the lipid layer used in mRNA vaccines, or adjuvants used in protein vaccines).

“Whether they can be used safely in pregnant or breastfeeding women. Whether they can be given with other vaccines such as the flu vaccine.

“For COVID vaccines, we have published papers that report that the vaccines appear to be effective and generally safe. Many people think that published papers are the gold standard in evidence, but they just scrape the surface of what we want to know.”

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/anthony-albaneses-demand-for-a-rollout-now-of-covid-vaccine-very-dangerous-scott-morrison-says/news-story/6bd31c6d62cbca321c3a766805c338c3

Assange poised for bail application

WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange is set to discover if he will be allowed to taste freedom after years of self-incarceration and jail time.

The decision, one way or the other, follows victory in his battle to avoid extradition from Britain to the United States on Monday.

A British judge rejected a request from US authorities for Assange, 49, to be sent across the Atlantic to face 18 criminal charges of breaking an espionage law and conspiring to hack government computers.

The charges relate to the release by WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables officials say put lives in danger.

Although Judge Vanessa Baraitser accepted the US legal arguments in the case, she said Assange's mental health issues meant he would be at risk of suicide if extradited.

The US Department of Justice says it will continue to seek his extradition and appeal against her verdict.

In the meantime, Assange, who is currently in the top-security Belmarsh Prison in east London, will seek to be freed on bail at a hearing on Wednesday.

If Baraitser grants his request, he will be able to enjoy freedom for the first time in more than eight years.

Admirers hail Australian-born Assange as a hero for exposing what they describe as abuses of power by the United States.

But detractors cast him as a dangerous figure who has undermined the security of the West and dispute he is a journalist.

WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables that laid bare often critical appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi royal family.

Assange made international headlines in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified US military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters that killed a dozen people in Baghdad.

In June 2012, Assange fled to London's Ecuadorean embassy after losing his bid to prevent extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes.

He remained in the embassy, in confined conditions, until dragged out in April 2019.

Although the Swedish case against him had been dropped by then, he was jailed for breaching British bail conditions and his supporters forfeited sureties of 93,500 pounds ($A163,700).

He has remained behind bars after completing his jail term pending the outcome of the extradition case, which would include any appeal by the United States.

Baraitser has previously refused him bail, saying he remained a flight risk.

Assange's partner Stella Moris, with whom he had two children while holed up in the embassy, said they could not celebrate as long as he was still in prison.

"We will celebrate the day he comes home," she said.

Assange's lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said on Monday the extradition ruling cast a new light over the bail decision.

However Nick Vamos, former head of extradition at Britain's Crown Prosecution Service, said he expected his bid not to succeed.

"To do so, he would have to point to some change in circumstances, for example the COVID-19 risk in Belmarsh, other than the extradition judgment in his favour," Vamos said.

"I expect his bail application to fail."

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7076342/assange-poised-for-bail-application/

>>12321965

Julian Assange’s lawyers fear offer to return to Australia would result in extradition

Julian Assange’s legal team have rejected Scott Morrison’s assertion that the WikiLeaks founder could return to Australia.

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Lawyers for Julian Assange have rejected Scott Morrison’s claim he can simply return to Australia if a final legal attempt to extradite him on espionage charges fails, warning the United States could promptly launch new legal proceedings here.

There are fears the US could simply reopen attempts to extradite Mr Assange from Australia if he ever travelled home to the country where he was born and that would leave him again facing charges that carry a maximum penalty of up to 175 years in jail.

Australian officials also confirmed to news.com.au that there was nothing in the US extradition treaty to stop the US from extraditing him as soon as he sets foot in Australia.

The long running legal saga relates to the WikiLeaks founder’s involvement 10 years ago in the 2010 publication of secret diplomatic cables and files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq including a US military video showing an Apache attack helicopter killing civilians.

A British court ruled this week that Mr Assange will not be extradited to the US after a judge found his mental health was so fragile he was likely to kill himself if he is sent overseas to face espionage charges.

But the United States immediately confirmed they will appeal this decision, in a last-ditch attempt to force Mr Assange to face the US justice system.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed on Tuesday that the Australian could simply return home “like any other Australian” if that US appeal over the decision overnight fails.

“Well, the justice system is making its way and we’re not a party to that,’’ Mr Morrison said.

“And like any Australian, they’re offered consular support and should, you know, if the appeal fails, obviously he would be able to return to Australia like any other Australian. So that consular support continues to be offered and that’s the situation as we understand it right now.”

But lawyers for Mr Assange told news.com.au that Australia should push for the US to drop the case entirely.

“It is not enough for the Prime Minister to simply say he is free to come home if he wins the appeal,’’ barrister Jennifer Robinson said.

“The Australian government should express concern about Mr Assange’s wellbeing in light of the judge’s findings about his medical condition and support our bail application. The Australian government should also be making representations to the US to close this case down altogether, given the judge’s ruling on his health and the grave freedom of speech implications, to ensure Mr Assange can safely return home.”

(continued)

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The existing judgment is a hollow victory for free speech advocates, with Judge Vanessa Baraitser effectively upholding all of the US arguments that Mr Assange would secure a fair trial in the US.

His legal team has also confirmed they are seeking bail so the Australian can be reunited with his young family while that legal appeal is heard.

“We welcome this important decision from the UK court to bar Mr Assange’s extradition to the US and that the judge has agreed with our arguments that his extradition would be oppressive,’’ Ms Robinson told news.com.au.

“However, it is not over yet: the US government has indicated they will appeal. We are now seeking bail for Mr Assange, pending any appeal, so that he can finally be reunited with his young family, have time to recover from this decade-long ordeal and the harsh prison conditions he has faced, and be protected from the COVID outbreak in his prison.”

He will remain at London’s Belmarsh prison until Wednesday, when the application for him to be released on bail until the appeal is heard will be heard.

In September, a British Court heard Assange was preparing to take his own life, in expert evidence provided by a leading psychiatrist.

“He’s made various plans and undergone various preparations,” Professor Michael Kopelman told a UK court, revealing the 49-year-old had confessed his plans to a Catholic priest, written a will and drafted farewell letters to friends and family.

“Various preparations are in place,” the King’s College Emeritus Professor said, adding that Assange’s ideations could be triggered by the “imminence of extradition and or an actual extradition.”

Labor’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said the case should be dropped and had dragged on for long enough.

“Given his ill health it is now time for this long drawn out case against Julian Assange to be brought to an end,’’ he said.

“While the US has the right to appeal the court’s decision, we call on the Morrison Government to do what it can to draw a line under this matter and encourage the US Government to bring this matter to a close.”

https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/julian-assanges-lawyers-fear-offer-to-return-to-australia-is-a-legal-trap/news-story/6da5f3637e1ba377c84440c31323d3cf

>>12166590

>>12304790

Liberal MP Gladys Liu the target of foreign interference plot

Liberal MP Gladys Liu was named in search warrants made out for the prominent Melbourne community figure who became the first person charged under new foreign interference laws.

Di Sanh Duong, the president of the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations, was charged in November after an investigation by national security agencies alleged that he attempted to influence figures in the Liberal Party’s Victorian division.

Both Ms Liu and the Liberal Party were specifically noted on the warrant, as investigators looked for material that referenced them — and what plans, if any, had been made to influence them — sources briefed on the matter told The Australian. There is no suggestion Ms Liu had any role in the alleged offences.

Instead, investigators went on to focus on whether Mr Duong sought to influence Education Minister Alan Tudge, then the acting immigration minister.

Mr Tudge, who appeared at a press conference with Mr Duong, who presented a $37,000 cheque to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, is not accused of wrongdoing.

The Australian Federal Police allege Mr Duong, who goes by the name “Sunny”, is connected to a foreign nation’s intelligence agen­cy, ­although which nation has not been publicly confirmed.

The revelation that Ms Liu was potentially a target comes after another Melbourne-based businessman with links to the Liberal MP and to other Coalition figures was assessed as a security risk by the Australian Security ­Intelligence Organisation.

Huifang “Haha” Liu, a Liberal donor who has had a long association with Ms Liu (no relation) and who was in parliament to watch her maiden speech in July 2019, now faces deportation.

The ABC first reported those claims on Monday, with Mr Liu telling the broadcaster that he ­believed he had been assessed as a security risk because he ran a neighbourhood watch organisation which agreed to take instruction from the Chinese consulate in Melbourne.

Mr Liu is not the subject of any investigation being conducted by the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, the organisation which pursued Mr Duong.

Asked about Ms Liu being referenced on a search warrant related to Mr Duong, an AFP spokeswoman said: “As this ­investigation is ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment.”

The ease of access to federal politicians has alarmed some national security officials, while the revelation that investigators had an interest in what Mr Duong’s relationship was with Ms Liu provides further confirmation that the unnamed foreign power is China.

Mr Duong resigned from the Liberal Party after he was charged with foreign interference in November.

The Australian reported in December that he is prevented under his bail conditions from having any contact with Australian politicians.

He must not contact “any Australian elected official except through a legal representative”, “any consulate or embassy or any staff member of any consulate or embassy”, or “any foreign intelligence agency or staff member of any intelligence agency”, according to a transcript of Mr Duong’s bail hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court, obtained by The Australian.

Mr Duong has denied any wrongdoing and insists he has “nothing to hide”. He told The Guardian Australia that he was “a very popular person” who held “a lot of positions”.

“I’ve been here 42 years … I didn’t (ever) live in China,” he said after he was charged.

The Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, which is led by ASIO and the AFP, carried out search warrants across Melbourne on October 16 after a lengthy investigation into Mr Duong’s relationship with a foreign intelligence agency.

