Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweets

You can't make good policy without good people. #PersonnelIsPolicy

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1351197663035850771

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Honored to speak with @ScottMorrisonMP about the unbreakable bond between our two countries and reviewing all that we have accomplished. The U.S.-Australia Alliance has never been stronger and will continue to grow in importance as we work to build a free and open Indo-Pacific.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1351193882558488576

Pamela Anderson pleads with Trump to pardon 'free speech hero' Assange: 'Do the right thing'

Trump is expected to issue 50 to 100 commutations, pardons before term ends

Pamela Anderson made a final appeal to President Trump Monday to show his commitment to free speech by granting a full pardon to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange before he leaves office.

The "Baywatch" star, a longtime supporter of Assange, told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that the pardon decision represents a "defining moment for the president."

Trump is expected to issue between 50 and 100 commutations and pardons before departing office this week. Despite an aggressive campaign to secure Assange's freedom, the jailed publisher is not expected to make the list, sources told Fox News.

"The entire world wants, or most want him to pardon Julian Assange," Anderson told host Tucker Carlson. "This is his time to shine and really make an impression on the world. If this goes to trial, that’s the end of the First Amendment."

Anderson urged Trump to "do the right thing" and defend a "free speech hero."

"This is one of those moments in history, in his lifetime, where he can make the right decision," she told Carlson. "He would really gain a huge following and a huge sigh of relief and gratefulness from so many people on the planet."

Carlson devoted an earlier portion of his show to the story, urging Trump to "defend the Bill of Rights" and impart "a lasting historical effect" by pardoning the 49-year-old Assange, who is currently behind bars in London's notorious maximum-security Belmarsh prison.

Trump "can achieve a major victory for the principles that this country was founded on and make it a good place to live," Carlson said. "The first one of those is freedom of the press, freedom of speech. It doesn’t matter. It’s still true and we should pardon Julian Assange."

Carlson also addressed reports that Trump is considering granting a pardon to rapper Lil Wayne, who was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm in 2019.

"Lil Wayne? Don’t degrade yourself," Carlson told Trump. "Don’t degrade your voters. Make a statement. Defend the Bill of Rights."

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/julian-assange-wikileaks-pardon-pamela-anderson-tucker-carlson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoAVdKR1fOY

Could the conspiracy theory QAnon and those that follow it be active in Canberra?

ABC Radio CANBERRA

Mornings with Adam Shirley - 19 Jan 2021

It's a wild, disproven and fringe set of beliefs, but that didn't stop its followers storming the US Capitol.

But that's an American thing right? No way anything like that could come to Australia and its capital Canberra?

Think again. The QAnon conspiracy theory is a leaderless, shapeless and nebulous movement. And that's just the problem.

On ABC Canberra Mornings we spoke with someone whose job it is to track QAnon online and learned how differing beliefs can end a marriage.

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/canberra/programs/mornings/is-qanon-in-canberra/13069928

>>12585813

Morrison talks with Pence, Pompeo but not Trump

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has this week reached out to two key members of Donald Trump's administration but has no plans to talk to the outgoing United States President.

Mr Morrison on Tuesday morning spoke by phone with US Vice-President Mike Pence from Longreach as he began his four-day tour of regional Queensland.

It followed a phone conversation on Monday night with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Both Mr Pence and Mr Pompeo could be candidates to be the next Republican nominee for US president in 2024.

Mr Morrison has not spoken to Mr Trump since before November's presidential election and has no plans to reach out, according to government sources.

The Prime Minister on Monday criticised "things that were said" to incite the violent riots on the US Congress without directly naming President Donald Trump.

In his conversation with Mr Pence, the pair thanked each other for their strong partnership over the past four years, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region and agreed there was no more important time for a strong Australia-US alliance.

Mr Morrison and Mr Pompeo spoke about the "unbreakable bond" that exists between the US and Australia and committed to continue working together to deepen and broaden the alliance.

According to a spokeswoman for Mr Pompeo, the Secretary of State thanked Mr Morrison for his "steadfast support in promoting our shared values of democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and our common strategic interests, even in the face of economic threats from the People’s Republic of China".

They also spoke about the importance of the "Quad" alliance between the US, Australia, Japan and India to "advance a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region".

Mr Morrison spoke to Mr Pence from a Royal Australian Air Force jet at Longreach Airport.

The Prime Minister will travel throughout western Queensland over the coming days before leaving Queensland on Friday.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-talks-with-pence-pompeo-but-not-trump-20210119-p56v5j.html

Former Adelaide Archbishop dies two years after cleared of concealing child sex abuse

Inga Neilsen - Jan 18, 2021

The Catholic Church is mourning the death of former Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, who died two years after being cleared of concealing child sex abuse.

Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge said on Twitter that Emeritus Archbishop Wilson, 70, had died unexpectedly on Sunday afternoon.

The cause of death remains unknown.

Emeritus Archbishop Wilson became the highest ranking Catholic in the world convicted of concealing child sex abuse.

He was accused of not alerting authorities to the crimes of pedophile priest Jim Fletcher in the Hunter Valley in the 1970s.

After four months of home detention he was cleared on appeal with a magistrate finding doubts he had been told about the abuse.

He stepped down as Archbishop shortly before his sentence was quashed.

Peter Gogarty, a survivor of Fletcher's abuse, says the death of Emeritus Archbishop Wilson is a lost opportunity.

"Philip Wilson could have done a lot to repair a lot of the damage to victims by saying look we did have policy of child abuse, that was a horrendous thing to do," Mr Gogarty said.

"That never happened, and I think that is the missed opportunity."

Those close with him hope Emeritus Archbishop Wilson will be remembered for his reforms and victim advocacy, rather than the allegations he became embroiled in.

A mass was held today at Adelaide's St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, which Emeritus Archbishop Wilson led for 18 years, to mark his passing.

"I honour his work which he's done for god and for the church and for the people," Brenda, a parishioner at the mass, told 9News.

Church leaders will meet tomorrow to discuss funeral arrangements which will largely depend on the impact of COVID travel restrictions on family members in New South Wales.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/philip-wilson-former-adelaide-archbishop-dies-two-years-after-cleared-of-concealing-child-sex-abuse/56973434-0808-4ab6-8df2-9a60f929be86

>>12371401

Labor leader Anthony Albanese accuses PM Scott Morrison of sucking up to Donald Trump

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been accused of sucking up to outgoing US President Donald Trump along with “Trumpists” in his ranks.

Samantha Maiden - JANUARY 20, 2021

Anthony Albanese has accused the Prime Minister Scott Morrison of pandering and sucking up to outgoing US President Donald Trump along with “fringe dwellers” and “Trumpists” in his ranks.

In a major foreign policy speech to be delivered on Wednesday, the Labor leader will call for a reset for the US-Australia relationship suggesting that the Prime Minister had not done enough to build a relationship with the Democrats and incoming US President Joe Biden.

He also suggests that Australia will be left exposed for not developing a more credible position on climate change policy.

“Let’s call this what it was: Mr Morrison pandering to President Trump and those who follow him in Australia,’’ Mr Albanese says.

“And the Coalition has deliberately run down our diplomatic capability – making Australia weaker in prosecuting our interests.”

Accusing the Trump administration of taking America “close to the brink” in the tumultuous days of early January when Trumpists stormed the nation’s capital, Mr Albanese said US democracy had been forced to demonstrate its resilience.

“Today, Washington time, Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States,’’ he says.

“US democracy has shown its resilience. Attempts to undermine it have failed.

“But America came close to the brink. The images we woke to on January 7 diminished those who seek to harm it.”

In a swipe at the Prime Minister, Mr Albanese said he needed to be stronger in his condemnation of US President Donald Trump for inciting the riots.

“It was so important for all of America’s allies to be utterly unambiguous when President Trump sought to undermine the democratic process,’’ he says.

“The great tragedy of the recent past is that the power of America’s example has been diminished from within.

“It is in Australia’s interests as a US ally to encourage the restoration of that power.”

Mr Albanese’s speech calls for Australia to “be the ally that the United States needs, rather than the ally it wants.”

“If it wasn’t already obvious, Malcolm Turnbull’s difficult first phone call with Donald Trump demonstrated the challenges building a strong relationship between our nations’ leaders would face,’’ he says.

“But Scott Morrison went too far – partly out of his affinity with Donald Trump, partly because of the political constituency they share.

“He remains afraid of the far-right extremist fringe dwellers who make up the bedrock of his personal support – and who he cultivates through the avatars of Trumpists and conspiracy theorists like Craig Kelly and George Christensen.”

Mr Morrison has previously labelled the riots and protests in Washington DC as “terribly distressing” and concerning.

But his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull has also admonished Mr Morrison for ever accepting a prestigious gong from US president Donald Trump.

“Well, look, I think it’s a great pity,’’ Mr Turnbull said.

“I think it’s a great pity that Morrison didn’t let it be known, you know make some tactful diplomatic excuse and not accept it.

“It’s a bit questionable. I think it would have been better not to accept it in the first place.”

The speech suggests that rather than an error, Labor’s recent social media posts attacking the PM as too close to Mr Trump are part of a broader strategy.

Featuring an image of the Prime Minister grinning with outgoing US President Donald Trump and giving the thumbs up to the words “it’s the company that you keep”, the post sparked division in Labor ranks.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/labor-leader-anthony-albanese-accuses-pm-scott-morrison-of-sucking-up-to-donald-trump/news-story/d75d3f7b6b5fc7bd42c1eba34686980a

>>12142216

Vatican cash probe exposes $2m gap

DENNIS SHANAHAN - JANUARY 20, 2021

Prosecutors examining money-laundering and fraud allegations at the Vatican have found a gap of more than $2m in legitimate ­financial transfers to Australia from the Holy See between 2014 and 2020, as the first embezzlement trial connected to the global scandal is set to begin.

Working with the Bank of Italy, the Vatican Bank and Austrac, the investigators can identify legitimate expenses for about $7m of the $9.5m transferred to Australia in the past six years.

After Australia’s international financial watchdog incorrectly estimated there was $2.3bn transferred from the Vatican City to Australia since 2014 a detailed examination has identified $9.5m in transfers.

However, the joint examination can identify only about $7m in legitimate expenses such as travel, wages and pension payments from the Vatican City to Australia since 2014.

Austrac has referred a number of financial transfers between the Vatican and Australia to the AFP as being “actionable financial intelligence” for investigation into potential money laundering and fraud. Vatican investigators have also heard allegations that money was sent to Australia to help adversely affect the investigation and trials of Cardinal George Pell, which began in 2017.

Last October, The Australian reported that four transfers from the Vatican Secretariat of State totalling more than $2m — including two transfers from Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was then in the Secretariat — in 2016 and 2017 were being investigated by Vatican prosecutors. The four transfers, and one earlier transfer for $US150,000 in 2015, were to a Melbourne-based hi-tech and domain reg­istry company called Neustar, since been taken over by a global tech company.

The AFP is continuing to investigate the suspicious transfers, referred by Austrac.

On Monday, the Vatican said the trial of Cardinal Becciu’s ­assistant, Cecilia Marogna, on charges of embezzlement from Catholic charities and a troubled London building project, would begin soon. In a statement, Vatican prosecutors said Ms Marogna, who was arrested in October in Milan, would be tried for the crime of embezzlement committed “with accomplices” — but no one else was named.

She was paid about €500,000 euros ($784,000) for informal intelligence work for Cardinal Becciu when he held the second-highest ranking position at the Secretariat of State, the most powerful department in the Vatican’s bureaucracy.

Ms Marogna has insisted she was paid by the Vatican for her services as a mediator securing the release of kidnapped priests and nuns in Africa and Asia.

But some Italian media outlets cited evidence she billed the Vatican for €200,000 spent on luxury products, including €12,000 for an armchair.

Cardinal Becciu was fired by Pope Francis in late September and told to give up his cardinal’s rights. He had been a bitter opponent of Cardinal Pell’s efforts to clean up the Vatican’s finances.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/vatican-cash-probe-exposes-2m-gap/news-story/939db89f4170a139cd93b7202191da87

‘Battle-hardened’ Trump supporters may pose continued threat as Australia warned to be vigilant

The US is days away from a new president but the extreme violence is only going to get worse - and it’s putting Australia at risk too.

Charis Chang - JANUARY 19, 2021

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“Battle-hardened” Donald Trump supporters may pose an even greater threat in the future despite the change in presidency to Joe Biden, one expert says.

Elliott Brennan, research associate at Sydney University’s United States Studies Centre, has been monitoring the social media accounts of right wing groups for years and said he saw the riots coming.

“You had the President calling for people to come to that (Save America) rally for weeks, advertising it and encouraging people to travel to Washington, highlighting to everyone how important that date was,” he said.

While the chatter online among certain groups was always pretty alarming, Mr Brennan became worried that something would happen when Mr Trump confirmed he would be speaking at the rally, which also attended by groups including Stop the Steal.

The rally in Washington DC was organised to protest the US Congress’s January 6 certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.

“I will be speaking at the SAVE AMERICA RALLY tomorrow on the Ellipse at 11AM Eastern,” tweeted Mr Trump, who has refused to concede defeat two months after the November vote.

“Arrive early,” he added.

Mr Brennan said Mr Trump’s appearance was the “firestarter” the community of far right extremists and conspiracy theorists needed.

“The (Trump supporters) are made of up of so many people with different ideological beliefs but they have one thing in common — the idolisation of Donald Trump,” he said.

“He is the factor that energises them and can transform their intent into action.”

He said the US had been dealing with the rise of far right terrorism since at least the election of Barack Obama as US President but debate had been “bedevilled” by politics after Republicans accused Mr Obama of likening party members to terrorists.

The response had been to “quieten down the conversation” about the threat but Mr Brennan said the Washington riots had shown how important it was to monitor these groups.

‘NO WAY WE CAN IGNORE THE DANGER’

During the pandemic, Mr Brennan said militia groups, street gangs like the Proud Boys and far right extremists took advantage of the situation to stir up conspiracy theories.

“Australia dealt with the pandemic well but the US hasn’t had the government assistance and so its people were hit much harder,” he said.

“There was also record internet use, especially among older people who don’t know their way around the internet.

“The picture that painted in 2020 and coming into 2021 is dire.”

Mr Brennan said that ahead of the January 6 riot, groups were providing advice on how to smuggle guns into Washington DC, which has some of the strongest gun laws in the country and requires a permit for each weapon.

On the day, authorities found a truck parked two blocks from the Capitol building packed with 11 homemade bombs, an assault rifle and a handgun. Another man had an assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to CNN.

“This incredible arsenal was brought into the halls of America power and was organised online for a week in public,” Mr Brennan said. “Nothing was done about it even though what was happening was so dangerous.

“The January 6 riot put lawmakers lives at risk. There is no way now that we can ignore what a real and present danger this is,” he said.

(continued)

>>12622687

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RISK FROM ‘BATTLE-HARDENED’ SUPPORTERS

The full legacy of the riots may also yet to be played out.

Mr Brennan said many of Trump supporters drove to Washington in caravans, picking up people in different states on the way.

“They have now returned back home and we have a legion of insurrectionists who now feel they are battle hardened,” he said.

“They are dispersed across the country after also forming physical bonds with those who share their goals.”

Mr Brennan said research had shown people who attended protests were more likely to stay involved in the political process.

“Now that they’ve engaged in political violence, there’s nothing to say that’s where it will stop,” he said. “There’s no reason to think they are just going to go home and accept the election results.

“If anything I think we’ve arrived at a more insidious stage.

“The action on the Capitol was a large coordinated event that took place in nearly perfect conditions, including a misstep from Capitol Police that still demands an explanation.

“Even if the Republican Party distances itself from Trump, that will do nothing to change the view of the people there, or to stop the militia groups, street gangs and far right groups from using the images as propaganda and to recruit in the future.”

AUSTRALIA ALSO AT RISK

Mr Brennan said a lot of people had been radicalised on social media and there were even elected members of the Republican Party who believe in QAnon conspiracy theories.

“We have to look at how that’s become the case, while treading lightly around those who have those beliefs,” Mr Brennan said.

“Unless we do that, efforts to find out how this has come to pass will fail.

“Importantly, prevention is the best cure and I think conspiracy theories need to be looked at as a threat to national security, but also a social health problem.”

Mr Brennan said conspiracy theories were a global issue and the failure in the US to deal with them, would also hurt places like Australia.

Even Australian politicians have posted conspiracy theories, including Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who has been criticised for claiming head lice treatment could cure COVID-19.

While Mr Brennan said conspiracy theories were crazy, he said the thing to remember was that no one starts by believing the crazy part.

“All conspiracy theories start with a seed of truth,” he said.

“But it’s quite clear that if these threats are not taken seriously and laughed off, the situation can get very serious.”

He said during the Washington riot, Trump supporters also protested in Australia and also seemed to be experiencing the same reactions as their overseas counterparts.

“There was a mix of elation among some, while others were calling out (left-wing anti-fascist group) Antifa,” he said.

“Australia is not immune from these forces and while Australia’s democracy is in a lot of ways safer than the US, taking it for granted that this won’t happen in Australia is a very dangerous position.

“Australia has got an opportunity to deal with this at an earlier stage and I think it should take every option to deal with this seriously.”

Last year the director-general of Australia’s national security agency ASIO said up to 40 per of its counter-terrorism workload was now related to right-wing extremism, up from 10 to 15 per cent before 2016.

“There is a threat to Australia posed by conspiracy theories,” Mr Brennan said. “This problem will only grow if not given the full weight and consideration of Australia’s policy makers.”

https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/battlehardened-trump-supporters-may-pose-continued-threat-as-australia-warned-to-be-vigilant/news-story/a496defbb151f42dfccb0dd2742977c4

Release Ghislaine Maxwell records: Judge

A federal judge has ordered the unsealing and release of dozens of documents in a now-settled civil suit involving Ghislaine Maxwell, the jailed and accused co-conspirator of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

But the judge has afforded the longtime Epstein associate a measure of privacy by ruling that salacious portions of testimony about her sex life will remain private.

The Tuesday hearing presided over by Judge Loretta A. Preska involved the potential release of 156 new documents in a settled lawsuit between Maxwell and Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, and the biggest point of contention was a July 2016 deposition by Maxwell.

That deposition was forced on her after she was deemed unresponsive when she sat before Giuffre's lawyers in an April 2016 deposition.

Much of that grilling, made public in October, had to do with her sexual behaviour and that of Epstein.

A first batch of documents released in late July featured an email from 2015 in which Epstein scolded Maxwell, telling her she had "done nothing wrong and I would urge you to start acting like it".

Preska acknowledged that the public thirst for "prurient" details about Maxwell might go unquenched, but determined that Maxwell's sex life was adult consensual behaviour that should remain her private business.

The judge gave all parties until January 27 to unseal and make public a voluminous number of documents.

The documents include the names and testimony of people who until now have been known as Doe 1 and Doe 2, individuals who have talked about their testimony and do not object to it being made public.

One of the two Does is believed to be Juan Alessi, who worked for Epstein since the early 1990s and was butler at his Palm Beach mansion.

He has publicly acknowledged giving testimony, and in a May 2020 interview with Britain's Mirror newspaper called Maxwell "the devil" and said that she "absolutely knew what Epstein was doing".

Also being made public are Palm Beach County police documents and all references in documents to Alan Dershowitz, the celebrity lawyer who represented Epstein and with whom Giuffre alleges she was forced by Epstein and Maxwell to have sex.

Dershowitz strongly denies the allegation and also has duelling defamation suits with Giuffre.

https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/release-ghislaine-maxwell-records-judge-ng-s-2046124

>>12622819

Ghislaine Maxwell court hearing disrupted by apparent QAnon followers

An unlawful live stream was viewed by numerous followers of the conspiracy theory before being shut down

Victoria Bekiempis - 20 Jan 2021

A court proceeding on documents in civil litigation against the jailed British socialite and accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell was interrupted on Tuesday when the judge became aware of an unlawful live stream being viewed by numerous apparent followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

“Judge, I need to interrupt. I was just informed that apparently somebody is broadcasting this on to YouTube, so I don’t know if you want to give a reminder that that is illegal to do,” the deputy clerk told the Manhattan federal court judge Loretta Preska.

“Whoever is doing it, you are operating against the law,” Preska said of this stream, which attracted 14,000 listeners. “I suspect there is a way to find out. So I will ask you, most respectfully, to stop doing it.”

“We have had enough of lack of the rule of law around here. Let’s try to observe it.”

The stream shut down shortly thereafter.

The existence of a strong contingent of QAnon supporters listening in was based upon comments in a live chat that ran alongside the stream. The baseless, far-right conspiracy theory maintains that a cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats and elites control the world while sex-trafficking children.

One commenter remarked, for example, “FREEE OUR CHILDREN NOW.” Another said: “PROTECT THE KIDS FROM THESE WEIRDOS”. There were also references to “National Popcorn Day”, which is a phrase widely used in QAnon circles.

The proceeding, which was held by telephone, was to discuss whether more documents in the Maxwell lawsuit would be unsealed. The public conference call line was full with hundreds of listeners, preventing many reporters from attending.

While Preska is releasing more documents in this litigation, some records involving Maxwell’s “intimate matters” will remain sealed, according to a transcript of the proceeding.

“Although the prurient interest of some may be left unsatiated as a result, Ms Maxwell’s interest in keeping private the details of her sexual relationships with consenting adults warrants the sealing of those portions of her testimony …” Preska said.

The records in question are from Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre’s 2015 civil lawsuit against Maxwell. Giuffre has alleged that Maxwell recruited her to be Epstein’s masseuse at 15 years old, when she was a locker-room attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in south Florida.

In this lawsuit, Giuffre claimed that Maxwell had defamed her by publicly remarking that she was a liar in alleging that Epstein and Maxwell engaged in sexual misconduct. While the suit was settled in 2017, Maxwell was arrested in July on criminal charges related to her alleged involvement with Epstein’s sex trafficking of minors.

Epstein, Maxwell’s close friend and a convicted sex offender, was arrested in July 2019 with prosecutors stating that he “sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls” as young as 14. The financier killed himself in jail about one month later.

Records previously unsealed in this case contained bombshell claims about Maxwell, Epstein and Prince Andrew. The Duke of York – whom Giuffre accused of sexual misconduct – was among the many rich and powerful men who had associated with Epstein.

In her unsealed deposition, Giuffre said that Maxwell: “Trained me as a sex slave.”

Prince Andrew has vehemently denied all allegations of misconduct.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/19/ghislaine-maxwell-court-proceeding-qanon

Avril Haines, pick for national intelligence director, says she’ll help with a public threat assessment of QAnon.

Julian E. Barnes - Jan. 19, 2021

Avril D. Haines, President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s nominee to be the next director of national intelligence, told senators on Tuesday that she would assist the F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security with a public written assessment of the threat from QAnon.

The topic came up at Ms. Haines’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, nearly two weeks after the Capitol was infiltrated by a pro-Trump mob, including some followers of QAnon, a wide-ranging online conspiracy movement that has falsely claimed that President Trump is on a crusade to rid the world of satanic pedophiles organized by the Democratic Party and Hollywood celebrities.

Several Democratic senators on Tuesday asked Ms. Haines about the threat of right-wing extremist groups. In her responses, Ms. Haines had to walk a fine line, as the intelligence agencies are restricted in the information they can collect about Americans and American groups.

She said that if she was confirmed, she would make sure the intelligence agencies “look at connections between folks in the U.S. and externally and foreign,” but made clear that the F.B.I. and Homeland Security must take the lead on such investigations.

She also said that she would help establish a foreign malign influence center in the intelligence community.

Senator Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico, asked Ms. Haines about a letter he wrote to the F.B.I. and Homeland Security Department about QAnon’s “spread of disinformation.”

Mr. Heinrich asked Ms. Haines if she would commit to helping with that assessment. She said she would look for answers on how “foreign influence operations” are affecting QAnon.

“The intelligence community is focused on foreign intelligence and on foreign threats,” she said. “But there is a critical role that it can play and does play in supporting the work that’s done by others.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/avril-haines-pick-for-national-intelligence-director-qanon.html

—

NBC News Tweet

Director of National Intelligence nominee Avril Haines says, if confirmed, she will work with FBI and DHS to provide a public threat assessment on QAnon.

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1351564833385140229

>>12585813

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet

Successful diplomacy means fostering close relationships with our partners, not just flying in and flying out to rack up air miles and stats. Blessed to call so many friends.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1351575150060208128

Who is Q? And who is responsible for the cult of QAnon?

JACK THE INSIDER (Peter Hoysted) - JANUARY 20, 2021

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Roseanne Boyland was a 34-year-old woman who made her way to Washington DC on 6 January from her home in Kennesaw, Georgia. Kennesaw is a suburb in Cobb County, part of the Atlanta Metro area whose support for Biden in the November 3 presidential election helped flip the state from deep red to a pale shade of blue.

While accounts of her death vary, the prevailing view is of a terrible irony. As the mob surged around the Capitol building steps, she was trampled to death while clutching a “Do Not Tread on Me” flag – the yellow ensign bearing a coiled rattlesnake favoured by ultranationalists, the hard right and QAnon cultists.

