Anonymous ID: 244c6b Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition May 24, 2021, 2:23 a.m. No.13741316   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Welcome To Q Research AUSTRALIA

 

In anticipation of FISA DECLAS and SPYGATE revelations, a new thread for research and discussion of Australia's role in The Great Awakening.

 

Previous threads

>>13341710 Q Research AUSTRALIA #15

 

mirrored @ qanon.news

Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 ——–—— https://qanon.news/archives/x/13164452

Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 ——–—— https://qanon.news/archives/x/12772779

Q Research AUSTRALIA #12 ——–—— https://qanon.news/Archives/x/12076528

Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 ——–—— https://qanon.news/Archives/x/11414771

Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 ——–—— https://qanon.news/Archives/x/10705197

Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/10099681

Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/9062489

Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/7994433

Q Research AUSTRALIA #6 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/7355098

Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/6576586

Q Research AUSTRALIA #4 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/5945347

Q Research AUSTRALIA #3 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/5443913

Q Research AUSTRALIA #2 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/4899520

Q Research AUSTRALIA #1 ——–——– https://qanon.news/archives/x/4520

 

Q's Posts made on Q Research AUSTRALIA threads

Wednesday 11.20.19

>>7358352 ————————————–——– These people are stupid.

>>7358338 ————————————–——– All assets [F + D] being deployed.

>>7358318 ————————————–——– What happens when the PUBLIC discovers the TRUTH [magnitude] re: [D] party corruption?

 

Tuesday 11.19.19

>>7357790 ————————————–——– FISA goes both ways.

 

Saturday 11.16.2019

>>7356270 ————————————–——– There is no escaping God.

>>7356265 ————————————–——– The Harvest [crop] has been prepared and soon will be delivered to the public for consumption.

 

Friday 11.15.2019

>>7356017 ————————————–——– "Whistle Blower Traps" [Mar 4 2018] 'Trap' keyword select provided…..

 

Thursday 03.28.2019

>>5945210 ————————————–——– Sometimes our 'sniffer' picks and pulls w/o applying credit file

>>5945074 ————————————–——– We LOVE you!

>>5944970 ————————————–——– USA v. LifeLog?

>>5944908 ————————————–——– It is an embarrassment to our Nation!

>>5944859 ————————————–——– 'Knowingly'

 

Q's Posts referencing Australia

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

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

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

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

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

https://qanon.pub/?q=45HarisonHarold

https://qanon.pub/?q=RAT%20BAIT

 

Q's Posts referencing Australian citizens

Malcolm Turnbull (X/AUS)

Former Prime Minister of Australia

https://qanon.pub/?q=X%2FAUS

https://qanon.pub/?q=call%20details

https://qanon.pub/?q=Threat%20to%20AUS

 

Alexander Downer

Former Australian Liberal Party politician and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom

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

 

Cardinal George Pell

Australian Cardinal of the Catholic Church and former Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy

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

https://qanon.pub/?q=cardinal-george-pell

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

 

Julian Assange

Australian activist, founder, editor and publisher of WikiLeaks

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

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

https://qanon.pub/?q=Under%20protection

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

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

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

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

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

 

Virginia Roberts Giuffre

American-Australian survivor of sex trafficking ring operated by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

https://qanon.pub/#4568

https://qanon.pub/#4728

https://qanon.pub/#1054

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

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

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

https://qanon.pub/#1001

https://qanon.pub/#1861

https://qanon.pub/#4578

https://qanon.pub/#3497

https://qanon.pub/#4727

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

https://qanon.pub/#4576

https://qanon.pub/#4577

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

https://qanon.pub/#4569

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

https://qanon.pub/#4570

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

https://qanon.pub/?q=Prince%20Andrew

https://qanon.pub/#4579

https://qanon.pub/#4907

https://qanon.pub/#4911

https://qanon.pub/#4921

https://qanon.pub/?q=Dearest%20Virginia

 

Q's Posts referencing The Five Eyes intelligence alliance (FVEY)

An anglophone intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States

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

https://qanon.pub/?q=Five%20Eyes

https://qanon.pub/?q=Interesting%2C

https://qanon.pub/?q=RAT%20BAIT

 

"Does AUS stand w/ the US or only select divisions within the US?"

Q

Nov 25 2018

https://qanon.pub/#2501

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:25 a.m. No.13741319   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Notables

are not endorsements

 

#15 - Part 1

Australian Politics and Society - Part 1

>>13345120 Christian Porter: ABC reporter Louise Milligan accused of deleting social media posts

>>13345357 Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Australian adviser Sean Turnell charged under Myanmar secrets act

>>13350508 Tortured by Iran, trolled at home: academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert hits out at vicious attacks

>>13350524 How the Murdoch War Megaphone pulls the wool over our eyes - Dr Tim Anderson on Kylie Moore-Gilbert and Israeli spy allegations

>>13356362 New Defence Minister Peter Dutton warns contractors on submarine, frigate deliveries

>>13362728 Australians Christa Avery and Matthew O'Kane freed from house arrest in Myanmar

>>13369823 Malcolm Turnbull dumped from new NSW Government Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board

>>13369989 Andy Meddick slams AustraliaOne party after supporters of the far-right party gathered in Torquay

>>13390184 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet - Statement on His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh

>>13390206 Q Post #100 - Who is the Queen of England? How long in power? With power comes corruption. What happened to Diana? What did she find out?

 

>>13391053 Christian Porter - Australia's former Attorney General and Minister for Industry, Science and Technology - Big Tech wants him gone

>>13408002 Mike Pompeo Tweet: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:11

>>13408100 ‘Utterly unaccountable’: Turnbull labels News Corp the most powerful political actor in Australia

>>13414591 Magda Szubanski criticised over Jenny Morrison ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ post

>>13414649 Video: Trump receives 'Champion for Freedom Award' from The National Republican Senatorial Committee - Sky News Australia

>>13422688 Spring forward: why Arthur Sinodinos, Australia’s ambassador to the United States is ready to mingle after a ‘hermit-like existence’

>>13429478 Joe Biden says it's time to 'end America's longest war', as final Afghanistan withdrawal announced

>>13429488 Australia to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan after Biden’s vow to end war

>>13429624 Video: PM holds back tears announcing withdrawal of Australian troops from Afghanistan

>>13429802 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Tweet: Did you miss us, #Australia?

 

>>13429808 U.S. Navy Tweet: #USNavy Sailors & @USMC with Marine Rotational Force Darwin arrive at @AusAirForce Base after documenting negative #COVID19 tests throughout travel.

>>13429809 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: The U.S. Marines are back for a historical 10th iteration of Marine Rotational Force - Darwin. The MRF-D rotation demonstrates the U.S. commitment to combined readiness and shared regional security in the Indo-Pacific region.

>>13438087 Video: Google deceived some Australian mobile users about collection of location data, Federal Court finds

>>13441634 Facebook faces mass legal action over data leak - 530 million people had some personal information leaked, in some cases phone numbers

>>13444007 Liberal Party stalwart Andrew Peacock dies in the United States aged 82

>>13445048 Chief of Navy Australia Tweet #HMASAnzac and #HMASSirius took part in the French-led Exercise La Perouse….undertaken by (France, India, Japan and the U.S.)

>>13445768 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Tweet: Cleared for Landing - @USMC UH-1Y Venoms and MV-22B #Ospreys for MRF-D 21.2 have officially landed! #USwithAus

>>13460196 Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull puts Rupert Murdoch on blast - CNN

>>13460205 Greg Kelly Tweet: SO @TurnbullMalcolm doesn’t KNOW anything about what happened in the Nov. election. Malcolm, real quick: describe for us the constitutional issues surrounding Absentee voting in Pennsylvania

>>13460205 Malcolm Turnbull Tweet: There are Courts to do that. And they did. But here's the thing: a democracy should ensure that every adult eligible to vote is on the roll and is encouraged to vote

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:26 a.m. No.13741323   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 2

Australian Politics and Society - Part 2

>>13460325 Video: New Zealand 'uncomfortable with expanding the remit' of Five Eyes, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta

>>13460336 1st MAW Marines Tweet: VMM-363 and HMLA-367 joined MRF-D and are prepared to respond to crisis and contingencies in a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific

>>13462856 Feeding Hate With Video: A Former Alt-Right YouTuber Explains His Methods - Focus on conflict Feed the algorithm (Lauren Southern)

>>13477230 New Zealand backs “Five Eyes” alliance, but wants human rights raised in broader group

>>13477249 Japan should join Five Eyes intelligence network, says ambassador Shingo Yamagami

>>13477403 Former US intelligence director James Clapper backs Turnbull and Rudd’s call for Murdoch media inquiry