Mr Duong, who was a Liberal Party candidate in 1996, also uses the name Yang Yisheng, and is due in court in March.

But the Victorian Liberals are not the only political organisation which Australian security agencies say has been targeted by overseas intelligence organisations.

The AFP in August raided the house of a NSW Labor staffer, John Zhang, after becoming concerned he was collaborating with the Chinese government’s spy agency to influence Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane.

Mr Zhang has denied any wrongdoing and has lodged a constitutional challenge to the validity of foreign interference laws and the search warrants relied on by AFP agents to raid his home and businesses.

Documents lodged as part of the legal action show he is accused of failing to disclose to Mr Moselmane that he was acting on behalf of, “or in collaboration with”, the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/liberal-mp-gladys-liu-the-target-of-foreign-interference-plot/news-story/25ff5ca2b07798bf7b336a24f481411e

World’s eyes on Australia to see if we can resist China

CLIVE HAMILTON - JANUARY 6, 2021

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Before the pandemic shut down international travel, Australia had been receiving a steady stream of visitors from Western civil services, intelligence agencies, think tanks, universities and parliaments, all interested in one thing: what measures had Australia taken to protect its institutions from interference and infiltration by the Chinese state?

Experts have been explaining over and over what Australia has done and the circumstances that turned this country into the global leader pushing back against the Chinese Communist Party’s interference.

Two important factors persuaded the Turnbull government to introduce these and other policies. First, public alarm was rising following a series of media reports about donations by CCP-linked people to political parties, centring on the Dastyari affair. Second, the evidence in a series of secret intelligence briefings describing the extent of Beijing’s campaign to win friends among Australia’s elites became overwhelming.

The responses have included outlawing foreign interference, banning Huawei from the 5G network, excluding Chinese investors from buying up critical infrastructure and working behind the scenes to shake institutions such as universities out of their cash-induced complacency.

Today, Australia has become a model for other nations concerned about China’s influence. Some have introduced foreign interference legislation mirroring Australia’s.

During the past nine months, Beijing has subjected Australia to an escalating program of punishment, mainly by the use of economic coercion but also by a diplomatic freeze backed by a barrage of insults and threats emanating from the highest levels of the party in Beijing.

The Canberra embassy issued 14 demands we must satisfy if we wanted China to back off, including abolishing our foreign interference law, allowing Huawei into our 5G network, permitting unrestricted Chinese investment and limiting media criticism of the regime.

The trigger event for Beijing was Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s call in April for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.

But the retribution follows growing annoyance in the CCP, reaching up to general secretary Xi Jinping, that China’s attempts to break our resistance to its domination are failing. For Beijing, and for democracy, the geopolitical stakes could hardly be higher.

If Australia refuses to be intimidated, sticks to its position and takes the pain then Beijing must realise sooner or later that its campaign can’t succeed and grudgingly will resume normal relations with Australia.

That outcome would send a powerful message to the rest of the world: it’s possible for medium-sized nations to maintain their independence in the face of severe pressure from Beijing. A decisive blow would be dealt to Beijing’s goal of gaining global supremacy, if not by its United Front strategy of co-opting elites, then by economic blackmail.

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On the other hand, if Australia’s resolve weakens under pressure and we give way to Beijing’s demands then it would represent a stunning victory for the CCP’s tactic of bullying and economic retribution.

The message to the rest of the world would be shattering. In the corridors of power, those urging resistance to the CCP would be told: “Australia tried but was forced to back down. China is too powerful. Only the US can resist and who knows for how long.”

This would pave the way for China to rapidly become the dominant power in the world from where the CCP would spread its malign influence.

Party documents are unequivocal: the CCP is hostile to free speech, a free media, religious freedom, independent courts and civil society.

So the stance being taken by the government in Canberra has world historical significance.

The vital question is: who in this unequal contest will win?

The Morrison government has made it very clear that Australia’s principles are not negotiable. But Beijing believes that if it imposes enough economic pain on Australians then we will be forced to trade our principles for higher growth.

The crucial factor in this fight is Australian public opinion. Communist Party bosses tend to believe that winning over powerful elites is enough. In pursuing that tactic they have been very successful. There are powerful voices in Australia urging the government to capitulate to Beijing’s pressure.

Certain former prime ministers, premiers, mining magnates, vice-chancellors, strategic analysts and Sinologists are all telling the government to appease Beijing. And some of the leaders of the industries being squeezed by China’s trade bans have become, in effect, mouthpieces for Beijing, calling on the government to “fix the relationship”, as if it’s all our fault. This is exactly what Beijing planned.

But in democracies political parties want to win elections above all else. Most Australians have been woken from their slumber and now see China as a serious threat to the democratic practices that for too long they had taken for granted.

With an election due at the end of this year or early next, the public must therefore watch both sides of politics closely for any signs of wavering. If our leaders go weak at the knees then the rest of the world is imperilled.

Clive Hamilton is a professor at Charles Sturt University in Canberra and co-author with Mareike Ohlberg of Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World (Hardie Grant).

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/worlds-eyes-on-australia-to-see-if-we-can-resist-china/news-story/497695d8da3a4467b7d40d30f86a90f4

Anti-vaxxers are now as big a threat as climate deniers

Both like to phrase their denialism as ‘questioning’, which is a smart but morally bankrupt PR manoeuvre

It seems hopeless when so many take the word of Pete Evans over scientists but there is a cure to the anti-vax disease, writes Tory Shepherd.

Tory Shepherd - January 6, 2021

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Imagine if we still haven’t knocked this thing on the head by next summer. Imagine if we’re still talking about coronavirus clusters after winter.

Vaccines are set to roll out from March. Huzzah! It’s the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The long, dark tunnel of this still-unfurling pandemic.

The national program should be finished by October. The Pfizer jab will go to health workers and the vulnerable first, and will then cascade through the population, offering a 95 per cent success rate. The AstraZeneca vaccine will also be available from March.

In heartening news, government research has found eight in 10 Australians will take the vaccine. Compared to California, where apparently only a minority of frontline workers are willing to take it, 80 per cent is pretty good.

As tempting as it is to bask in those sunny statistics, though, we should gird our loins for an uptick in action on the anti-vaxxer front.

We’ve seen how a tiny minority can sow the seeds of confusion to paralyse action. It happened with cigarettes, with the World Health Organisation reporting that the industry still denies smoking causes lung cancer.

It’s happening with climate change, where denialism is still evident in policy stagnation.

Don’t let it happen with vaccines. Anti-vaxxers are peeved at being called anti-vaxxers in the same way climate-change deniers don’t like being called denialists. Both like to phrase their denialism as “questioning”, which is a smart but morally bankrupt PR manoeuvre.

The thing is, it can become a Facebook death spiral if you start arguing with friends and family about vaccination. You have science, they have a pretty picture of Pete Evans with a mangled word salad about microchips underneath his grinning face.

It can seem hopeless when so many people want to take the words of a former celebrity chef over actual evidence.

But there is hope, and there is a way to talk to people who are worried about the vaccination without resorting to calling them steaming carbuncles.

Because the steaming carbuncles, and their pustulant offshoots, and others they’ve deliberately infected with the anti-vax poison, are only a tiny minority and can probably ultimately be ignored.

Hardcore anti-vaxxers are only about 3 per cent of the Australian population. So, if we subtract that from the 20 per cent who told the government they wouldn’t vaccinate, we have 17 per cent of the population we can put in the “vaccine-hesitant” box.

(continued)

>>12339980

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Do a quick test. Does your het-up Facebook friend also believe in QAnon, chemtrails, a flat Earth and the Bill Gates microchips? If so, you can put them in the too-borked basket.

If not, they’re hesitant, not anti. That means they’ve been caught up in the almighty swirl of information, misinformation, and heinous confusion that has roiled all through this cursed pandemic.

Our collective brains have suffered from the maelstrom of inconsistent advice, puzzling border decisions and the bewildering need for the Sydney Cricket Ground to host the Test.

No wonder more than four million Australians are struggling to decide the best course of action. It’s in our interests to help them make the right one.

The facts are clear: vaccines save lives. They’re being marched through all the proper processes in Australia, where they aren’t being given “emergency approval”, but actual general approval (and cheers to the Poms for being a huge human clinical trial).

The vaccines definitely don’t have microchips in them. The Federal Government has already committed to a $24m education program to assuage those fears – but that won’t get everyone on board.

As clear as the facts are, research consistently shows they are not what will sway people’s minds. In the vaccine-hesitant crowd (as opposed to those who are irredeemably lost in the anti-vaxxer woods), there are other barriers. Fear. Access. Ambivalence.

Clear communication is a start and it has to be backed up by seamless logistics to slide everyone towards the jab.

But the vaccine hesitant will still be beset by “what-iffery”. What if something goes wrong? Alongside the science, we need to make sure they understand the other what-ifs. What if there are still clusters next summer, and lockdowns? What if I get really sick? What if someone dies just because I trusted my fears over the experts? And what if that someone is my child?

Tory Shepherd writes a weekly column on social issues for The Advertiser. She was formerly the paper's state editor, and has covered federal politics, defence, space, and everything else important to SA.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/tory-shepherd-both-like-to-phrase-their-denialism-as-questioning-which-is-a-smart-but-morally-bankrupt-pr-manoeuvre/news-story/17e90a2a06b360be8d188078cdfe9d66

Trump hopeful Pence will overturn election

Sky News Australia

6 Jan 2021

US President Donald Trump is hopeful Vice President Mike Pence will overturn the election result when Congress meets tomorrow.

In a statement, Mr Trump said "our Vice President has several options under the U.S. Constitution".