Her family had urged her not to attend. But Boyland was adamant. She told them she would stand to one side, away from the throng, out of harm’s way.

Boyland had her fair share of personal travails. She had suffered from substance addictions and had racked up a long list of convictions for drug-related offences. But she had been clean for three years. In that vulnerable state, she had veered into the QAnon cult.

Roseanne Boyland was ripe for the cult’s picking: vulnerable, susceptible, gullible.

The cult of QAnon believes that the deep state engages in industrial scale child sex trafficking, of the secret existence of tunnels 10 kilometres below the Earth’s surface where children are transported around the world to be sent off to die in satanic rituals or are tortured and drained of adrenochrome.

They believe that Donald Trump is their saviour, a heroic figure who will take on these dark forces and his General Mike Flynn is leading the righteous into battle deep below the Earth’s surface.

From the outside, the QAnon cult seems bizarre, incredible, entirely implausible. But those on the inside believe its propaganda lies as if they were gospel, clinging to every word, every ‘drop’ from ‘Q’, sometimes referred to darkly as ‘Number 17’, a supposed deep state insider who knew all the state’s secrets.

The question is who is responsible for QAnon? It needs to be answered because these people bear a moral responsibility for Boyland’s death. They bear a moral responsibility at least in part for the vicious hyper-partisanship that burns deep in American society. They bear a moral responsibility for the hundreds of thousands of families who have suffered dislocation, of empty seats at the dinner table, of sons and daughters lost to the cult.

What we do know is QAnon is not a coincidence, not an accident, not a joke or an online hoax that has somehow spiralled out of control.

To understand at a basic level how QAnon finds appeal, we might look at the extreme weirdness of groups like Flat Earthers whose laughable belief system stems from a pre-Copernican view not just of the planet we live on but the solar system and the universe. They’re often perceived as harmless whackos. Some time ago this might have been true, but it is no longer the case now.

If a person believes the sun and the moon orbit around a flat disc and that ‘Thar Be Dragons’ exists on the corners of world maps, then they become receptive to other forms of suggestion and to online manipulation. In this way Flat Earthers became infiltrated by neo-Nazi groups online and now many Flat Earthers believe not only that our spherical planet is a slab floating in the space-time continuum but also that the world is controlled by a cabal of Zionist bankers.

That is a simple A to B exercise in propaganda distribution facilitated by the arcane and clubbish way in which that small group operates. Flat earthers are a small target easily identified by their activity and preyed upon in bulletin board internet sites.

QAnon’s architects reached deeper into demographics and sectors that previously had no political affiliation. Many members of the wellness community, a bunch of organic food gnawing hippies usually of the Left and sometimes from the extremes of it, became immersed in QAnon. It should be no surprise. As a group they tend to view accepted knowledge and science with cynicism and reject mainstream media. Just a few years ago, wellness influencers were content with publishing odd recipes and advocating steel cut oats. Now they publish Nazi tropes, anti-vax disinformation, 5G conspiracies and more recently that the COVID-19 pandemic is a deep state fabrication.

(continued)

>>12623632

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But there is more to QAnon than the mere susceptibility of its adherents. QAnon is large and amorphous with an estimated three million followers. The estimate comes from Facebook analysis. But QAnon is not Facebook friendly, certainly not now where almost all of it has been deplatformed.

There is emerging evidence that QAnon was designed as a psychological operation and specifically targeted at an audience that was open to its monstrous lies with a view to creating a base of Trump supporters so rusted on, so vehement that they would not only vote for their man in droves but would fight to keep Trump in the White House.

There is no evidence that Trump was involved in the creation or perpetuation of QAnon. We don’t want to replace one conspiracy theory with another. But in seeking to establish motive, it is clear that those who perpetrated the cult of QAnon did so perceiving some benefit from a Trump presidency and two terms at that.

QAnon was elaborately contrived, drip feeding its adherents just enough information for them to add their own takes and theories. It is a propagandist’s sharpest tool – not just to spread disinformation but to have it reinterpreted and reshaped by its readers to add to its persuasive power.

It first saw light of day back in 2016 where Q was then known as FBIAnon and peddled on platforms like 4Chan. Promptly banned from there, it shuffled off to 8Chan, later to become 8kun. These are spaces in the net where there are no rules, no curation, no moderation.

It began with Pizzagate and wild and disgraceful allegations surrounding the murder of Democrat operative, Seth Rich. It was promoted by alt-media firebrands like Alex Jones who told his audience during the presidential election campaign of 2016, “When I think about all the children that Hillary Clinton has murdered and chopped up and raped, I have zero fear.”

In its infancy, QAnon propaganda mirrored that of the Trump campaign. Hillary was an evil deep statist who should be behind bars.

I doubt that it changed the result of the 2016 election. American voters were in the mood for change. If it was designed to bolster Trump’s re-election chances, it has failed. But what it did was create a dangerous and burgeoning cult that saw millions lost in it and drove American democracy further to the brink.

It is an evil business and with Trump now gone, how QAnon was established and by whom needs to be investigated comprehensively. We owe it to the memory of people like Rosanne Boyland whose life was ended by it and the millions of others left bereft by it. We need to understand how a small number of people pushing Q propaganda can strike such a blow to America’s democratic institutions. Those involved in its planning and delivery need to be brought to account.

Peter Hoysted is Jack the Insider: a highly placed, dedicated servant of the nation with close ties to leading figures in politics, business and the union movement.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/who-is-q-and-who-is-responsible-for-the-cult-of-qanon/news-story/18893696c42726767b84b96214da8a86

WATCH LIVE: The inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris - PBS NewsHour special coverage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4wF0snbC00

Live: The Presidential Inauguration Of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. | NBC News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umsaXWrpgR8

Washington Post - LIVE on Jan. 20 at 8:00 a.m. ET | Inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrJF8Iz-7R8

WATCH LIVE: Inauguration Day for President Joe Biden | ABC News (USA) Live

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

WATCH LIVE: ABC News Channel (Australia)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ilCy6XrmI

Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet

Congratulations to President @JoeBiden and Vice President @KamalaHarris on your inauguration.

The Australia-US Alliance has never been more important. I wish you both every success for your time in office and look forward to working closely with your new administration.

https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1351994232106483712

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Congratulations President @JoeBiden & Vice President @KamalaHarris on an historic day. The democratic values of (Australia and United States) Alliance are an enduring foundation. We look forward to working closely with you to ensure our shared security, sovereignty & prosperity. #InaugurationDay

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1352022238099193857

>>12645550

Scott Morrison welcomes new leadership of President Joe Biden, as Opposition figures condemn outgoing president Donald Trump

DAVID ADAMS - JAN 21, 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition leader Anthony Albanese today welcomed the newly inaugurated administration of US President Joe Biden, voicing their optimism for Australia’s ongoing relationship with the US after the looming presence of President Donald Trump.

“Congratulations to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on your inauguration,” Morrison wrote on social media Thursday morning.

“The Australia-US Alliance has never been more important. I wish you both every success for your time in office and look forward to working closely with your new administration.”

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese mirrored that sentiment, telling ABC radio he expects the Biden administration to alter America’s international reputation after the Trump years.

Biden is “determined as well to restore America’s role in the world rather than the retreat from global leadership that we’ve seen in recent years, and that’s a good thing,” Albanese said.

“That’s in Australia’s interests and it’s in the world’s interests to have a strong America.”

Albanese added that Biden will have a “difficult task ahead”, pointing to Trump’s “mishandling” of the coronavirus pandemic which has ravaged America and taken 400,000 lives.

The opposition leader remarked that Trump left a “divided country” and “often made decisions based upon Twitter,” echoing recent disputes between senior Labor and Coalition government figures over Morrison’s friendly relationship with the departing leader.

On Wednesday, Albanese accused Morrison of shying away from criticism of Trump for fear of alienating his own base. Morrison demurred, calling the recent siege of the US Capitol “distressing” and defending his working relationship with Trump.

Greens leader Adam Bandt today provided a simpler and more partisan view of Biden’s inauguration, sharing a photo of Trump shaking Morrison’s hand to social media.

“One down. One to go,” Bandt wrote.

Australia’s embassy in the United States shared a simpler call for both nations to continue their strategic and cultural ties over the next four years.

“We look forward to further strengthening our alliance and great friendship with the United States,” the embassy said in a short statement.

From the US Capitol, Arthur Sinodinos, Australia’s ambassador to the United States, tweeted that the swearing in of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris represents “a new chapter commences in this great democracy”.

The inauguration itself was a “day of prayer, song and poetry,” Sinodinos tweeted from the Washington DC ceremony.

“Well done America,” he said.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/australia-leadership-donald-trump-joe-biden-2021-1

https://twitter.com/AdamBandt/status/1351987089307385856

https://twitter.com/A_Sinodinos/status/1351947696265785344

Scott Morrison defends relationship with Donald Trump

Scott Morrison has accused Labor of replacing foreign policy with personal attacks as ­Anthony Albanese ramps up ­attempts to link the Prime Minister with Donald Trump and his tumultuous four-year rule.

In a speech at the USAsia Centre in Perth on Wednesday, the Opposition Leader accused Mr Morrison of pandering to Mr Trump during his presidency and diluting the country’s diplomatic capability ahead of new President Joe Biden entering the White House.

“If people are going to have a crack at me because I work with the president of the United States, I think that reflects more on them than me,” the Prime Minister told 4BC radio on ­Wednesday.

“It’s a foundational relationship we have.

“Whoever the prime minister is and whoever the president, it’s important that both of us steward that relationship to the benefit of both of our countries and anyone who doesn’t understand that just doesn’t get it.”

Mr Albanese and Labor have called on Mr Morrison to take a more strident approach to Mr Trump and his claims of election fraud in last year’s presidential vote, demanding he call on the Republican leader to accept his defeat and condemn Mr Trump for inciting this month’s US Capitol riots.

The ALP has increased its criticisms on Mr Morrison’s relationship with Mr Trump, despite the tactics dividing Labor MPs in recent weeks.

Labor’s official Twitter account attempt to link Mr Morrison and Mr Trump on the day of the US Capitol riots — in which pro-Trump supporters tried to stop congress declaring Mr Biden the election victor — was condemned by former opposition frontbencher and potential future leadership contender Joel Fitzgibbon.

Mr Morrison said on Wednesday that Mr Albanese was replacing political criticism with foreign policy.

“Personal attacks are not foreign policies,” the Prime Minister said in Queensland, where he is touring drought-affected communities.

“The Leader of the Opposition thanks sledging me is some sort of foreign policy — he just does not get it.”

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Mr Morrison had placed his personal relationship with Mr Trump above national interest and criticised him for failing to directly call out Mr Trump after his supporters incited deadly riots on the US congress earlier this month.

“I don’t think he stewarded the relationship by refusing to call out people like Craig Kelly and George Christensen, who continue to peddle the same conspiracy theories and lies which were central to that attack on democracy,” Senator Wong told Sky News.

“I don’t believe that is res­ponsible stewardship of the ­relationship.”

On Monday, Mr Morrison ramped up his criticism of the recent riots, and called out “things that were said” to incite the violent riots on the US congress, although he did not directly name Mr Trump.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/scott-morrison-defends-relationship-with-donald-trump/news-story/7ef65015c872c1575d79b81a9575d9e2

>>12645587

Australia hails Joe Biden’s stance on China

Australia’s Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos has praised Joe Biden’s “pitch perfect” inauguration and continued pressure on China.

Exclusive: The Australian government has welcomed the Biden administration’s initial stance on China, with US Ambassador Arthur Sinodinos saying it was on track to be “consistent with where we’ve been”.

Mr Sinodinos, who was one of a select crowd of dignitaries invited to Joe Biden’s scaled-back inauguration ceremony at the Capitol, also praised the “pitch perfect” swearing-in.

Mr Biden has pledged to spend his first days unwinding some of Donald Trump’s key policies.

Concerns this may have included the US stepping back its pressure on China were allayed when Mr Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, said on Tuesday he supported Mr Trump’s muscular posture.

“As we look at China, there is no doubt that it poses the most significant challenge of any nation state to the United States,” Mr Blinken said in his Senate confirmation hearing.

“We have to start by approaching China from a position of strength, not weakness.”

Mr Sinodinos welcomed this statement and said it accorded with Australia’s leading role in taking on China over the past year.

“The overall stance from Blinken’s comments and other things that we’ve heard is going to be pretty strong and pretty consistent with where we’ve been,” Mr Sinodinos said.

“On China, what’s happened here in the US, both with the Democrats and the Republicans, in the political establishment as a whole … they’ve been mugged by reality.

“What we all thought was going to happen to China hasn’t happened. It’s taken a more authoritarian turn. And so the system here has now become more focused on the emergence of China in a negative way and the need to compete with China.”

Mr Blinken had said that while he didn’t agree with the former president’s blunt methods: “I believe that President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China”.

Mr Sinodinos said he expected the Biden administration to be “quite strategic” and to continue to support Australia.

“We stood up (to China) because we had to stand up, because of issues that were infringing on our national sovereignty or national interest,” he said.

“The point I’ve always made to the Americans is that we stood up on principle. It wasn’t because we woke up one day and decided: ‘we’re going to poke the panda in the eye’.

“It was because of certain things that were happening, but it was principles-based and what we could see happening with the Biden administration is that they get that, they understand the basis on which we’ve done what we’ve done. And I think they’ll be quite strategic in their approach.”

Mr Sinodinos, whose in-person diplomacy during his first year in office has been limited by social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, said he had welcomed the opportunity to attend Mr Biden’s inauguration.

Coming three weeks to the day after a violent mob stormed the Capitol after being encouraged to march there by Mr Trump, the event would help to soothe a troubled America, he said.

“The atmosphere was calm, it was dignified,” Mr Sinodinos said.

“I think he would be very satisfied with that speech in terms of summing up his mission, if you like, what he’s dedicated himself to.

“The challenge now, of course, is to translate that into action … addressing those issues which lie at the heart of so much that’s troubling people here.”

Compared to several key allies, Australia enjoyed a strong relationship with the Trump White House and Mr Sinodinos expected this to continue.

“If I look at the relationship between Australia and the US, we did well under the (former) administration, avoided some of the things that perhaps happened to other countries,” he said.

“We were able to advance on a number of our agendas. I think we gave them a bit of a lead on China and they appreciate that without being sort of, you know, arrogant about it.

“I think we actually led on that in many ways with some of the actions we took early on in relation to China.”

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/australia-hails-joe-bidens-stance-on-china/news-story/74678ac7a7a8005c9666d322e2caac5b

Australia should seek policy autonomy, free of US directives

Global Times - Jan 20, 2021

As the US President-elect Joe Biden becomes the host of the White House, how the world's largest economy under the new Biden administration will readjust its role on the global stage is the subject of heated debate and wild speculation, including the Five Eyes member Australia, which has seen internal debate on Canberra's binding its own fate to the gone Donald Trump government.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has attempted to distance Canberra from Trump, and he also expects "there would be a continuation of those policy settings that have so favored the Australian alliance," after Biden is now in charge of America, according to media reports. Local Australian news outlets interpreted this as Morrison's government is clamoring for support from Biden.

As two sovereign states, Australia should develop relations with China independently and constructively. Placing itself in a subordinate position to always listen to the dictates from Washington is clearly not in line with the long-term interests of Australia.

China has been the largest trading partner of Australia for many years, purchasing over 30 percents of Aussie exports, from mineral resources to agricultural products. In spite of having a high economic complementarity with China, Canberra, however, has taken more efforts to disrupt its relation with China, from banning China's 5G developer Huawei to heightening scrutiny of Chinese investments. Such moves have destroyed the momentum between China and Australia and hurt the image and reputation of Australia too.

One of the major external reasons is the impact from the Trump-led US, which has been projecting a cold war mentality and propagating ideological prejudice. To some extent, Canberra has chosen to follow Trump' stubborn anti-China campaign and tie itself to the chariot of US unilateralism, at the cost of its mutually-beneficial relation with its largest trading partner.

The cold-war mentality has already encountered cold shoulders from the international community. After Trump recklessly undermined the US reputation across the world by promoting unilateralism and lies, Biden, as the new president, has repeated his intention to rejoin multilateral platforms.

As for the China-US relationship, though some of the problems will remain, it is expected that the global market may embrace an environment with decreasing uncertainty. If Canberra chooses to continue on the wrong path with its relationship with China, rather than timely adjust its approach to align with the mainstream and dominant development trends, its own long-term interests will bear the damage.

Mutual respect is the prerequisite for cooperation between countries. Canberra should handle bilateral relations following the principle of mutual respect and equality. Essentially, a sound and stable China-Australia relationship will be in the interests of both countries and peoples.

Bilateral relations includes many aspects, from economic to social and cultural cooperation, these should all be taken into consideration when it comes to genuine two-way partnership. Deteriorating China-Australia relations has permeated many aspects of two way ties, including Chinese consumers' losing preferential toward Australian products, to businesses' increasing risk awareness when cooperating with Australian firms or institutions.

It is hoped that the Morrison administration will take action conducive to cooperation with China, so as to provide conditions to bring the frayed bilateral relations back onto the right track, instead of further cloud the prospect.

The article was compiled based on an interview with Liu Qing, vice president at the China Institute of International Studies. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1213420.shtml

>>12645737

Will specter of Trumpism haunt Morrison?

Chen Hong - Jan 20, 2021

1/2

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in recent days has drawn criticism for stopping short of criticizing outgoing President Donald Trump's role in inciting the Capitol riots on January 6. In a Monday tweet, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd accused Morrison of being a "coward." "World leaders like Johnson, Trudeau and Merkel condemned Trump. Morrison hasn't, despite the preservation of US democracy being central to our alliance," Rudd said.

Morrison has indeed made a distinction of himself by not criticizing Trump like other Western leaders. There is a recognizable immaturity in Morrison's handling of Australia's foreign policies, and moreover, he has been a longstanding sympathizer of a series of Trump's policies, especially his China policy.

Rudd lashed out at Morrison, emotionally calling him a "coward." By avoiding denouncing Trump, Morrison has demonstrated a recklessness to defy leaders from nearly every major Western country who unanimously criticized Trump's role.

Morrison has actually flouted basic understandings of Western democracy. He often boasts about Australia's so-called democratic values. But in view of the Capitol riots that almost subverted Western democracy and dealt a heavy blow to the Western system and governance models, Morrison only simply said it was "very disappointing." His disapproval was superficial and symbolic, failing the Australian public's expectations. In no way does he true-heartedly defended Western values.

Morrison is under tremendous pressure at home. He is being accused of getting too close to Trump by the Labor opposition. Morrison on Tuesday praised a host of Trump officials (such as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper) for supporting Australia over the past four years, without mentioning Trump. This was interpreted as a move to distance himself from Trump at the last moment before the Biden administration comes to office.

Morrison is an opportunist. Two kinds of thinking dominate his diplomacy: One is opportunism, and the other is adventurism. Morrison in fact is indisposed to rejecting Trump and his hawkish ideology. The Morrison government has offered great support to a series of Trump's policies, especially his Indo-Pacific Strategy and China policy. Amid the intensifying US crusade on China, Australia under Morrison's leadership has attempted to take a free ride of the US anti-China chariot to increase its profile as Washington's deputy sheriff in the region. It has stood at the anti-China forefront, acting as a pioneer of the US anti-China campaign.

(continued)

>>12645819

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The unpleasant telephone conversation in January 2017 between former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and Trump a week after the US president assumed office made many people believe cracks appeared between the US and Australia. But since Morrison took office, Australia has acted in step with the US and Morrison has won Trump's high recognition. Trump praised Morrison as "a man of titanium" in September 2019, and awarded him the Legion of Merit, a military decoration honoring "leadership in addressing global challenges" in December 2020.

But now Morrison is in a very awkward position. It's too early to judge whether the Biden administration will bring a major turnaround in China-US relations after it is sworn in. But at least the Biden administration will very likely not take a reckless and irrational approach toward China as its predecessor has done. There is a great possibility that China-US relations will return to normal, while at the same time, China-Australia relations see no sign of significant improvement in the near future.

Because of Morrison's opportunism and adventurism, he completely bets on the US, plunging China-Australia relations to unprecedented low ebb. It's always easier to break than to make. How can we make a broken bowl what it was before things were shattered? Morrison and his administration should take full responsibility for the current deadlock of China-Australia relations.

The US-Australia alliance will continue to be important. After Trump leaves the White House, the specter of Trumpism will still haunt the minds of Morrison and his likes. The question is: How should Australia manage the alliance to avoid it affecting Australia's relations with a third country, in particular China?

Even if the Biden administration might continue to use Australia to suppress China, the Morrison government must consider what's best for Australia's own national interests. Australia is immature and lacks strategic vision to act as a US lackey. Playing such a role, Australia has gained nothing, but spoiled its comprehensive strategic partnership with China, its biggest trading partner. This is a regrettable result of Morrison's failing diplomacy.

The author is a professor and director of the Australian Studies Centre, East China Normal University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1213425.shtml

A ‘last outpost for Trumpism’: How did Donald change #AusPol?

Josh Butler - Jan 21, 2021

1/2

The Trump train is pulling out of Washington DC for the final time, but the legacy of The Donald’s four chaotic years in power could linger over Australian politics for a while to come.

“It will stick around. Even if Trump goes, the forces he unleashed will still exist,” said Dr Emma Shortis, of the Social and Global Studies Centre at RMIT University.

“If even the Prime Minister won’t condemn his own MPs for spreading Trump-esque conspiracy theories, it will continue circulating in Australia.”

As Mr Trump reluctantly leaves office after a decisive election loss, Anthony Albanese ignited a political firestorm on Wednesday.

The Labor leader thundered that Scott Morrison had gone “too far” in his support for the defeated President, claiming “Trumpists” were the “bedrock” of the Prime Minister’s supporters.

While it’s no secret Mr Morrison enjoyed a far better relationship with Mr Trump than most world leaders – feted with a state dinner, lauded as the “man of titanium”, and awarded the Legion of Merit – what is less clear is how the Trump era changed Australian politics.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull suggested Australia could be the “last outpost of Trumpism in the southern hemisphere”.

Labor Party president Wayne Swan, a former deputy PM under Julia Gillard, claimed conservative parties were locked in a contest “over who is the more Trumpian.”

Trump ‘licensed’ Australia’s far-right

Associate Professor David Smith, of the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre, said possibly the biggest mark Mr Trump would leave on Australia would be the “language” and encouragement he gave to far-right politicians.

“He licensed a lot of views and postures which would previously have been considered beyond the pale in Australia. A lot of people, aligned with the far- or hard right in Australia, used the language and symbols Trump provided, as part of a global community,” Dr Smith told The New Daily.

“He’ll be a symbol here, of the possibilities of politics which had been previously been marginalised.

“There are politicians who previously would have avoided doing things seen as racist. That’s no longer the case.”

Mr Trump came to power in November 2016, just four months after Pauline Hanson dragged herself and three fellow far-right One Nation senators back into Parliament.

It was two decades since Senator Hanson had been elected to office, and she saw a kindred spirit in Mr Trump.

Her colleagues literally popped champagne bottles on the Parliament House forecourt to celebrate his election, and lobbied for tickets to his inauguration.

One Nation quickly and blatantly copied Trump-esque politics and rhetoric; adopting his catch cry of “fake news”, attacking media reporting, calling for a “Muslim ban”, lambasting multiculturalism, railing against crucial global agreements, and cosying up to far-right groups.

Each of these had been long-term tenets of the One Nation philosophy, but Dr Smith said Australia’s hard right had been emboldened by Mr Trump’s victory.

Perhaps not coincidentally, One Nation and Mr Trump’s electoral fortunes seemed somewhat tied.

As Mr Trump and Ms Hanson were surprisingly elected to seats of power in the same year, the President will leave office just months after One Nation suffered similarly humiliating election failure in its traditional heartland.

“Trump has shown politicians a different way. The true political superpower is shamelessness, an inability to be embarrassed,” Dr Smith said.

“It’s persisting with views that put you beyond the pale, but which you know have a constituency somewhere.”

The sincerest form of flattery

An odd thing happened last week, when Mr Morrison took a week’s leave; even as Mr Trump prepared to leave office, Nationals leader Michael McCormack stepped up as acting PM, and began copying the President.

“There is no reason we can’t make Charters Towers great again,” Mr McCormack said, from the rural Queensland town.

“Facts sometimes are contentious,” he said from Townsville, comments reminiscent of Mr Trump’s former adviser Kellyanne Conway’s infamous “alternative facts”.

He also criticised the Black Lives Matter movement; saying “all lives matter,” a catchcry used by Mr Trump and opponents of the BLM rallies.

(continued)

>>12645940

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Others have gone further in emulating Mr Trump.

Nationals MP George Christensen posts social media graphics featuring red “Make Australia Great Again” caps, regularly tees off against global compacts like the United Nations and Paris agreement, and appears on alt-right media channels.

Liberal MP Craig Kelly took up the hydroxychloroquine crusade after Mr Trump raised it, staying hooked into the disproven treatment long after the President stopped boosting it, and sharing debunked claims about election rigging.