>>13477434 Australia’s ambition on climate change is held back by a toxic mix of rightwing politics, media and vested interests - Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull - theguardian.com

>>13485324 Australia was blindsided when Five Eyes ally New Zealand backed away from China criticism

>>13485327 Australia reminds New Zealand of the importance of the Five Eyes alliance during a meeting of trans-Tasman foreign ministers

>>13485332 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Today’s Foreign Ministerial Consultations in #Wellington, our first face-to-face meeting since COVID-19, allowed for a deep discussion as friends about shared priorities, including our Pacific partnerships, as we navigate 2021 together

 

>>13485337 Strengthening trans-Tasman ties: Australia-New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations - Senator the Hon Marise Payne Joint statement with The Hon Nanaia Mahuta - 22 April 2021

>>13485346 Former Director of America's National Security Agency, Admiral Michael Rogers says misinformation a threat to democracy

>>13485350 Video: CyberCX Cyber Dialogue: In conversation with Admiral Michael Rogers and Alastair MacGibbon

>>13493355 ‘Bankable’: Morrison promotes Australia’s climate record at US summit

>>13493366 Video: Scott Morrison resists pressure for new emissions target at Joe Biden climate summit

>>13493636 Andrew Greene Tweet: Worth noting the head of ASIS (Paul Symon) joined @MarisePayne's delegation to New Zealand. Wellington's role in 5-Eyes is all the talk inside intelligence circles at the moment

>>13499801 All-gender bathrooms proposed for Victorian workplaces and footy ovals

>>13499932 Arthur Sinodinos AO Tweet: #QUAD Ambassadors and US House Foreign Affairs Committee continue conversation on shared vision for an open, inclusive and resilient Indo Pacifc.

>>13500013 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Marines with MRF-D and ADF members teamed up with the Portuguese and Timorese Social Club in order to prepare a shipment of flood relief supplies donated by the local Darwin community for Timor-Leste

>>13500022 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Heads up Darwin, Marines will be flying at night throughout the rotation! This training keeps our aviation units safe and proficient, and we’ll do our best to keep it to times that are respectful to the community

 

>>13500945 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Facebook Post - Lest We Forget. Tomorrow, Anzac Day, is one of the most sacred days in our national calendar.

>>13500949, >>13500950, >>13500952, >>13500954 Anzac Day 2021 Dawn Service Livestreams - ShrineMelbourne, ABC Australia, 7NEWS Australia and Australia in the US

>>13503677 ANZAC Day 2021 - "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them." Lest We Forget.

>>13507409 Anzac Day: Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Afghanistan withdrawal marks end of ‘another chapter’

>>13507484 Video: Defence Minister Peter Dutton reveals how Australian troops will fight greater threats and uncertainty at home

>>13507800 ANZAC Day - PRESS STATEMENT - ANTONY J. BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE - "I express my sincere gratitude to all Australians and New Zealanders on this somber day."

>>13507965 Crowds return for Anzac Day service, but some diggers locked out by fence

>>13507973 Q Post #2480 - With Respect, Honor, and Gratitude. Your sacrifice(s) will never be forgotten. Thank you and God Bless, Veterans!

>>13508029 Video: What can the US learn from Australia's gun reforms? - Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - CNN

>>13508109 'It's an arms race': RedShield - The Kiwi cyber firm that shielded Biden's home state during 2020 election

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:26 a.m. No.13741324   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 3

Australian Politics and Society - Part 3

>>13508222 Video: Mike Pompeo has 'kept his cards close' when quizzed on political ambitions - Sky News Australia

>>13515179 Top US general pays his respects to Anzac Day in Washington - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley Mark Milley

>>13515184 Arthur Sinodinos AO Tweet: Honour to host #ANZACDay dawn service with @NZAmbassadorUS Banks and to welcome Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff #GenMilley to the Residence

>>13515203 The Joint Staff Tweet: #GenMilley: "On this #ANZACDay, we honor the sacrifices of our Australian and New Zealand brothers and sisters in arms. We are proud to have the honor of serving shoulder to shoulder with you."

>>13515223 Australia in the US Tweet: We thank those who joined us virtually in honouring our #Anzacs. We are privileged to remember those that made the ultimate sacrifice and thank those that continue to bravely protect our freedom.

>>13515232 Australia in the US Tweet: Today our Air & Space Attache conducted a small #AnzacDay ceremony at @ArlingtonNatl. They laid a wreath at the gravesite of PLTOFF Francis Milne - the only Australian military member buried at the Cemetery.

>>13515254 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Tweet: Lest We Forget - Originally done to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps forces from World War I, #AnzacDay2021 recognizes the men and women who served in the Australian and New Zealand armed services in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations

>>13515260 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post: With the Northern Territory remaining free of COVID transmission within the community, Marines were able to participate in today’s events to show respects to their fallen, former, and active members.

>>13515399 Neo-Nazis make submission to Parliamentary inquiry into extremism

>>13517935 Social media is work of ‘evil one’, says Scott Morrison

 

>>13522489 Video: Exclusive: Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s speech at the ACC conference - Rationalists Australia

>>13532829 Video: Kevin Rudd on religion, politics and Scott Morrison’s speech to the Pentecostal conference - Kevin Rudd

>>13539434 Senior Democrat John Podesta: Quad will demand Australia does more on climate change

>>13539440 Rekindling Hope Podcast - Sam Crosby and Chris Bowen - Washington power broker John Podesta on how Biden is traveling and how Australia’s climate policy needs to lift its game

>>13539655 Video: Spy boss Mike Burgess says ASIO anticipating terrorist attack in the next year from either right-wing or Islamic extremists

>>13539665 Australian Federal Police backs ban on flags linked to terrorist groups, sharing of extremist material

>>13539771 Pacific Marines Tweet: @USMC with @mrfdarwin conduct flight operations during a forward arming refueling point exercise at @ausairforce Base Darwin

>>13539779 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post: Yesterday, the Honorable Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, met with members of the Australian Army and U.S. Marine Corps for a visit to Robertson Barracks, NT, Australia

>>13547962 President Joe Biden could learn from Australia on border policy, says Former US ambassador Joe Hockey

>>13548052 Video: Clive Palmer to pay $1.5 million after losing Twisted Sister copyright fight

 

>>13553273 Video: Don’t give in to identity politics and forces that undermine the community, Scott Morrison urges

>>13553300 PM’s plea from the heart a timely reminder - "every human being is possessed of an innate human dignity that transcends all other considerations"

>>13553469 Future of Army's multi-billion-dollar Battle Management System uncertain amid tensions with Israeli military company

>>13553502 Elbit Battle Management System shut down - "The more research into this decision undertaken, the stranger it gets. No notice. No reason given."

>>13554042 Japan honors former Australian PM Gillard for service to the nation - awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun

>>13555102 Scott Morrison’s partisan interpretation of biblical passages is disturbing for democracy - Kevin Rudd - theguardian.com

>>13555694 Facebook’s assault exposes Australia’s vulnerability, says top ex-military man Major General Marcus Thompson - INFORMATION WARFARE

>>13556296 In Memorium - Dutch patriot Mrs NarQie - "A great patriot has passed away but we will continue her fight! - WWG1WGA - Mrs. NarQie o7"

>>13569454 Video: Noosa Temple of Satan want Satanism taught in state schools - A Current Affair

>>13569460 Q Post #1646 - NEVER IN OUR HISTORY HAVE THEY COME OUT FROM THE SHADOWS TO FIGHT. THE TRUTH IS CLEARLY VISIBLE.

>>13569460 Q Post #4461 - Only when evil is forced into the light can we defeat it. Only when they can no longer operate in the [shadows] can people see the truth for themselves.

>>13569460 Q Post #4396 - God wins.

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:27 a.m. No.13741327   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 4

Australian Politics and Society - Part 4

>>13569679 U.S. Marines Tweet: Joint Forces - The Honorable @ScottMorrisonMP the Prime Minister of Australia, speaks to Maj. David Femea, aviation combat element operations officer and AH-1Z Viper pilot with @MrfDarwin

>>13586735 Video: 'Donald Trump's desk' feed lets people share his posts on their Facebook or Twitter accounts. But it's not the same as him tweeting

>>13586991 U.S. Department of Defense Tweet: Flight mates - A @HiAirGuard F-22 Raptor flies alongside an @AusAirForce E-7A Wedgetail over Oahu, Hawaii

>>13586995 Hawaiian Raptors Fly with RAAF for Exercise Pacific Edge 21

>>13587004 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: Honoured to lay wreaths at the Japanese and Australian War Cemeteries in Cowra. Lest We Forget

>>13595507 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: Great to exchange candid views with Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo AO

>>13595526 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan - Press Release: Japan-Australia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, May 5, 2021

>>13595629 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) & (United Kingdom) bonds are stronger than ever, as our partnership in the #IndoPacific deepens

>>13595634 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) & (France) are close friends in support of multilateralism, the rules-based international order & cooperation in the Indo-Pacific

 

>>13595643 High Commissioner to the UK George Brandis Tweet: Australia’s values are clear, and we are resolute in our defence of liberal democracy

>>13603946 Israeli company denies 'security rumours' as Defence removes multi-billion-dollar technology and quarantines Army IT systems

>>13604022 U.S. Senator Ted Cruz Tweet: Had a great dinner tonight with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He’s in great spirits! We spent the evening talking about working together to re-take the House & Senate in 2022.