"He can de-certify the results or send them back to the states for change and certification. He can also de-certify the illegal and corrupt results and send them to the House of Representatives for the one vote for one state tabulation."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87BzkKRXVGI

Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet

AG Bill Barr questioned Epstein’s cellmate after suicide: Will we ever know what happened? #Epstein victims deserve an answer! #TruthMatters @pinkPeptobismol @ewarren @SDNYnews @CourtneyWild13 @MichelleLicata8

https://twitter.com/VRSVirginia/status/1346680094559928321

—

Attorney General William Barr personally questioned Jeffrey Epstein’s cellmate after his suicide: source

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Attorney General William Barr personally questioned the last inmate to share a cell with Jeffrey Epstein before the perv died by suicide, a source told the Daily News.

The multimillionaire sex offender was found hanging from cloth tied to a bed frame early on Aug. 10, 2019, rocking the highest levels of the Justice Department. Investigators’ attention turned to Efrain “Stone” Reyes, who had been transferred out of a cell he shared with Epstein the day before the shocking suicide at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan.

Reyes’ niece and other sources previously told the Daily News that Reyes was moved to the privately run Queens Detention Facility, which holds cooperating witnesses.

Following Epstein’s death, Reyes was pulled from the privately run jail for frequent meetings with authorities, according to a source. Following one of the meetings, Reyes told the source that the attorney general himself had asked questions about the staff at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

“Barr wanted to know about what was going on in there. Barr told him, ‘I owe you a favor, thank you for telling us the truth,’ ” said the source, who became close friends with Reyes while they were both held at the Queens jail.

“He said [Barr] was a good guy. Barr was nice about it. He just wanted to know if [inmates] were being mistreated. What [Reyes] believed happened. Just basically that. He told them everything. He cooperated with Barr.”

The unusual sitdown between the country’s former top law enforcement official and the cooperator who confessed to participating in a drug ring at Bronx housing projects illustrates the significance of the feds’ failure in the Epstein case.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. The New York Times reported weeks after Epstein’s death that Barr was personally overseeing four inquiries into Epstein’s suicide. Barr has said he was “livid” after the death.

“If in fact the attorney general personally interviewed Jeffrey’s prison drug-dealing roommate that would be a real jaw dropper … there are only a million levels between the a.g. And the fbi agent who should have done the interview (I am exaggerating but only by a little),” Epstein’s attorney Reid Weingarten wrote in an email to the Daily News. “If it is true the question is why in the world was Barr so personally interested in what happened to my client?”

Two Metropolitan Correctional Center officers, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, have pleaded not guilty to sleeping on the job and falsifying records the night of the suicide. An attorney for Thomas, Montell Figgins, told The News he wouldn’t be surprised if Barr directly questioned Reyes, given how the case was handled by the Justice Department.

(continued)

>>12340879

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The News exclusively identified Reyes as Epstein’s final cellmate last month. The 51-year-old caught coronavirus at the Queens Detention Facility last year, was released this past April and died in November at his mother’s Bronx apartment.

The source contacted The News seeking to dispel conspiracy theories that Reyes’ death had something to do with Epstein. The source said Reyes was deeply troubled by the suicide and did not hesitate to help investigators.

“With the Epstein thing, he was dealing with it. He was having nightmares,” the source said.

“He thought if he would’ve stayed a little longer maybe he wouldn’t have did what he did. The whole time, he would tell [Epstein], ‘Don’t do that in the cell. I don’t need you doing that. Don’t need that on my conscience.’”

The source recalled a conversation between Reyes and Epstein.

“Stone would be like, ‘What’s it like having all that money?’ ” the source said.

“[Epstein] just said he’s had a good life. He was very blessed.”

The Bronx drug dealer and the Coney Island-born sex offender worth $634 million overcame their differences.

Reyes struggled with sleep due to drug addiction. Epstein preferred to be asleep by 10 p.m., the source said. So, the financier supplied Reyes with drugs that cost $500 a pop to put him to sleep. The source believed the drug was Suboxone.

“What do you need, how can I help you so you go to bed and turn the lights out?” Epstein said, according to the source close to Reyes.

“He paid for stuff for him to keep him occupied, you know? He’s had his problems with drugs. He had bragged that Jeff spent $500 — and another $500 — so he’d go to bed early.”

The Metropolitan Correctional Center has a well-established reputation of being overrun with contraband.

The source, who also came down with COVID at the private jail, had no doubt Reyes’ demise was connected to the effects of coronavirus.

“With Stone, he would constantly say, ‘I don’t feel the same, I don’t feel right, I don’t move the right way no more,’ ” the source said. “You see people saying conspiracy things. No — he got COVID. He was having lung issues. He would cough all the time.”

As coronavirus ravaged the Queens Detention Facility last year, jail staff gave inmates, including Reyes and the source, takeout from Popeyes chicken and expanded the number of channels available on television, the source recalled. At one point, Reyes and the source watched a documentary about Epstein, the mysterious pervert who was able to cultivate relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world while allegedly running an international child sex trafficking scheme.

“[Reyes] was like, ‘I just didn’t see that from him. I didn’t see that side of him. I never pictured him being with young girls. Some guys like that are creepy,’ ” the source recalled. “He said he never really got that side of Epstein — like he was someone who took advantage of girls. But we all have our secrets, you know? You never know.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-barr-questioned-epstein-cellmate-20210104-uyez4izqabg2bowemxpsp3hlom-story.html

Julian Assange is a 'comedy of court cases' as UK blocks extradition order

Sky News Australia

5 Jan 2021

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says Julian Assange has “always been trying to escape the law” as UK courts block America’s extradition order on the basis of mental health.

“The Julian Assange case publishing all of those documents, the so-called WikiLeaks documents, was hugely damaging not only to America but more broadly western interests,” he told Sky News host Chris Smith.

Mr Downer also said there was a “comedy of court cases” surrounding Julian Assange, pointing to allegations of sexual assault and later extradition orders to face charges from Sweden, the almost seven years he spent in an Ecuadorian embassy and the year he had done in a UK jail.

“It’s a sort of comedy of court cases that he’s always trying to escape the law.”

https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6220266834001

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweets

Our friendship with Australia has flourished. An unbreakable alliance. Thanks for the mateship, @MarisePayne!

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1346599862217879552

The U.S. and Australia: The Unbreakable Alliance

SPEECH - MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE

STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES - SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

AUGUST 4, 2019

https://www.state.gov/the-u-s-and-australia-the-unbreakable-alliance/

—

U.S., Australia and Japan are working together to give Pacific Islands the chance to partner with free nations, not Communist China. Just one example: built a new, much-needed undersea cable to Palau. More to come. go.usa.gov/xA5vN

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1346614978212749313

Australia, Japan, Palau, and the United States Announce Digital Connectivity Project

29 Oct 2020

At the 2020 Virtual Indo-Pacific Business Forum, Australia, Japan, and the United States announced a new digital connectivity project for Palau. The announcement was made through a pre-recorded video of President of Palau Thomas Remengesau, Jr., Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Ann Payne, and U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_3IIVjWcsA

The United States Partners with Australia and Japan to Expand Reliable and Secure Digital Connectivity in Palau

OCTOBER 29, 2020

The United States, in partnership with the governments of Australia, Japan, and Palau, will finance the construction of an undersea fiber optic cable to the Republic of Palau valued at approximately $30 million. The project will connect to a new U.S. International Development Finance Corporation-financed undersea cable, the world’s longest, spanning from Singapore to the United States. The new spur cable—Palau’s second—will help ensure reliable, secure digital connectivity in Palau, and marks the first project to be delivered under the Trilateral Partnership for Infrastructure Investment in the Indo-Pacific between the United States, Australia and Japan.

https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-partners-with-australia-and-japan-to-expand-reliable-and-secure-digital-connectivity-in-palau/

'An incentive to abscond': Julian Assange denied bail by UK judge

London: A British judge has denied WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange bail, saying there was a risk he might flee justice while the US tries again to secure his extradition.

It comes just two days after Judge Vanessa Baraister ordered his discharge from extradition to the US to face spying charges.

The US government is appealing the ruling and on Wednesday evening (AEDT) successfully argued that the Australian be kept in Belmarsh Prison while the High Court challenge take place.

"Mr Assange still has an incentive to abscond from these, as yet, unresolved proceedings," she said.

"Mr Assange has already demonstrated that he has been willing to flout the order of this court.

"I am satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that if Mr Assange is released today he would fail to surrender to court to face the appeal proceedings," the judge said. "The remand therefore, is in custody."

Clair Dobbin, a lawyer for the US government, told Westminster Magistrate's Court that Assange had the "resources, ability and sheer wherewithal" to flee the country.

She reminded the court that Assange, in 2012, had evaded extradition to Sweden by entering the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he lived for seven years until he was kicked out by his hosts.

Dobbin said Mexico's offer of political asylum to Assange this week made him a flight risk.

"I make that point simply to illustrate that there are countries that are sympathetic to Mr Assange," she said, noting that Mr Assange would only need to enter the Mexican embassy to escape the legal processes.

"The history of his attempts to evade extradition to the United States demonstrates that he is capable of going to almost any length to avoid that possibility," she said.

The US wants to try Assange over the publication of hundreds of thousands of secret and diplomatic cables on the WikiLeaks website a decade ago.

It requested his extradition from the United Kingdom but Judge Barrister denied this on Monday, saying Assange would be a suicide risk if held in a US supermax prison.

Assange's QC Edward Fitzgerald said that ruling meant Assange should reclaim his liberty and that his mental health would be better served if he were able to live under house arrest, with a GPS tag at a London residence provided by one of his supporters as surety.