“Fake news” is thrown as an insult, without a hint of irony, by conservative politicians against media reporting.

Dalliances with far-right commentators or talking points are common. Sneering “political correctness” and “wokeness” are standard barbs to rubbish legitimate calls for social reform.

But with Mr Trump dumped from office, other experts say those flirtations with Trump-esque politics may dwindle.

‘A cautionary tale’

“He is seen as the start of a populist wave, and that the way for candidates to maximise their popularity was to mimic his approach as anti-establishment,” Dr Zareh Ghazarian, senior lecturer in politics at Monash University, told TND.

“But I think his approach and performance would now become a cautionary tale for Australian politicians.”

Dr Ghazarian believes Mr Trump’s example of using social media for outrageous comments, inflating small issues into national conversation topics, has “rubbed off” on fringe parties and minor figures in the major parties.

“He opened the door to politicians pushing things further to the edge, pushing the envelope more than they would did before,” he said.

Dr Shortis agreed.

“Our government’s closeness to Trump has given further licence to those forces in Australian politics; people like Craig Kelly, with that very Trumpian disinformation and conspiracy theories,” she told TND.

“With the PM not condemning that, they’re getting licence to keep doing that, from the PM who is close to Trump. It’s a cultural exchange.”

Dr Shortis, a historian whose works focuses on the Trump administration and the Australia-US alliance, believes that type of politics will endure long after Mr Biden takes office.

She pointed to a new wave of Trump acolytes among young Republicans in the US, predicting Australian politicians would – as has occurred for decades – draw influence from American counterparts.

“Trump unleashed and encouraged it, but it’s more than Trump. He just harnessed it for a while, then lost control of it. It’s important to be honest about how deeply connected the stuff happening in Australia is to the US, with our MPs and the arms of some of these organisations,” she said.

“There’s a young guard in the US that sees a path to power through Trump politics. We have a different way of doing politics, but you can see Australian politicians taking their cues from America.

“Biden would have noticed how close we were to Trump. That should be noted. The way we got so close will have consequences going forward.”

It’s a thought echoed by Mr Turnbull. In an interview with Bloomberg, he slammed his former Coalition colleagues for “sycophancy” towards Mr Trump, claiming their support for him could harm future relationships with Mr Biden.

“People in the Liberal Party, many of them felt they were very aligned with Trump on this climate stuff. They are now utterly at odds with the new administration,” he told Bloomberg.

“They’ve got to decide whether they want to be a last outpost for Trumpism in the southern hemisphere. I don’t think that’s a good place to be.”

In his speech, Mr Albanese said Mr Biden’s ascendance to the presidency marked “the cusp of a new chapter in international relations”.

It’s still to be seen whether it will mark a new chapter in Australian politics.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/01/21/trump-morrison-australian-politics/

>>12645940

Trump Sought to Exacerbate Divisions in U.S.: Turnbull

Bloomberg Politics

20 Jan 2021

Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull talks about the legacy of U.S. President Donald Trump. He also discusses the bilateral relations between his country and China. He speaks with Haidi Stroud-Watts on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EECA0czKoz8

>>12645998

The idea Trump and his tweets incited insurrection is ‘demonstrably false’

Sky News Australia

20 Jan 2021

The relentlessly pushed idea that Donald Trump and his tweets incite insurrection and the overthrow of democracy is “demonstrably false”, according to Sky News host Rowan Dean.

It comes as Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States.

“Washington DC has been turned into a police state, complete with its own Green Zone reminiscent of Baghdad at the height of the Iraq war – 26,000 troops prowling the Capitol,” Mr Dean said.

“Even here in Australia the mainstream media are whipping up fear about the threat of bombs, drones and shooters battling it out in the streets of Washington, as if it’s some video game.”

Mr Dean said the justification for this “heavy handed authoritarian approach” is the “vague and unsubstantiated claim of incitement”.

“The idea that’s been relentlessly pushed – since January 6 - that Trump and his tweets incite insurrection, somehow aimed at the overthrow of democracy; a claim that’s as absurd as it is demonstrably false.”

He pointed out the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, while being an absolute disgrace pales in comparison to the “violence and destruction" visited upon America over the last twelve months by the "masked thugs and murderers" who supported Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots.

“A year ago it would have been inconceivable to imagine how easily the freedoms we take for granted could so lightly be frittered away.

“26,000 armed troops prowling the streets because the tenuous claim that Trump incited violence. Really?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRkIWtKWH98

'Worst president in history': John Bolton describes Donald Trump's leadership | Planet America

ABC News In-depth

21 Jan 2021

Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton tells ABC Planet America that Trump goes down as “the worst president in history”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO4FRahjEFw

>>12366671

>>12366808

UK High Commissioner George Brandis Tweet

Brilliant to see @POTUS return the United States to the #ParisAgreement.

As we head toward @COP26, our shared work to develop and deploy clean technology will sustain ambitious #ClimateAction, create more jobs and drive us toward net zero as soon as possible.

https://twitter.com/AusHCUK/status/1352023484457631744

Leo Hickman @LeoHickman

President Biden has now signed the executive order which means the US is rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Will be deposited with UN later today and take formal effect in 30 days

https://twitter.com/LeoHickman/status/1352017649035866118

>>12459794

Arnold Schwarzenegger Tweet

I’m rooting for you @JoeBiden. Your success is the country’s success.

https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1351925880692510726

>>12623240

Avril Haines becomes first woman director of National Intelligence

DUSTIN VOLZ - JANUARY 21, 2021

The Senate confirmed President Biden’s pick to lead the sprawling U.S. intelligence community Wednesday, delivering the newly inaugurated president his first Senate-confirmed cabinet secretary.

Avril Haines is the first woman to become director of national intelligence, a job that oversees 18 intelligence agencies and units, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, which employ hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.

The Senate voted 84-10 to confirm Ms. Haines, with only Republicans opposing her nomination.

Mr. Biden’s aides have said it is imperative for the new president to have his national security team in place as soon as possible to address pressing threats ranging from domestic extremist violence of the kind that was on display during the storming of the U.S. Capitol two weeks ago to a suspected Russian hack of huge swaths of the federal government. The Senate is expected to act in the coming days on some of Mr. Biden’s other nominees.

“This position is of such critical importance to the country that is only appropriate that it will be the first nomination of the new Biden administration to be confirmed by the Senate,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the incoming Democratic leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Mr. Biden announced his selection of Ms. Haines in November, and last week nominated William J. Burns, a former career diplomat, to run the CIA.

Ms. Haines, 51 years old, is a former deputy CIA director and deputy national security adviser under President Barack Obama whose resume includes judo skills, a private pilot’s license and previous ownership of an independent bookstore in Baltimore.

Her confirmation came a day after a largely nonconfrontational hearing in which Republicans and Democrats raised no objections to her confirmation. She committed to keeping politics out of intelligence work while vowing to expand efforts to address foreign interference operations against the U.S.

Ms. Haines was also cautious about expanding the intelligence community’s role in countering threats from domestic extremism, saying the prime responsibility should remain with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security, but committed to working with those agencies on providing a public written assessment of the threat posed by the conspiracy group QAnon.

Breaking from the Trump administration’s recent practice, Ms. Haines said at the hearing she would appear annually before the panel for a hearing on world-wide threats. She also promised to release, as required by law, an unclassified report naming those responsible for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate. Former President Trump declined to release the document.

In addition to grappling with China’s regional aggression, Russia’s efforts to destabilize the West and Iran’s resurgent nuclear ambitions, along with long-term threats such as global pandemics and climate change, Ms. Haines will be confronting a decline in morale among intelligence professionals, current and former officials said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/the-wall-street-journal/avril-haines-becomes-first-woman-director-of-national-intelligence/news-story/36d20ada36cb8b54ba51c25aa43b961c

QAnon followers reel as Biden inaugurated

Joseph Menn, Elizabeth Culliford, Katie Paul and Carrie Monahan - 21 January 2021

For three years, adherents of the sprawling QAnon conspiracy theory awaited a so-called Great Awakening, scouring anonymous web postings from a shadowy "Q" figure and parsing statements by former US president Donald Trump, whom they believed to be their champion.

On Wednesday, they grappled with a harsh reality check: Trump had left office with no mass arrests or other victories against the supposed cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophile cannibal elites, especially Democrats, he was ostensibly fighting.

Instead, Democratic President Joe Biden was sworn into office, leaving legions of QAnon faithful struggling to make sense of what had transpired.

In one Telegram channel with more than 18,400 members, QAnon believers were split between those still urging others to "trust the plan" and those saying they felt betrayed. "It's obvious now we've been had. No plan, no Q, nothing," one user wrote.

Some messages referenced theories that a coup was going to take place before the end of inauguration day. Others moved the goalposts again, speculating Trump would be sworn in on March 4.

Jared Holt, a disinformation researcher at the Atlantic Council, said he had never before seen disillusionment in the QAnon communities he monitors at this scale.

"It's the whole 'trust the plan' thing. Q believers have just allowed themselves to be strung from failed promise to failed promise."

The anonymous person or people known as Q started posting the vague predictions that would become the basis of the QAnon movement on message board 4chan in 2017, claiming to be a Trump administration insider with top secret security clearance.

The number of followers exploded with the arrival of the coronavirus last year, providing a sense of community missing in many people's isolated pandemic lives by encouraging participants to "do their own research" and contribute findings to the crowd.

Q interpreters have become mini-celebrities in their own right, spreading the gospel on social media before the platforms cracked down late last year.

Among them was Ron Watkins, who was among a small group of movement leaders who stepped up their public activity after Trump's loss in the November 3 election, as the "drops" from Q slowed and then stopped.

The longtime administrator of 8kun, an unmoderated forum where Q posted alongside violent extremists and racists, Watkins adopted the cryptic tone of Q in the past two months on Twitter and then Telegram.

In one of the most jarring apparent reversals on Wednesday, Watkins appeared to admit defeat, posting: "We have a new president sworn in and it is our responsibility as citizens to respect the Constitution regardless of whether or not we agree with the specifics.

"Please remember all the friends and happy memories we made together over the past few years."

On pro-Trump website TheDonald.win, users turned on Watkins and accused him of being a "shill" and a CIA plant.

Other fringe groups, including neo-Nazis, said they intended to capitalise on the disarray by stepping up recruitment from among QAnon followers.

https://thewest.com.au/politics/qanon-followers-reel-as-biden-inaugurated-ng-s-2046243

What Donald Trump's exit from the White House means for the QAnon conspiracy movement

While Donald Trump is leaving office, experts say his departure isn't the end for QAnon. Exactly where the movement goes from here, however, is harder to predict.

EMMA BRANCATISANO - 20 JANUARY 2021

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For QAnon faithful, Donald Trump's presidency was hailed as part of a grand plan that would expose evil within the US government and 'restore' America.

But on Thursday morning (AEDT), Mr Trump's single term as president will come to an end as Joe Biden is sworn in as his successor.

In some ways, that puts the central theory of this baseless and malleable web of conspiracies - that the outgoing president has spent years leading a mission to bring a 'deep state' group of paedophiles, including top Democrats and Hollywood elites, to justice - to bed.

But experts say this doesn't necessarily mark the end of a movement that now has support within the Republican Party, leaving it, the incoming Biden administration, and even Australia, with much to consider.

Elliot Brennan, from the University of Sydney's United States Studies Centre, says the movement has reached a "testing moment".

"For all the prophecy that Mr Trump was going to undo this 'deep state', that there was no way he could lose this election and that the election was stolen from him and he would win it back, it just hasn't eventuated," he told SBS News.

"The thing to remember here is QAnon, broadly, has had dozens of prophecies which haven't yet eventuated, and the movement has continued to grow."

What is QAnon?

QAnon is not one conspiracy theory but an umbrella term for a set of theories that have developed across different online forums around the so-called central figure, 'Q'.

"It's immensely broad and also incredibly malleable, which has enabled it to really accommodate the conspiracy theory at large," Mr Brennan said.

QAnon's central theory posits the world is run by an alleged 'deep state' - a cabal of cannibal paedophiles run by America's elite - who are plotting against Mr Trump while operating a global child sex-trafficking ring. According to QAnon lore, Mr Trump was recruited to dismantle this cabal.

That theory arose in October 2017 when a 'drop' appeared on online forum 4chan from an anonymous account that called itself 'Q Clearance Point'. The poster, who became known as 'Q', was a self-alleged American intelligence insider with knowledge of the workings of the US government and the so-called 'deep state'.

'Q' predicted Mr Trump would unmask the cabal and 'restore' America.

Professor Axel Bruns, from Queensland University of Technology's Digital Media Research Centre, describes the evolution of QAnon as a "treasure hunt" that has played out through so-called 'Q Drops' of cryptic information.

"The way it has been organised in some ways has really been to attract people by giving them riddles or incomplete information that can be interpreted in various ways," he said.

"That might be accidental or deliberate, but it has worked to draw people further into the conspiracy. It's gamified, so in a way, it makes those who are part of it to feel special or different from others."

What emerged from the far-right fringes has somewhat reached the mainstream, with its community extending to wellness influencers, anti-lockdown libertarians and hardcore Trumpists. QAnon now also has people who have previously voiced support for the movement in positions of power within the Republican Party and in the US Congress.

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Donald Trump, the 'unconventional leader'

What began to emerge on message boards like 4chan and, later, other social media platforms, was the idea that Mr Trump, being an "unconventional presidential candidate", must exist to dismantle the so-called 'deep state', Mr Brennan says.

"People started to imbue him with this God-given role and increasingly the theory merged with Evangelism and religiosity, establishing this 'good versus evil' struggle, with President Trump representing the 'good', and Washington - the 'swamp' - along with Democrats and even Republicans, representing the 'evil'," he said.

As digital media experts analysed online activity, 'Q' paraphernalia started to emerge at Mr Trump's rallies. And as time went on, Mr Brennan says, the bond between support for Mr Trump and support for QAnon started to strengthen.

While there is no evidence that Mr Trump is behind the movement, Professor Bruns said it has certainly positioned the outgoing president as its leader.

"Everything that he has done, and everything that has been done against him, has been interpreted in some way by QAnon followers as part of some grand plan," he said.

"There has also been a lot of re-interpretation of what is going on to give these followers faith that everything is going to plan."

Last August, Mr Trump said at a press conference he didn't "know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate".

"We've seen time and time again, Mr Trump has been offered an off-ramp to condemn QAnon and conspiracy theories, along with right-wing extremism and white nationalism, but every turn he chooses to equivocate and do it in terms that can easily be manipulated into a message of support, Mr Brennan said.

So, what now?

QAnon faithful were told that Mr Trump would be re-elected in a landslide. But he wasn't and is leaving office under the cloud of a second impeachment.

Many prominent QAnon followers have also been arrested for their roles in the 6 January riot at the US Capitol. They're being barred by the thousands from major social networks for spreading misinformation about voter fraud, and US law enforcement is now treating the movement as a domestic extremist threat.

So, where does this leave the movement?

Experts say Mr Trump's departure from office does not spell the end of QAnon, but how the movement evolves from here is harder to predict.

Mr Brennan said it could be moving into a new and more concerning "phase of disenfranchisement" with Mr Biden as president.

"From their [QAnon adherents'] perspective, President Trump - the person who was going to expose the rampant child sex slavery in elite circles in Washington and Hollywood - is being replaced by someone who they falsely think is a paedophile," he said.

"That is a radicalising development for people who feel like their president is being taken away fraudulently and being replaced by someone who represents something they have railed against."

He said this phase could potentially be more dangerous, as members - barred from mainstream social media platforms - move to underground and encrypted messaging apps.

But Professor Bruns says as some members detach themselves from the movement, its future will depend on how remaining QAnon followers spin Mr Biden's presidency.

"It all depends on which sorts of attempts at explanation are going to become prominent within the remaining QAnon community," he said.

"It could become more violent and more threatening if they continue to say Mr Biden is illegitimate, or if they believe he is there for a reason and Mr Trump is letting him be there. They might actually step back because they believe, at the end of it, there will be some kind of reckoning."

But he said at some point, there will come an "end".

"I think generally and genuinely there is now a tendency for the really hardcore adherents to twist reality even further to keep the faith," he said.

"I think for a lot of them, eventually that will come to a breaking point where it is no longer possible to believe in the grand plan."

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/what-donald-trump-s-exit-from-the-white-house-means-for-the-qanon-conspiracy-movement

Warren Entsch: Politicians spreading MAGA and QAnon are ‘peddling crap’

Federal MP Warren Entsch has distanced himself from conspiracy theory touting backbenchers as the fallout over the US Capitol riots settles.

Pete Martinelli - January 21, 2021

FEDERAL MP Warren Entsch has distanced himself from conspiracy-theory touting backbenchers as the fallout over the US Capitol riots begins to settle.

Mr Entsch said he paid little heed to the extreme Right views of Craig Kelly and George Christensen, who have peddled MAGA sentiment and misinformation about coronavirus precautions.

“People are starting to see through it; sometimes it is important to shut your mouth and have people think you are foolish rather than open your mouth and have them know you are right,” Mr Entsch said.

He said politicians who spread misinformation were legitimising fringe groups “by peddling their crap”.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has recently accused the Prime Minister Scott Morrison of being afraid of “far Right extremist fringe dwellers” including Mr Kelly and Mr Christensen.

After the attempted insurrection in Washington DC, former independent candidate for Hill Peter Campion publicly mused that the coded gibberish spread by adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory – often likened to a cult and repeatedly disproved – had more merit than mainstream media.

“What if they weren’t “predictions” but forecasts based on a detailed plan,” Mr Campion wrote to the Cairns Post earlier this month.

“That’s the part that triggers Leftists; that Q’s coded signals might be intended to reassure the initiates that a plan to bring down the globalists is unfolding.”

He later claimed that coronavirus “was just a flu”, the US election was stolen and the Capitol riots were a “false flag operation” by Antifa activists.

Offenders at the riots had publicly proclaimed that they were in fact not Antifa, as they did not want the movement to be given credit.

Political candidates in the Far North have leapt on QAnon during the state election campaign, notably members of the Informed Medical Options Party.

https://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/warren-entsch-politicans-spreading-maga-and-qanon-are-peddling-crap/news-story/eb8d79cf781e137cafd60e260a4ff1bd

QAnon believers grapple with doubt, spin new theories as Trump era ends

The administrator of 8kun, the longtime Internet home of the mysterious Q, says it’s time to move on, and a moderator on Wednesday wiped Q’s 'drops’ from the website

Drew Harwell and Craig Timberg - Jan. 21, 2021

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Followers of the extremist ideology QAnon saw their hopes once again dashed Wednesday as President Trump left Washington on the final day of his presidency, without any of the climactic scenes of violence and salvation that the sprawling set of conspiracy theories had preached for years would come.

As Trump boarded Air Force One for his last presidential flight to Florida, many QAnon adherents — some of whose fellow believers had earlier this month stormed the Capitol in a siege that left at least two QAnon devotees dead and others in jail — began to wonder whether they’d been duped all along.

When one QAnon channel on the chat app Telegram posted a new theory that suggested Biden himself was “part of the plan,” a number of followers shifted into open rebellion: “This will never happen.” “Just stfu already!” “It’s over. It is sadly, sadly over.” “What a fraud!”

Late Wednesday, the movement suffered another blow when the “Q Research” forum on 8kun, QAnon’s online home, was wiped clean by a site moderator, who said in a rambling screed that “I am just performing euthanasia to something I once loved very very much.” Shortly after, the site’s leaders restored the deleted material and demanded the moderator’s death.

But while some QAnon disciples gave way to doubt, others doubled down on blind belief or strained to see new coded messages in the Inauguration Day’s events. Some followers noted that 17 flags — Q being the 17th letter of the alphabet — flew on the stage as Trump delivered a farewell address.

“17 flags! come on now this is getting insane,” said one post on a QAnon forum devoted to the “Great Awakening,” the quasi-biblical name for QAnon’s utopian end times. “I don’t know how many signs has to be given to us before we ‘trust the plan,’” one commenter said.

Over thousands of cryptic posts since 2017, Q, QAnon’s unidentified online prophet, had promised that Trump was secretly spearheading a spiritual war against an elite cabal of child-eating Satanists who controlled Washington, Hollywood and the world. Believers in these false, rambling theories had counted down the hours waiting for Trump to corral his enemies for military tribunals and mass executions in a show of force they called “the Storm.”

But on Wednesday, as reality dawned, QAnon promoters who had gained thousands of online supporters by promising to decode Q’s arcane posts — and profited off their audience, by selling QAnon merchandise or online subscriptions along the way — scrambled to spin the truth of Trump’s election loss or shift the goal posts of a deadline four years in the making.

One QAnon channel on Telegram with 40,000 subscribers noted that the last sentence of Eric Trump’s farewell tweet — “ … the best is yet to come!” — was also a common slogan for QAnon adherents, failing to mention that the phrase is a commonly used cliche. Another QAnon channel with 35,000 Telegram subscribers, devoted to the “Great Awakening,” highlighted Trump’s final remarks as president: “We will be back in some form — Have a good life. We will see you soon.”

“It simply doesn’t make sense that we all got played,” one QAnon channel on Telegram said.

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Some of the most notable figures in QAnon’s online universe said they were having a change of heart. After Biden’s inauguration, Ron Watkins — the longtime 8kun administrator who critics have suspected may have helped write Q’s posts himself, a charge he denies — said on Telegram that it was time to move on.

“We need to keep our chins up and go back to our lives as best we are able,” said Watkins, who in recent months had become one of the loudest backers of conspiracy theories suggesting Biden’s win was a fraud.

“We have a new president sworn in and it is our responsibility as citizens to respect the Constitution regardless of whether or not we agree with the specifics,” Watkins added. “As we enter into the next administration please remember all the friends and happy memories we made together over the past few years.”

In the mass deletion on “Qresearch” late Wednesday, the anonymous moderator seemed to criticize Ron Watkins and his father, 8kun’s owner, Jim Watkins, as well as a group of QAnon-supporting users, saying, “Q made you do NOTHING … he just kept you calm and sedated … what have you done as of late, beside waiting for things to get better?”

Much of the forum was restored by the site’s leaders shortly after. But it still potentially marked another end of an era, said Travis View, a researcher and co-host of the podcast “QAnon Anonymous," who called it another “sign that QAnon as we know it is collapsing.” Neither Ron nor Jim Watkins responded to requests for comment.

Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, which tracks misinformation, said QAnon followers are making increasingly illogical leaps as they struggle to make sense of developments.

“It’s something that has long been true of conspiracy theories: When they don’t come to fruition, they shift their delusions to the next thing,” he said. He noted how some comments posted below Trump’s farewell video suggested that “it wasn’t quite time for the Great Awakening, but it’s coming soon and this is how.”

Researchers said some QAnon supporters appear to be rethinking their commitment due to a range of factors, including Q’s relative silence since the election, Trump’s anticlimactic White House exit, and the Capitol insurrection, which resulted in more than 100 arrests and delayed the certification of Biden’s victory by only several hours.

But several feared that the rising intensity of those still committed to QAnon could create problems for years to come if a die-hard, militarized core persists in their belief that the U.S. government is controlled by evil pedophiles who have successfully subverted the Constitution.

“What we’re seeing is a trend in increasingly bunker-down, apocalyptic language,” said Joel Finkelstein, co-founder of the Network Contagion Research Institute, a research group that studies online disinformation. “It’s gone from [talk of] a revolution to a civilization-ending kind of collapse.”

He and other researchers have also chronicled an increasingly global QAnon movement that could outlast its potential weakening in the United States as events and an aggressive crackdown by social media platforms limit the ideology’s reach among Americans. The QAnon followings in Germany and Japan are particularly strong and growing, said Finkelstein, whose research group tracked a surge in QAnon terms the morning of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, including one that said “qarmyjapanflynn.”

“They’re going to reemerge at some point because they’ve internationalized,” he said. “There’s a metastization of QAnon from a national story to a global revolution.”

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QAnon adherents had long anticipated Trump’s military strike against his foes, which they believed would play out like an action movie; the fact that Tuesday was “National Popcorn Day” on mainstream calendars seemed too perfect to be coincidence. Followers in recent days have seen coded messages everywhere: first lady Melania Trump’s black-and-gray coat, worn in her final address, was said to resemble the TV static that would signal the media blackout of Trump’s military takeover.

But on Wednesday, some promoters recognized that believers being confronted with the reality of QAnon’s baselessness were in need of encouragement. One forum offered doubters a “FAT DOSE OF HOPIUM” — their jargon, meaning reasons for hope — and urged readers to “GET IN HERE IF YOU’RE RUNNING LOW.” The thread used a nine-month-old Q post to suggest that Trump had coordinated another subtly brilliant move in his final hours in office: “He is metaphorically walking away in slow motion while the explosions go off behind him.”

One of the forum’s moderators, “God_Bless_America1,” posted a thread counseling that “POTUS has NOT let us down or failed, he has done all he could within his power and it is now going to be handing it to the military to take from here exactly as Q drop forecast.” Uncertainty, the moderator added, would not be tolerated: “ANY dooming or negative comments clogging up the site pertaining to current situation will result in removal and ban if repeated.”