>>13604022 Malcolm Turnbull Tweet: “re-take the House & Senate in 2022” like you did on 6 January 2021?

>>13604022 Dr. Carter Pewterschmidt Tweet: C'mon Malcolm, you a former PM of Aus? Openly taking sides…?

>>13604022 Malcolm Turnbull Tweet: Are you kidding? Taking sides? Sure, I am on the side of democracy and the rule of law. I am not on the side of armed mobs trying to overturn an election and hang elected officials. Nor am I on the side of the media that enabled it. What “side” are you on?

>>13608464 Royal Australian Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts to become Australia's first space commander

>>13626313 Pacific Marines Tweet: @USMC with @MRFDarwin and members of the @DeptDefence conduct a site survey in preparation for an upcoming exercise on Tiwi Island, Northern Territory

>>13626313 Pacific Marines Tweet: This year marks the 10-year anniversary of #MRFD, demonstrating the U.S. Marine Corps’ sustained commitment to the Australian-U.S. alliance, combined strength, and presence in a #freeandopenindopacific

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:27 a.m. No.13741330   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 5

Australian Politics and Society - Part 5

>>13633861 Army may have to fight next war with pencils and paper - Axing of $2bn battle management system sets back Army’s digital transformation by more than 15 years

>>13642424 U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: I had an excellent call with Australia’s MoD @PeterDutton_MP. The Unbreakable Alliance has faced all challenges in its first 70 years, and we stand ready with our Australian mates for the challenges of the next 70 and beyond, strengthening the #FreeandopenIndoPacific

>>13642424 U.S. Department of Defense Press Readout: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton by phone today, reaffirming the strength, endurance, and resilience of the U.S.-Australia Alliance – the Unbreakable Alliance

>>13642586 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Good to see Sec @JohnKerry again including to discuss key outcomes from the #ClimateSummit & the $1.1b (Australia) committed to low emissions technology

>>13650206 What is Australia's space division, and why is it in the military?

>>13650406 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Tweet: Appreciated meeting today with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne of Australia. We discussed our nations’ efforts to meet shared challenges, from China’s aggression to democracy in Burma and counterterrorism in Afghanistan. It was a good conversation with a great ally

>>13658108 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Honoured to meet with @LeaderMcConnell in Washington DC to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing our nations including #IndoPacific cooperation and Myanmar.

>>13658222 Israeli defence company Elbit Systems to fight ADF axing of $2bn battle management system over ‘security’ fears

>>13658651 ‘Entirely undemocratic’: Bernard Collaery to challenge court order requiring large parts of his trial to be held in secret

 

>>13658692 Video: Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell arrested during counter-terrorism raid on Melbourne home

>>13659310 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: Our Chargé d’Affaires Mike Goldman accepted the National Emergency Medal yesterday on behalf of the families of the three Americans who tragically died while fighting fires in NSW. Their sacrifice remains a constant reminder of the unbreakable bond between our two nations

>>13664626 Record $1.3bn boost for ASIO’s war on spies and hackers - Spy agency will move to an artificial intelligence war footing in a technology arms race

>>13682300 Video: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to host Scott Morrison later this month

>>13682626 ‘Not a good look’: Malcolm Turnbull questions Scott Morrison’s red carpet welcome at RAAF Williamtown Base

>>13692528 Carolyn2813928 Tweet - Giant pipes coming out from the ground marked with Masonic symbols - 1829 New World Infrastructure Commission - Australis Project West - Bunbury, WA

>>13717832 Defence declares war on political correctness, bans morning teas aimed at inclusion and diversity - " primary mission to protect Australia's national security interests"

>>13717834 ‘We are not pursuing a woke agenda’: Dutton bans special morning teas at Defence after International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT)

>>13718168, >>13721113 This week in US Politics: Why a meaningless recount in Arizona might be the most important political story of the year

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:28 a.m. No.13741332   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 6

Australian Government Sexual Assault Allegations

>>13376644 A team of five Australian Federal Police officers assembled to examine Brittany Higgins rape allegations

>>13548262 Video: Brittany Higgins meets Scott Morrison, says he agreed system let her down over rape allegation

 

#15 - Part 7

Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition

>>13395990 Vigils planned to mark the second anniversary of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange being detained

>>13408063 Julian Assange supporters hold vigils in cities across the world

>>13408146 Britain is damaging its reputation by keeping Julian Assange in jail, says partner Stella Moris

 

#15 - Part 8

Australian and Regional Resignations

>>13477544 John Osborne: Dreamworld CEO unexpectedly resigns - "We fully understand John’s wish to spend more time with his family"

>>13493606 Outspoken Nationals MP George Christensen to quit politics - "The member for Dawson said he wanted to spend more time with his family"

>>13658239 NSW MP Gareth Ward stands aside amid police probe into alleged sexual violence - "It is appropriate I stand aside from my role as minister. I will also remove myself from the Liberal partyroom.”

>>13658258 Tasmanian Liberal Adam Brooks charged by police over firearms offences, resigns from Parliament - "Seeking treatment for his mental health"

 

#15 - Part 9

Malka Leifer Extradition and Prosecution

>>13389479 Malka Leifer: Former principal of ultra-orthodox Jewish school to face alleged victims

>>13389482 Malka Leifer accusers set to attend court in person to give evidence

>>13389486 Malka Leifer's lawyers say they may probe home life of accusers in child sex offences court case

>>13493449 Israeli minister Yaakov Litzman to be prosecuted over alleged interference in Malka Leifer extradition

>>13493451 Israeli Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit leaning toward indicting Ya’acov Litzman for fraud, witness tampering and breach of public trust

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:28 a.m. No.13741333   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 10

Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry

>>13342017 Ben Roberts-Smith: Afghan civilians to testify via video link in former soldier's defamation case

>>13407722 Buried evidence and threats: How Ben Roberts-Smith tried to cover up his alleged crimes

>>13407783 War hero Ben Roberts-Smith hits back at bombshell report

>>13407814 ‘I’m going to do everything I can to f-cking destroy them’: Secret Ben Roberts-Smith audio revealed

>>13407824 Seven stands by senior executive Ben Roberts-Smith over new evidence he attempted to cover up alleged crimes

>>13408195 Ben Roberts-Smith under fresh investigation over burner phones and sealed envelopes

>>13410361 Video: Shocking evidence of potential war crime exposed in major investigation - 60 Minutes Australia

>>13422740 Australian Federal Police confirm probe into Ben Roberts-Smith for allegedly burying sensitive Defence files in his backyard

>>13424966 High-ranking Army officer facing sack over debauched party in Afghan bar - "Fat Lady’s Arms" pub set up by Australian troops at Tarin Kowt headquarters

 

>>13459865 Peter Dutton overrules Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell’s decision to strip Meritorious Unit Citation from Special Forces soldiers

>>13459872 Video: Peter Dutton and PM 'strongly of the same view' on citation stripping reversal - Sky News Australia

>>13460103 Video: Government announces royal commission into veteran and serving Defence member suicides

>>13499771 Ben Roberts-Smith case: Media can’t amend defence but can call on witnesses to detail Mr Roberts-Smith’s involvement in alleged murders of two Afghan men

>>13515316 Ben Roberts-Smith takes leave from Seven Network role during defamation case against newspaper journalists

>>13515323 Ben Roberts-Smith welcomes Royal Commission, slams treatment of veterans, says a royal commission is “desperately needed”

>>13539684 Ben Roberts-Smith allegedly threatened to sue his ex-wife over defamation case, court told

>>13626087 Fears of Taliban retribution raised in Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case

>>13665040 Police probe sealed envelopes, scraps of paper in Ben Roberts-Smith case

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:29 a.m. No.13741335   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 11

George Papadopoulos Tweets, Alexander Downer and SPYGATE Revelations

>>13452422 Alexander Downer Tweet: What’s happened to that conspiracy btw. It seems to have died

>>13452422 koenig13091999 Tweet: It was a clever Papadopoulos misdirection to reinvent himself as the victim hero…I’m surprised you didn’t pursue this actually

>>13452422 Alexander Downer Tweet: Not worth the trouble. It died out as it wasn’t true!