"The grant of bail would allow actual physical contact with his family, that would not only alleviate mental distress but it would anchor him to his family and to his community," Fitzgerald said.

"For the first time, this is a new factor … which totally changes the position [from] 2012.

"One cannot continue to rely on the events of 2012, it's a totally different situation now."

But the judge was not persuaded and said the US government had the legal right to challenge her extradition ruling and that the publisher's decision to make himself a "fugitive of justice" in 2012 showed he could not be trusted not to abscond again.

"As far as Mr Assange is concerned, this case has not yet been won," she said.

Assange's fiancee said the decision was a "huge disappointment".

"Julian should not be in Belmarsh Prison in the first place, I urge the Department of Justice to drop the charges and the President of the United States to pardon Julian," she said.

WikiLeaks said the bail decision would be appealed, possibly "within days".

Support is available for those who may be distressed by phoning Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/julian-assange-denied-bail-despite-earlier-extradition-win-20210106-p56s81.html

>>12142216

Vatican debunks $2.3bn Austrac transfer allegation

DENNIS SHANAHAN - JANUARY 7, 2021

Vatican investigators have established that the Australian international financial watchdog’s report of $2.3bn transferred from the ­Vatican City to Australia in the past six years is “significantly” over-­estimated.

The Holy See’s financial intelligence unit is working closely with Austrac to establish accurate ­figures for money transfers between the Vatican, Vatican entities and individuals after the financial monitor reported the $2.3bn ­figure to a Senate estimates committee.

Despite the “significant” miscalculation in the transfer data, the Vatican Financial Intelligence Unit and the Australian Federal Police are still investigating substantial, suspicious transfers to Australia since 2014.

Austrac has confirmed to The Australian that it is working with the Holy See’s financial intelligence unit over “anomalies” in the evidence given to the Senate and expects a revised figure to be ­released soon. Before Christmas, Austrac told Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells there was $2.3bn sent from the Vatican to Australia between 2014 and 2020 but did not reveal recipients.

Australian Catholic bishops were “baffled” by the figures and had no knowledge of such ­transfers. They sought an explanation from the Pope and wanted Austrac to give the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference details of any money supposedly received by Catholic Church entities.

Last week, Vatican officials, who did not wish to be identified, said the scale of the Austrac report was astonishing and they doubted the accuracy. Officials also told Reuters that they were “absolutely stunned” by the amount of money reported and the transfers amounted to three or four times the Vatican’s annual budget.

One Vatican official said: “It’s not our money because we don’t have that kind of money.”

Austrac has previously ­referred suspicious transfers to the AFP for investigation.

According to Austrac’s report to the Senate, transfers from the Vatican to Australia increased from $71.6m in 2014 to $137.1m in 2015 before doubling again to $295m in 2016 and peaking at $581.3m in 2017. More than $422m was transferred in 2018, $491.8m in 2019 and $294.8m in 2020.

The Vatican has been ­embroiled in scandal in recent months over allegations of ­embezzlement and nepotism ­levelled against Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a senior member of the church’s ­bureaucracy.

Cardinal Becciu was an opponent to Cardinal George Pell’s reforms at the Vatican when the latter was ­appointed in 2014.

Cardinal Becciu, who has denied any wrongdoing, was fired by the Pope in September over the ­allegations in relation to a troubled $360m building in London.

Vatican investigators have also probed allegations that money may have been sent to Australia to adversely affect the sexual abuse trial of Cardinal Pell.

After two trials in 2018 and 2019 — one hung jury and one guilty verdict — Cardinal Pell was sentenced to six years’ jail and served more than a year in prison before he was acquitted unanimously by the High Court in April.

In October, The Australian ­reported Vatican investigators were examining at least four transfers from the Vatican secretariat, including two from Cardinal Becciu, between 2017 and 2018 totalling $2m to a company in Melbourne. To date, there has been no evidence produced to show any Vatican money was transferred to influence that trial.

The Pope in late December signed a new law that stripped the Vatican’s secretariat of state of all its financial and real estate assets.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/vatican-debunks-23bn-austrac-transfer-allegation/news-story/e17d2774ff537a75e255e64e5b639d79

QAnon Is Trumpism Now

The sprawling conspiracy theory is dying—and being reborn as the new normal of the Republican Party.

JUSTIN LING - JANUARY 6, 2021

1/3

Q is dead. Long live QAnon.

From one viewpoint, the conspiracy movement-cum-mass delusion exits 2020 in shambles. Its shadowy leader is in the wind. Two elected members of Congress who once praised the movement now insist they want nothing to do with it. Its chosen presidential candidate went down in flames on Election Day. Its kooky name has become a household punchline.

And yet, the underlying ideas behind the movement may be more influential than ever. QAnon believers have toiled away, on the anonymous message board 8chan and on the far-right social media platforms Parler and Gab, to make 2021 their year. With just weeks to go before Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, the conspiracy club has worked feverishly to supply the faulty research and nonsensical allegations allowing President Donald Trump to keep claiming a false victory.

Last year was massive for the once-fringe conspiracy theory. Even as the general public has woken up to the grandiose theories of QAnon, from belief in Democratic Party-run child trafficking rings to deep-state Satan worship, its adherents have been ascendant. Michael Flynn, who briefly served as national security advisor to Trump, has gone all-in on the movement. Polls have shown that the secretive leader Q’s followers are likely not in the thousands, but the millions. And it has gone global: You can spot the iconic Q flag at far-right rallies throughout Europe, QAnon followers have tried to perform citizen’s arrests of Canada’s easily accessible politicians, and a close friend of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is a prominent QAnon influencer. At the center of it all was Q, the anonymous figure who has spent years showering their followers in a deluge of innuendo and coded messages.

But as the Nov. 3, 2020, election came and went, and the results began to show Trump—who has coyly encouraged QAnon—was the loser, Q grew quiet. The only information “drop” on the message board 8chan in the past month has been a glowing propaganda video of the president that has now racked up 1.5 million views.

The QAnon gang has always been a self-motivated bunch, but they have relied on the titular Q to provide clues and direction. In their posts, Q rarely offers new intelligence but often confirms or remixes theories already percolating on 8chan. With little to go on from their de facto leader, the followers of QAnon had an election result to flip all on their own.

And while their research is, nearly without fail, unserious and fantastical, it has formed the bedrock of tossed-out lawsuits from QAnon-linked lawyers Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, padded the daily broadcasts on One America News and Newsmax, and formed the basis of Trump’s own demands to overturn the election. Nearly every piece of supposed evidence cited by Trump’s merry band of election thieves—the so-called Kraken that was supposed to dazzle the courts into flipping states from blue to red—was concocted, augmented, or at least boosted by his legion of QAnon faithful. And Trump himself has been enthusiastically boosting them.

(continued)

>>12362512

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Take the complex network of conspiracies around Dominion Voting Systems. Going back to 2018, the QAnon message boards on 8chan have claimed the Toronto-based election company is tightly linked to George Soros and the Clinton Foundation, evidence of the company’s complicity in a satanic deep-state plot. On Nov. 2, on the eve of Election Day, a user posted to 8chan, reporting that they had just heard from a “well known intelligence analyst,” imploring them to look into Dominion. “They don’t have to win the election. They just need to create distrust in our elections,” the user wrote, supposedly quoting the unnamed intelligence analyst.

On Nov. 8, Powell appeared on Fox News to tout the theory that Dominion machines switched votes from Trump to Biden—a suggestion that has since been debunked by multiple states’ auditing of the tabulations. A few days later, the president was tweeting about Dominion’s supposed involvement in the theft. That theory, for which there was never any concrete evidence, has now become intrinsic to Trump’s claim of fraud. (Trump actually won many counties that use Dominion systems.)

Sometimes it can be tough to trace the provenance of these conspiracies, from 8chan to the president, but sometimes they make it easier. Both Wood and Mike Lindell—CEO of My Pillow, a backer of One America News, and a prominent supporter of Trump—recently tweeted out a direct link to 8chan, which pointed to a report on supposed electoral fraud that warned “Americans Prepare for War.”

On the recently leaked call between Trump and Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Trump voices all manner of theories pushed by QAnon. From a supposed “professional vote scammer” to selectively edited videos claiming to show fraudulent ballots arriving, the president regurgitated repeatedly debunked conspiracies that largely originated on 8chan and the Gateway Pundit, a far-right conspiracist site.

It is a new legitimacy for QAnon. It, however, leaves the movement in an awkward bind. On one hand, it has become a sort of opposition research body for the Republican Party—or, at least, the party of Trump. On the other, it is still esoteric in many ways, promoting all manner of kooky beliefs around mass child kidnapping and satanic ritual that are too much even for the Republican Party of 2021. Baked into QAnon is long-standing nonsense around British conspiracy theorist David Icke’s belief in lizard people and anti-Semitic theories lifted from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as well as newer delusions around 5G towers causing COVID-19 and anti-vaccination propaganda.

On New Year’s Day, those sorts of theories appear to have pushed Anthony Quinn Warner to detonate a bomb in downtown Nashville, killing himself and wounding eight others. While it’s not clear if Warner was a QAnon follower, there are already established examples of the theory leaking from the online world into real terrorism.

QAnon’s belief in nonsense hasn’t stopped it from reaching the president thus far, although it does likely limit its popular potential. Q also faces a more pressing problem, in that they have asked QAnon followers to “trust the plan” one too many times. As various predictions have come and gone without action—Hillary Clinton still walks around, unshackled; no widespread deep-state child trafficking ring has ever been uncovered; John F. Kennedy Jr. did not reappear—one prediction has been crucially important: that Donald Trump would be reelected president to carry on the mission. When Biden takes office, Q’s credibility as messenger of the forces for good may be irreparably damaged among their followers.