View said Inauguration Day had been seen as “a very special day in the QAnon community,” but that the responses to real-world events have been mixed.

Believers, he said, appear to be splitting between those who see Biden’s ascent to the White House as a sign that the Q’s prophecies were wrong and those who think they were right but need to be recast for a Biden administration in which Trump remains secretly powerful and able to control events unfolding in Washington.

“A minority are facing reality that Biden’s going to be president,” View said. “Others are coming to believe that the storm they were expecting is still going to happen but sometime during the Biden administration.”

The day also highlighted the deepening division between QAnon adherents and other far-right extremists, who have voiced growing doubts about Trump. A channel for the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence, said Trump had thrown Capitol rioters “under the bus” and called QAnon “a bolshevik lie.”

QAnon, as with most online creations, probably will not disappear any time soon. On Tuesday night, a small crowd of picketers rallied with signs urging “Repent or Perish” outside Comet Ping Pong, the D.C. pizzeria at the center of Pizzagate — the 2016 conspiracy theory from which QAnon was born.

View predicted that the QAnon community may shrink in the coming months but also become more fervent in their commitment to its ideas.

“History has taught us far-right movements don’t cool off during a Democratic administration,” View said. “The people who stick with it are going to become even more radicalized and potentially more dangerous.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/20/qanon-trump-era-ends/

Sex abuse victim speaks out after Perth Catholic church consents to pay $2.45m compensation

Keane Bourke and Amelia Searson - 21 January 2021

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A victim who will be awarded $2.45 million in compensation for sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a Catholic priest has spoken out about the "severe" impact the abuse continues to have on his life.

Warning: This story deals with child abuse and rape.

Perth's Catholic archbishop consented to pay the compensation after the victim, who is now aged in his 50s, described being raped by Father Bertram Adderley in the 1970s.

The landmark judgement was approved by a District Court judge last week and is believed to be one of the highest known sums paid by any Catholic church in Australia to a survivor of historic sex abuse.

Peter* spoke to the ABC about the abuse he suffered at the hands of the now-deceased priest, who was a lay teacher at Perth's prestigious Aquinas College in the 1950s, before serving as a priest in the Catholic Diocese in Bunbury.

Adderley also served in Perth at the parish in Hamilton Hill, where he met Peter when he was a nine-year-old altar boy around 1977.

Peter, who did not want to be identified, said it was scary to re-live the worst time of his life in court, but he pushed through because he felt the church's response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was "arrogant".

"As much as it hurt, I steeled myself to pursue this and contacted the lawyers," Peter said.

He said the church had not behaved fairly towards victims.

"You guys have affected so many lives, mine included, and you're just brushing us under the carpet," he said.

"You're not paying any respect to future victims and you're not showing any desire to prevent future victims."

Victim recounts trauma in court

Peter said he felt comfortable talking with those close to him about the abuse he suffered as a boy but when he had to recount the harrowing details in court, it was traumatising.

He said he left the court feeling extremely anxious, with feelings he hadn't felt for years.

"It brought it home to me just how much it still affects me," he said.

"But when you have to delve back into the nitty gritty … it really does rip the scabs open and all the scars were laid bare again.

"I left the court that day in shellshock."

He said relief flooded through him when his legal team advised that not only had the church make a financially acceptable settlement, they had also accepted how traumatic it was for him to relive his abuse.

"I've spent 43 years battling with conditions, I had no idea I had," Peter said.

"PTSD, depressive disorder, major anxiety, and now I can afford to get it all treated properly, I can find the help I've always needed."

He said the impact the abuse had throughout his life had been severe.

"Not being able to hold relationships, my moral compass was completely destroyed by what happened to me as a child, and the people who loved me and have loved me, and I have loved bore the brunt of that," he said.

"I've had anger management issues, which has not only affected my work life, but my love life."

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'Church knew of prior abuse'

Peter's lawyer Michael Magazanik said Adderley had "dozens and dozens" of other victims, including boys at Aquinas College where he worked as a lay teacher in the 1950s.

Mr Magazanik said Adderley abused "many boys" in the Bunbury region in the sixties and seventies, and the Church was made aware of these allegations.

Rather than taking action, Mr Magazanik said the Church "shifted him up the road to Perth" where he met Peter when he was an altar boy at the Hamilton Hill parish.

"Adderley abused (Peter) horrifically in 1978 and 1980," he said.

"Really the claim was the Catholic Church knew Adderley was a child abuser, yet allowed him to move up to Perth and serve at the Church where he abused my client.

"We know he abused boys in the Bunbury region, he abused boys in Perth, he targeted boys he met at the beach, school boys, altar boys and he especially targeted boys at Aquinas College in Perth," he said.

"He had many victims and I know some of those victims haven't made it."

Mr Magazanik described the judgement as "enormously significant".

"This is the largest sum of compensation the Catholic Church has paid to an abuse survivor in Australia ever," he said.

'Evil prospers in darkness'

Peter said: "What happened to me should never have happened, because [the Catholic Church] was aware of his sickness, his illness of the mind, before he got to me."

He said this "dereliction of their duty of care" pushed him to bring his case forward.

"The thing that fortified me to go ahead with this process is a firm belief that evil prospers in the darkness," he said.

He said while he did not feel "happy" about the judgement, it has led him to find some closure and relief.

He said every morning when he woke up, the first thing he saw was his abuser.

But he said he took solace in the historic judgement.

"You didn't win, you didn't beat me," he said of his abuser.

Fears for other victims

While Peter survived, he feared what had happened to other victims of Father Adderley.

"I'm so frightful of how many people didn't make it this far in life, I nearly didn't make it a couple of times because of him," he said.

"But I just couldn't let him win and couldn't let [the Catholic Church] win.

Going forward Peter said he wanted other victims to seek help and know it is not their fault.

"Do not feel guilty about it, don't be ashamed of it," he said.

"If you're still with us, if you haven't succumbed to that guilt and shame, go and see a lawyer.

Peter said in the early 2000s, the Church embarked on what it called the Towards Healing process where it acknowledged that some of the priests had "done heinous things to the children in their flock".

He said he received $50,000 in financial regress and was muffled by a legal document stating he could not talk about what had happened to him, which had left him feeling hopeless.

Once ordained as a priest, Adderley served as a priest in the Catholic Diocese in Bunbury from 1959 to 1974.

He died in 1983 before any charges could be laid against him.

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Archbishop apologises for 'deplorable history' of sexual abuse against young and vulnerable

The Perth Catholic Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said in a statement he was "glad the survivor of this shocking abuse has had the opportunity to have his story told and believed and has been financially compensated"

"The Catholic Church has a deplorable history in relation to the sexual abuse of the young and vulnerable," Reverend Costelloe said.

"The Royal Commission shone a much-needed light on this dark chapter in the Church's history here in Australia.

"Nothing can justify or cancel out the dreadful mistakes of the past.

"What the Church can do today and into the future is to commit itself to treating those who have been abused with dignity, respect and integrity.

"The Church can and must also take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that, as far as humanly possible, such abuse never again occurs within Catholic settings."

He said the church had established two bodies that were "functionally independent" to ensure the safety of constituents, and ensure complainants were supported when they reported abuse.

He said the church was a full participant in the Commonwealth Redress Scheme, which was set up in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

'Business as usual' despite Royal Commission

But Peter said the Australian Catholic Church's response to the Royal Commission was not enough.

"Their refusal to change the sanctity of the confessional, and their refusal to report paedophiles within their own ranks, when they become aware of it, says to me that they have not changed … to them it's business as usual and this is just a minor inconvenience," he said.

"The hubris and arrogance of the Catholic church in the past had to be accounted for … for there to be any real justice in life.

"The laws are against me, the statute of limitations are against me, so I begrudgingly accepted it and tried to move on with my life," he said.

Peter urged the public to stay vigilant over protecting children, as the Royal Commission found they're commonly abused by people in trusted positions like a priest or family member.

*The victim's name has been changed to protect his identity.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-21/catholic-church-rape-victim-speaks-after-historic-compensation/13077392

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/

>>12623240

>>12646319

John Podesta Tweet

Congratulations to Avril Haines on her Senate confirmation. In an administration full of strong picks, Avril stands out as a superb choice— and the Senate agreed. Our intelligence community and national security are in good hands.

https://twitter.com/johnpodesta/status/1352057472878604291

Senate confirms Avril Haines as director of national intelligence

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/haines-director-national-intelligence-confirmed/2021/01/20/135053ba-5b73-11eb-b8bd-ee36b1cd18bf_story.html

>>12478538

Bill Shorten Tweet

What a difference a day makes.

https://twitter.com/billshortenmp/status/1352129986170245121

Bob Carr Tweet

Like a majority of Republicans Joe Hockey believes there was vote fraud. Said it publicly. Oops! Bad move for a fledgling lobbyist wanting access to a Democrat administration.

https://twitter.com/bobjcarr/status/1352060133312921600

—

Now in Nine Media Joe struggles to make good but the new Democrat team weren’t impressed with his crawling to the Ancien Regime now unpacking candlesticks and golf clubs at Mar-a-Largo.

https://twitter.com/bobjcarr/status/1352060135120621570

>>12662454

America's silo society has to face its racial demons

In past upheavals, Americans at least all shared the same news. Now there is an apartheid of the national spirit that is creating deeper divisions than ever.

Bob Carr - Jan 20, 2021

1/2

As Joe Biden took the oath of office overnight on Thursday (AEDT) a slew of polls confirm that something like 55 million American voters believe his election was rigged. That is, 75 percent of all who voted for Trump believe the election was stolen from them. Yet the chasm is even wider. According to a YouGov poll 45 per cent of Republicans agree with the demonstrators who used violence on January 6 to block the result. That’s a ringing endorsement of illegal political action.

As demonstrators go on trial this wedge of the electorate is going to be told every day on Fox and by Trump they are being victimised because, during the northern hemisphere summer, violence committed by Black Lives Matter went uncondemned or unpunished. Even the more softly committed Trump supporters are being drawn into a steamy underground of grievance and resentment.

Flick between Fox and CNN and witness the new bitterness in Americans' gaping cultural divide.

One day last week CNN was interviewing Kentucky Democrat Governor Andy Beshear with footage of him being hung in effigy outside the governor’s mansion. “It is a battle for America,” he said, vowing to ban “terrorists” from the state capital. At that moment Fox was broadcasting indignant commentary about a group of Harvard staff campaigning to have the university strip degrees from graduates who had denied the validity of Biden’s election. This would include Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

“We’re becoming a one-point-of-view society," one Fox commentator said.

Until recently my instincts were to resist the view that America under Trump was more divided than it had been anytime since the Civil War.

As an amateur historian I was aware of the 1960s urban riots and the 1970 shootings at Kent State. The class war of the 1930s had violence at factory gates. The Smithsonian's collection boasts one of the Gatling guns used by employers to threaten workers in the bitter strikes of the late 19th century. But in previous periods of intense conflict – during the Vietnam war years and Watergate – Americans reverted to common sources of information: a rich culture of newsprint with revered newspaper mastheads, TIME and Newsweek magazines, and the network news bulletins hosted by craggy national icons.

Opinions are now stacked in silos, news segregated as if by an apartheid of the spirit.

The people of this riven land subscribe to separate narratives in which the motives of others are wicked and debauched and a traditional America is swinging in the breeze. The ideology that fuelled the storming of the Capitol, reinforced on Fox every day, finds justification in extreme measures if required to “take the country back.”

(continued)

>>12662478

2/2

That renders Trump voters warriors fighting for their version of America. The Senate run-offs in Georgia – the election of a Jewish and a black man to become senators – feeds the anxiety that white America is in eclipse. This fear was expressed by Donald Trump – showing his brilliance at capturing the sentiments of his base – when he said: “There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened, where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country”.

Fear at what this eclipse foretells brought demonstrators to a fury in which they could chant “hang Mike Pence”. It brought eight Republican senators and 139 members of Congress to vote to block an election outcome. That they cast this vote after the violent demonstration at the Capitol is a symbol of division unprecedented in all the years since 1876.

It’s now commonplace commentary from Democrats, including the new President, that if the demonstrators in Washington had been black there would have been a harsh law-enforcement response – handcuffs and mass detentions, it’s implied, and likely tanks on the streets.

It’s further proof of a descent into rhetorical civil war that Hillary Clinton chose to write an op-ed after the riot more brutal on white supremacy than any leading figure has been, certainly more than Barack Obama allowed himself. Clinton endorsed the pessimistic race-based analysis of America’s divide. She wrote, “If people were given the choice between democracy and whiteness, how many would choose whiteness? Wednesday reminded us of an ugly truth: There are some Americans, more than many want to admit, who would choose whiteness.”

Nothing as candid about white nationalism as a motive force in national life has been jammed in the faces of the American public from a figure of such eminence.

For his part, Trump says the movement he started is only the beginning.

Bob Carr is the longest-serving premier of NSW and a former foreign minister of Australia. He is Industry Professor of Climate and Business at the University of Technology Sydney.

https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/america-s-silo-society-has-to-face-its-racial-demons-20201215-p56nig

Kevin Rudd Tweet

Biden’s team inherits a bucket full of foreign policy wreckage - in declining American power, weaker alliances and a damaged domestic body politic. But with strong and steady leadership, effective strategic competition with Beijing is achievable.

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1351829206510911488

Malcolm Turnbull Tweet

After the sacking of the US Capitol on Jan 6, the dangers of this cult are very clear especially if it’s adherents are able to influence or win support from leaders in government as they have so shamefully in the US.

https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/1351758982122143748

Jonathan Swan @jonathanvswan

Ezra Cohen: “The administration should have crushed this QAnon stuff as soon as it materialized.” politi.co/2LE01f5 via @politico

https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/1351713653276495873

>>12662800

‘Are you QAnon?’: One Trump official’s brush with an internet cult gone horribly wrong

Some believed he was “Q,” the mythical figure behind an intricate and sprawling conspiracy theory. Here Ezra Cohen-Watnick, a senior Trump intelligence official, shares the story of his ordeal for the first time.

JOSH GERSTEIN - 01/19/2021

1/3

The deadly insurrection in the nation’s capital this month brought intense public scrutiny to the online conspiracy theory QAnon and shock about its pervasiveness, but one prominent Trump administration official said he’s been battling the movement for years — pleading with his government colleagues and figures in the tech industry to recognize the real-world danger posed by the internet-based fantasy.

Since 2018, many members of the cult-like group have been convinced that its shadowy leader and founder is actually Ezra Cohen-Watnick, an intelligence specialist who worked in various Defense Department jobs before accepting a senior post on the National Security Council staff soon after President Donald Trump came into office in 2017. Cohen, who was brought in under former national security adviser Michael Flynn, became a figure of controversy when his run-ins with other intelligence officials spilled out into the press.

Cohen’s resulting notoriety led many adherents of QAnon to regard him as “Q,” who according to the conspiracy theory’s lore is a Trump administration official working on the inside to expose a deep-state cabal of pedophiles and Satan-worshippers bent on undermining Trump. Q’s cryptic messages, posted in the form of “Q drops” in online forums, have also fueled an obsession with a coming “Storm” — an apocalyptic event that would expose the evildoers, bring the cabal to justice and cement Trump’s hold on power.

“It's clear that the QAnon conspiracy was a core of what was going on at the Capitol and I want to do everything I can to delegitimize this conspiracy,” Cohen, 34, told POLITICO in an interview. “The country deserved better on Jan. 6 — what transpired was appalling and completely at odds with our democratic principles.”

Many of those who stormed the Capitol openly espoused QAnon beliefs and appear to have become convinced that Trump’s drive to overturn his loss in the 2020 election would culminate in some kind of military-led intervention, ousting evil Democrats and ushering in a righteous new era.

Trump fueled the Capitol attack not only with his inflammatory words but through months of public flirtation with the bizarre online obsession — particularly when it seemed to bolster his re-election bid or advance his post-election campaign to challenge the election results.

Asked about the violence at the Capitol, as well as the role that Trump played in stoking it through his speech that day and the conspiracy talk he fomented in the weeks after the election, Cohen said: “The administration should have crushed this QAnon stuff as soon as it materialized.”

In his first public comments on his ordeal, Cohen detailed a nightmarish, two-year-long fight to extricate himself from the QAnon saga. He said he’s speaking out now because he is again a private citizen, wrapping up his service as a Trump appointee at the Pentagon, and because he is outraged over the tragic events of Jan. 6.

Cohen described being caught in a kind of ideological tag team as early speculation by right-wing QAnon followers that that he was Q evolved into left-wing obsession with proving that he was the fraudster behind the postings, in order to demonstrate the moral bankruptcy of a top Trump administration official.

The rumors eventually began to seep into his real-life world. He recalls being approached at a pre-Covid cocktail party in D.C. “Someone came up to me and said, whispering, ‘Are you QAnon?’” he said, calling the incident disturbing.

Online, Cohen faced a slew of social media accounts falsely purporting to be him, tweeting out cryptic messages to QAnon followers. He said Twitter was slow to address the problem.

“Twitter did a horrible job of responding to this,” Cohen said. “Twitter is getting very aggressive about the QAnon stuff now. But for a very long time they allowed this to fester. And it's not like they didn't know about it — we reported it to them.”

(continued)

>>12662824

2/3

Cohen became so concerned about the proliferation of accounts suggesting links to him that he hired Washington-based lawyer Mark Zaid to investigate and push social media sites to shut them down.

While the first accounts explicitly impersonated Cohen, the next wave were more subtle, set up under vague names like @YourFriendlyE. While those accounts never directly claimed to be Cohen, they would quickly be identified, falsely, as Cohen by other QAnon-focused accounts.

“It was a cat-and-mouse game,” he recalled. “Every time we had an account get shut down, they would re-form and re-gain up to 20,000 followers and even higher within hours. And there would be this chorus of people online saying, ‘This is the new account.’”

The accounts would then send cryptic, ominous messages that allegedly came from Cohen. “It is only at the precipice that true and lasting change will occur,” one tweet said. “In order to fully expose the ‘Invisible Enemy,’ we had to bait them into a very contentious, bright light.”

Cohen said those running the account seemed to have a sophisticated understanding of Twitter’s policies and were skilled at evading them for some time.

“It was very clear that they basically knew exactly what the Twitter impersonation rules were,” he said. “They never came out and actually used my name or put my picture as the profile picture. They knew exactly where the line was, to get taken down as an impersonator account.”

Some of the online activity began to bleed over into Cohen’s physical world in troubling ways. One Twitter account involved posted a close-up photo of his home.

“It wasn't just from Google Streetview. It was as if somebody had been outside my house, and literally took a picture, looking in through my window,” he said. “I took it as a threat.”

Cohen also discovered that someone hacked into an old Hotmail account he no longer used and sought to use it verify other accounts. The intruder then used it to set up a meeting for Cohen with former National Security Agency employee Bill Binney, who has claimed that the hack of the Democratic National Committee in 2016 was an inside job and was not orchestrated by Russia as the intelligence community concluded.

One unusual aspect of the planned coffee-shop meeting was that despite the purported “invite” to Binney, Cohen knew nothing about it.

“The funny thing is, at the time, I wasn't even living in D.C. And I got a call from somebody saying, ‘Hey, you stood up Bill Binney.’ And I said, ‘What are you talking about?’” Cohen recalled. “You can imagine getting your email hacked into and having somebody lure people into coming to meet with you is very alarming.”

Cohen left the NSC in August 2017 and worked at Oracle for a time before returning to the Defense Department last May as a political appointee overseeing special operations. Even after that move, the internet posts continued, with some QAnon followers causing concern for Pentagon security officials by coming by to try to pay him a visit.

A spokesperson for Twitter defended the social media firm’s handling of the QAnon onslaught Cohen faced.

“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content,” Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy said. “We recently permanently suspended more than 70,000 Twitter accounts engaging in this behavior, including many of the accounts you referenced. We will remain vigilant in our approach of detecting and fighting this behavior, including in reference to this specific individual.”

However, Twitter did acknowledge that it stepped up its approach to QAnon-related accounts after the Capitol riot and found many instances of multiple accounts being run by a single person. The offending tweets Cohen shared with POLITICO are from accounts Twitter has permanently suspended, the firm said, while conceding that it won’t unmask pseudonymous accounts.

Of course, QAnon did not rise to prominence solely based on social media activity, but also won followers by being promoted by high-profile figures in Trump circles.

(continued)

>>12662831

3/3

One person who has emerged as a hero of sorts to the QAnon faithful is Flynn, whose tenure as national security adviser lasted a mere 25 days. QAnon backers rallied behind Flynn during his epic battle with prosecutors over false statements he initially admitted making to investigators, and the retired lieutenant general has returned the favor to the group, tweeting out QAnon memes as well as the QAnon slogan: Where we go one, we go all, or the hashtag #WWG1WGA.

Flynn effectively hired Cohen for the Trump White House in 2017. Cohen tried to reach out to Flynn through intermediaries to urge him to stop tweeting and retweeting QAnon content, a source familiar with the situation said. It didn’t work, and Flynn returned to Trump’s orbit in recent weeks as the president sought to overturn his election defeat.

Trump also gave QAnon oxygen — or at least did nothing to snuff it out.

At a televised town hall meeting on NBC in October, host Savannah Guthrie asked Trump to denounce the conspiracy theory. His muddled response was taken by many QAnon backers as an endorsement.

“I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard, but I know nothing about it,” Trump said.

Behind the scenes, Trump reportedly dismissed the notion that QAnon posed any danger and seemed willing to continue his public dalliance with the group.

“You know, people say they're into all kinds of bad things and say all kinds of terrible things about them," Trump said at a July meeting with top aides and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to Axios. "But, you know, my understanding is they basically are just people who want good government."

Trump and aides also embraced fringe Republican candidates who spouted #QAnon theories, such as just-elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. While some GOP leaders denounced Greene, in August, Trump tweeted out a tribute to her, calling her “a future Republican star.” And just weeks before the election, he gave her a shout-out from the stage at a Georgia rally.

Asked about Trump’s role, Cohen responded in general terms, saying that many in the administration treated the conspiracy theory as amusing long after it passed that point.

Cohen, who specializes in countering influence of foreign adversaries like Russia and China, says the persistence and sophistication of some of those involved in QAnon have convinced him of a foreign presence in the movement.

“In my professional opinion, being in the intelligence world, it really appeared to be a foreign state actor or a very organized operation,” he said. “I just don’t see that level of sophistication as just an amateur thing.”

Cohen recently got a verified Twitter account, which he said he didn’t really want, simply in order to make it easier to swat down fake accounts. He knows that some of the fevered QAnon traffic about him has moved to Parler and other forums, but he said he won’t be setting up camp there just to try to drive others away.

“I absolutely refuse to go on these other platforms,” he said. “I mean, I’m just not going to do it.”

Cohen cleared out of his Pentagon office on Friday and says he’s now planning to take some time off. But his attorney noted that — despite Twitter’s crackdown — messages keep appearing on the platform suggesting that Cohen is hard at work pursuing Q goals and is perhaps even behind a coup that will take place on Inauguration Day.

"The two years we have spent trying to successfully disentangle Ezra from the sticky webs of QAnon conspiracists has required incredible efforts both behind the scenes and publicly,” said Zaid, who has sometimes represented POLITICO reporters in Freedom of Information suits. “This is a movement and ideology that needs to be directly confronted by our government and citizenry.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/qanon-trump-ezra-cohen-watnick-460520

https://qanon.pub/?q=ezra

>>12439410

>>12476959

Family of imprisoned Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong ‘flees to Australia’

WILL GLASGOW - JANUARY 20, 2021

The family of Hong Kong’s high-profile pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has fled the Chinese territory for Australia.

Their dramatic relocation took place as their 24-year-old son serves a 13½-month sentence in Hong Kong’s Shek Pik prison for “organising and inciting unlawful assembly” during an unauthorised protest in 2019.

The Morrison government was tight-lipped on the relocation of the family of a man who Beijing has accused of being a “black hand” who they say colluded with foreign powers to undermine the Chinese Communist Party’s rule over the former British colony.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s administration has furiously denounced Australia and other countries, including Britain, the US and Canada, for interfering in “China’s internal affairs” by speaking out about the erosion of political rights in Hong Kong.

A fortnight ago, the four countries released a joint statement condemning the mass arrest of 55 politicians and activists in Hong Kong under the sweeping new National Security Law that Beijing imposed on the city last June.

“It is clear that the National ­Security Law is being used to eliminate dissent and opposing political views,” Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her counterparts from Britain, the US and Canada said.

Mr Wong, who as a teenager in 2014 rose to international prominence as one of the faces of leaders of Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Movement”, was one of the 55 charged. The maximum penalty under the national security law is life in jail.

Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily newspaper first reported the relocation to Australia of Mr Wong’s parents Roger Wong Wai-ming and Grace Wong, and his younger brother. It reported that the family had sold their apartment in Hong Kong below the market price at the end of 2020.

Rival paper Ta Kung Pao, which is aligned to Beijing, said that the young democracy protester had been “brainwashed” by his father, a devout Christian.

In 2017, Roger Wong told The South China Morning Post that he had “rarely talked about politics and democracy” with his son.