>>13460202 George Papadopoulos Tweet: Very interesting that the former Australian PM has reared his head again. His governments conduct is reportedly under investigation by John Durham’s team

>>13468343 George Papadopoulos Tweet: Learn all about the “five eyes.” It’s at the core of Obamagate and all the headlines moving forward that will break about it

>>13468349 Explainer: What is Five Eyes? - Joel Gehrke - washingtonexaminer.com

 

>>13493532 Alexander Downer Tweet: Sorry to read the New Zealand FM has downgraded NZ role in 5 eyes arrangement

>>13493532 Aussiebrother-Q.L.D Tweet: Weren't you apart of the 5eyes agenda when Obama got you to try and frame @GeorgePapa19?

>>13493532 Alexander Downer Tweet: No

>>13493532 Aussiebrother-Q.L.D Tweet: “The meeting I had with Alexander Downer…was probably the most bizarre meeting I’ve had in my entire life"

>>13493532 Video: Trump aide George Papadopoulos speaks of fateful meeting with Alexander Downer linked to Russia investigation

>>13586955 Christopher Steele, ex-British spy who produced explosive dossier alleging conspiracy between Donald Trump and Russia, continued working for FBI while Donald Trump in office

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:29 a.m. No.13741336   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 12

Cardinal George Pell and Vatican Financial Scandal Allegations

>>13350655 Pope Francis holds mass with cardinal he cast out of the Vatican - Cardinal Angelo Becciu

>>13350667 Add another national broadcaster to present an alternative outlook to the ABC, says Cardinal George Pell

>>13350671, >>13350677, >>13350693 Reflection and belief in the quiet Eternal City - CARDINAL GEORGE PELL - theaustralian.com.au

>>13422589 New Victorian Catholic Church process for handling abuse complaints and redress - "Pathways Victoria" replaces Cardinal Pell's widely-criticised Melbourne Response model

>>13422593 PDF: PATHWAYS VICTORIA - Restorative Journeying with Survivors of Abuse within the Catholic Church

>>13443082 Pell prison journals should fascinate friend and foe alike - Prison Journals Volume II: The State Court Rejects The Appeal

 

>>13539713 Cardinal Pell: ‘The duty of the German bishops is to uphold the teachings of Scripture’

>>13539715 Video: EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal George Pell on his second prison diary - EWTN News

>>13603588 Cardinal Pell’s Prison Journal, Vol. 2, details crushing rejection of appeal, spiritual reflections of time spent in solitary confinement while unjustly accused of wrongdoing

>>13658639 Cardinal Pell leads Eucharistic procession at the Angelicum in Rome

>>13699766 Video: Cardinal George Pell opens up on what he hated the most in jail in interview with BBC

>>13699777 Video: BBC World Service - Heart and Soul Podcast - Colm Flynn interviews Cardinal Pell

>>13732843 ‘I’ve become very Italian’: George Pell enjoys a Roman revival

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:30 a.m. No.13741338   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 13

Australia / China Tensions - Part 1

>>13341898 Australia discussing 'contingency' plans with United States over possible Taiwan conflict

>>13341990 Dutton’s appointment in Canberra hints at more hawkish stance on China - Yu Lei - globaltimes.cn

>>13342001 WHO Covid-19 report: New Zealand shuts its eyes to appease China

>>13345084 Australians flagged in Shanghai security files which shed light on China's surveillance state and monitoring of Uyghurs

>>13351013 Video: ‘We must cut China ties I helped build’, says former SA trade minister Tom Kenyon

>>13351022 New Zealand’s failure to call out China throws spotlight on nation’s relationship with Beijing

>>13351607 Covid ‘just China’s first virus threat’, warns Mike Pompeo

>>13351613 Mike Pompeo rallies allies against China threat

>>13355662 Video: Peter Dutton defends against Chinese Global Times censure - Sky News Australia

>>13362769 China winning Pacific vaccine diplomacy war - Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji to accept Chinese Sinopharm jabs

 

>>13362840 Premier of Solomon Islands Malaita province, Daniel Suidani said no to China’s bribe

>>13369853 Australia pressures New Zealand to toe the line of Washington - Yu Lei - globaltimes.cn

>>13369902 Explainer: China’s ‘wolf warrior’ diplomats howl at Xinjiang critics

>>13370895 China Creates Its Own Digital Currency, a First for Major Economy

>>13376098 China denies abuse of Uyghurs in bizarre press conference at Chinese embassy in Canberra

>>13376103 Video: Chinese embassy release propaganda film riddled with misinformation on Uyghur genocide - Sky News Australia

>>13376111 Video: China delivers propaganda speech blaming Uyghur treatment on ‘terrorism’ - Sky News Australia

>>13376601 Contact books of senior Australian diplomats hacked in major ‘phishing’ scam, including US ambassador Arthur Sinodinos

>>13376613 Hundreds of thousands of messages and secret recordings to be used in case against alleged Chinese spy, Di Sanh “Sunny” Duong

>>13376630 former Labor John Zhang allegedly involved in foreign interference plot claims evidence was illegally obtained

 

>>13376630 John Zhang, former NSW Labor staffer allegedly involved in foreign interference plot claims evidence was illegally obtained

>>13382781 Uyghur community leaders in Australia appalled and outraged the government allowed a Chinese Communist Party propaganda parade

>>13382795 Video: Xinjiang is a wonderful land - Chinese Embassy in UK

>>13383087 Vicky Xiuzhong Xu - China researchers face abuse, sanctions as Beijing looks to silence critics

>>13383098 PDF: Uyghurs for sale: ‘Re-education’, forced labour and surveillance beyond Xinjiang - Vicky Xiuzhong Xu / Australian Strategic Policy Institute >>13386278 Taiwan charges alleged spy after outed by Chinese operative who defected to Australia

>>13389499 Free speech debate misses point if Australia continues vilifying China - Li Qingqing - globaltimes.cn

>>13389623 Sanctions fail: exporters defy Chinese trade bans, limiting the damage of Beijing’s punitive economic campaign

>>13389653 ‘Bundles of cash’: AFP considers referring former Labor staffer John Zhang to prosecutors over money laundering

>>13401177 Former Turnbull security adviser and Chinese Communist Party expert John Garnaut auditing universities’ foreign interference risks

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:30 a.m. No.13741340   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 14

Australia / China Tensions - Part 2

>>13408002 Mike Pompeo Tweet: As a proponent of freedom, enjoying some Taiwanese dried pineapple. Checkmate.

>>13408018 Like Australian wine, Taiwanese pineapples have been targeted by Beijing. If democracies are to stand up to Chinese coercion, they will have to join forces.

>>13408224 'Bewitched' Vicky Xu who fabricates Xinjiang story stokes anti-China sentiment in Australia - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn

>>13414624 Will Australia interfere with NZ’s China policy? - Qin Sheng - globaltimes.cn

>>13414892 Australia’s exports to China hit new highs - Strong demand for iron ore offsets Beijing’s strikes on coal, wine, lobster, timber and barley

>>13429600 The true story of how Jackie Chan and Kevin Rudd met as labourers

>>13445558 Congressman Mike Gallagher Tweet: In light of the CCP's insane tariffs on Australia, we have a duty as mates to drink Australian wine (and Wisconsin beer)

>>13445558 Arthur Sinodinos AO Tweet: Australian wine and Wisconsin beer, an unbeatable combination. Thanks Mike Gallagher a great friend of Australia and decent, humane universal values

>>13452467 Canberra prepares for Taiwan conflict as tensions escalate

>>13460303 Do allies still have strong trust in US security commitment? - Tian Jingling - globaltimes.cn

 

>>13477187 Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Xining’s stinging attack over Huawei - Accuses Australia of turning other countries against China

>>13477192 Video: Senior Chinese diplomat accuses Australia and US of ‘conniving’ on Huawei ban - Sky News Australia

>>13477194 Video: Chinese diplomat quotes Churchill while defending Chinese sovereignty 0- Sky News Australia

>>13477274 Washington the one undermining Five Eyes solidarity - Zhou Fangyin - globaltimes.cn

>>13477600 Video: Top China academic Professor Jane Golley casts doubt over Chinese human rights abuses in Xinjiang

>>13485007, >>13485013 Victoria’s Belt and Road deal with China torn up - April 21, 2021

>>13485018 Decisions under Australia’s Foreign Arrangements Scheme - Senator the Hon Marise Payne - Media release - 21 April 2021

>>13485027 Federal government swoops in and cancels controversial Belt and Roads deal - Sky News Australia

>>13485031 Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks - "We express our strong displeasure and resolute opposition to the Australian Foreign Minister’s announcement on April 21"

>>13485037 China criticises Australia's 'provocative' decision to tear up Victoria's Belt and Road agreement

 

>>13485047 Video: Beijing hits back as Marise Payne cancels Daniel Andrews’ Belt and Road agreements

>>13485059 Scrapping BRI deal will hurt Australia: Chinese Embassy - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13485065 Australia faces serious consequences for unreasonable provocation against China over BRI deals: observer - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13485072, >>13485075 Belt and Road Initiative: Inside Daniel Andrews’ secret China deal

>>13485161, >>13485166 Video: Meet Jean Dong - Dan Andrews and China’s Aussie influencer - “Journey of Influence” (2020)

>>13485169 Chinese pageant winner Jean Dong’s meteoric journey to influence (2020)

>>13485324 Australia was blindsided when Five Eyes ally New Zealand backed away from China criticism

>>13493224 Hu Xijin Tweet (China state-affiliated media): A formal agreement has been cancelled so easily. Australians, is your country a uncivilized rogue that deserves stern admonition and punishment?