It seems Q may have realized that built-in expiration date.

(continued)

>>12362545

3/3

As Foreign Policy has written previously, there is a Q behind the curtain. Ample evidence points to the idea that Jim Watkins, the owner of 8chan, is the main set of hands behind Q, manipulating the movement to his own ends. Why, exactly, he would want to give up his perch at the forefront of the growingly influential mob is an open question, but some clues may rest with his son: Ron.

Amid the calamity of Election Day, Ron Watkins—who moderated the main QAnon message board on 8chan and verified that Q posts were from the real Q, whatever that means—announced his sudden retirement from his moderating duties.

Within days, however, Watkins reemerged as a preeminent conspiracy theorist in his own right. He boasts more than 500,000 followers on Twitter, and his musings on electoral fraud have been picked up by One America News, the Gateway Pundit, and other right-wing media outlets. The president has retweeted Watkins five times since Election Day—most recently, a slew of tweets on Jan. 3 that mused Trump could push back Biden’s inauguration to buy more time to overturn the results.

Watkins went from verifying Q’s posts to becoming an integral part of Trump’s post-election messaging in just weeks.

QAnon, as it exists now, may be done for. But, in many ways, that doesn’t matter. QAnon’s conspiracies, pseudo-research methods, imaginary connections forged in corkboard and string, and belief in an omnipresent deep state will live on. QAnon has infected a constellation of media outlets, which run information that doesn’t need to be true so much as it needs to feed the Kraken. A caucus of congressional and Senate Republicans will refuse to accept the results of the election, predicated on claims that do not stand up to a moment’s scrutiny. Millions of Americans have bought the notion that a wide-ranging conspiracy altered the outcome of the election. They all may as well embroider the letter Q on their coats.

It’s a terrifying turn of events for American democracy, but it is great news for the Watkins clan, which appears to have turned in their nom de plume and come out of the shadows, building more influence and power than they had in anonymity.

Ultimately, QAnon has become superfluous because Trump himself has gone all in on the movement. While the mass delusion has always obsessed over lizard people and Jewish families who secretly control the world, the core of their mission involves defending the president. In that crusade, many have openly wondered if Q is, in fact, Trump himself. With the outgoing president now signed up for the mission himself, it may be one prophecy that the movement has gotten right: Trump is, for all intents and purposes, the new Q.

Justin Ling is a journalist based in Toronto.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/06/qanon-q-trump-republican-party-election/

Twitter locks Trump, Facebook pulls video

Elizabeth Culliford - 7 January 2021

Twitter says it has temporarily locked the account of US President Donald Trump for 12 hours over "repeated and severe violations" of the social media platform's civic integrity rules and threatened permanent suspension.

It comes after Facebook and YouTube on Wednesday took down a video from President Donald Trump that continued to make the baseless claim the election was fraudulent as he told protesters who had stormed the US Capitol to go home.

Twitter said it required the removal of Trump's tweets "as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C".

It said if the tweets, in which the president pushed baseless claims about the election, were not removed then the account would remain locked, meaning the president would be unable to tweet from @realDonaldTrump.

Twitter also said in a tweet that future violations of its rules, including its civic integrity or violent threats policy would result in the account's permanent suspension.

Facebook's vice president of integrity Guy Rosen tweeted the social media company believed the video "contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence", saying the action was part of "appropriate emergency measures".

Google-owned YouTube said the video violated its policy against content that alleges "widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Election". YouTube spokesman Farshad Shadloo added the company does allow copies that include additional context.

Twitter restricted users from retweeting the video "due to a risk of violence", as hundreds of protesters sought to force Congress to undo the president's election loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

Twitter also restricted a later tweet from Trump, again falsely alleging he had won the election.

Social media companies have been under pressure to police misinformation on their platforms around the election. Trump and his allies have continuously spread unsubstantiated claims of election fraud that have proliferated online.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Anti-Defamation League called for social media companies to suspend Trump's accounts, saying the events at the Capitol resulted from "fear and disinformation that has been spewed directly from the Oval Office".

A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to researchers and public postings, violent rhetoric and advice on weaponry ramped up significantly in the past three weeks on many social media platforms as multiple groups planned rallies for Wednesday, including Trump supporters, white nationalists and enthusiasts of the wide-ranging conspiracy theory QAnon.

https://thewest.com.au/technology/internet/facebook-takes-down-trumps-protest-video-ng-s-2044453

Republicans have 'deserted the President' en masse

Sky News Australia

7 Jan 2021

Fox News Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume says President Donald Trump's post-election conduct has not only "led us to this point" of rioters storming the Capitol, but has also split the Republican Party.

"There is a sea change now in the Republican Party as a result of this," he said.

President Trump held a rally in Washington on Wednesday (local time) reiterating claims the election was stolen.

Some of the president's rally-goers then took to the Capitol building as Congress was certifying the election result.

The mob breached the building and continued rioting, whilst one Trump supporter was shot and later killed in the violence.

Mr Hume said President Trump's claims were "utter nonsense" but he and his large force of supporters believed it.

"He[Trump] got them to believe it and believing that, they did what they did today".

He said the president's actions after his election lost has "split him off" from more than half of his voting base.

"His voting base has two elements; the hard-core Trump supporters who will do whatever he wants, believe whatever he says, never desert him no matter what," Mr Hume said.

"The rest of them are everyday Republicans who sort of signed up to trump because they liked what he was doing.

"They may not have liked what he said all the time, they may have been put off by his manner by his vulgarity, but they were with him and they voted for him.

"Those people, now, have almost certainly deserted him. If the election were held tonight, he'd lose by far more than he lost the last time."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDYIfs94AOU

World leaders respond to violent scenes at the US Capitol

Sky News Australia

7 Jan 2021

Current and former leaders from Australia and overseas have taken to Twitter to express their concerns at the situation unfolding at the United States Capitol.

Prime Minster Scott Morrison said, “we condemn these acts of violence and look forward to a peaceful transfer of Government to the newly elected administration in the great American democratic tradition.”

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese called the “violent insurrection” on Capitol Hill an “assault on the rule of law and democracy”.

Malcolm Turnbull said Trump supporters in the GOP and media should “reflect on what they have enabled,” and Kevin Rudd laid the blame at “extremist statements” of political leaders who attacked the election results.

British Prime Minster Boris Johnson called the scenes “disgraceful” and said it is “vital” the transfer of power is “peaceful and orderly”.

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

Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet

Very distressing scenes at the US Congress. We condemn these acts of violence and look forward to a peaceful transfer of Government to the newly elected administration in the great American democratic tradition.

https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1346949911237914625

—

Malcolm Turnbull Tweet

Today’s mob violence at the Capitol is the culmination of Trump’s sustained assault on American democracy. The President should call on the mob he incited to disperse and go home. And Trump’s supporters in the GOP and the media should reflect on what they have enabled.

https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/1346919266751193088

Governor Phil Murphy @GovMurphy

We are witnessing one of the darkest days in American history.

The President must immediately condemn the attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol and deploy the National Guard to keep Members of Congress safe and allow a peaceful transition of power.

https://twitter.com/GovMurphy/status/1346916458492784640

—

Kevin Rudd Tweet

This is a physical attack on the institutions of democracy by a far right mob.All because of extremist statements by political leaders attacking the legal results of a democratic election,echoed faithfully by a cancerous far right media.This affects us all

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1346913554117525509

'''Pro-Trump mob storms Capitol as former DC police chief denounces 'coup attemp'

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2021/jan/06/georgia-election-latest-news-senate-ossoff-warnock-democrats-republicans-trump-biden

>>12341214

Alexander Downer Tweet

@realDonaldTrump behaviour since the election cost the Republicans control of the Senate as I predicted.

https://twitter.com/AlexanderDowner/status/1346819346434125830

Kylie Moore-Gilbert posts photo with Iranian ex-detainees

Melbourne academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has met up with fellow Australian ex-Iranian detainees in one of the first pictures posted of her since being freed in a prisoner swap nearly two months ago.

Dr Moore-Gilbert tweeted: “Sinister undercover meeting of evil ‘Mossad agents’ plotting world domination (please note- no drones were harmed in the taking of this picture!)” as she stood alongside Jolie King and Mark Firkin beside a river.

Ms King and Mr Firkin, travel bloggers from Perth, were detained in Iran for three months in 2019 accused of flying a drone near an Iranian security installation. They were held in Evin prison in Tehran along with Dr Moore-Gilbert.

While the two vloggers were released in October 2019, Dr Moore-Gilbert spent two years in Evin prison as well as the notorious women’s prison Qarchak, before being released on November 27 last year in a prison swap for three convicted terrorists held in Thailand.

Dr Moore-Gilbert has described her time in Iran as a “never-ending, unrelenting nightmare” which began when she was arrested at Tehran airport about to board a flight home to Melbourne after an Iranian study tour in 2018.

“I honestly do not know where to start or how I can ever thank you for all of your incredible efforts to campaign for my release,” she said, thanking her supporters after her release.

Another ex-Iranian detainee, British-Iranian Ana Diamond, who has helped families of Iranian hostages and who worked behind the scenes on Dr Moore-Gilbert’s case, responded to the tweet, saying: “This is lovely, thank you for sharing Kylie! You all look healthy and radiant, may it continue that way xx hugs.”

Dr Moore-Gilbert also responded to another follower who commented about the bush landscape in the background that “yes it’s a lovely spot and it’s great being back”.

https://twitter.com/KMooreGilbert/status/1346789823823052807

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/kylie-mooregilbert-posts-photo-with-iranian-exdetainees/news-story/a4e09555600c7f9058f917d0553da6d5

Prince Andrew to Miss Birthday Tribute That Caused Jeffrey Epstein Backlash

Prince Andrew's birthday bell ringing tribute has been cancelled due to COVID—as Britain's most famous royal church avoids a post-Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Newsweek can reveal.