“Actually, I only care about the religious revival in China and my dream is to see many, many Chinese believe in God,” the retired IT professional said.

“I never expected Joshua to be involved in politics. Rather, I hope that he could have dedicated himself to the work of spreading the gospel,” he said while his then 21-year-old son was completing his first prison sentence.

It is not clear on what visas the family arrived in Australia. The federal government created a new visa option for students and skilled workers from Hong Kong last July, weeks after the national security law was passed by Beijing.

Barring exceptional circumstances, Australia’s international borders have been closed to all but national citizens and permanent residents since March.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Home Affairs both declined to comment.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/family-of-hong-kong-activist-joshua-wong-flees-to-australia/news-story/71169ba6b0b667d509b45d3397082088

>>12645819

Australia's human rights problem may lead to another 'Floyd tragedy': expert

Xu Keyue - Jan 22, 2021

Australia found itself in hot water again as China and other countries raised concerns over Australia's human rights problems including racism, war crimes overseas, including in Iraq, at a recent United Nation (UN) human rights session.

A Chinese expert warned Australia's long-standing racism could lead to another "Floyd tragedy." The expert said the country's accusations over China's issues including that of Xinjiang and Hong Kong are solely for political purposes as it has turned blind to its home problems and doesn't really care about human rights.

UN Watch tweeted on Wednesday that China reviewed Australia's rights record at the UN and urged Australia to "combat racism and protect minorities, close migrant detention centers, investigate Australian war crimes, eliminate systematic discrimination and stop making baseless charges for political purpose."

Hua Chunying, spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry said at a press conference on Thursday that China hopes that Australia will take the opinions of the international community seriously, face its human rights issues squarely, and take concrete measures to improve its human rights situation and contribute to the sound development of the global human rights cause.

Hua said that China's representative submitted five recommendations for Australia, including taking action "to combat racial discrimination, hate speech and violence and protect the rights of ethnic minorities" and eliminating systematic discrimination against Indigenous Australians.

China called on Canberra to close offshore detention centers for migrants, the report said.

It reaffirmed calls for a thorough investigation into war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan - the issue that was at the center of a tweet by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson in December.

Some of the recommendations were echoed by other countries attending Wednesday's UN Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights.

Media reports said that one question that stood out is why Australia has delayed a push to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years, which was widely believed to likely result in Australia's high rates of incarceration of Indigenous children.

Canada, France, Germany, Venezuela and Norway were among the 31 UN member states to call on Australia to raise the age, Australian media said.

Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Thursday that the human rights issues raised by the UN countries are deep-rooted, long-standing and critical in Australia.

Discrimination against Asians, especially Chinese, are worsening in the country since the COVID-19 pandemic and a series of cases involving physical and verbal attacks have been reported by local media, he said.

Not only has the international community long called on Australia to reduce the imprisonment of indigenous citizens, but also Australian society has paid attention to some unexplained deaths of indigenous residents on the way to jail and believe the police could be suspected.

The police violence against the indigenous residents remind the public of the African American George Floyd who died after being pinned down by a US police officer who held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, and the consequent social protests. Chen said the racism and attendant police enforcement in Australia are similar with those in the US, and he's worried it could lead to another "Floyd tragedy" and social conflicts.

"This is not just a social but systematic problem," Chen addressed.

However, despite its serious home human rights issues, Australia turned to hype up China's affairs and smeared China's Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong issues without evidence, which reflects the country's indifference in true human rights issues and craze for political gains, Chen noted.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1213582.shtml

>>12663221

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on January 21, 2021

Shenzhen TV: At the UN Third Cycle of Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights on Australia, China's representative submitted five recommendations. Can you confirm it? What prompted China to raise these recommendations?

Hua Chunying: Representatives from various countries including China made criticism or recommendations at the deliberation of the UPR Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Australia. China's representative proposed that Australia should take actions to combat racial discrimination, hate speech and violence and protect the rights of ethnic minorities; protect the rights of migrants and close offshore detention centers for migrants; carry out a thorough investigation into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces operating overseas, bring perpetrators to justice, end impunity and prevent recurrence of these crimes; eliminate systemic discrimination and violent actions against indigenous Australians; and stop using disinformation and making politically-motivated and groundless accusations against other countries. We hope that Australia will take the opinions of the international community seriously, face its human rights issues squarely, and take concrete measures to improve its human rights situation and contribute to the sound development of the global human rights cause.

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1847711.shtml

QAnon and targeted abuse require online reform: commissioner

Paul Smith - Jan 22, 2021

Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has warned big tech platforms that they must do more to tackle the problems caused by anonymous accounts on their services, ahead of the proposed introduction of new powers that could force individuals to be unmasked and see fines levied.

Anonymous social media accounts used by proponents of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon were prominently cited by members of the mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6. The government, meanwhile, has already opened up consultations on new laws to force tech platforms to take abuse, abhorrent material and trolling more seriously.

In a position statement to be released on Friday, the commissioner lays out the vexed issues that are raised by plans to regulate online anonymity. Although some of the worst online behaviour is propagated by anonymous accounts, anonymity is also a powerful form of protection for victims of domestic violence, whistleblowers and people living under authoritarian regimes.

Facebook and Google are already locked in battle with the Australian government over the proposed media bargaining code, which will see the companies pay publishers for the content they display in their products.

Ms Inman Grant – a former public policy director at Twitter – said she wanted the issue of safety and anonymity to be less acrimonious, but that Google and Facebook had previously shown signs of trying to avoid setting any global precedents with local commitments.

"They initially pushed back pretty hard five years ago when this started, and I think they were worried about the domino effect. I was at Twitter at the time, and I remember [Communications Minister] Paul Fletcher, who was then parliamentary secretary, drafted the legislation, and called us all in to see and comment on the draft, and I was the only person that showed up," Ms Inman Grant said.

"Google and Facebook in particular, weren't willing to voluntarily sign up to our tiered cyber-bullying scheme either, which suggested to me that they just didn't want the precedent of an online safety regulator."

Australia's appointment of an eSafety Commissioner was a world first. Ms Inman Grant said a Canadian minister had told her that country would be copying the Australian model, while new US President Joe Biden has pledged to convene a taskforce looking at issues including cyber exploitation and online harassment.

The proposed changes to Australia's Online Safety Act include potential new powers for the eSafety Commissioner to seek identification or contact information behind anonymous accounts on social media platforms.

Individuals could be fined up to $111,000 for anonymousabusive behaviour, such as posting revenge porn, and content hosts such as social media, dating or games platforms could be slugged with fines up to $550,000.

Concepts such as "digital licence plates", blockchain-based identity management systems and digital signatures are being explored as potential solutions to authenticate people online, without them being publicly identified or even known to the tech companies.

The commissioner's paper calls on tech companies to take greater steps to suspend or remove anonymous accounts that are created to harass users or that violate a platform’s terms of service, and to work together to stop coordinated harassment and intimidation campaigns across platforms.

"I think untrammelled free speech has its limitations when it can be used to incite violence, and to organise like when Magda Szubanski was targeted by the anti-vaxxers and QAnon folks on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, after she helped promote the wearing of masks to stop COVID-19," she said.

"Some responsibility does fall back on the platform to be more actively tackling accounts that they know are being abusive, or, for that matter, spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, with QAnon being a good example in the role in played in the events at the US Capitol."

https://www.afr.com/technology/qanon-and-targeted-abuse-require-online-reform-commissioner-20210121-p56vvl

https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/tech-trends-and-challenges/anonymity

>>12662525

Murdoch Watch - Fox News & the Amplification of Conspiracies Surrounding the Death of Seth Rich

Kevin Rudd

22 Jan 2021

Our first episode of Murdoch Watch for 2021 & it's a doozy. The story of Murdoch's Fox News & their collaboration with Trump on conspiracy theories surrounding the tragic murder of a young man, Seth Rich. The culture of the Murdoch media empire is foul. #MurdochRoyalCommission

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

>Those who scream the loudest…

‘It’s a reality:’ Google threatens to stop search in Australia due to media code

1/2

Google’s threat to cut off search to Australian users and walk away from $4 billion in revenue has sparked warning the digital giants are not bluffing over laws designed to force them to pay for news.

The $1.8 trillion search giant’s local managing director Melanie Silva told a Senate committee hearing on Friday that Google would shut off search in Australia if the government’s proposed media bargaining code becomes law. Experts said the threat is not idle, with Google likely fearful the code could set a global precedent.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia would not respond to the threats as news media companies fired back at suggestions their content did not add value to the platforms.

“Australia makes our rules for things you can do in Australia. That’s done in our Parliament. It’s done by our government, and that’s how things work here in Australia,” he said. “People who want to work with that, in Australia, you’re very welcome. But we don’t respond to threats.”

The code aims to force digital platforms to pay media companies for news content, and follows a 12-month review into Google and Facebook by the competition watchdog. The legislation, which was introduced into the House of Representatives in December, comes amid a push by global governments to rein in the power of digital monopolies.

Google’s threats follow similar remarks made by Facebook Australia’s managing director Will Easton in September, who announced plans to remove news articles from the social media’s main app if the media code is passed by Parliament.

Montaka Global fund manager Andrew Macken, whose company owns shares in both Google and Facebook, said he believed they were not empty threats.

“I suspect it is [legitimate],” Mr Macken said. “Google would perhaps rather lose Australia (a relatively small global market) to avoid setting a precedent for its other larger markets.”

Google’s comments marked the first time the digital giant publicly threatened to disable its primary search function to all Australians in its response to the proposed laws.

Hannah Marshall, a partner at Marque Lawyers that specialises in competition law, said the code in its current form left the tech giants with no choice.

“The code now says that Google and Facebook have to pay for the right to supply audience to the news publishers,” Ms Marshall said. “That makes no legal or commercial sense.”

“To avoid the operation of the code, Google and Facebook have no option but to cease linking to news altogether. If Google can’t reliably separate news results from other search results, then logically it may have to pull its entire search service from Australia.”

(continued)

>>12664013

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Concerns about Google’s exit from the market were also shared by Labor’s communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland.

“[Treasurer] Josh Frydenberg and [Communications Minister] Paul Fletcher need to explain why they can’t find a way to support the media without also disrupting the millions of Australians who use Google Search and Facebook every month,” Ms Rowland said.

Ms Silva assured senators the ultimatum was a “worst-case scenario”. “It’s not a threat. It’s a reality,” she said. “If this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia.”

Ms Silva reiterated Google’s long-running argument the code would “break” Google’s business model by forcing it to pay news outlets to provide links to their news content - a move the trillion-dollar company claims undermines the concept of a free and open internet.

She also revealed that news queries comprised only 1.25 per cent of all Google searches, but under intense questioning from senators, said the company was concerned the proposed Australian code would set an international precedent.

Simon Milner, Facebook’s vice-president for public policy Asia-Pacific, restated the company’s ultimatum - first made in September - that it may resort to blocking news content on its Australian site.

Mr Milner said the move would be “a potential worse case consequence”, adding it was “absolutely not a threat” but designed to inform the policy process.

“The great majority of people who are using Facebook would continue to be able to do so, but we would no longer be able to provide news as part of the Facebook product,” Mr Milner said.

He told the inquiry that having news content on Facebook provided “almost no commercial value to Facebook”.

But Australian media companies disputed the claims of the tech giants and urged the government to legislate immediately. Executives from News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment Co (owner of this masthead) and Guardian Australia, presented a largely united front at the hearing, arguing the code would help ensure the long-term sustainability of local journalism and disputing claims the tech giants did not receive value from content.

Nine’s chief digital and publishing officer, Chris Janz, said a failure to implement the code would see the tech giants “continue to refuse to pay for the content they’ve used to secure their monopolies or live up to the responsibilities that come with such power”.

Chairman of Free TV Australia Greg Hywood, who speaks on behalf of Nine, Seven West Media and Network Ten, said it would be a “surprising choice” for Google to withdraw from a market where they generate billions of dollars of revenue “just because they are required to pay for content they can readily afford”.

Mr Frydenberg introduced the bill to legislate the code during the final sitting week of Parliament last year, with a vote expected early this year after the committee delivers its report on February 12.

The code requires Google and Facebook to enter mandatory arbitration with media companies if they cannot reach an agreement over the value of their content within three months.

It also requires the platforms to give the news businesses 14 days’ notice of algorithm changes, and non-discrimination provisions have been put in place to stop the tech giants from taking retaliatory action such as removing content or punishing organisations that participate in the code.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/google-threatens-to-disable-search-in-australia-if-media-code-becomes-law-20210122-p56w2h.html

Alexander Downer Tweets

After 4 1/2 years of reading on Twitter crazy conspiracy theories about me being a spy and how I was part of a treasonous attempted coup against president Trump and I would be hanged or sent to Gitmo, I guess that’s coming to an end!

https://twitter.com/AlexanderDowner/status/1352227780922994694

—

Mind you, the mad conspiracy theories from the Left are just as bad! As is their extraordinary hate. I must hold the Australian record for allegations on Twitter for crazy conspiracy theories!

https://twitter.com/AlexanderDowner/status/1352228641250283521

—

InMyHumbleOpinion @IMHO1969

Actually Durham was named as a Special Counsel so Biden Admin couldn't end the investigation.

Stay tuned.

https://twitter.com/IMHO1969/status/1352228523482746881

—

For ever! There was no conspiracy involving me as Durham knows!

https://twitter.com/AlexanderDowner/status/1352231684268122116

—

InMyHumbleOpinion @IMHO1969

Perhaps you were just a useful idiot?

https://twitter.com/IMHO1969/status/1352231872579792898

—

Or maybe it’s just nonsense! Which it is!

https://twitter.com/AlexanderDowner/status/1352232761717739524

>>12664164

Biden ‘should stop’ Trump’s impeachment to unite America

Sky News Australia

21 Jan 2021

Former foreign minister Alexander Downer says if President Joe Biden wants to unite the country, he should stop the impeachment of Trump and “just move on”.

“I think they should abandon the impeachment process and then just move on and try to win over some of those 74 million people,” Mr Downer told Sky News.

Mr Downer said Joe Biden would need to take the sting of partisanship out of the presidency considering his two predecessors were “extremely partisan”.

“There’s no doubt Donald Trump was a partisan president, so was Barack Obama before him,” he said.

“Joe Biden’s CV suggests he can bring the two sides together, but we’ll just have to see.”

Mr Downer said Joe Biden’s recent signing of an executive order to stop building the wall to Mexico will leave him confronted with people moving from the central America to the United States.

“That’s going to be one of his really big issues early on, how does he unite the country when dealing with issues like that? We’ll just have to wait and see.”

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

Chief Minister Michael Gunner extends official invite to US President Joe Biden to visit the NT

CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner will officially invite freshly inaugurated US President Joe Biden to visit the Northern Territory – diplomatically offering to protect him with “complimentary crocodile insurance”.

Mr Gunner, in an official letter seen by the NT News , will extend an offer to Mr Biden and First Lady Dr Jill Biden, or Vice President Kamala Harris, to follow in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama and visit the Territory.

“While I recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic currently makes international travel difficult, we would love to host you in this special part of the world, as soon as it is safe to do so,” Mr Gunner said.

The Chief Minister highlighted the Territory’s growing strategic role in the “security of the Asia-Pacific region, the close military relationship of the US and the NT through annual joint-training exercise Marine Rotational Force Darwin (MRF-D), and the ability of Territorians to show him a “bloody good time” as reasons for Mr Biden to visit.

Mr Obama was the last US President to visit the NT, making a pit stop in Darwin as part of his trip to Australia in 2011, where MRF-D was announced alongside then prime minister Julia Gillard.

The NT News famously welcomed the arrival of Mr Obama in 2011 with a front page photograph of the President, offering him free crocodile attack insurance with the Territory Insurance Office.

Sealing the move into tradition, Mr Gunner, in his invitation, reassured Mr Biden that “every President who visits the Northern Territory receives complimentary crocodile insurance”.

But COVID-19 border restrictions mean the trip is likely to be delayed.

“Obviously it would be better to wait until the COVID situation is better, because rules are rules and the safety of Territorians comes first,” Mr Gunner said. “Any overseas arrival to the Territory has to quarantine, even the leader of the free world.”

In his first address to the nation, President Biden called for a lowering of the national temperature and to “end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban. Conservative versus liberal”.

His first day in office included signing three executive orders – a mask mandate on federal property, support for under-served communities, and rejoining the Paris climate accord.

https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/politics/chief-minister-michael-gunner-extends-official-invite-to-us-president-joe-biden-to-visit-the-nt/news-story/5f046f08f2ee38bb5c20d4e2cc3cb164

Operation Arkstone: Man who sparked nationwide arrests Justin Radford pleads guilty to child abuse

The man whose arrest helped unravel a nationwide child abuse ring has now admitted his heinous crimes.

Heath Parkes-Hupton - JANUARY 21, 2021

A perverted NSW man whose arrest led to the ensnarement of at least 16 alleged paedophiles across Australia faces years behind bars after admitting his heinous crimes.

Former Nine Network tape library assistant Justin Kenneth Radford has confessed to filming himself sexually violating two children and sharing the sick videos with an online network of creeps.

Radford, of Wyong on the Central Coast, was the first domino that fell in Operation Arkstone – an Australian Federal Police taskforce that has so far laid more than 800 child sex offence charges.

The repulsive files and search history found on devices upon his arrest last February led to the taskforce’s formation and helped detectives unravel the alleged paedophile ring that stretched across state and international boundaries.

Forensic analysis of the devices revealed social media forums where alleged child sex offenders were producing and sharing abhorrent material.

So far, 17 men have been tracked down across NSW, Western Australia and Queensland, with the latest arrest coming on Sydney’s north shore on January 14.

In total, 46 children have been removed from harm, including 16 from a childcare centre in Kendall – the NSW’s mid-north coast town where William Tyrrell went missing – where a former employee allegedly used his access to abuse them.

Almost a year after he was busted, Radford has now pleaded guilty to 18 charges including sexually touching a child, possessing child abuse material, transmitting child abuse material and using a child to make child abuse material.

The most serious of those offences carry maximum 10 year prison sentences.

The 30-year-old appeared before Gosford District Court on Thursday to confirm the pleas he entered before the Wyong Local Court on December 20.

Radford had previously faced 89 charges, including single counts of bestiality and doing a sexual act on a child for the purpose of filming, but most were withdrawn upon his admissions in court.

He is due to face a sentencing hearing before Gosford District Court on May 7.

Operation Arkstone was sparked after the AFP received a tip off in February from the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children about an online user uploading child abuse material.

The man officers identified was Radford.

Investigations under Operation Arkstone continue.

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/operation-arkstone-man-who-sparked-nationwide-arrests-justin-radford-pleads-guilty-to-child-abuse/news-story/e300f328330b845ddd1aafba816cf010

As Biden acts, the prime minister stays silent on QAnon (and his family friend)

As the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory faces a crackdown under the Biden administration, questions are once again raised about Scott Morrison's connections to its supporters.

DAVID HARDAKER - JAN 22, 2021

1/2

The threat posed by the extremist right wing QAnon conspiracy movement is set to be targeted by the incoming Biden administration’s top intelligence agency in the wake of the movement’s growing influence in US politics.

The movement was prominent in the January storming of Capitol Hill, where QAnon adherents played a role in attempts to overturn the US election in favour of Donald Trump.

In Australia though, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is still refusing to make any comment on the close friendship that exists between the family of Scott Morrison and a family which includes two of Australia’s leading QAnon followers.

The prime minister’s wife Jenny Morrison is best friends with Lynelle Stewart, whose husband Tim Stewart is a highly visible QAnon proponent in Australia. The Stewarts’ son Jesse, 22, is also a fervent QAnon backer. At the same time Lynelle Stewart has been on the government payroll, drawing a salary as an assistant to Jenny Morrison. In days gone by the families have mixed freely together.

The PMO has maintained a policy of silence on the QAnon question stretching back to Inq’s revelations in late 2019. Back then Inq documented how Tim Stewart claimed to have influence on the prime minister when it came to the wording of Morrison’s 2018 national apology to the survivors of institutional child sex abuse.

In one text message Stewart promised that “disturbing information” he had been given on school sex education would go “straight to Scott”. Stewart had gained a large following among QAnon adherents under his Twitter handle of Burn Notice (@BurnedSpy34), at one point reaching well over 30,000 followers before the platform moved to suspend QAnon accounts.

In the months since Trump lost the US election in November 2020 Tim Stewart and his son have barely taken a backward step in their support for the movement. The conspiracy, which has moved from the fringes of US politics to centre stage during the Trump years, grew around the idea that Trump was placed in the White House by an anonymous official named “Q” to cleanse the world of Satan-worshipping, paedophile elites who allegedly populate the so-called “deep state” and control the levers of power.

A YouTube video shows Tim Stewart and son Jesse (using their pseudonymous Twitter names Burn Notice and Negan_HQ, respectively) in a lengthy discussion with US QAnon supporters on a channel called the “Patriot Transition Voice”. The name is a reference to the “patriot” takeover of the United States being planned by QAnon.

Recorded two weeks after Trump lost the election, the channel displays the QAnon hallmark fusion of esoteric religion, supposed patriotism and revolutionary fervour. It is an article of faith, of course, that the election was stolen from Trump.

“Pray — behold the hand of God as he delivers us from tyranny”, the video says in its introduction over a backdrop of rolling biblical clouds dissolving into a sepia image of the founding fathers huddled over the US constitution. Those words appear to be a portent of the conflict to come. “Believing they could steal our freedom without a fight, again they were wrong” it warns.

At the time the video was made there was much to look forward to. Trump lawyer Sidney Powell would be filing the court actions which they believed would overturn “fraudulent” election results. Tim and Jesse Stewart were welcomed as cherished Aussie brothers before an hour and a half or so of conspiracy banter.

Despite Twitter’s vow to suspend the accounts of QAnon proponents, Jesse Stewart continued tweeting until only yesterday under the name of Negan (@Negan_HQ) — styling himself as a fictional tough guy from the Walking Dead television series. Jesse Stewart also has an account on the far right-wing platform Gab, a platform which appears to be a digital shrine to the glory of Donald Trump.

(continued)

>>12664755

2/2

In the days after the storming of Capitol Hill on January 6 and the failure to stop Congress accepting Biden’s legitimate electoral college victory, Jesse Stewart took to twitter to pass on to QAnon followers that Australia’s PM would be taking “official leave” until January 18, a move which he called “interdasting (sic) timing…”.

This is presumably a reference to the days before Trumps’ departure on January 20 and an imagined role Morrison might have in the Trump/QAnon saga.

On Thursday, Twitter finally suspended the Negan account, and the tweets have since become unavailable.

Stewart senior appears to now be way down the QAnon rabbit hole. When Inq contacted him this week he denied any inference that he might support the kind of violence which took place at Capitol Hill.

“If you print anything about me in that light I will sue you for defamation” he wrote in a text. In any case, he added, the Capitol Hill storming was “also being exposed as organised by Antifa and others and arrests are occurring”.

The proposition that Antifa, a broad left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist movement, is behind the Capitol Hill violence is yet another conspiracy promoted by pro-Trump acolytes to explain the violence which occurred.

The QAnon question has split the Stewart family, with Tim Stewart’s sister Karen having recently gone public with her concerns.

Karen Stewart told Inq that the family has reported concerns to “authorities” about what they believe is a tweet from Tim — under a separate and since-deleted Twitter account Spies Like Us (@RealStealthSpy) — supporting the Capitol Hill action.

The tweet said the riot would be “remembered as one of the greatest days on earth: When the civilians and the military retook control of the republic”.

Stewart has outright denied to Inq that he uses Twitter any more, though said that some Twitter accounts appear to “push out my blogs”. Twitter yesterday cancelled the Spies Like Us account. It is not known whether this is linked to questions which Inq put to the PM’s office earlier this week.

Karen Stewart is anxious about the apparent radicalisation taking place within her family, but the PMO appears to have adopted a strategy of ignoring the story altogether.

In October 2020 — just four months ago — an official from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet told Senate estimates that Lynelle Stewart had a security clearance to work at Kirribilli House. The same official said she knew nothing of an FBI decision at the time to categorise QAnon as a domestic terror threat in the USA. Nor did she know that Tim Stewart had just been suspended from Twitter for “engaging in co-ordinated harmful activity”.

But the QAnon story isn’t going away any time soon and the link may become harder to ignore if — when — it gains further media exposure.

In the United States, QAnon supporters have been grappling with the impact of Trump’s departure from office and have been seeking ways to reinterpret the conspiracy to adapt to the reality that the “Great Awakening” — heralding the mass arrest of deep state paedophiles — has not yet come to pass.

Some saw signs in Trump’s departure that the movement would continue, noting that the 17 US flags framing Trump’s farewell address corresponded to Q being the 17th letter of the alphabet. Others took heart in Trump’s final words: “We will be back in some form. Have a good life. We will see you soon.”

The Washington Post reported that on one QAnon channel commentators seized on the farewell words of Eric Trump that “the best is yet to come!” — a common slogan for QAnon adherents.