>>13493238 Australia leads the world confronting China, for better or worse

>>13493500 Video: We will never surrender to Beijing: Defence Minister Peter Dutton

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:31 a.m. No.13741341   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 15

Australia / China Tensions - Part 3

>>13498959 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern savaged as British Parliament declares treatment of Uighurs ‘genocide’, Australia praised for its actions

>>13499300 Victoria’s China deal was done through Premier Daniel Andrews’ office, not the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources

>>13499309 'Insidious': Former ASIO boss Duncan Lewis warns on Chinese interference in Australia (2019)

>>13499394 Australia tearing up formal Belt and Road deal has little exemplary effect - Shen Yujia - globaltimes.cn

>>13499403 GT Voice: Australia in over its head with provocative action - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13499411 Australia's continued escalation of tensions prompts Chinese companies’ diversification drive - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn

>>13500664 Australian defense minister’s comments against China confuse right and wrong: Chinese FM - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13500664 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 23, 2021

>>13500714 Push to cut more Chinese accords - Foreign Minister Marise Payne urged to tear up China’s Confucius Institute agreements and NT government’s 99-year Port of Darwin lease

>>13500719 Time to face down the wolf warriors: Beijing’s threats require a united, measured and calm response - Peter Jennings - theaustralian.com.au

 

>>13515337 Defence Minister Peter Dutton: war with China over Taiwan “should not be discounted” - Potential China war sees audit of deals, including Port of Darwin

>>13515342 Academic Jane Golley backtracks on "anonymous article" casting doubt over human rights abuses in Xinjiang

>>13515355 Australian fruits face delays at Chinese ports due to strict anti-virus inspections: sources - Yin Yeping - globaltimes.cn

>>13517899 ‘Get ready to fight for our liberty,’ Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo

>>13517916 The drums of war are growing louder - Michael Pezzullo - theaustralian.com.au

>>13522368 Video: China says Australia must stick to 'One China' policy after Peter Dutton warns of conflict over Taiwan independence

>>13522384 Australia inflates presence on Taiwan question to show loyalty to US - Li Qingqing - globaltimes.cn

>>13522393 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 26, 2021

>>13522425 Academic’s mea culpa on China Uighur abuse comments - Jane Golley - theaustralian.com.au

>>13522894 People’s Liberation Army Major General Jin Yinan mocks Australia as ’white supremacist’

 

>>13529854 Video: ‘Drums of war’ warnings spread across the world to British news - Sky News Australia

>>13529868 ‘Drums of war beating’ warns Australia as China tension grows - Page 1, The Times Newspaper, UK - April 28 2021

>>13529891 Northern Territory bases‘ $747m boost after ‘drums of war’ warning

>>13529937 China says Australia is ‘sick’, needs to ‘take medicine’ after Morrison government’s most senior diplomat said Beijing wanted to compromise key Australian interests

>>13529942 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 27, 2021

>>13529959 GT Voice: Spiraling of Canberra moves against Chinese interests to backfire - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13530313 Victoria’s axed Belt deal ‘not end of the road’, says Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino

>>13530328 Deal on Darwin Port under the shadows of Australian politicians - Ai Jun - globaltimes.cn

>>13530344 Let war games begin: ADF training bases upgraded in major strategic step-up aimed at expanding “war gaming” with the US and defending the Indo-Pacific

>>13539534 Prime Minister says no security concerns raised with him about Darwin Port lease to Chinese company Landbridge

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:31 a.m. No.13741344   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 16

Australia / China Tensions - Part 4

>>13539557 China’s top diplomat in Canberra, ambassador Cheng Jingye gives rare public warning to Australia

>>13539570 Aussie interests not in minds of saber-rattling politicians - Zhang Yi - globaltimes.cn

>>13539590 Video: Australian politicians hyping up war threats are real troublemakers: Chinese FM spokesperson - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13539591 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 28, 2021

>>13539612 Australian mother Cheng Le marks nine months in Chinese prison as curious online posts emerge

>>13555533 China warns Australia to avoid getting ‘burned’ by colluding with ‘terrorists’

>>13555533 PDF: Australian politicians back East Turkistan terrorism apologists - Australian Citizens Party

>>13555538 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 30, 2021

>>13555541 OPINION: Where are the grown-ups? All this loose talk about China and war is dangerous - Bob Carr - theage.com.au

>>13562235 Tearing up BRI deal will hit Australia’s influence in South Pacific - Qin Sheng - globaltimes.cn

 

>>13569579 Jacinda Ardern says differences between NZ and China 'becoming harder to reconcile'

>>13569618 Dutton vows to call out Beijing and declares everyday Australians are with the government

>>13569625 ‘Strategic own goal’: Defence reviews Port of Darwin’s Chinese ownership

>>13577336 Conflict with China a ‘high likelihood’, says former Australian special forces commander Major-General Adam Findlay

>>13577349 Major-General Adam Findlay tells dark story about the “grey zone” threat from China

>>13577356 Video: China already engaged in 'grey zone' warfare with Australia: Major-General Adam Findlay - Sky News Australia

>>13577360 Foreign Minister Marise Payne blasts Beijing tactic of ‘debt trap diplomacy’

>>13577468 Port of Darwin: Chinese owner Landbridge Group says it will “actively respond to the call of the state”, as it works toward “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”

>>13577477 Video: Landbridge Group Worldwide Corporate Video (English) - Landbridge Group

>>13577485 Opinion: We need Darwin Port back in our hands - Peter Jennings, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

 

>>13577505 Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner backflips on praise for Darwin Port lease and Belt and Road Initiative - Sky News Australia

>>13578091 Troops are Leaving. Will Justice Arrive Soon? - Xin Ping - globaltimes.cn

>>13578193 U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan Tweet: The #CCP is engaged in an economic war against Australia, including imposing massive tariffs on Australian wine.

>>13595127 China suspends economic accord with Australia - China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue

>>13595132 Proclamation of the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China on the Indefinite Suspension of All Activities under China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue

>>13595138 China’s suspension of economic dialogue mechanism with Australia ‘a necessary step’ to defend national interests: analysts - Li Xuanmin - globaltimes.cn

>>13598599 New Zealand torn between Western allies, domestic interests in China stance: experts - Chen Qingqing -

>>13603511 Beijing calls the Morrison government ‘insane’ after Belt and Road retaliation

>>13603526, >>13603540 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on May 6, 2021

>>13608307 Chinese military scientists discussed weaponising SARS coronaviruses five years before the COVID-19 pandemic

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:32 a.m. No.13741345   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 17

Australia / China Tensions - Part 5

>>13608366 Beijing praises New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in between blasts at the “insane” Morrison government

>>13609317 OPINION: Ill-disciplined chest-thumping has put war at centre of what’s left of the Australia-China relationship - Kevin Rudd

>>13609517 Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu backs hardening of Morrison government’s rhetoric towards China, says Taiwan is preparing for a ‘final assault’ by Beijing

>>13609758 Australian imports to China slow down as decoupling accelerates - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn

>>13609784 China’s April imports from Australia rise 49.3%, but a trade decoupling is imminent amid icy relations - Li Xuanmin and Yin Yeping - globaltimes.cn

>>13609963 Global Times Facebook Post: #China suspends economic dialogue with #Australia, marking the first time a diplomatic mechanism was frozen amid souring ties

>>13609963 INFOGRAPHIC: Aussie misdeeds disrupt China-Australia relations - Deng Zijun - globaltimes.cn