Westminster Abbey holds a special place in history as the venue for Queen Elizabeth II's wedding, Princess Diana's funeral and Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton.

However, there was criticism last year after its bells were rung on February 19 to mark Prince Andrew's 60th birthday even though he had stepped back from royal duties in disgrace.

Just three months earlier, the Duke of York had given a car crash interview to the BBC's Emily Maitlis in which he failed to say he regretted his friendship with the convicted pedophile.

There were discussions within the Abbey over the summer about slimming down the bell ringing schedule so that it would only include Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George' birthdays, a source told Newsweek at the time.

However, coronavirus restrictions have now ruled out all bell ringing until at least March—meaning no decision on whether to cancel Andrew's birthday bells will need to be taken until the schedule for next year is produced.

An Abbey source told Newsweek: "There won't be any bell ringing at least until March and even then it would be very dubious I would have thought."

Britain was yesterday plunged into a full national lockdown with cabinet minister Michael Gove today saying restrictions may not be eased until March, later than Andrew's birthday on February 19.

Quoted on Sky News, Gove said: "I think it's right to say that as we enter March we should be able to lift some of these restrictions, but not necessarily all."

The strictest lockdown rules will be reviewed on February 15 but even a partial relaxation would not enable Andrew's birthday tribute.

Sources close to Prince Andrew's legal team told Newsweek in October: "It is his intention to return to public duties."

As a "royal peculiar," the Abbey comes under the direct jurisdiction of the Monarchy meaning any future decision on whether to ring the bells for Andrew will have to be taken in consultation with the Royal Household.

However, when his birthday bell ring was initially included in a schedule over the summer it triggered negative publicity from organizations ranging from Vanity Fair to Fox News.

In the summer Nigel Cawthorne, author of biography Prince Andrew, Epstein and the Palace, told the Daily Express: "There was an enormous uproar at the beginning of the year when the Government requested that local councils celebrate Prince Andrew's 60th. In the end it didn't happen, though the bells of Westminster Abbey did ring.

"Although the Queen is the supreme governor of the Anglican church, she cannot tell the churches what to do on her own.

The exception is Westminster Abbey, which falls directly under her responsibility. It would be a major sign of displeasure if she failed to ring the bells again for his 61st birthday."

Back in February last year, there were also plans to fly the flag for the prince at council buildings across Britain.

Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, said at time: "This is crass and offensive, and even at the best of times it is nonsense to be flying flags for Andrew's, or anyone else's, birthday."

An Abbey statement, reported by Reuters in February, said: "Westminster Abbey is a Royal Peculiar and the bells are rung for the birthdays of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh; their children; and … The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children."

The Abbey website states: "Following the latest guidelines from the Church of England and the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, ringing at the Abbey by our volunteer bell ringers is currently suspended during the coronavirus outbreak."

https://www.newsweek.com/prince-andrew-westminster-abbey-birthday-bell-ringing-tribute-cancelled-jeffrey-epstein-backlash-1558925

https://www.westminster-abbey.org/events/bell-ringing-days

>>12363958

Brett Mason Tweet

Does Donald Trump bear some responsibility for undermining democracy and inciting some of the chaotic scenes we've seen in the US Capitol Building overnight? "I'm not here to offer a running commentary on what should be happening in the United States" @ScottMorrisonMP #auspol

https://twitter.com/BrettMasonNews/status/1347013628260536327

>>12341574

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweets

The storming of the U.S. Capitol today is unacceptable. Lawlessness and rioting here or around the world is always unacceptable. I have travelled to many countries and always support the right of every human being to protest peacefully for their beliefs and their causes.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1346958766701424641

—

But violence, putting at risk the safety of others including those tasked with providing security for all of us, is intolerable both at home and abroad. Let us swiftly bring justice to the criminals who engaged in this rioting.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1346958767586488320

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Very concerned by scenes at the US Congress. I condemn any violence to interfere with democratic processes. This will not impede the transfer of power, US institutions are robust & its democratic strength resides in the full breadth of its people who are no part of this violence.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1346962576568041473

Australia 'not for turning' in dispute with China, UK envoy George Brandis says

The high commissioner in London offers sharp observations on the dispute between Canberra and Beijing

Australia is “not for turning” in its dispute with China and must cut its reliance on supply chains “over which we had little to no sovereign control”, the country’s top envoy to the UK has said.

George Brandis, Australia’s high commissioner in London, argued the situation “must change” as he called for a trade deal between Australia and Britain to be completed by the end of this year.

In an oped published by London’s Daily Telegraph, the former senior Australian government minister offered sharp observations on the significance of the dispute between Canberra and Beijing that intensified over the course of 2020 and saw China restrict a raft of Australian exports.

Without directly naming China, Brandis wrote: “In 2020, we made clear that our sovereignty, institutions and political systems were not for sale and our independence non-negotiable. To borrow from the late Lady Thatcher: Australia was not for turning.”

The comments are a toughening of prime minister Scott Morrison’s repeated declarations that Australia would not “trade away” its values or bow to economic pressure from China.

The relationship between Australia and China had already been strained before Canberra called for an independent global Covid-19 inquiry, which triggered the latest round of tensions.

Brandis called for deeper engagement with “trusted partners”, arguing that was “critical to prosperity and security”.

“In an interconnected world, it became easy to forget that many of our most critical goods came via supply chains over which we had little to no sovereign control. That must change.”

Brandis pointed to the Morrison government’s announcement of investments in critical supply chains “to enhance resiliency to future shocks”.

The government’s manufacturing package, announced in the budget, includes a $1.3bn co-investment fund for large projects in priority sectors. These include resources technology and critical minerals processing, food and beverages, medical products, recycling and clean energy, defence and space.

But Brandis said increasing attention on the availability of essential goods did not mean Australia would embrace trade protectionism, and he saw no reason why Australia and the UK could not wrap up an ambitious free trade agreement this year.

Brandis told Daily Telegraph readers that such a deal would demonstrate “how two like-minded partners can diversify trade, strengthen supply chains and help jobs come back”. His piece for the Brexit-backing newspaper added that the agreement would also be “an early post-Brexit dividend for Britain”.

Amid increasing international pressure on Australia to take stronger action on the climate crisis, Brandis also sought to highlight Morrison’s recent comments about the need to achieve net zero emissions “as soon as possible”.

He said coal last year played “the smallest role in our national electricity market this century”.

The UK is hosting the next international climate summit in Glasgow at the end of 2021 and has been pushing countries to increase their level of ambition.

But in a document submitted to the United Nations last week, Australia opted against increasing its 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels.

“This target is a floor on Australia’s ambition,” the update to Australia’s UN pledge – known as a National Determined Contribution (NDC) – states.

An increasing number of Australia’s trading partners, including the UK, Japan, South Korea and the European Union, have committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 while China has set 2060 as its deadline.

After the US presidential election – when Joe Biden prevailed with a platform that included returning the country to the Paris agreement and setting the nation on a course to net zero by 2050 – Morrison said he aspired to get there “as quickly as possible”. The prime minister was denied a speaking slot at a recent climate ambition summit co-hosted by the UK.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/05/australia-not-for-turning-in-dispute-with-china-uk-envoy-george-brandis-says

>>12366671

An Australia-UK deal will turbocharge our economies

As the world emerges from the Covid pandemic, free trade can boost prosperity and security

GEORGE BRANDIS - 4 January 2021

1/2

Twenty-twenty – and how liberating it is to consign it to past tense – was the year we mobilised to meet the greatest peacetime challenge of our lives. Once we emerge from that immediate response, it will be time for us to be big and bold in plotting Britain and Australia’s comeback from Covid-19. We all know recovery will take time – and the lessons of the pandemic highlight some core principles for achieving it.

First, in having a sustainable recovery we can leave no one behind. Boris Johnson talks passionately about “building back better” and “levelling up”. We Australians emphatically agree.

Advances in technology mean we can now produce and power the things we need more cleanly and efficiently than ever before. As our prime minister said at the Policy Exchange think tank: we firmly believe the world must achieve net zero emissions as soon as possible and, by building back with better technologies and cleaner practices, we can achieve that goal together. Australia saw the dividend of that approach last year, with coal playing the smallest role in our national electricity market this century. We have undertaken to implement a clean technology road-map, mobilising at least $50 billion in green investment to achieve ambitious targets in the next decade, taking us toward net zero as soon as possible.

Both our nations knew that, left unchecked, the economic damage of Covid-19 could outlast the virus itself. Nobly, both our countries expanded government support to prevent that – and now, getting both young and old back into the workforce is our most pressing task. Be it through a free trade deal, our clean technology partnership or the other areas in which we work together, Australia-UK collaboration will supercharge our recovery and ensure more jobs come back. Levelling up our international engagement in 2020 – by supporting a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific and protecting our interests in multilateral bodies – also made clear that being out in the world, standing up for our values and protecting our prosperity, is the best way to shape the international order to our national interests.

Secondly, greater liberalisation to, and deeper engagement with, trusted partners are critical to prosperity and security. In an interconnected world, it became easy to forget that many of our most critical goods came via supply-chains over which we had little to no sovereign control. That must change.