“It simply doesn’t make sense that we all got played,” the Post quoted one bewildered supporter as saying.

David Hardaker has an extensive career as a journalist and broadcaster, primarily at the ABC where he worked on flagship programs such as Four Corners, 7.30, Foreign Correspondent, AM and PM. He spent eight years reporting in the Middle East and can speak Arabic.

https://www.crikey.com.au/2021/01/22/australia-qanon-conspiracy-joe-biden/

Trump was a 'demagogue president' and 'sociopath', says former FBI director Comey | 7.30

ABC News In-depth

22 Jan 2021

James Comey became an unwilling central player in the 2016 US election campaign when, as head of the FBI, he oversaw investigations into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server for emails, and subsequently an investigation of the Trump campaign’s links with Russian interference in that election.

Later sacked by Donald Trump, he became a vocal critic of the outgoing US President.

In a new book, he reflects on what is needed to restore trust in America's institutions and politics.

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

Will deplatforming make QAnon and the far-right fade away or radicalise further?

James Purtill - 23 January 2021

1/3

As President Joe Biden was sworn in this week, QAnon forums descended into despair, confusion and wounded anger.

"It's over and nothing makes sense," read one message thread title on the largest of these forums.

"He sold us out," a believer wrote.

"It's revolution time."

Earlier that day, as Donald Trump departed the White House, another wrote, "It simply doesn't make sense that we all got played."

It's fair to say those who follow the QAnon conspiracy theory, which held that Mr Trump would retain power, bring down the "deep state" and expose a far-reaching child-sex-trafficking ring, are shocked right now.

Believers (who are estimated to number in the millions) are grappling with the reality of President Biden and the very public failure of their prophecy.

But as the new Commander-in-Chief calls for an end to "this uncivil war", there are big questions around what happens to QAnon and the rest of the far-right — where does the pent-up and frustrated energy of that movement go?

This is a political question, but also a tech one.

Having delayed action for years, tech companies were decisive after the Capitol was stormed. They quickly removed, banned or effectively took offline large chunks of the far-right internet. This action is now called the 'Great Deplatforming'.

But will QAnon followers and other Trump supporters linger in an online netherworld of 'alt-tech' chat forums?

Will they vanish or — concentrated in these small private groups — be radicalised further?

Marked decrease in posts inciting violence

Two weeks after the Great Deplatforming experiment, it seems to have had profound, measurable effects.

On January 6, insurrectionists stormed the US capitol and disrupted the confirmation of election results in the House and Senate.

Shortly after, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites announced their removal of President Donald Trump's accounts due to concerns of further incitement to violence.

That same week, Amazon, Apple and Google severed business ties with Parler — a platform that advertises itself as a conservative free-speech platform — to prevent a continued spread of "dangerous and illegal content".

Next, Facebook deleted reams of content alleging election fraud and Twitter banned tens of thousands of QAnon-related accounts.

These actions are part of the reason why Q followers are now lamenting the inauguration of President Biden in out-of-the-way chat forums, as opposed to whipping up a storm on mainstream social media.

Advance Democracy, a Washington-based organisation that combs social media for posts inciting violence or spreading misinformation and conspiracy theory, recorded a drop in these kinds of posts after the Great Deplatforming and in the lead-up to Inauguration Day.

Of note, there were hundreds of thousands fewer QAnon tweets compared to the barrage two weeks earlier.

"Much of the content explicitly promoting violence has been removed from the mainstream platforms online," the head of the organisation, Daniel J. Jones said.

"After actions by Twitter, Facebook and others, there is far-less organising occurring on open channels.

"Deplatforming decreases the chance of further radicalisation and sends a strong signal that the promotion of violence and baseless conspiracy theories is unacceptable behaviour."

But Mr Jones, a former US Senate staffer who led the investigation into the CIA's use of torture, urges caution.

"The possibility of violence being planned on closed channels exists," he added.

"We have seen numerous QAnon accounts move to [social networking platform] Gab and calls for violence on unmoderated and closed channels."

(continued)

>>12676265

2/3

A malaise of distrust and disillusionment

Other experts are noticing a similar trend.

From his office near New York, veteran intelligence analyst Chris Sampson has been patiently infiltrating the private forums and spying on the online conversations of extremist far-right groups for more than a decade.

He said the deplatforming had dramatically limited the ability of far-right groups to reach a mainstream audience, which means some groups would struggle to recruit new members and may dwindle and vanish.

But there's the possibility some have been pushed further into the shadows.

"We have to monitor where these guys go and how it changes their dialogue," he said.

He described an atmosphere of intense distrust pervading the far-right forums.

Suspected traitors and federal agents are being sniffed out and new users asked to verify their identity through sending a copy of their drivers licence.

Calls to attend rallies (including ones around Inauguration Day) are being roundly dismissed as "fedposting" — that is, an attempt by federal agents to get members to gather in one place where they can be arrested.

The relative absence of violence on Inauguration Day was not so much a consequence of deplatforming, but of this general malaise of distrust and disillusionment, Mr Sampson said.

"They're actually suspicious of groups who are calling for action — they believe they're being set up. I think they're confused," he said.

"Mr Trump saying 'let's not have any violence' disappointed a lot of folks — some even called for him to be executed.

"That's incredible when you think that a few days earlier he was their mascot.

"They're kind of leaderless."

Fears of a neo-Nazi recruitment drive

Despite the apparent disarray and loss of faith exhibited on the message boards, there are already signs that groups are reorganising and uniting.

Former Parler accounts have shifted to the encrypted messaging platform Telegram as well as other apps.

Telegram downloads increased 146 per cent between January 5-10, becoming the 5th most downloaded app in the US by January 12.

White supremacist and pro-Trump discussion groups have seen membership balloon to tens of thousands. (In some cases this has made them unworkable, with the rapid sequence of new messages being almost impossible to read.)

Meanwhile, neo-Nazis discuss ways to infiltrate less extremist chat groups and "redpill" or radicalise what they call "Parler refugees".

A recent report describes this process in some detail:

One extremist channel with a large number of subscribers shared a message that laid out a detailed redpilling guide. In short, it proposes mapping "normie Trump" Telegram chats to identify key members in the network, striking up friendly conversations with these individuals followed by a pre-constructed message (which I will avoid providing here) containing links to propaganda, and finally, providing a list of extremist Telegram channels that they should further explore.

https://gnet-research.org/2021/01/18/redpill-the-parler-refugees-white-supremacist-strategies-for-radicalising-trump-supporters-on-telegram/

In effect, neo-Nazis are taking advantage of the fracturing and disillusionment of QAnon to attempt to grow their numbers.

Independent far-right researcher Kaz Ross has watched Telegram go from a "quiet corner of neo-Nazis" to something more frenetic.

"It's kind of crazy over there right now," she said.

"You don't look at a group for a few minutes and then you go back and there's 23,000 new messages."

(continued)

>>12676283

3/3

The whack-a-mole problem

Much of what has happened in recent weeks has been predictable.

Experience shows that when extremist groups lose their platforms they tend to grow more toxic as they shrink.

In late June 2020, Reddit shut down sub-reddit message boards where toxic language had been common, including a notorious subreddit called r/The_Donald. The users regrouped at a separate website, which allowed researchers to observe how the rhetoric of their posts had changed.

They found a marked decrease in the number of followers on the new website, but "substantial evidence" the community had become more toxic. In particular, Trump supporters were increasingly fixated on outsiders.

Several months later, Trump supporters on that separate website played a key role in inciting and organising the storming of the Capitol.

A similar process of concentration and radicalisation appears to be happening now with the broader deplatforming, said Mr Sampson.

Every time a group is deplatformed, it reforms with fewer members, he said.

"It's a whack-a-mole problem — we move them around and each time we do we can get a sense of hardcore numbers," he said.

"If we whack 'em down at 1500, then in 24 hours they create a new one and they have 200."

Participants in these groups compete to be the most radical.

"The more it becomes an echo chamber, the more nodding of agreement there is among participants," Mr Sampson said.

"Then the edge-lording competition goes on and whoever is the most radical gets more follows and more attention."

Why didn't they deplatform earlier?

Some of the most radical, however, have apparently capitulated.

Ron Watkins, the former administrator for the QAnon message board 8kun, who has fanned the flames of the far-right hoax for over three years, posted a note to his more than 100,000 followers: "We gave it our all. Now we need to keep our chins up and go back to our lives as best we are able."

In these uncertain times, whether that will happen is hard to say.

James Purtill works at triple j Hack in Sydney. Before that he was a digital producer at the ABC in Darwin.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-01-23/will-deplatformed-far-right-qanon-fade-away-or-radicalise/13079822

https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1351704531156029443

https://twitter.com/kevinroose/status/1351948863326674946

Pilot 'flew Prince Andrew in Epstein's private jet' and 'sex slave was on board'

Christopher Bucktin - 22 JAN 2021

This is the pilot who claims to have flown Prince Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged teenage sex slave accuser Virginia Giuffre.

Pictured for the first time, David Rodgers refused to talk about the royal, his paedophile financier pal or any of the victims who claim they were abused.

When tracked down by the Mirror in Lake Worth, Florida, the 67-year-old airman said: “I can’t talk.”

He claims Andrew flew at least 10 times on the billionaire’s jet – allegations that have thrust Andrew into the FBI investigation into Epstein.

The Prince has categorically denied ever meeting Giuffre, who claims he had sex with her four times when she was 17.

But Rodgers’ logs provide the most detailed independent testimony to the courts about Andrew’s friendship with the paedophile, placing pressure on the dad-of-two to speak to the FBI.

The Mirror found the pilot living close to the Florida airport from which Epstein flew his victims. His wall of silence mirrors that of other pilots who ferried Epstein and his alleged madam ­Ghislaine Maxwell, 59.

Rodgers’ LinkedIn profile still lists him as an employee of Epstein NES LLC company. Between 1995 until 2013 he wrote an entry on the flight manifests for each trip he flew for the pervert, who killed himself in prison in 2019.

Andrew, 60, has denied “being good friends” with Epstein. But Rodgers’ flight manifests claim to show him at all four locations where the billionaire had homes, including Florida and his private US Virgin Island, Little St James.

He also flew Giuffre, now 37, to London in March 2001, where she claims she first had sex with the Duke.

A source said: “David has complied with the FBI and others investigating those who enabled Jeffrey’s offending. He was trusted with his most prized and high-profile friends not only the Prince but Bill Clinton too.

“He is adamant he didn’t see any wrongdoing as he flew Epstein, his cronies and the girls around.”

Andrew’s first flights on Epstein’s old jet, a ­Gulfstream, were logged in February 1999. In May the following year, he took a trip from New York to Florida with the American tycoon and others.

On March 31, 2001 Rodgers claims he flew the Duke and Giuffre from New Mexico to Florida. According to court circulars, Andrew had an evening engagement in London on March 28, 2001, and one on April 2 2001.

Rodgers alleges Giuffre was on another flight with the Prince to the Virgin Islands on April 11.

The last trip the royal is said to have taken was on September 1, 2006.

Flight logs do not feature Andrew’s name, but the initials A.P. They had been used for Epstein’s chef Adam Perry Lang.

Buckingham Palace insist court ­circulars from the time disprove the claims. It refused to comment tonight.

But a friend of Andrew’s said: “David Rogers claims simply don’t stand up to any kind of objective scrutiny. The Duke was elsewhere on numerous occasions that the initials AP appear.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/pilot-who-flew-prince-andrew-23370007

>>12623240

>>12646319

‘Critical’: Biden orders review of domestic violent extremism threat

Eric Tucker - January 23, 2021

Washington: US President Joe Biden has directed law enforcement and intelligence officials in his administration to study the threat of domestic violent extremism in the United States, an undertaking being launched weeks after a mob of insurgents loyal to Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol.

The announcement on Friday, local time, by White House press secretary Jen Psaki is a stark acknowledgement of the national security threat that officials see as posed by American extremists motivated to violence by radical ideology.

The involvement of the national intelligence office, created after the September 11, 2001, attacks with a goal of thwarting international terrorism, suggests US authorities are examining how to pivot to a more concerted focus on violence from extremists at home.

The threat assessment is being coordinated by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, and will be used as a foundation to develop policy, the White House said.

The National Security Council will do its own policy review to see how information about the problem can be better shared across the government.

“The January 6 assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we all know: The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat,” Psaki said, adding that the administration will confront the problem with resources and policies but also “respect for constitutionally protected free speech and political activities.”

Asked whether new methods were needed, she said: “More needs to be done. That’s why the president is tasking the national security team to do exactly this review on the second full day in office.“

Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said it was “critical” that the Biden administration appeared to be prioritising the threat of domestic extremism.

“In particular, far-right, white supremacist extremism, nurtured on online platforms, has become one of the most dangerous threats to our nation,” Schiff said.

The riot at the Capitol, which led last week to Trump’s second impeachment, raised questions about whether a federal government national security apparatus that for decades has moved aggressively to combat threats from foreign terror groups and their followers in America is adequately equipped to address the threat of domestic extremism.

It’s an issue that has flared repeatedly over the years, with different attacks — including a shooting rampage at a Pittsburgh synagogue — periodically causing renewed debate over whether a law specific to domestic terrorism is needed.

It is unclear when the threat assessment will conclude or whether it will precipitate law enforcement and intelligence getting new tools or authorities to address a problem that officials say has proved challenging to combat, partly because of First Amendment protections.

FBI Director Chris Wray said last fall that, over the past year, the most lethal violence has come from antigovernment activists, such as anarchists and militia types.

Law enforcement agencies are under scrutiny for their preparations for January 6, when a violent mob of Trump supporters overran the police and stormed into the Capitol.

Scores of people are facing charges so far, including a man who was photographed wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” shirt, as well as people identified in court papers as QAnon conspiracy theorists and members of militia groups.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/critical-biden-orders-review-of-domestic-violent-extremism-threat-20210123-p56wd4.html

>>12662525

>>12663791

Kevin Rudd Tweet

Unbelievable that Murdoch media would publish this outrageous cartoon of President Biden calling him “Creepy Joe” - and for what reason? Then suggesting he’s controlled by a non-existent organisation - “Antifa”. All QAnon crap. #MurdochRoyalCommission

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1352905036305637377

Gold Coast Bulletin, January 22 2021 - Page 23

Julie Bishop, Donald Trump's daughter, and the Australian Government's three-year fight for secrecy

Dan Conifer and Michael McKinnon - 24 January 2021

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In a small room in an exclusive Manhattan hotel, an eagerly sought meeting is finally taking place.

The Chairman's Office inside New York's Palace Hotel has hosted business titans and political powerhouses.

Its walls are lined with books. Its wood panels date back to the 1880s. Atop a mantlepiece, its clock permanently sits at 4:00.

On this occasion, the occupants are the then-United States president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop.

"She's charming, delightful, a very intelligent and committed young woman," Ms Bishop said soon after.

It was presented as a chance encounter on the sidelines of the 2017 United Nations General Assembly.

In reality, its manufacture began months before that sunny September day in New York.

Using freedom of information laws, the ABC has obtained a series of documents that reveal an outline of the diplomatic chase that led to that rendezvous.

But four years after that meeting — and with Donald Trump no longer in office — Australia's Foreign Affairs Department (DFAT) continues to fight against the public knowing more.

Ivanka Trump joins the White House, creating an opportunity

It's late March 2017 and Ivanka Trump is officially joining the administration as an adviser to her dad.

This is a family-friendly White House — Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner, is already there as a senior adviser.

The story hits The New York Times website early Thursday morning Canberra time.

Foreign affairs bureaucrats inside their sprawling Canberra headquarters are soon taking note.

Taking a much keener interest, 500 metres away atop Capital Hill, is the office of foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop.

As minister, Ms Bishop has pioneered a previously unheard-of concept in international relations: 'fashion diplomacy'.

"We will promote our stylists, our designers, our manufacturers, our photographers, our magazines, indeed our raw materials — our cotton and leather and wool, precious stones and pearls and gems," she said launching the policy.

"Indeed, I've already charged our overseas embassies and high commissions and posts to host events for our fashion designers during the major fashion shows.

"Already we've held fashion events in our posts in New York, London, Paris, Islamabad, New Delhi and Jakarta."

Now, in the inner sanctum of the United States government was a fashion label owner, 35-year-old Ivanka Trump.

The first daughter's brand was targeted at young women, with its handbags, shoes and dresses sold throughout the United States.

Her brand, also called Ivanka Trump, has its flagship store inside Trump Tower, where she's also worked for the family empire.

Locking down a meeting proves difficult

Within about a month, wheels are in motion. Draft plans for an event involving the pair have been written up.

In early May, a senior adviser in Ms Bishop's office emails the Australian embassy in Washington.

"Hi Paul, wanted to make sure you were fully aware that we have had further contact from Ms Trump's office [this morning]," the email read.

Paul Griffiths heads the embassy's political branch. He is a long-term, senior diplomat, having served in Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea.

Things look promising. A meeting is arranged involving the minister's office, diplomats in Canberra and in Washington.

It's scheduled for 8:30am Canberra time the next day. That's 6:30pm Washington time.

Mr Griffiths is invited, as is the boss of the Americas division, Julie Heckscher. These are senior people. Securing this meeting is a priority.

There's a trip planned for July, where the foreign minister will meet Caribbean prime ministers before flying north to the US. Adding an Ivanka Trump encounter would be ideal.

(continued)

>>12688030

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But hopes are soon dashed. The Ivanka encounter has been ruled out.

"We are focusing on other possibilities," Peter Heyward writes from the Washington embassy.

In his 60s, Tasmanian Peter Heyward has been an ambassador and high commissioner across three continents before landing in the US.

He sends an alternative proposal: a Miami café that serves Australian-style breakfast. He sends a link to a local news article, which raves about the venue's "unique dishes", such as smashed avocado on toast — "unlike any other breakfast dish you've ever tasted".

The July trip passes uneventfully. The café gets its visit. Julie Bishop flies back to Australia.

Within days, Ms Heckscher returns to Operation Ivanka.

The goal now is a meeting that coincides with the minister's US trip in September, which will be centred around United Nations leaders' week.

"I assume the FM [foreign minister] will want to see whether a meeting with Ivanka Trump is possible," Ms Heckscher writes.

"It may be challenging to try to have a bilateral program interspersing with UNGA [United Nations General Assembly] activities given those will be very busy and possibly changing frequently."

Then, on the eve of the UN trip, the approach to Ivanka's team is made by Australia's second-in-command in Washington, Caroline Millar. (Ambassador Joe Hockey is apparently uninvested in Ivanka; his name does not appear in the dispatches.)

Ms Millar's subject line is to the point: "Australian Foreign Minister: request for meeting with Ms Trump during UNGA."

"I am writing to see if Ms Trump will be in New York during UNGA Leaders' Week and available to meet with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (bio below)," she writes.

"She is the most senior woman in the Australian Government. She has also played a strong role in the Coalition to defeat [Islamic State].

"I regret the short notice but would welcome your early advice on whether a meeting next week would be possible."

The response from Ivanka's office is positive. The last-minute invite works.

New York is the first choice, but a back-up location is enlisted.

"If for any reason the timing doesn't work, we can always try for DC," Ms Millar writes to colleagues.

Finally, success. A chase that has spanned five months is over. And with a week to spare.

The good news bounces from executive to executive within DFAT.

The result is summarised in a two-word email from one executive to Ms Heckscher.

"Ivanka: Happening."

Minister's office keen to photograph meeting

The meeting is pencilled into the minister's schedule as a 30-minute one-on-one.

The department's public affairs man at the United Nations sends a draft media plan the day before.

The encounter is listed as: "Bilateral meeting with Senior Advisor to the President of the United States."

Official photos are to be made available, on request. The minister's office wants more.

"Is there any chance of us getting iPhone video footage for social media use?" Ms Bishop's media adviser writes.

There's some discussion about how many people can attend.

"If it's only one person, I'd prefer [name redacted] go and get some good photos," the minister's press secretary replies.

"I think quality pics would take priority over video."

(continued)

>>12688059

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In the room where it happens

The pair meet, smile for that camera, and then tweet about their meeting.

Ms Bishop tells the Aussie journalists in town about it.

"Yesterday I attended a number of events in relation to the campaign to end forced labour, human trafficking and modern slavery, and I met Ivanka Trump at that meeting," she says.

"We decided to meet again today to see where there are opportunities for Australia to partner with Ivanka Trump and her foundation, to hopefully bring some of the programs to our part of the world.

"Ivanka Trump is also very keen to work with us on promoting female entrepreneurship, and I hope that we will be able to undertake a number of initiatives with her in that regard.

"I am very pleased to get to know her."

Looking back, Ms Bishop says the meeting was worthwhile.

"Ms Trump was regarded as an influential member of the administration," she told the ABC last week.

"A meeting was seen as an important opportunity to obtain valuable insights into the thinking of the president.

"I was able to establish contact with an adviser close to the president and we agreed to share information on policy matters relevant to female empowerment."

Ms Bishop says the diplomatic effort that led up to the brief exchange was nothing but routine.

"DFAT planning for the annual UN Leaders' week began months in advance every year as I typically held more than 60 meetings," she said.

"The meeting with Ms Trump was part of the overall planning for that program, which always entailed complex logistical and scheduling challenges."

The ABC last week asked DFAT what outcomes the meeting achieved.

"The Australian Government has not entered into partnerships with Ivanka Trump or her foundation," a spokeswoman said.

DFAT rejects public disclosure of details

It's April 2018 back at DFAT's RG Casey building, down the hill from Parliament House.

A freedom of information officer clicks send on an email to this journalist. Some emails and documents about the Ivanka meeting will be released. Other details will be kept secret.

The decision maker, executive Greg Wilcock, warns that making public anything more could damage Australia's international relations, including those with strong ally the United States.

Mr Wilcock warned releasing further information risked unleashing a "substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the operations of this department".

It could impede Australia's "ability to facilitate bilateral meetings with senior government officials in future", he added.

This reporter appeals that decision.

Two-and-a-half years later, earlier this month, the appeal reaches the top of a lofty pile inside the office of Australia's Information Commissioner — the nation's overworked freedom of information watchdog.

The department has given no indication it will change its stance.

The commissioner will soon consider the appeal.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-24/julie-bishop-ivanka-trump-federal-government-fight-for-secrecy/13081484

https://twitter.com/IvankaTrump/status/910613975850799105

https://twitter.com/HonJulieBishop/status/638259845972426752

https://twitter.com/HonJulieBishop/status/882033468388950016

>>12500560

AFP executes search warrants in Queensland after the takedown of the world's largest illegal dark web marketplace

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has executed a series of search warrants across Brisbane and the Gold Coast over two days in connection to the shutdown of DarkMarket, the world's largest illegal marketplace on the dark web.

The AFP seized a laptop, four mobile phones, six USB thumb drives and five hard drives, as well as SIM cards and bank cards during search warrants executed on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 January 2021 in Park Ridge, Mount Cotton and at a commercial facility in Molendinar.

The AFP-led cybercrime Operation Futurist was sparked after information was provided by the German State Criminal Police Office.

German police last week arrested a 34-year-old Australian national accused of operating DarkMarket, which was selling drugs, counterfeit cash, stolen credit card data, anonymous SIM cards and malware. Officers shut down DarkMarket’s servers and criminal infrastructure, which were operating in Germany.

The Australian man, arrested near the border of Germany and Denmark on 11 January, is accused of being an administrator of DarkMarket.

DarkMarket had almost 500,000 users, more than 2400 sellers and more than 320,000 transactions. Almost (AUD) $220 million in cryptocurrency was traded on the site.

The AFP is not ruling out arrests as a result of the search warrant activity conducted this week. Cybercrime Operations and Digital Forensic Teams are reviewing evidence seized.

AFP Southern Command Acting Commander Investigations Jayne Crossling said it was likely Australian criminals were purchasing illicit items from DarkMarket.

“Some of these items could have been used or acquired by Australians in Australia. The job of the AFP and its partner agencies is to keep Australians safe,’’ Acting Commander Crossling said.

“If police knew there was criminal activity occurring in geographic location, action would be taken. There is no difference with the dark web, although the anonymising features of the dark web makes it harder for law enforcement to identify perpetrators, who commit abhorrent crimes.”

“The AFP works very effectively with law enforcement globally to combine tools and expertise to reduce the risk of harm to the community. Despite that, too many crimes are being facilitated on the dark web.”

In December last year, a Canberra woman was arrested for allegedly arranging for the contract killing of her parents over the dark web.

Acting Commander Crossling said the dark web was a commerce underbelly used by child sex offenders, organised crime syndicates and those who sought to harm law abiding citizens.

Editor’s note: Images of the seized items are available via hightail - https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/OXl3JFjeQ7

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-executes-search-warrants-queensland-after-takedown-worlds-largest

QAnon conspiracy theorists embarrassed and in disarray after Joe Biden's inauguration

Brian Fung and Kaya Yurieff - 24 January 2021

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For years, believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory had been waiting for the moment when a grand plan would be put into action.

Secret members of a supposed Satanic pedophilia ring at the highest ranks of government and Hollywood would suddenly be exposed, rounded up and possibly even publicly executed.