>>13609998 China needs to make a plan to deter extreme forces of Australia - Hu Xijin - globaltimes.cn - "The plan should include long-range strikes on the military facilities and relevant key facilities on Australian soil"

>>13618380 Editor of pro-Communist Global Times newspaper, Hu Xijin, advises Beijing to bomb Australia and bring “disaster” should Canberra support US military action

>>13618429 - Military conflict with China: Thinking the unthinkable - Australians aren’t used to a defence minister like Peter Dutton speaking to us like adults

 

>>13618441 ‘Outstandingly stupid act’: can Australia actually defend itself? - Gaps in our capabilities that must be filled immediately - Michael Shoebridge, ASPI

>>13625963 Australian media slammed for twisting open book as 'evidence' of 'China weaponizing COVID-19' - Liu Caiyu and Lou Kang - globaltimes.cn

>>13626133 For whom do Canberra’s war drums beat - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn

>>13633893 Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying says the country did not develop, research or produce bio-weapons

>>13633895 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on May 10, 2021

>>13634048 Japanese Ambassador to Australia encourages South Australia to export more wine to Japan to counter the loss from the Chinese market

>>13642264 ‘Battle ready’: Australia’s warning to China in Federal Budget - investing $270 billion over 10 years in defence capability

>>13642368 China accuses Australia of ‘pathological obsession’ with war, claims the Morrison government destroyed the bilateral relationship to appease its American “masters”

>>13642374 "After eating, Australian politicians made the wrong calculation (Observatory)" - Li Jiabao, People's Daily Overseas Edition - people.com.cn

>>13650331 ScoMo says preparing for war with China is doing his job, backs Peter Dutton in warning Australians that we need to be prepared for military conflict with China

 

>>13650344 Former NSW Labor staffer John Zhang loses High Court battle over validity of warrants used to seize his property

>>13650347 GT Voice: Canberra's defense spending means economic carnage - globaltimes.cn

>>13650379 Japan embarks on joint military maneuvers with US, France, Australia - ARC21

>>13650382 Joint drill by US, allies on Japanese land insignificant: analysts - Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan - globaltimes.cn

>>13658111 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Australia will not be left alone to face China coercion

>>13658120 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia and the United States) are the closest of friends & allies. @SecBlinken & I reaffirmed our commitment to a stable, secure & open #IndoPacific.

>>13658125 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Great to meet with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today to discuss our ongoing commitment to the health, security, and prosperity of the #IndoPacific. We look forward to celebrating the 70th anniversary of #ANZUS alongside our friend and ally Australia later this year. #USwithAUS

>>13658134 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Met with @NSAGov @JakeSullivan46 in Washington DC to reaffirm our nations’ shared commitment to a strong, independent & secure #IndoPacific region & the critical importance of the Quad & vaccination cooperation including through #COVAX

>>13658137 Marise Payne and Antony Blinken call for ‘real transparency’ from China on Covid origins

>>13658141 Foreign Minister Marise Payne: US-Australia alliance should embolden others on China

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:32 a.m. No.13741346   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 18

Australia / China Tensions - Part 6

>>13658147 Video: Australia and the US demonstrate ‘democracy delivers’: Payne - Sky News Australia

>>13658148 Video: Marise Payne calls for an end to Gaza violence - Sky News Australia

>>13658777 Peter Dutton’s ‘shadow aggression’ talks with global allies - Defence Minister to visit United States and Japan

>>13658933 Global Times editor Hu Xijin warns of missile attack on Australian soil

>>13658947 Hu Xijin Tweet: Preparing for war? Then build an anti-missile system! I believe once Australian troops come to Taiwan Strait to combat against the PLA, there is a high probability that Chinese missiles will fly toward military bases and key relevant facilities on Australian soil in retaliation

>>13658947 Hu Xijin Tweet: Is there any chance that China-US relations can be used as bargaining chip given how bad it’s already become? Your coercion against China is meaningless, but your coaxing may work with Australia

>>13671798 Opinion: Defence spending needs to match the risk of conflict now - Peter Jennings, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

>>13674100 Video: Three Reasons Why Australia Dares To Stand Up To The CCP - Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng

>>13700239 Australia has become even keener US 'deputy' - Bruce Haigh - chinadaily.com.cn

 

>>13700263 Talk of China war ‘a political strategy’, says Penny Wong

>>13700295 Australia urged to abandon ideological prejudice against China: Foreign Ministry - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13700295 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 18, 2021

>>13708152 Who’s to blame for worsening China-Australia relations? - Qin Sheng - globaltimes.cn

>>13717930 Australian Signals Directorate: China could have ordered Huawei to shut down Australia’s 5G network

>>13717930 Huawei? No way! Why Australia banned the world’s biggest telecoms firm

>>13718126 Australian writer Yang Hengjun to face court in China next Thursday over espionage charge

>>13718277 Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Statement on Dr Yang Hengjun

>>13733239 China says Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s request for access to detained writer ‘deplorable’

>>13733239 Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks - "The Australian side should respect China’s judicial sovereignty"

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:33 a.m. No.13741348   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 19

Coronavirus / COVID-19 Pandemic, Australia and Worldwide

>>13342001 WHO Covid-19 report: New Zealand shuts its eyes to appease China

>>13350803 Video: Seven blood clot deaths in the UK after AstraZeneca vaccine - QLD chief health officer warns “seek urgent advice” if experiencing vaccine side effects

>>13351607 Covid ‘just China’s first virus threat’, warns Mike Pompeo

>>13414930 Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine won't be coming to Australia due to AstraZeneca similarities

>>13417342 Disclose.tv Tweet: FDA and @CDCgov issued a statement to halt the Johnson & Johnson #COVID19 vaccine after six recipients in the US developed a rare disorder involving blood clots

>>13422888 Anthony Fauci on what the US can learn from Australia's COVID-19 response — and vice versa

>>13422891 Video: Inaugural David Cooper Lecture | Dr Anthony S. Fauci - University of New South Wales

>>13493840 Perth plunged into three-day lockdown over Mercure Hotel cluster

>>13515389 Facebook removes Craig Kelly's page, says former Liberal MP breached COVID-19 misinformation policies

>>13522929 Australia pauses all flights from India amid COVID outbreak, readies aid package of ventilators and other medical supplies

>>13548003 Plan to build Victorian quarantine facility is ‘political smoke and mirrors’: Federal Defence Minister Peter Dutton

 

>>13555653 Border can’t open until the world is vaccinated: Australian Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos

>>13555657 Video: Walter Russell Meade: A Conversation with Australian Ambassador Arthur Sinodinos - Hudson Institute

>>13618463 Scott Morrison says Australia will be closed to the world for a long time - Australians want to suppress COVID

>>13666298 Australia’s former deputy chief medical officer, Dr Nick Coatsworth warns: Australia must reopen borders, prepare for the return of COVID-19

>>13682432 Video: US, Australia call for transparency on COVID-19 origins - Sky News Australia

>>13682438 Video: Mike Pompeo warns of more Chinese laboratory 'coverups' - Sky News Australia

>>13682563 Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka calls for open borders, even if ‘some people may die’

>>13690912 Scott Morrison reacts strongly to Virgin Australia CEO comments - ‘won’t take risks with lives’ when reopening international borders

>>13708504 Victorian Travel Permit System - applies to travellers coming to Victoria from anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.

>>13717968 Mike Pompeo Tweet: Over a year ago, I told @MarthaRaddatz that the Wuhan Virus most likely came from a lab leak. She stopped just short of offering me a tin hat. The CCP said I was an enemy of mankind.

>>13717968 Mike Pompeo Tweet: The origin of the Wuhan Virus matters. We must prevent this from happening again. The facts show the nature of the CCP & how excruciatingly little it values human life. Only the CCP can shine a light on what happened. Bring it on. If I’m wrong, prove it. The world needs to know.

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:33 a.m. No.13741349   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 20

Child Exploitation, Pedophilia, Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking Investigations - Part 1

>>13341833 Millionaire businessman Sir Ronald Brierley pleads guilty to possessing child abuse material

>>13345132 New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern moves to strip Sir Ron Brierley of his knighthood, Wellington College removes signage

>>13351778 Civilian experts in open source intelligence techniques help Australian police track child abusers

>>13351781 Citizen sleuths to the rescue in child abuse cases - If you’ve got an eye for piecing together clues, Trace an Object needs you - https://accce.gov.au/report/trace

>>13351790, >>13351792 Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation - Trace An Object - The smallest clue can often help solve a case - Can you help us recognise these objects?