(continued)

>>12366808

2/2

In 2020, we made clear that our sovereignty, institutions and political systems were not for sale and our independence non-negotiable. To borrow from the late Lady Thatcher: Australia was not for turning. We backed that up with key investments in critical supply chains to enhance resiliency to future shocks. Yet while we are increasingly conscious of the availability of essential goods, Australia makes no case for protectionism. Just as we enjoy bipartisan consensus on the centrality of our sovereignty, Australians and their political leaders share a decades-long commitment to the benefits of free trade.

We see a comprehensive and ambitious free trade deal between the UK and Australia as central to making the global case for free trade, and demonstrative of how two like-minded partners can diversify trade, strengthen supply chains and help jobs come back. We have the political will. There is no reason it can’t be wrapped up this year. Not only will it bind our two nations even more closely together; it will be an early post-Brexit dividend for Britain. It will more closely connect Britain with the world’s most economically dynamic region, the Asia-Pacific: the heartbeat of the world economy in the 21st century.

Finally, and most importantly, we believe the things which mattered most to us in the world before Covid-19 – our friends and family, our love of adventure – are the essential elements of our old normal which must come back. While Australia took early action to protect Australians from the virus by closing our international borders, the affection we have for our friends in Britain remains undiminished. We want to see young Britons living and working in Australia again and our best and brightest travelling freely between us, linking up ideas and industries that supercharge economies. Australia is working toward having borders that are open once more – and while that will take time, we have the skill set to do it.

Britain and Australia got through 2020 by standing as one in safeguarding our sovereignty and protecting our prosperity. In 2021, we can take the lessons of that trying year, apply them together and truly make this the year of our comeback.

George Brandis QC is the Australian High Commissioner to the UK

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/04/australia-uk-deal-will-turbocharge-economies/

Australia says China should allow in WHO Covid investigators 'without delay'

Foreign minister Marise Payne issues mild statement, but opposition parties attack China’s ‘unacceptable’ actions and ‘paranoia’

1/2

The Australian government has called on China to allow a visit by World Health Organization experts investigating how the coronavirus pandemic started, insisting the country should grant them visas “without delay”.

Canberra raised its concerns on Wednesday over reports that Chinese authorities had blocked the arrival of a WHO team investigating the early cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan.

With China arguing the team’s visas had not yet been approved, even as some members of the group were on their way to the country, the development has heightened fears among Australian politicians about whether the WHO mission will be able to uncover answers needed to better prepare the world for the next pandemic.

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, said she hoped “that the necessary permissions for the WHO team’s travel to China can be issued without delay”.

Speaking after months of rocky relations between the two countries, partly triggered by Australia’s calls for such an investigation, Payne said Australia had “consistently sought transparency in relation to the origins of, and responses to the coronavirus, as have other countries”.

“The WHO-convened scientific study is an important part of this work and we look forward to the findings from the international field mission to China,” she said.

“During this global pandemic that has affected all countries, international cooperation and partnerships will maximise our ability to respond, and to equip us for the next pandemic.”

The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, was direct in his criticism of China’s actions on Wednesday, saying the country would be wrong to block the entry of the WHO investigators.

“Well, the fact is that it’s unacceptable,” Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

“Not just Australia, but the whole world needs this investigation to happen. And it should happen openly and transparently. And that should be facilitated by China.”

Rex Patrick, the independent senator for South Australia, said the obstruction of the WHO investigators reflected the Chinese Communist party’s “paranoia about international scrutiny”.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised by China blocking access to WHO officials investigating coronavirus. Openness and transparency is not in the CCP’s DNA,” Patrick said.

He said all good global citizens should be supporting the WHO’s investigation, which was not about blame but learning the lessons from a pandemic that was having a “massive global impact”.

But the independent senator also took a swipe at the Morrison government for “improperly cloaking our own Covid response in cabinet secrecy”, saying that had undermined Australia’s ability to press China to display the required openness.

Comment has been sought from the Chinese embassy in Canberra.

(continued)

>>12366988

2/2

The government attracted China’s ire over its early public calls for a global coronavirus inquiry, with Beijing later taking a series of trade actions against Australian exports and rebuffing calls for talks between ministers.

Last week Guardian Australia reported Australia was planning to use its final months on a top World Health Organization board to press for the investigation to remain “robust, independent and comprehensive”.

But the NSW Coalition senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells – a China hawk who has long argued the inquiry had been watered down – said no amount of “monitoring” by Australia would “preclude this ending up being a Sir Humphrey exercise”.

“The latest move by the communist regime in China to block the WHO team is not surprising,” she said on Wednesday.

“China would not have voted for the watered down World Health Assembly motion unless it was able to ‘manage’ the process and ‘control’ the outcome. It was never going to be ‘robust’ or ‘independent’.”

China ended up joining with most nations to support an “independent evaluation” motion drafted by the European Union and co-sponsored by Australia in May.

The consensus motion allowed for an independent evaluation to be launched by the WHO director general and to focus on lessons learned from the handling of the outbreaks, rather than the origins of the coronavirus.

The independent evaluation panel, co-chaired by the former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is due to provide an interim report to the WHO’s executive board this month before finalising its work in May – just before Australia’s current term expires.

The WHO has separately convened a global study of the origins. An Australian health department spokesperson said 10 international experts – including Prof Dominic Dwyer, an infectious diseases specialist from the University of Sydney –was “working on this scientific study in collaboration with Chinese scientists”.

China has rejected claims aired by the Trump administration that the coronavirus could have leaked out of a laboratory in Wuhan. China has also denied claims of cover-ups soon after the outbreak was first detected in Wuhan.

Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old former lawyer and citizen journalist who was arrested in May while reporting from Wuhan, was last week sentenced to four years in jail.

Morrison has repeatedly said Australia would not “trade away” its sovereignty or yield to economic pressure from the country’s largest trading partner.

Apart from calling for a global investigation in April – a proposal he described as “unremarkable” – Morrison also floated the idea of giving the WHO weapons inspector-style powers. In October the foreign affairs department secretary, Frances Adamson, told Senate estimates she had first heard about that idea “when it was said in public”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/06/australia-says-china-should-allow-in-who-covid-investigators-without-delay

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

>>12162897

Hillsong Dallas Pastors, Who Helped Start NYC Location with Carl Lentz, Resign

The lead pastors of Hillsong Dallas church have resigned, adding to two months of transition and turmoil in the global megachurch.

On Sunday (Jan. 3), Reed Bogard announced his and his wife’s resignation in a prerecorded message that aired during the church’s streaming worship service.

“The last 10 years of being in church planting mode has really taken a bit of a toll on Jess and I and our family,” Bogard said. “We just really feel like it’s time to transition off of our staff and take some time. Remain healthy, get healthy, and really see what this next season holds for us.”

The announcement, which was preceded by worship music, was relatively short, with no further explanation for their resignation.

Bogard’s departure follows the November firing of Hillsong New York City’s lead pastor, Carl Lentz, and Lentz’s admission to an extramarital affair. Lentz’s ouster prompted a firestorm of tabloid coverage of Lentz’s relationship with a jewelry designer, who talked about their relationship on “Good Morning America.”

Since Lentz’s admission, some of the more famous of his congregants, most notably Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, reportedly cut ties with Lentz and Hillsong. Bieber recently announced on Instagram he is now attending Churchome, led by pastor Judah Smith.

Bogard, 38, and his wife, Jess Bogard, 35, were part of “the teams on the ground” that started the New York City Hillsong church in 2010 alongside Lentz.

Like Lentz, Bogard met his wife at Hillsong International Leadership College in Australia. After taking various roles on Hillsong’s headquarters staff while in Australia, the couple moved back to the U.S. to plant churches. In addition to helping with the NYC launch, Bogard and his wife also helped start a Los Angeles branch of the megachurch, according to their profile on the Dallas church’s website.

After Bogard’s announcement, Hillsong co-founder Brian Houston addressed the Dallas congregation, saying about Bogard’s departure: “I’m not sure whether that comes as a shock.”

Houston went on to praise the work the Bogards did, saying the couple “gave their heart and soul to the pioneering of Hillsong Dallas.”

“Reed and I have been talking now over a period of time and we both agreed it would be a perfect time for them to come to a new season in their life, which means a new season also for Hillsong Dallas,” Houston said, adding church leaders would take their time to find the right replacement for the couple.

Bogard, for his part, also expressed gratitude for Houston and his wife and church co-founder, Bobbie, during his resignation, calling them “the greatest cheerleaders” and saying he’d “never met two people who believe in people so much.”

Houston did not mention the situation at the Manhattan outpost, where Hillsong is conducting an independent investigation to review the “inner workings” of the church after Lentz’s termination and after Hillsong NYC leadership “heard from a number of people about their experiences and concerns.”

In a late November audio call with global church leadership and top donors, Houston accused Lentz of narcissistic, manipulative and untrustworthy behavior. Houston went on to describe the global megachurch network as “one house with many rooms,” but he said Lentz always seemed to be doing his own thing with Hillsong East Coast.

Since Lentz’s firing, the megachurch has come under scrutiny for its celebrity culture. Besides Gomez, Bieber and his wife, Hailey Baldwin Bieber, Kevin Durant, Chris Pratt and the Jenner sisters have attended Hillsong NYC. Former volunteers have spoken out about a hierarchy that takes advantage of volunteer labor and treats pastors as “royalty.”

The Houstons founded the original Hillsong Church in 1983 in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It now has locations in 28 countries and, pre-pandemic, saw an average 150,000 attenders each week, according to its website.

The various global churches all report to Houston and a board of all-male elders.

Hillsong global did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/hillsong-dallas-pastors-who-helped-start-nyc-location-with-carl-lentz-resign.html

>>12366671

>>12366988

Australia needs to recalibrate its China policy to optimize national interests

Tian Jingling - Jan 06, 2021

With the end of 2020 and the start of 2021, media outlets and research institutes across the globe are busy summarizing and anticipating the future. Various negative and positive opinions define China-US ties. This is not the case for China-Australia ties, which many believe will be dour.