They were nearly always sure it was right around the corner, but “The Storm” never came.

The anti-climax sent QAnon adherents into a frenzy of confusion and disbelief, almost instantly shattering a collective delusion that had been nurtured and amplified by many on the far right.

Now, in addition to being scattered to various smaller websites after Facebook and Twitter cracked down on QAnon-related content, believers risked having their own topsy-turvy world turned upside down, or perhaps right-side up.

Members of a QAnon-focused Telegram channel, and some users of the image board 4chan, vowed to keep the faith.

Others proclaimed they were renouncing their beliefs.

Still others devised new theories that purported to push the ultimate showdown further into the future.

One of the ideology’s most visible icons, Ron Watkins - who goes by the online moniker CodeMonkeyZ - told supporters to “go back to our lives.”

“The most hardcore QAnon followers are in disarray,” said Daniel J. Jones, president of Advance Democracy, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks extremist groups and misinformation online.

“After years of waiting for the ‘Great Awakening,’ QAnon adherents seemed genuinely shocked to see President Biden successfully inaugurated.

A significant percentage online are writing that they are now done with the QAnon, while others are doubling down and promoting new conspiracies.”

The smattering of reactions underscores the uncertain future now facing the QAnon movement, which tech companies had allowed to metastasize on their platforms for years but didn’t start taking action against in earnest until 2020.

The baseless conspiracy theory has been circulating since 2017.

In addition to alleging a vast child-trafficking conspiracy, those who were drawn in claim that government bureaucrats comprising a “deep state” were quietly working to undermine President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Trump himself fuelled the claims by refusing to publicly denounce them on national television.

And people identifying as part of the QAnon movement were part of the mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol earlier this month.

Following the riots, QAnon supporters eagerly anticipated the moment of Biden’s inauguration.

“As the noose tightens around the deep state, some people are becoming more and more desperate to discredit Q,” one 4chan user posted on Wednesday morning.

“I guess what they say is true. The flack is heaviest over the target.”

But after Biden’s swearing-in came and went, panic set in.

“We were promised arrests, exposures, military regime, classified documents. where is it????????” wrote one member of the QAnon-linked Telegram channel, which has nearly 128,000 subscribers.

“I’m scared, feeling sick in my stomach, but I am holding the line still,” said another.

“Well babies are still being raped and eaten, any f*ckin minute now GOD,” said another.

Some began acknowledging the truth.

“Biden is our president,” a fourth user in the Telegram channel said.

“It’s time to get off our devices and get back to reality. If something happens then something happens, but for now I’m logging out of all social media. It’s been fun guys but it’s unfortunately over.”

(continued)

>>12693016

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Other believers insisted that the lack of a climax was itself a part of the plan, theorising that Trump merely “allowed” Biden to become president “for appearances” while the former reality show host would be the one pulling the strings.

“Anything that happens in the next 4 years is actually President Trumps doing,” wrote one 4chan user.

“It’s a hot mess, frankly,” said Carla Hill, research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, of the various reactions of QAnon believers.

“Frustration started seeping in. There is some embarrassment, some anger … A range of [new] conspiracies are spinning out of this and they are arguing among themselves.”

The apparent ease with which some QAnon believers have been able to adjust the theory to suit new events underscores how slippery the conspiracy theory can be.

But the proliferation of new theories and beliefs could also lead to a splintering of the movement - and, some extremism experts warn, a potentially new crisis in mental health.

As QAnon believers got pulled deeper into the conspiracy theory, they built a comforting belief system around themselves, said Marc Ambinder, a senior fellow who studies mis- and disinformation at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

“The ‘plan’ was so much more powerful in the abstract than anything you could offer in the real world to counter it,” he said.

But now, as many QAnon supporters are increasingly confronted by reality, the resulting cognitive dissonance could break them, Ambinder said - with potentially devastating consequences.

“This type of event is the kind of thing that can set somebody who is already incredibly anxious, in the time of a horrible global pandemic, feeling like they’re completely pushed to the edge,” Ambinder said, saying he fears more of the type of violence that the country witnessed at the US Capitol two weeks ago.

In recent weeks, CNN has seen Trump supporters embracing the idea of martial law in large numbers on various social networks.

Last week, a Telegram account falsely purporting to be run by General John Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the moment some supporters had been waiting for - that is Trump finally acting and using the military to crush his enemies - was coming.

A spokesperson for General Hyten told CNN Tuesday morning that the account is “an absolute fake” and added the Pentagon was “actively working” to get it taken down.

Major social networks have stepped up their crackdowns of QAnon as of late.

On Tuesday night, Facebook said that since August it has removed about 18,300 Facebook profiles and 27,300 accounts on its subsidiary Instagram for violating its policies against QAnon.

The company has also removed 10,500 groups and 510 events for the same reason.

Last week, Twitter said it banned more than 70,000 accounts for promoting QAnon.

But that may not be enough.

People who are embedded in conspiracy theories do not listen to authoritative voices, said Ambinder, but rather to the voices they consider to be authoritative in upholding their worldview.

Even though Trump may no longer be president, he and his political allies - some of whom still serve in government - may be some of the only ones who can draw QAnon believers back to the real world, according to Ambinder.

“For the sake of hundreds of thousands of people who are still trapped in the QAnon alternate world and have no idea what to do,” said Ambinder, “this is when Republicans who cynically and willfully spread the false ‘election was stolen’ rumor need to step up.”

https://7news.com.au/politics/world-politics/qanon-conspiracy-theorists-embarrassed-and-in-disarray-after-joe-bidens-inauguration-c-2020269

China talks only if there are no conditions, Scott Morrison says

GREG BROWN and ROSIE LEWIS - JANUARY 25, 2021

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Scott Morrison says he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping only if there are no conditions for restarting dialogue, as he warned that Beijing’s global outlook had become “more inconsistent” with Australia’s sovereign interests.

The Prime Minister’s warning came as Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia’s and America’s relationships with China would be closely watched as US President Joe Biden began his four-year term in the White House.

Without specifically naming China, Senator Payne declared Australia would “support adherence to international rules and norms, promote transparency and stand against malicious behaviour such as economic ­coercion, human rights abuses and the use of disinformation’’.

After months of China slapping restrictions on Australian ­exports, Mr Morrison said he was open to meeting China’s leaders to work through problems in the relationship as long as there were no ­policy conditions to holding talks.

The Chinese embassy last year released a dossier of 14 grievances Beijing had with Australia, including negative media coverage of China, foreign investment decisions, foreign interference reforms and critical commentary on the CCP by Coalition MPs.

“We are always open to meet,” Mr Morrison said. “We are open to meet whenever but … it is a no-conditions meeting.

“I know what the 14 points are; so does everyone else. If they are the conditions then it will be a while before we meet. But we are happy to meet and work through these issues and discuss them.”

Mr Morrison said there had been a “slow turn” in the relationship with China and rejected claims it had deteriorated last year because of any single decision of his government.

“It has been happening for years,” he said. “The suggestion this has happened all on a dime I think is wrong. And we have seen these changes happen now for some years. The relationship has obviously changed, not over any one thing but over time.

“There have been changes where I think the sovereign position of Australia and the outlook of China, well those things have become more inconsistent.”

Labor has been critical of the Morrison government for leading calls for a probe into the origins of COVID-19 rather than waiting until there was a global consensus on the need for an inquiry.

The World Health Organisation inquiry into the pandemic was supported by more than 120 countries, eventually including China, but Beijing has voiced fury at the Morrison government‘s early demand for the probe.

China has progressively frozen out Australia during the Turnbull and Morrison governments — initially because of the exclusion of Huawei from Australia’s 5G network and the introduction of foreign interference laws — and refused to take phone calls from or meet cabinet ministers despite attempts to establish dialogue.

(continued)

>>12703964

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Mr Morrison said he was confident Mr Biden would support Australia in its handling of the China relationship, in much the same way as the Trump administration backed the government during the push for a probe into the origins of the ­coronavirus.

Writing in The Australian, Senator Payne appealed to the Biden administration by labelling the US an “indispensable partner” in efforts not only to maintain but to improve security in a region of free, sovereign and resilient states that banded together “when any country resorts to raw power over rules”.

“Australia will benefit in the long-term if there is a network of nations, with the US as a leading participant, that consistently and with strategic sagacity makes clear what constitutes legitimate behaviour under a rules-based system, even one that is evolving to take account of the interests of rising powers,” she said.

Senator Payne said America remained vital ­”because of its values and its history of idealism, but also because of its sheer practical advantages. This is America the innovator, the economic powerhouse, diplomatic leader and Australian ally.”

Senator Payne hailed the 2019 “competition without catastrophe” blueprint on the US-China relationship, written by the Biden administration’s new national security council members Jake Sullivan and Kurt Campbell, as a “constructive and intelligent approach”. While Mr Morrison has been criticised by Labor for failing to name Mr Trump as having provoked the Capitol riots this month and of pandering to the former president during his four years in the White House, Senator Payne said the federal government was “not blind to the fact that the US has gone through a difficult political period”. She conceded that the Biden administration had priorities at home as the US coronavirus death toll climbs above 400,000 but welcomed America taking steps to re-join the Paris climate agreement and the WHO. “The evolving set of international challenges – those that arise from the COVID-19 pandemic and those that existed before it and will continue beyond it – means that the way our two countries work together must also necessarily evolve,” she said.

Australian coal, barley, beef, lobster, wine, tourism and education are among exports Beijing has targeted in the past year with tariffs, bans and months-long ­delays at Chinese ports. While business groups were last year calling on the government to repair the relationship with China, Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox last week urged Australian companies to resist bullying from Beijing.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/china-talks-only-if-there-are-no-conditions-scott-morrison-says/news-story/5ccc2490da78cc2cee8969aa3284f277

>>12703964

As Joe Biden says, this great US-Australia alliance will only grow stronger

MARISE PAYNE - JANUARY 25, 2021

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President Joe Biden’s clear and strong Inauguration Day commitment to seek unity and bipartisanship is reassuring and important, valued by Australia and the world. Australia wishes him, and all political interlocutors in the US, the very best in this endeavour. It is up to Americans to carry that forward, but Australia will be cheering them on.

A united America is a strong America, and a strong US is overwhelmingly in Australia’s interests.

Our values and perspectives align so closely that a future circumstance in which our foreign policy interests diverge to such an extent that our alliance and our close friendship is not of substantial mutual benefit is difficult to envisage. Our alliance is incredibly stable.

However, the evolving set of international challenges means that the way our two countries work together must also necessarily evolve.

The federal government is not blind to the fact that the US has gone through a difficult political period. Those around the world who had confidence in American institutions, and their democracy, have been proved right. There has been a constitutional transition of power to the new administration.

The US will continue to provide strength, stability and leadership to the world as it always has. In doing so it will champion the liberal democratic, market-based values we share.

It is only reasonable, indeed, expected, that Americans should have a long and thoughtful conversation about the role they want to play in a more complex and challenging world. Australia has long made it clear that we do not expect the US single-handedly to uphold the security and prosperity of the region and the world.

We are consistently and constructively playing our part in supporting that vision for our Indo-Pacific region. Through our strong and growing partnerships in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, our proactive support for the role of existing groups such as ASEAN — which in 2019 released its vital Outlook on the Indo-Pacific — and new multi-country groupings such as the Quad, our increased defence spending and development of paths to build greater stability in our region through health and economic recovery measures, Australia is a strong leader and partner.

We want any US administration to be able to point to Australia when an American asks why their nation should be doing the heavy lifting around the world.

We have worked well with the Trump administration over the past four years towards these ends, including one of the most substantive and successful AUSMIN meetings ever held, and two unprecedented ministerial-level Quad meetings. Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo was a forthright, no-nonsense friend and partner, ambitious for the US relationship with Australia and for the cause of democratic freedoms.

We will work positively with the Biden administration, many of whose key team members are well known to us and good friends to Australia — including President Biden himself and, pending confirmation, my new counterpart, Secretary of State Tony Blinken. As Australia’s Minister for Women, I cannot overstate the significance of Vice-President Kamala Harris’s inauguration for women and girls around the world.

(continued)

>>12704138

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We must be prepared for the fact that the Biden administration faces urgent challenges at home — chiefly managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet there is much we can do together. We welcome steps already taken, such as recommitting the US to the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organisation.

We look forward to working closely with the administration to share experiences and deliver practical action on climate change, including on low emissions technologies, on health security, including through COVID-19 vaccine distribution and on issues such as free and open trade, cyber space, critical technologies, supply chain resilience and critical minerals — all of which will be vital to future economic growth and security.

Australia will continue to speak strongly, often in harmony with the US, on issues of common concern, including human rights and the rule of law.

President Biden’s proposal of a global summit of democracies is a strong sign that a 21st century international framework that recognises values in foreign policy will be a welcome part of the administration’s agenda.

Many commentators will keenly observe how we engage in our respective relationships with China. Australia has its challenges in its relationship with Beijing even as we seek to co-operate to our mutual benefit. The US, meanwhile, has entered a period of overt competition with China that will endure throughout changes in administration. The fact that two of President Biden’s key appointments to the National Security Council — Jake Sullivan and Kurt Campbell — wrote in late 2019 a blueprint for what they called “competition without catastrophe”, portends a constructive and intelligent approach.

Australia will benefit in the long term if there is a network of nations, with the US as a leading participant, that consistently and with strategic sagacity makes clear what constitutes legitimate behaviour under a rules-based system, even one that is evolving to take account of the interests of rising powers. We will support adherence to international rules and norms, promote transparency and stand against malicious behaviour such economic coercion, human rights abuses and the use of disinformation.

The US remains the indispensable partner in this project to not only maintain, but modernise and improve security and prosperity in a region of free, sovereign and resilient states that actively seek areas to co-operate, work constructively together and join to respond firmly when any country resorts to raw power over rules.

America remains vital because of its values and its history of idealism, but also because of its sheer practical advantages. This is America the innovator, the economic powerhouse, diplomatic leader and Australian ally.

This government will work with the Biden administration on a vision I know we share. When then vice-president Biden visited Australia in 2016 he said, “the great friendship between our two nations will not diminish. It will grow stronger with every generation.” I couldn’t agree more. We again congratulate President Biden on his inauguration and welcome him to what will continue to be an indispensable partnership.

Marise Payne is Minister for Foreign Affairs.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/as-joe-biden-says-this-great-usaustralia-alliance-will-only-grow-stronger/news-story/cbe788248cb76514e76226bd48438c06

Special Forces soldiers to defend themselves over war crime allegations

Special Forces soldiers issued a “show cause” notice in the wake of the war crime allegations will submitting a defence on why they shouldn’t be sacked from the military.

Adella Beaini - January 21, 2021

A group of Special Forces soldiers issued a “show cause” notice in the wake of the Brereton report’s findings will be submitting their defence on why they shouldn’t be sacked from the military.

The soldiers who received the notices in November are members of the now disbanded Special Air Service Regiment’s 2 Squadrons as well as the regiment’s 3 Squadron suspected of being “accessories” or ”witnesses” of alleged murders carried out by other SAS soldiers.

On Friday the SAS members will individually submit the written response through their lawyers, giving their version of events and justifying why they shouldn’t face administrative action.

But a source close to some of the 13 elite soldiers accused of being dishonest when called to give evidence before the inquiry said the process had “taken its toll” with many members left “distraught”.

“It’s been heartbreaking watching them so distressed, losing weight and relationships breaking down,” a source told The Daily Telegraph.

“They don’t even have the camaraderie that got them through their war deployments as they’ve been commanded not to talk to each other.

“As proud Australians, we are all so confused by our country’s actions.”

A Defence spokesman said they would be considering any written response that soldiers provide as reasons why they shouldn’t be terminated.

“Outcomes of each case could range from termination to no further action, based on the delegate’s consideration of each individual’s response,” a spokesman said.

“This process takes time. Legal, welfare and command support is provided to anyone who is subject to administrative action.”

He said each matter would be considered on a “case-by-case basis”.

“Administrative action can include termination, censure, reduction in rank or formal counselling.”

It follows the release of a report, commissioned by the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force, alleging special forces soldiers were responsible for the murder of at least 39 Afghans.

The Brereton inquiry focused on events between 2005 and 2016 and interviewed 423 witnesses.

Other special forces members may eventually be discharged or face a range of disciplinary sanctions, including formal warnings.

A special investigator has been created within the Australian Federal Police to investigate the allegations from the inquiry, and a special prosecutor has been appointed within the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to handle any court cases.

Any prosecutions of ADF personnel could take years, as some of the evidence gathered by the IGADF is not admissible in a civilian court.

Soldiers were compelled to answer questions in the internal Defence probe, going against the civil principle of the right against self-incrimination.

Anyone who may be feeling distressed can contact the following organisations for support:

Defence all-hours support line: 1800 628 036

Defence Family Helpline: 1800 624 608

Open Arms: 1800 011 046

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/special-forces-soldiers-to-defend-themselves-over-war-crime-allegations/news-story/36b704ca43ee993d25c8cae0a0b7efd3

Sex-charge principal Malka Leifer extradited to Australia

Accused sex predator Malka Leifer has been put on the plane from Israel to Melbourne, capping a near decade-long campaign by the sisters she is alleged to have abused to have her face court in Australia.

The 54-year-old former Jewish school principal was handed over to Victoria police officers in Tel Aviv on Monday after the extradition order her lawyers in Israel fought tooth and nail to avoid was finally executed.

She was escorted on to a commercial flight only hours before a COVID lockdown on air travel in and out of the Jewish state was to come into force.

A spokesman for Attorney-General Christian Porter said the Australian government was aware of reports in Israel that Ms Leifer had been extradited, but it did not comment on the logistics of such retrievals.

Ms Leifer faces 74 charges involving the sexual assault and rape of the three sisters who were students at the Adass Israel ultra-Orthodox Jewish school before she fled home to Israel when her alleged crimes were exposed in 2008.

It is not yet clear where Ms Leifer will complete her 14 days of quarantine on arrival in Melbourne.

Covid-19 Quarantine Victoria said the issue was a matter for Victoria Police, given she will be in police custody.

A spokeswoman for Victoria Police said that with the extradition process underway and the matter before the courts, it would be “inappropriate” to comment.

“All enquiries regarding extradition should be directed to the Attorney-General’s office.”

The Australian has sought a response from Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes.

The young women complained to Victoria police three years later, and in 2014 Australia applied for Ms Leifer’s extradition.

But she was able to drag out the proceedings by feigning mental illness, according to Israeli prosecutors acting on behalf of the Australian government. In 2016, the case seemed dead in the water after a judge in Jerusalem suspended the extradition.

But the fiction unravelled when Ms Leifer was secretly filmed out and about, living what appeared to be a normal life when she had claimed to be unable to leave the house due to her to her mental state.

Israeli Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn signed the extradition order last December, only days after the country’s highest court rejected her final appeal.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/sexcharge-teacher-malka-leifer-on-way-back-to-australia/news-story/13571c3672840da13d4e02abfb6c6527

https://twitter.com/emilygian/status/1353587678915170306

>>12705499

Israel extradites Malka Lefier, wanted for sex crimes, to Australia

Former teacher accused of sexually abusing several former students at a Jewish school in Melbourne set to face 74 charges of child abuse in her native Australia; extradition comes after 6 years of legal battles

Israeli authorities on Monday extradited Malka Lefier, wanted on 74 charges of child sex abuse in Australia, following a six-year legal battle that had strained relations between the two governments.

The former teacher accused of sexually abusing several former students at a Jewish school in Melbourne, had been fighting extradition from Israel since 2014. Leifer maintains her innocence and the protracted court case and repeated delays over her extradition drew criticism from Australian officials as well as the country's Jewish leaders.

Ynet obtained images of Leifer boarding a plane at Ben Gurion Airport early Monday, her ankles and wrists shackled. At the airport, Leifer was met by Australian law enforcement officials, who arrived in Israel to accompany the woman.

She was then taken on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, from which she would later fly back to Australia to stand trial on 74 charges of child sex abuse.

In December, the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against her extradition, and then Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn signed the order to send her to Australia. "I promised that I would not hinder the extradition order, and that's what I have done. Malka Leifer's victims will finally earn an act of justice," Nissenkorn wrote on Twitter.

Her lawyer, Nick Kaufman, confirmed the extradition. “Preliminary hearings will be held in the coming days, without Malka Leifer physically present, as is required by Australian law. Meanwhile she will be held in a women's detention facility in Melbourne - where I hope her rights and halakhic requirements will be respected.”

Manny Waks, head of Voice against Child Sex Abuse, an organization representing Leifer's victims, said in a statement that "this is an incredible day for justice!"

"We can now truly look forward to Leifer facing justice in Australia on the 74 charges she is facing," he said.

The Magen Association for the Protection of Children, which has been aiding Leifer’s alleged victims, also welcomed the extradition. "We stand by the victims and encourage them ahead of the next fight within the Australian justice system… We will fight with all our might so that Israel ceases to be a refuge for sex offenders and that a similar extradition saga will not be repeated.”

Accusations against Leifer began surfacing in 2008, it was then that Israeli-born Leifer left the Ultra-Orthodox school where she worked as a principal and a teacher, and returned to Israel where she has lived since.

In March 2012, an arrest warrant was issued against her in Australia.

In 2014, Australia filed an extradition request and Leifer was put under house arrest while her extradition proceedings began in Israel. In 2016, the district psychiatrist ruled that Leifer was not fit to stand trial, bringing the extradition proceedings to a halt.

Private investigators, however, later revealed that Leifer was functioning independently. In December 2017, she was documented walking around her residential neighborhood in Jerusalem, shopping and waiting at the local postal office. A court-issued psychiatric panel later concluded that Leifer had faked mental illness to avoid prosecution, renewing the extradition process.

Critics, including Leifer's alleged victims, had accused Israeli authorities of dragging out the case for far too long, while Leifer claimed she was mentally unfit to stand trial.

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rJ7fHeh100

>>12705499

Malka Leifer extradited to Australia to face child sexual abuse charges

Former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer has been extradited from Israel to face sexual abuse charges in Australia.

Ms Leifer was escorted out of Israel on Monday morning local time, just before the international airport was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Israeli media reported she would be flown to Germany and then to Australia, where she faces 74 charges in Melbourne.

Ms Leifer is accused of abusing three sisters during her time as headmistress of Elsternwick's Adass Israel School between 2001 and 2008.

She left for Israel in 2008 and Victoria Police first submitted a request for her extradition in 2014.

Six years later, and after years of court proceedings, Israel signed an extradition order in December.

Ms Leifer has maintained her innocence during the drawn-out legal battle.

Nick Kaufman, Ms Leifer's lawyer in Israel, confirmed to the ABC his client was on a plane to Australia.

Dassi Erlich, one of her accusers, said simply on Twitter after hearing the news: "Leifer is on the way back to Australia."

Ms Leifer's case was repeatedly delayed as she fought extradition charges in Israel.

In January 2020, a panel of psychiatrists concluded the 54-year-old was faking her mental illness to avoid extradition. Israel's District Court ruled she was mentally fit to be extradited six months later.

The country's Supreme Court rejected her final appeal against the extradition in December.

The six-year legal battle at times strained relations between Israel and Australia.

Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter, who discussed the case when he travelled to Israel in 2019, said the Government did not comment on the logistics of extradition arrangements until the process was finished.

"Victorian authorities are responsible for the physical return of Ms Leifer to Australia now that the legal extradition process in Israel has concluded and she has been found suitable for surrender to Australian authorities to face the charges against her," Mr Porter said in a statement.

"Both the Attorney-General and Minister for Foreign Affairs have expressed their thanks to the Israel Government for its assistance and cooperation to bring this long-running process to a conclusion to allow for the extradition of Ms Leifer to Australia where she faces serious sexual assault allegations."

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council said it welcomed news of Ms Leifer's extradition "with enormous relief".

"This has been an extremely long journey, and while it is not over yet, progress today has been dramatically gratifying," the council's executive director, Colin Rubenstein, said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-25/malka-leifer-extradited-to-australia-to-face-sex-abuse-charges/13090106

>>12705499

Dassi Erlich Tweet

Leifer is on the way back to Australia.

#leiferonthewayback

https://twitter.com/dassi_erlich/status/1353587091645423616

>>12709747

o7

Anger as offender back on the streets after bail granted

9News Staff - Oct 23, 2020

A 25-year-old man charged with multiple new child sex offences is back on the streets awaiting trial in Perth after authorities did not oppose bail.

Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed was originally bailed in April awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to having sex with a child.

Now an international sting has seen him charged with more than 100 child exploitation offences, and federal police did not oppose bail.

Rasheed is accused of pretending to be a teenage social media celebrity to befriend 112 girls from all over the world online.

He allegedly doctored their messages and threatened to show them to their families unless the girls performed sexual acts on camera.

A police search of his Parkwood home allegedly uncovered more than 2000 images, and the investigation is still ongoing.

His bail conditions include he has no unsupervised access to children and does not use the internet except for banking.

He has also had to surrender his passport.

The state's Shadow Police Minister Peter Katsambanis told 9News it wasn't enough.

"Whilst he's awaiting his time in court and his trial, the safest and best place to have him again is remanded in custody," Mr Katsambanis said.