>>13370228 Video: Cops lay 45 charges against 15 alleged sex criminals busted preying on Northern Territory children online

>>13376526 HIV-positive paedophile Jadd William Brooker to be charged with 100 more offences involving six child and teenage victims

>>13382988, >>13382993, >>13382997 Richard Daschbach - Defrocked US priest revered in East Timor accused of abuse

>>13383114 35-year-old Ipswich man charged with possessing child abuse material

>>13396098 Gerald Ridsdale: Victorian man abused as schoolboy by paedophile priest given $1.5m settlement

 

>>13396102 ‘I can move on’: $1.5 million payout to St Alipius sex abuse survivor

>>13396142 Former American priest who saved lives during East Timor’s struggle for independence, accused of sexually abusing underage girls - Associated Press

>>13396364 Video: Tip-off from Australian Federal Police to US counterparts credited with saving three-year-old girl from further alleged sexual abuse in the United States

>>13422589 New Victorian Catholic Church process for handling abuse complaints and redress - "Pathways Victoria" replaces Cardinal Pell's widely-criticised Melbourne Response model

>>13422593 PDF: PATHWAYS VICTORIA - Restorative Journeying with Survivors of Abuse within the Catholic Church

>>13438093 Chinese national arrested for importing child-like sex doll parts

>>13452535 Fate of Melbourne 'slave torture' couple hangs in the balance as jury enters its 10th week in epic trial

>>13452610 How a panicked phone call to the ABC newsroom led to a Four Corners investigation and the dismantling of an alleged sex slave cult (James Davis)

>>13452629 Video: Escaping a sex cult: How Australian women were enslaved in plain sight - ABC / Four Corners

>>13459791 GuidoFawkes Tweet: As you lay asleep in your bed remember there are children who are being tortured and killed for their blood.

 

>>13459791 Q Post #4908 - Crimes against children unite all humanity [cross party lines]? Difficult truths.

>>13459798 Video: Lin Wood speech at Freedom Conference 2021 - Tulsa, Oklahoma

>>13460274 Video: Moreton Bay man charged with child abuse material offences by Brisbane Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET)

>>13460278 Gold Coast man to face court over allegedly possessing child abuse material and child-like sex doll

>>13477554 Child sex doll offender Terry Dunnett pleads guilty, released on supervised probation

>>13487880 How the arrest of two accused Australian paedophiles saved children as young as SIX from a horrific 'den of child abuse run by female pimps' in the Philippines

>>13499677 Video: Three children rescued in the Philippines following Australian child sexual abuse investigations

>>13499729 Identity of Melbourne couple guilty of keeping slave, who weighed just 40kg, revealed - Kumuthini Kannan and husband Kandasamy Kannan

>>13499743 ‘I have to obey’: Couple found guilty of keeping slave in Melbourne home for eight years

>>13508124 Video: Simon Davies, internationally renowned privacy expert returns to Australia to face child sex charges - Police reveal they are hunting society elites linked to the case

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:34 a.m. No.13741352   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 21

Child Exploitation, Pedophilia, Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking Investigations - Part 2

>>13508153 Video: Privacy expert Simon Gordon Davies was extradited to Australia from The Netherlands, charged with child sexual assault offences after global manhunt

>>13515411 ‘You can’t go’: Woman’s hellish life as slave for Sydney couple, Joshua and Shiela McAleer

>>13522636 Sydney child rapist Bryan Michael Grange pleads guilty to more charges of child abuse after details of harrowing abuse movies emerge

>>13577655 Convicted pedophile David Cyprys who worked at Melbourne Jewish school faces new rape charge

>>13578049 German police make arrests as they shut down large darknet site "Boystown" housing child abuse material, Australian Federal Police assist with global investigation

>>13578049 Europol Press Release - 4 ARRESTED IN TAKEDOWN OF DARK WEB CHILD ABUSE PLATFORM WITH SOME HALF A MILLION USERS

>>13578139 Former corporate titan Ronald Brierley forfeits knighthood after guilty plea to child abuse material

>>13586948 Australian paedophile priest Paul David Ryan faces extradition to US on fresh charges

>>13595471 Disgraced former NSW Labor MP and convicted paedophile Milton Orkopoulos pleads not guilty to historical child sex charges

>>13595489 Christian Brothers forced to increase payout to John Lawrence, who survived 'degrading, humiliating' sexual abuse at the hands of Christian Brother Lawrence Murphy

 

>>13642403 Matthew James Barsby - Paedophile’s sick secret life exposed in Border Force bust

>>13642558 AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT MEDIA RELEASE: A NEW NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PREVENT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

>>13650239 Video: Queensland Police - Task Force Argos Investigators battle surge in self-produced child exploitation material

>>13665443 23 people charged with multiple child exploitation material offences in Cairns, QLD since mid-2020

>>13665457 Disturbing number of alleged child porn offenders busted in Far North Queensland since the inception the Cairns Joint Agency Child Exploitation Team (JACET)

>>13666272 Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation Tweet: Trace An Object - New Image Added - If you recognise this bathroom, please use the reporting form on our website, http://accce.gov.au/trace. You can also see the feature tile in more detail on the webpage

>>13682361 Former St Joseph’s College student sexually abused by paedophile teacher John Coogan launches new legal action against the Christian Brothers

>>13682462 Fourteen children rescued in the Philippines following Australian Federal Police child sexual abuse investigations

>>13682473 Former Big Bash League and state cricketer Aaron Summers in court on child abuse charges

>>13718096 Australian Federal Police respond to disturbing child abuse investigation resourcing claims

>>13718101 Video: Western Sydney man charged with possessing child abuse material

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:34 a.m. No.13741353   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 22

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell - Part 1

>>13345077 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell Blasts Revised Indictment as Prosecutorial ‘Gamesmanship’

>>13351663 Ghislaine Maxwell’s brother Ian Maxwell says 'self-destructive' Prince Andrew will not be a witness

>>13376573 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell ordered to clean dirty and smelly prison cell

>>13385620 PDF: Rancorous fight over Ghislaine Maxwell's jail conditions heats up - Maxwell "creating a stink by failing to flush her toilet"

>>13389533 @GMaxFacts Twitter Account - This account doesn’t exist - Try searching for another - https://twitter.com/GMaxFacts

>>13395856 @GMaxFacts Twitter Account - Follow us at our new handle @realghislaine - https://twitter.com/GMaxFacts

>>13395856 @RealGhislaine Twitter Account - Developed & maintained by Ghislaine Maxwell’s brothers & sisters. We will continue to fight on behalf of our beloved sister. Follow us for the truth & updates

>>13395856 @RealGhislaine Tweet: Facts must always prevail over fiction. Period. Follow along and get to know the REAL Ghislaine. #FollowFriday #RealGhislaine

>>13395860 'My sister is no monster.' Ghislaine Maxwell's family launches website protesting her innocence and detailing her jail cell conditions as she prepares to appeal her thrice-rejected bail application

>>13395882 Video: REALGHISLAINE.COM - This website has been developed and is maintained by brothers, sisters, family & friends of Ghislaine Maxwell, the people who have known the real Ghislaine all her life, not the fictional one-dimensional character created by the media.

 

>>13395882 Q Post #1713 - The face is never the author. Direct comms come in many different forms.

>>13396274 PDF: Feds call Ghislaine Maxwell’s claims about new charges ‘conspiracy theories’

>>13401093 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Replying to @RealGhislaine - Ask your sister what happened after this photo was taken. I am a Real Ghislaine Survivor. I am Virginia Roberts.

>>13422819 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell’s Family Launches Website as She Endures Over 280 days of Pre-Trial "Torture"

>>13438073 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell requests sex trafficking trial be delayed by three months, blames prosecutors for belatedly adding additional charges in March

>>13444349, >>13444368 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell's claims case against her is 'prejudiced' because Jeffrey Epstein would have cleared her if he was still alive

>>13444509 PDF: Jeffrey Epstein accuser, Courtney Wild cannot challenge 2007 plea agreement - 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta

>>13460224 Prince Andrew offered $7 million to take Epstein lie detector test

>>13468385 Video: ‘Finally.’ Crews begin razing Jeffrey Epstein’s former Palm Beach house - Home of late sex-trafficker Epstein finally meets bulldozer

>>13468411 Ghislaine Maxwell attorneys to 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: She’s no monster

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:35 a.m. No.13741355   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 23

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell - Part 2

>>13477508 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers are upset that media outlets keep talking about the accused sex-trafficker's sex life

>>13493561 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell sues publishers of a new book on her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, saying it portrays her as 'already guilty'

>>13493595 Ghislaine Maxwell to appear in person for first time since her arrest as she pleads to new charges

>>13498643 Frail-looking Ghislaine Maxwell makes first appearance to plead not guilty to sex trafficking charges

>>13498728 In court, Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty to new charges