Hu Dan, deputy director of Australian Studies Center of Beijing Foreign Studies University, published an article in December 2020 noting, "China-Australia relations [are] doomed." Paul Kelly, editor-at-large of The Australian in September said in his op-ed, "Our [Australia's] China relationship needs help before it's too late." Jim Molan, former Australian Army major-general, in December even expressed his concern that Australia's "trade war" with China could soon step up to military conflict - he said that China had been "priming for war for a long, long time."

The writing on the wall seems clear for the pessimism. But whether and how can they be mended? Historically, despite spats between Beijing and Canberra, their cooperation and friendship have been generally smooth. Whereas the two countries have established diplomatic ties for over four decades, they have accumulated rich experiences with bilateral coordination efforts. Beijing and Canberra do not have any historical grievances or direct conflicts of interest. Instead, they confront with various common problems and threats on a unique cooperative basis. Chinese and Australian economies are complementary, and they also encounter common issues including trade protectionism and anti-globalization.

In recent years, Australia's domestic partisan fights and political factional differences have become more open and white-hot. Against this backdrop, the Australian government has to adjust its foreign policies - including its ever important China policy.

It is understandable that senses of insecurity and anxiety have been triggered again when the international and regional situations are profoundly changing. In this context, Australia's China policy has remarkably shifted in the opposite direction of China.

The scope of the concept "security" for China-related issues now is expanding. In Australia's strategic cognition, China has suddenly turned from a partner to a "threat" to its sovereign security. The assumption that China is a rival is emerging, and confronting China has become a new political correctness in Australia. As a result, even Chinese Australians have to constantly prove their loyalty to Australia. As former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd was quoted as saying by Reuters on September 4, 2020 that "The atmosphere in Australia does not lend itself to a reasoned discussion on the China relationship, because you are automatically defined as either a hawk or a panda hugger."

High-level visits between the two sides have almost been halted. Economic cooperation is also hampered. Chinese investments in Australia have often been labeled threats to the country's national security. The number of investment projects thus decreased and the range of so-called sensitive fields is growing.

Chinese students, media, businessmen and immigrants are viewed by paranoid pundits and politicians of Australia as tools of the Chinese government to "intervene," "infiltrate in" Australia. In their eyes, there seems to be no difference among interacting, lobbying, influencing, and intervening. Any move could be a threat to Australia's democratic system and sovereign security.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in December asked Australia to "consider seriously" what China means to it: Is China a threat or a partner to Australia? He further asked, "If Australia sees China as a threat, how can China-Australia relations improve?"

If China-Australia relations are to return to the normal track of development, Australia needs to think the above mentioned two questions seriously and rationally. It also needs to realize the changes in the regional and global landscape and where its interests lie.

Australia also has to consider whether its mind-set of hostility will alleviate its strategic anxiety. If Australia's China policy is to return to a normal, professional and constructive track, the Australian government should invite those who really understand diplomacy, China and China-Australia relations and those with a global vision to take part in policymaking. Those who blindly hype up the "China threat" and talk of war should not be included.

The author is a deputy director of South Pacific Research Study, Institute of Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1212024.shtml

COVID-19 vaccination on track to start in February: Scott Morrison

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Australia could start vaccinating vulnerable groups of the population next month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed, saying approvals for the Pfizer vaccine were hoped to be finalised by the end of January.

After pressure from the federal opposition and some scientists to speed up the process, Mr Morrison said he was hoping to receive data from Pfizer this month to allow the vaccine's approval and "we are now in a position where believe we will be able to commence vaccinations of [vulnerable groups] in mid to late February".

The previous timeline was to begin the vaccination program in March. Mr Morrison said the aim would be to vaccinate 80,000 people each week to begin with, and for that to build over the next four to six weeks.

He said the government was working towards having four million people vaccinated by the end of March.

"Vaccination in 2021 is a key component of how we're dealing with the pandemic here in Australia," he said.

The vaccination timeframe will, however, be dependent on Therapeutic Goods Administration approval and the delivery of the vaccine from suppliers.

The government aims to register the Pfizer vaccine later this month, and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in February.

Professor Brendan Murphy, secretary of the federal Health Department, said nearly half the Australian population would be included in one of the priority groups to receive the vaccine in the first half of this year.

The rest of the general adult population could expect to receive the vaccine from the middle of the year onwards.

The first priority group will receive the Pfizer vaccine from one of 30 to 50 hubs to be established across the country to administer the vaccine. The two vaccines will eventually be administered from different hubs. Their locations will be determined by the states and territories, in partnership with the Commonwealth.

"Assuming all those things go well, in mid to late February we can start our phase one rollout," Professor Murphy said.

This will be for the priority group, and they will receive the Pfizer vaccine: quarantine and border workers, health care workers, aged care staff and aged care residents.

Professor Murphy said the majority of the population would get their vaccines from respiratory clinics established by the federal government or general practices that chose to participate.

They will also be able to be vaccinated at special clinics that state health departments will establish, or at sites set up by Aboriginal community-controlled health services.

Pharmacies might also be able to administer vaccines during the second half of the year.

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Professor Murphy said there will be "significantly" more vaccine doses available when the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is approved, as it will be manufactured on shore, guaranteeing a supply line.

"That will enable a rapid rollout. We will expand that to a significantly broader range of the at-risk population," he said.

That includes those of advanced age, Indigenous Australians, those over 55 at higher risk of disease, other people with clinical conditions that make them at higher risk, and other high-risk workers more likely to be exposed to COVID-19.

Professor Brendan Murphy confirmed the vaccine would be free for all Australians.

"We can guarantee the vaccine will be free, and it will be delivered free," he said. "We do not want there to be any barrier whatsoever."

He defended the time his department had taken in co-ordinating the country's vaccine response, saying health officials had been working around the clock on one of the most complex public health exercises of their careers. "This time is not being wasted," he said.

Asked why the vaccination roll-out couldn't happen even sooner, the Prime Minister said a two week delivery wait time was required after the Pfizer vaccine was approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

"The vaccines don't turn up before the TGA approval. They turn up after. And after that, there is about a week involved in batch testing [before they are administered]," Mr Morrison said.

"It is moving considerably faster than normal vaccination processes would in Australia, but without skipping a step."

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government's approach had been to "under-promise but over-deliver", and he was confident about the new time frame.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he and select other members of the government would be willing to be vaccinated in the early stages live on television, as United State President and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did, saying it is important to build public confidence in the vaccine.

But he said it was very low priority compared to ensuring the most vulnerable populations were vaccinated.

"I don't think we need to line the whole cabinet up … I think there are more important people who need to get vaccinated," he said.

"But I think it's important for a show of public confidence."

He said there was a "discussion that needs to be had" to ensure people opted to receive the vaccine, considering it will be voluntary.

"So we will have that discussion," he said. "It needs to be had with state and territories who are principally responsible for public health."

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/covid-19-vaccination-on-track-to-start-in-february-scott-morrison-20210107-p56seb.html

Australian national flag spotted among the crowd of Trump protesters that stormed the US Capitol

ALANA MAZZONI - 7 January 2021

Australians have expressed their disgust after Donald Trump supporters waved the national flag while storming the US Capitol in a bid to stop the transition of power to president-elect Joe Biden.

Right-wing Republican protesters clashed with police and security while breaking into congress in Washington DC on Wednesday afternoon local time.

One female protester died after a gunshot hit her chest in the Capitol building, allegedly fired by a Capitol Police officer.

Among the sea of confederate and American flags, a lone Australian flag was seen being waved by a protester outside the Capitol building.

Australians took to social media to slam the Trump supporter who proudly displayed our flag at the violent rally, which has drawn widespread criticism.

'Ashamed to see our flag in this disgraceful protest,' one woman said.

'A Union Jack storming US congress? Does this guy know any history?' Another man added.

'An Australian flag at a Trump riot. I need to sit down for this one.'

'Why would anyone think that is out of place. We have our fair share of right-wing people right here,' said a third person.

The attack saw flag-waving Trump supporters break down barricades outside the iconic white-domed building and swarm its halls, sending sessions of the House and Senate into an emergency recess.

In extraordinary images, armed security personnel were seen barricading the chamber with weapons drawn, while lawmakers huddled inside wearing gas masks.

Trump ordered National Guard and federal forces to deploy to the Capitol after his supporters overran U.S. Capitol Police and gained illegal entry into the building on Wednesday.

The building had been overrun for more than an hour when White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany made the announcement on Twitter.

'At President @realDonaldTrump's direction, the National Guard is on the way along with other federal protective services. We reiterate President Trump's call against violence and to remain peaceful,' she wrote.

A mob of his angry supporters had breached the building and even entered the House and Senate chambers.

The Senate was evacuated at 2.30pm.

There were more than 2,000 Capitol Police officers with special jurisdiction on Capitol Grounds. But they were overrun as protesters smashed through a window and penetrated the building.

Capitol Police were seen absorbing violent lunges by Trump supporters on the first floor of the Capitol building.

Trump - after remaining silent for much of the afternoon - posted a video telling his 'very special' supporters inside the Capitol that he loves them and understands their pain but urged them 'to go home'.

He had initially encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol after a rally earlier in the afternoon before asking them only to remain peaceful when violence broke out.

But just before 8pm lawmakers who had been whisked to safety when the siege kicked off began arriving back at the Capitol to resume the Joint Session to certify the Electoral College count of the presidential election.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9121021/Australian-national-flag-seen-crowd-Trump-protesters-stormed-Capitol.html