Police are tonight urging parents to check in with their children.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/perth-child-sex-offender-charged-exploitation-back-on-streets-after-bail/0eedb07f-16eb-4dbc-a731-aea6ee318ac6

>>12711553

Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed is back in court today after allegedly sextorting 245 victims

Daryna Zadvirna - 15 January 2021

A 25-year-old Perth man accused of “sextorting” more than 100 young girls on social media has been hit with an additional 134 charges.

Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed was first charged in October last year, after allegedly pretending to be a 15-year-old celebrity to befriend girls in Australia and overseas, before blackmailing them into sending him sexually explicit photos or videos.

The Western Australia Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team launched an investigation following reports from the United States’ Homeland Security Investigations and Interpol about a suspected Australian who was targeting girls through social media.

One 13-year-old in the United States told police that a person she had met online and thought was a 15-year-old boy, had started asking her sexually explicit questions.

Mr Rasheed first faced the Magistrates court on October 23, but was arrested again four days later after Australian Federal Police allegedly found he was failing to comply with a requirement of his bail conditions and successfully applied to the court to have his bail revoked.

Last year AFP Detective Senior Constable Barry Duman, from WA JACET, said police were working with international law enforcement partners and the social media companies to try to identify all the girls targeted, to check on their welfare and provide them support.

He said some of the evidence seized included text conversations and videos of the girls pleading for the man to leave them alone, detailing their distress, fear and humiliation.

“Online exploitation and abuse is devastating and can cause life-long trauma,” Det Snr Const Duman said.

“We will do everything in our power to ensure children are protected from predatory offending against their innocence.”

An ongoing review of hundreds of social media chats and other data, including sexually explicit images, stored on the man’s devices allegedly resulted in the further charges relating to 133 alleged victims.

As a result, the Parkwood man is now facing a total of 247 charges relating to 245 alleged victims and is due to appear at the Perth Magistrates Court today.

The AFP said the review is ongoing and police have not ruled out laying more charges.

Members of the public who have any information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to report it via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.

https://crimestoppers.com.au

https://www.accce.gov.au/report

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/muhammad-zain-ul-abideen-rasheed-is-back-in-court-today-after-allegedly-sextorting-245-victims-ng-b881770170z

https://www.facebook.com/Protect-our-children-from-adult-predators-WA-1666684823648075/

'I lost my virginity to a paedophile': Australian of the Year and rape survivor Grace Tame's powerful speech

Grace Tame, a sexual assault survivor who campaigned against Tasmania's gag laws, gave a powerful speech after being announced as the 2021 Australian of the Year.

"I lost my virginity to a paedophile. I was 15. Anorexic. He was 58," Ms Tame said to start her speech.

She spoke of being groomed and raped by her 58-year-old maths teacher Nicolaas Bester when she was in Year 10 at the exclusive all-girl St Michael's Collegiate School in Hobart.

She was unable to legally speak out about her experience, despite Bester being able to.

Now, Ms Tame is using her voice to make a difference for others - and encouraging all Australians to do the same.

Read the full speech below:

I lost my virginity to a paedophile. I was 15. Anorexic. He was 58.

He was my teacher. For months he groomed me and then abused me almost every day - before school, after school, in my uniform, on the floor. I didn't know who I was.

Publicly, he described his crimes as "awesome" and "enviable". Publicly, I was silenced by law.

Not anymore. Australia, we've come a long way but there's still more work to do in a lot of areas. Child sexual abuse and cultures that enable it still exist.

Grooming and its lasting impacts are not widely understood. Predators manipulate all of us - family, friends, colleagues, strangers, in every class, culture and community. They thrive when we fight amongst ourselves and weaponise all our vulnerabilities. Trauma does not discriminate. Nor does it end when the abuse itself does.

First Nations people, people with disabilities, the LGBTQI community and other marginalised groups face greater barriers to justice.

Every voice matters. Solutions are borne of all of us.

I was abused by a male teacher but one of the first people I told was also a male teacher, and he believed me.

This year and beyond, my focus is on empowering survivors and education as a primary means of prevention. It starts with conversation. We're all welcome at this table.

Communication breeds understanding and understanding is the foundation of progress. Lived experience informs structural and social change.

When we share, we heal.

Yes, discussion of child sexual abuse is uncomfortable but nothing is more uncomfortable than the abuse itself.

So, let us redirect this discomfort to where it belongs - at the feet of perpetrators of these crimes.

Together, we can redefine what it means to be a survivor.

Together, we can end child sexual abuse. Survivors, be proud, our voices are changing history.

Eleven years ago, I was in hospital, anorexic with atrophied muscles, I struggled to walk.

Last year I ran a marathon. We do transform as individuals and as a community.

When I was first reported I was shamed and ridiculed by shame.

But now my truth is helping to reconnect us. I know who I am - I'm a survivor, a proud, Tasmanian.

I remember him towering over me, blocking the door. I remember him saying, "Don't tell anybody."

I remember him saying, "Don't make a sound."

Well, hear me now, using my voice, amongst a growing chorus of voices that will not be silenced!

Let's make some noise, Australia!

Contact 1800 RESPECT, the national sexual assault and domestic family violence counselling service on 1800 737 732, or visit them online here (private browsing recommended). If you are in immediate danger, call Triple Zero.

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

https://www.9news.com.au/national/grace-tame-speech-rape-survivor-opens-up-at-australian-of-the-year-awards/798d3664-1924-4642-b838-0f6d118b59c9

>>12711960

Sexual assault survivor and advocate Grace Tame named 2021 Australian of the Year | ABC News

ABC News (Australia)

25 Jan 2021

The 26-year-old who helped lead the fight to overturn a law preventing sexual assault survivors from speaking out has been named Australian of the Year for 2021. Read more here:

Sexual assault survivor and advocate Grace Tame named 2021 Australian of the Year

https://ab.co/3sXexPU​

At 15, Grace Tame was groomed and raped by her 58-year-old teacher at a private girls' school in Hobart.

Her abuser was jailed for his crimes, but Ms Tame was not able to speak about her experience publicly under Tasmania's sexual assault victim gag laws, despite the perpetrator and media being free to do so.

She became the hidden face and catalyst of the #LetHerSpeak​ campaign, a victim who could not be shown or named in the media.

Family and domestic violence support:

1800 Respect national helpline: 1800 737 732

Women's Crisis Line: 1800 811 811

Men's Referral Service: 1300 766 491

Lifeline (24 hour crisis line): 131 114

Relationships Australia: 1300 364 277

NSW Domestic Violence Line: 1800 656 463

Qld DV Connect Womensline: 1800 811 811

Vic Safe Steps crisis response line: 1800 015 188

ACT 24/7 Crisis Line: (02) 6280 0900

Tas Family Violence Counselling and Support Service: 1800 608 122

SA Domestic Violence Crisis Line: 1800 800 098

WA Women's Domestic Violence 24h Helpline: 1800 007 339

NT Domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giTvpwh1VDM

Australia Day honours: Former PM Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘significant contributions’ duly recognised

ROSIE LEWIS and ADESHOLA ORE - JANUARY 25, 2021

On the day he resigned as prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull remained “very optimistic and positive” about Australia’s future.

He had just lost the Liberal Party leadership for a second time in his 14-year political career after enough of his colleagues lost faith in his prime ministership following a decade-old ideological divide over energy and climate change policy and an ongoing ­rivalry with his predecessor, Tony Abbott.

Proving Australia has moved on from those turbulent days in federal politics, Mr Turnbull, who was Liberal MP for Wentworth from 2004 to 2018, will be awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) on Tuesday for his eminent service to the people and parliament of Australia.

It was given because of Mr Turnbull’s “significant contributions” to national security, free trade, the environment and clean energy, innovation, economic reform and marriage equality — he was the prime minister to deliver same-sex marriage.

The 29th prime minister’s business and philanthropic pursuits were also celebrated in the AC, which is typically awarded to former prime ministers.

Former NSW Nationals senator Sandy Macdonald and former Liberal member for Groom William Taylor will be made Members of the Order of Australia.

Former South Australian Labor premier Jay Weatherill will be awarded an Officer of the Order for service to the state and his focus on early childhood and tertiary education.

Since retiring from state politics in 2018 after a 16-year career, Mr Weatherill has campaigned for early learning reform, voiced support for free childcare and called for states and territories to take over commonwealth funding of early learning centres.

The former Labor leader most recently undertook a comprehensive review of the ALP’s 2019 election loss with former federal Labor MP Craig Emerson.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/australia-day-honours-former-pm-malcolm-turnbulls-significant-contributions-duly-recognised/news-story/ba32f1a5c6c36e0c45c2198c2a360ff8

>>12712168

Use Biden agenda to commit to net zero: Malcolm Turnbull

David Crowe - January 26, 2021

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Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged the Morrison government to end a policy “vacuum” on climate change by seizing on the new agenda from US President Joe Biden to commit to net zero emissions by 2050.

Mr Turnbull, made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the Australia Day Honours list, named climate change action as one of the main “unfinished” policies of his leadership.

But he said Prime Minister Scott Morrison would “absolutely” face pressure to commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions as the new US administration sought more ambitious pledges worldwide.

“Energy and climate policy remains a vacuum at the federal level and that is because of the toxic politics,” he said.

“I’m hopeful that with Biden elected as President the change will make it easier for Morrison to switch to a more rational climate and energy agenda.”

Mr Turnbull was one of 845 people named in an Australia Day list that included scientist and mathematician Cheryl Praeger of Perth, Rabbi John Simon of Melbourne and former tennis player Margaret Court, who were also awarded ACs.

Women received 210 awards, or just under 37 per cent, and Governor General David Hurley said more work needed to be done to achieve gender parity and diversity in other areas.

“I am determined to make sure that the Order of Australia reflects the diversity and breadth of our community,” he said in a statement.

Speaking to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald on Monday, Mr Turnbull said Mr Biden’s victory meant there was “absolutely” pressure on the Morrison government to commit to net zero emissions by 2050, in line with commitments from the US and other countries.

“Scott does not have strong views on climate, in my experience. I don’t think it’s an issue that particularly motivates him, one way or another. So he views it in a political way, I think, above all,” he said.

“He’s very concerned to not allow the right to undermine him the way they undermined me on this issue.

“So if Lachlan Murdoch would be to switch his views on climate, that would be enough of a leave pass to get on with it.

“It’s about that poisonous combination of right-wing populist politics within the Coalition, right-wing media, principally Murdoch, and the fossil fuel lobby.”

Mr Morrison has talked of achieving net zero emissions some time in the second half of this century but avoided a commitment to 2050, even as Japan and South Korea say they will achieve the target by that date, while China aims for 2060.

“We’re working hard to work out when that can be achieved, not through taxes, but by technology and the smart innovation of companies and researchers and scientists here in Australia as part of our technology roadmap,” Mr Morrison said in Queensland last week.

The federal government’s latest projection, issued last month, said the Technology Investment Roadmap would help cut emissions to 436 million tonnes in 2030, which is 29 per cent below 2005 levels, but critics of the policy have dismissed the assumption and called for stronger action.

(continued)

>>12712187

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While former prime minister and fellow republican Paul Keating declined to accept the Companion of the Order of Australia, Mr Turnbull said the award was an Australian honour that had been separated from the imperial system under Gough Whitlam in the 1970s.

Mr Turnbull noted that he had scrapped the restoration of knights and dames under his predecessor, Tony Abbott, and laughed off the idea that he might have been Sir Malcolm without that change.

“The knighthoods were one of Abbott’s crazier but, in truth, less harmful initiatives,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Australians are just prepared to accept an honours system - just - but it is always invidious because there are always deserving people who are not recognised because they are not pushy enough, or not prominent enough, or not good enough at organising people to nominate them.”

Mr Turnbull backed the effort by the Governor-General to make the honours more representative of the community.

He also said the Australia Day honour owed much to his family, his staff and others in his government.

“Public service at the level I served is a very much a team effort, so it’s not an individual achievement. It’s awarded to an individual, but it represents the efforts of many others.”

Mr Turnbull named the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project as one of his biggest achievements but said he was disappointed more had not been done since he lost office in August 2018 to build the “battery of the nation” hydro scheme in Tasmania.

This project needed an interconnector to be built across Bass Strait as envisioned, as well as more pumped hydro projects in Tasmania to generate renewable energy, he said.

Reverend Court, was awarded an AC despite backlash following a journalist’s decision to leak the announcement last week.

She was awarded the honour for “eminent service to tennis as an internationally acclaimed player and record-holding grand slam champion”, and as a mentor of young sportspeople.

Rabbi Levi received his AC for “eminent service to Judaism through seminal roles with religious, community and historical organisations”, and for advancing interfaith understanding.

Dr Levi was the first Australian to be ordained as a rabbi, and he has been given multiple awards for his service to Australia’s Jewish community.

Professor Praeger was also given an AC for her service to mathematics, tertiary education, and as a champion of women in science and technology careers.

She had previously won the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science in 2019, and is an honorary member of the London Mathematical Society.

Former Socceroo Tim Cahill was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service to sport, while former Australian Diamonds netball coach Lisa Alexander was made a Member of the Order of Australia.

There were 571 recipients in the general division of the Order of Australia, including four ACs, and 28 recipients in the military division.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/use-biden-agenda-to-commit-to-net-zero-malcolm-turnbull-20210125-p56wnf.html

Angus Taylor talks emissions with John Kerry

Phillip Coorey - Jan 25, 2021

Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor has held a phone hook-up with his new US counterpart, John Kerry, in the first of a series of planned calls between senior ministers in the Morrison government and new members of Joe Biden’s cabinet.

Mr Kerry, a former US Senator, presidential candidate and secretary of state, is a passionate advocate for climate change action and his appointment is expected to increase pressure on the Morrison government to increase its ambitions on climate change.

Immediately on his inauguration last week, Mr Biden recommitted the US to the Paris climate accord, something from which Mr Morrison never withdrew, despite urging from conservatives.

Mr Biden is also an advocate of net zero emissions by 2050, something to which Mr Morrison is yet to commit but could do so before the next election.

According to a read-out of the Monday-morning phone call provided by Mr Taylor’s office, Mr Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, welcomed Mr Morrison’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions “as soon as possible”.

Mr Taylor welcomed the US back into the Paris fold.

Mr Morrison has said previously that he sees opportunities to work with the Biden administration on technologies that will reduce emissions. Mr Taylor and Mr Kerry agreed to establish a joint working group to progress the idea.

“They agreed on the need to enhance international collaboration on technology R&D in order to reduce the cost of new technologies to parity with existing approaches, as well as the need to encourage increased private-sector investment in technology R&D,” the statement said.

Mr Morrison spoke to Mr Biden in November after his election win over Donald Trump.

Mr Taylor was the first minister to touch base with the administration. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds is scheduled to talk to her new counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Wednesday.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/angus-taylor-talks-emissions-with-john-kerry-20210125-p56wp7

>>12088511

>>12113825

EXCLUSIVE: Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre provided key evidence to French police to secure arrest of late pedophile's model agent friend Jean-Luc Brunel, charged with multiple counts of rape

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Jeffery Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre has provided enough evidence to French officials for the late pedophile's model agent friend Jean-Luc Brunel to be charged with multiple rapes, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Virginia Giuffre, 37, is now the key witness in the prosecution of Brunel, 75, after claiming that both him and Prince Andrew, 60, used her as their 'sex slave'.

The two men vehemently deny any wrongdoing, but in December Brunel was remanded in custody in Paris after being charged with multiple rapes of Giuffre and a separate case of sexual harassment against an unidentified complainant.

It followed dozens of women saying Brunel abused them while running an underage sex ring with Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019.

Almost all of the accusations leveled against Brunel are from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, meaning they fall outside the 20-year limit for prosecuting sex crimes in France.

This meant that Brunel was considered 'untouchable' by police who nicknamed him 'The Ghost' as he carried on living and working in the French capital, while frequently traveling abroad on scouting assignments and holidays.

But in November Giuffre responded to an online English language appeal by French magistrates for alleged victims to come forward.

'Ms Giuffre now lives in Australia but responded to the appeal,' said an investigating source. 'She was interviewed remotely, and provided considerable evidence against Brunel.

'She said that she was raped by Brunel in the early 2000s, including in 2001. This was a considerable breakthrough for the enquiry.'

It meant that the alleged crime was well within the statute of limitations, and therefore prosecutable.

Officers were set to arrest Brunel in January following further enquiries, but on December 16 he was intercepted at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris with a one-way ticket to Dakar, capital of Senegal, in West Africa.

'This led to his immediate arrest and he was placed in custody,' said the source. 'The multiple rape charges solely relate to the testimony of Virginia Giuffre, and not any of the other alleged rape victims.

'The sexual harassment indictment is nothing to do with the Epstein case, and instead relates to incidents in 2016 following a complaint by another woman who has not gone public.'

The 'multiple rapes' of Virginia Giuffre – now a mother of three who was called Virginia Roberts before her marriage – were said to have mainly taken place at Epstein's home on the private island of Little Saint James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Giuffre had produced sworn testimonies saying that both Brunel and Prince Andrew attacked her there.

According to French law, a French citizen such as Brunel can be tried in France for offences committed abroad.

Others said to have been involved in the sex ring include Epstein's ex-girlfriend, the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, who is currently on remand in the USA after being charged with the trafficking of underage girls and the enticement of minors.

Prince Andrew was, like his friend Maxwell, a regular visitor to Epstein's mansion flat in Paris, where many of the worst crimes against girls are said to have taken place.

(continued)

>>12714217

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A French judicial enquiry into Brunel's conduct and the sex ring was opened in August 2019, when prosecutors first heard allegations that Brunel and the Queen's second son shared a lover.

Giuffre said she was forced to sleep with the Duke after being trafficked to him at least three times when she was 17.

Prince Andrew has consistently denied the accusations levelled by Giuffre, telling the BBC in 2019: 'I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady. None whatsoever.'

Giuffre has now told the French she was routinely raped by Brunel between the ages of 16 and 19.

Brunel, who has worked with celebrities including Jerry Hall, Sharon Stone and Monica Bellucci, is also suspected of using his contacts in the fashion industry to provide victims to Epstein and his friends.

He is said to have flown 12-year-old sisters from a Paris housing estate to America so they could be abused by Epstein as 'a birthday present'.

Epstein – an old friend of Andrew's and a business associate of Brunel's – committed suicide in his prison cell in New York on August 10 2019, while awaiting trial for a range of offences, including trafficking minors for sex, and multiple rapes.

Brunel was the founder of MC2, the model agency that prosecutors believe was used as a cover for the sex trafficking ring.

The out-of-time evidence against Brunel comes from a number of former models, who – like Giuffre – have waived their anonymity to make their allegations public.

New Zealander Zoe Brock has claimed in statements made to French investigators that she was abused in his Paris home in the early 1990s.

The Dutch model, Thysia Huisman, who was 18 when she first stayed with Brunel, said she was raped by him in 1991.

Huisman is now one of at least four alleged victims represented by Anne-Claire Le Jeune, a Paris barrister, who said Brunel being in custody was a huge relief, because their complaints now 'take on meaning'.

Lawyer Sigrid McCawley said: 'My clients and I are delighted [by the French prosecution]. This is a sign that the investigation by the French authorities is advancing.

'Jean-Luc Brunel played a key role in Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring. Virginia Giuffre in particular, my oldest client, made it a personal struggle to hold the people who assaulted so many young girls to account. She is grateful to the French authorities for taking Jean-Luc Brunel's behaviour very seriously.'

Marianne Abgrall, Brunel's lawyer, said: 'My client formally disputes the facts of which he is accused. He is very upset that his name is dragged through the mud without moderation.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9184547/Virginia-Roberts-Giuffre-provided-evidence-secure-arrest-Jean-Luc-Brunel.html

Kevin Rudd and Bob Carr hail Joe Biden as climate change President

GRAHAM LLOYD - JANUARY 25, 2021

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, former NSW premier and foreign minister Bob Carr and former Dow Chemicals chief executive Andrew Liveris have signed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times calling on Joe Biden to become the “climate change President”.

The notable Australians were included among a group of 153 signatories from entertainment, politics and business.

Mr Biden, the letter said, could be remembered as the climate President who “led humanity off the cliff-edge”.

“You can transform the world’s energy systems from fossil fuels to clean energy, while also creating an abundance of jobs, reducing harmful pollution and tackling economic, racial, and health inequality in the process,” the letter said.

“By rejoining the Paris Agreement on day one, you have moved the US in the right direction.

“But as you have stated, it is simply not enough, and we must ‘Do all we possibly can’,” it said.

The signatories said climate change presented the greatest economic opportunity for innovation, job creation, new business and investment.

“It goes hand in hand with restoring justice and building an equitable, inclusive and just future for all,” the letter said.

It said Mr Biden’s commitment to “build back better with clean energy jobs and tackling the legacy of environmental injustice is the consequential action that science and our future demands”.

The signatories said: “We will work alongside you to realise this ambitious pursuit.”

The letter was organised by Climate Power 2020, which claims to have on its advisory board Mr Biden’s special climate ambassador, former secretary of state John Kerry.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/kevin-rudd-and-bob-carr-hail-joe-biden-as-climate-change-president/news-story/dfd1aa9d492e01bfcd8bfbe68c9276c8

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1353446416174080000

Controversy as Noosa Satanists celebrate what they say is 'an important win for religious freedom'

ESSAM AL-GHALIB - 19/01/2021

Satanists are celebrating what they are calling, "a small but important win for religious freedom" after succeeding in having the pentagram added among the symbols of recognised faiths displayed at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital’s multi-faith centre.

The Noosa Temple of Satan said it is working with the hospital to have its spiritual leader officially recognised as a minister.

“We think it's important that Satanists can access the right spiritual support during their time of need,” the Temple’s leader, Samael Dema Gorgon, said on Facebook

Noosa Temple of Satan co-founder Trevor Bell, 56, said it wasn't a particularly difficult step to take.

“I think there was already something like seven or eight different faiths that were listed there in the chapel and I don't think it was that hard to get on the list," he said.

"I think they were quite inclusive and quite ready to add Satanism to the list and it was done relatively quickly without a great problem."

A Queensland Health spokesperson told SBS News that its service cares for patients of all religious backgrounds and displays world-recognised religious symbols in its facilities.

“Queensland Health staff care for patients of all faiths in their facilities and these patients are entitled to request and receive support from their faith leader,” Queensland Health said in a statement.

“Facilities may display world-recognised religious symbols as a welcoming gesture for patients and visitors. In 2020, Queensland Health released its Framework for the Integration of Spiritual Care in Queensland Health Facilities."

The hospital did not respond to SBS News’ query about how the hospital would handle reactions of people from different faiths.

In an attempt to put an end to religious studies in Queensland state schools, the Noosa Temple of Satan is requesting the teaching of Satanism in schools, with the same rights as Christian organisations.

The Satanic temple is asking its 5,000 members on Facebook to register their children in school as Satanists.

Mike Hercock is a former Senior Minister of Imagine Baptist Church in Sydney.

He says that Satanism is being used as a method to challenge and disrupt mainstream religious beliefs by those who may have been disenchanted or alienated by organised religion throughout their lives.

“The question I think it raises is about the sense of experience that people who are voiceless or concerned by the power of religion in schools,” Mr Hercock said.

“That sense of voicelessness I suppose as I have mentioned often comes out of hurt and anger over the control and abuse of the church over years, I have some empathy towards that."

Mr Hercock was one of the 100 Revs, a group that comprised of 100 clergy who officially apologised to the LGBTQI+ community of Australia for the attitudes of the Church towards them in 2008.

Muslim Imam Ibrahim Dadoun said he was concerned about Satanism being used as a diversion to prevent people from worshipping God.

John Dickson is a senior lecturer at Ridley College, an Australian Christian theological college.

He said the move by the Noosa Temple of Satan was "a joke".

"It's a joke on the hospital that has accepted this as a faith," he said.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/controversy-as-noosa-satanists-celebrate-what-they-say-is-an-important-win-for-religious-freedom

—

Q Post #3931

Apr 10 2020 14:53:58 (EST)

https://twitter.com/SeekretAgent/status/1248681547827417093

The credibility of our institutions [Constitutional Law that governs our Great Land [Our Republic]], and our ability to regain the trust and faith of the American people, all depends on our ability to restore [EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER THE LAW] by prosecuting those responsible [Blind-Justice].

Treasonous acts [sedition] against the Republic [the 'People'] of the United States [START - LEAD-IN].

Infiltration [rogue] at the highest levels of our gov, media, corps, etc.

Planned & coordinated [D/ F].

This is not about politics.

Something far more sinister [evil] has been allowed to flourish through all parts of our society.

It has been protected and safeguarded.

It has been camouflaged to appear as trusted.

It has been projected [normalized] by stars.

[CLAS 1-99]

One must only look to see.

[Symbolism will be their downfall]

This is not another [4] year election.

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong."

You are not alone.

We stand together.

Q

https://qanon.pub/#3931

https://qanon.pub/?q=devil

https://qanon.pub/?q=satan

https://qanon.pub/?q=pure%20evil