>>13498829 Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty to new sex trafficking charges

>>13498908 Video: Ian Maxwell tears into Govt's flailing investigation - flags dubious tactics & lack of due process - Real Ghislaine

>>13500805 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Ghislaine Maxwell makes first in-person court appearance since arrest |Wish I could’ve been there in person to face my abuser in court

>>13515377 Photos show Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were VIP guests at White House under Bill Clinton’s reign

 

>>13522873 Ghislaine Maxwell’s sleep loss in jail concerns judges of 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

>>13530211 For the fourth time, Ghislaine Maxwell is denied release from ‘horrific’ Brooklyn jail

>>13530268 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell claims jail guards seized her confidential documents after she met with her lawyers

>>13548207 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell says she got a black eye at Brooklyn federal jail — but doesn’t know the cause

>>13548210 PDF: U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan Seeks Answers for Jail's Treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell

>>13578111 PDF: Sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, is delayed

>>13595218 PDF: Federal prosecutors defend nightly sleep checks on Ghislaine Maxwell

>>13642453 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell sex crimes trial in New York slated for November

>>13664952 PDF: Judge will not end Ghislaine Maxwell’s ‘flashlight surveillance’ in jail

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:35 a.m. No.13741356   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#15 - Part 24

Qanon / Conspiracy Theory Hit Pieces, Australia and Worldwide

>>13341936 Capitol Riot Exposed QAnon’s Violent Potential - Masood Farivar - voanews.com

>>13341978 PDF: National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) releases new analysis of QAnon offenders in the United States

>>13363189 Video: INDECLINE - "American activist collective" group mocks QAnon, Easter by placing over 3K eggs containing Kool-Aid packets around DC - WJLA Staff - wset.com

>>13363220 Video: INDECLINE is an Activist Art Collective founded in 2001. It is comprised of graffiti writers, filmmakers, photographers and full-time rebels and activists

>>13363220 Indecline Projects - Bumfights, Rape Mural, Donald Trump Statues, Freedom Kick

>>13363244 Video: Freedom Kick : Mexico - INDECLINE - Severed head of Donald Trump kicked like a soccer ball

>>13363326 Video: This Is The End - INDECLINE - "We’d like to take a moment, not just to celebrate the fall of the Orange Emperor, but to acknowledge the importance of sustained resistance…"

>>13370328 Shayan Sardarizadeh Tweet: Based on the finale of #QIntotheStorm Q drops are over for good.

 

>>13370328 Shayan Sardarizadeh Tweet: Followers will forever refer to those drops and link them to current events at any given time regardless of context

>>13370328 Q Post #3466 - These people are stupid. Enjoy the show!

>>13376039 Q: Into the Storm set to provide answers on dangerous QAnon cult - Jack The Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>13415137 QAnon Followers Excited by Mike Pompeo ‘Checkmate’ Photo

>>13422670 We are in a crucial war: not against coronavirus but anti-vaxxers - Jack The Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>13437997 FBI director says bureau is not investigating QAnon conspiracy 'in its own right' - Zachary Cohen - edition.cnn.com

>>13438013 Video: Senate Select Intelligence Committee Hearing on National Security and Global Threats - FBI Director Christopher Wray testifying on domestic extremism and Qanon

>>13452046 QAnon congresswoman blasts Rupert Murdoch's newspaper over incest story: 'Shame on them' - Bob Brigham - rawstory.com

 

>>13468267 China and Russia 'weaponised' QAnon conspiracy around time of US Capitol attack, report says - CNN / 9news.com.au

>>13468290 PDF: Quantifying The Q Conspiracy: A Data-Driven Approach to Understanding the Threat Posed by QAnon - The Soufan Center, New York

>>13468522 Elise Thomas Tweet: Prominent QAnon figure Lin Wood is openly calling for "them", a them which includes liberal politicians, anti-Trump conservative politicians, journalists, celebrities and opponents of QAnon, to be killed, in front of a cheering crowd

>>13547948 ‘Pastel QAnon’: Instagram conspiracy peddlers a political headache for design giants - Cara Waters - smh.com.au

>>13603646 Facebook keeps Donald Trump on ice … for now - Jack The Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>13626017 Want to save the children? How child sexual abuse and human trafficking really work - Alexandra Baxter - theconversation.com

>>13724392 Mental health evaluation ordered for 'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley

>>13724475 'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley photographed at Arizona Black Lives Matter rally in June 2020.

>>13732908 Believers in QAnon and other conspiracy theories reveal how they climbed out of the rabbit hole - Gemma Conroy - abc.net.au

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:37 a.m. No.13741359   🗄️.is 🔗kun

PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED NOTABLES

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THREAD ARCHIVES

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Q Research AUSTRALIA #1 ————————————––——– https://archive.vn/vJ8oH

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:51 a.m. No.13741392   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

Spies suspect 500 incidents of foreign meddling in Australian politics, society

 

Peter Hartcher - May 24, 2021

 

Australian intelligence has identified about 500 recent incidents of covert foreign agents interfering in domestic politics and society, but the nation’s chief spy insists that “at least 99.9 per cent” of the diaspora communities here are uninvolved.

 

The previous head of domestic spy agency ASIO, Duncan Lewis, had said in 2017 that the agency was being overwhelmed by foreign interference and espionage and in 2018 that it was happening at unprecedented levels.

 

But the number of instances has not been known publicly until now. ASIO’s last public update said that it had dealt with more than 30 cases in 2020. Only a handful were publicly visible.

 

In an interview for the new book Red Zone, by this correspondent, a senior intelligence officer said there were about 500 known or suspected cases of foreign interference and espionage in Australia in late 2020.

 

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, emphasised the qualifiers “known or suspected”. Not all suspected cases were verified, and it was possible that there were undetected cases.

 

Several countries are behind such activity but officials have said that the Chinese Communist Party is by far the most active in trying to influence Australian politicians and political processes covertly.

 

The current head of ASIO, Mike Burgess, said covert agents of foreign powers made up just a tiny minority of diaspora communities.

 

“It is important to understand that ASIO works with – not against – diaspora communities as we seek to help and protect them,” he said in an interview for the book.

 

“I am always at pains to distinguish between diaspora communities on the one hand and the foreign governments and their intelligence services that are conducting foreign interference on the other.

 

“I would venture that at least 99.9 per cent of the diaspora community are fine. In fact, it is the diaspora communities that are often the victims of interference. I am an immigrant myself [from England, with his family when aged seven]. I understand that fondness for the country of your birth does not mean you are disloyal to Australia, and it certainly does not mean you are a security threat.”

 

The Turnbull government toughened laws against both espionage and interference in 2018 with full support from the Labor opposition, and the Morrison government allocated funding for a joint ASIO-Australian Federal Police taskforce to enforce the laws.

 

When asked for an assessment of ASIO’s progress against foreign interference and espionage, Mr Burgess said the agency had a list and they were working to shorten it.

 

“We’re shrinking that list through those activities – visa cancellations or interviews, that disrupts and reduces harm. In February 2020 I gave a speech where I warned any nation conducting espionage and foreign interference in this country that ASIO and its partners will hunt you down and deal with your activities.

 

“Obviously, I cannot go into details but I can confirm that we have made impressive progress. Of course, that does not mean the threats have ended. Foreign intelligence services will still try to steal our secrets and undermine our sovereignty, and they are likely to respond to our successes by using more sophisticated tradecraft and technology in the future.”

 

The federal budget this month allocated funds for a 15 per cent increase in ASIO staff numbers, up by 279 people to 2152. Its total budget last year was $520 million. The government projected a total, 10-year increase for ASIO of $1.3 billion including some for artificial intelligence. The AFP was allocated money for another 290 staff.

 

Australia’s new foreign interference and espionage laws were denounced by Beijing, with the Chinese government demanding they be repealed. Of the 14 demands made by China’s government in November as a precondition of improving relations, the repeal of these laws is number three.

 

Number one on the list calls for China’s foreign investment to be unrestricted. Number two is a reversal of the Huawei ban.

 

Mr Lewis said in 2018 that foreign interference and espionage were a “real and potential existential threat to Australian security and sovereignty”. Mr Burgess told the author that the new laws had exerted “a chilling effect” on foreign governments and their agents.

 

The head of the ANU’s National Security College, Rory Medcalf, said the estimate of 500 known or suspected cases of foreign interference and espionage did not mean there were 500 active efforts to influence or turn senior decision-makers.

 

“But it’s part of a wide spectrum of activity ranging from low-level community interference right through to efforts to disrupt the system at a high level,” he said.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/spies-suspect-500-incidents-of-foreign-meddling-in-australian-politics-society-20210523-p57uey.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:52 a.m. No.13741393   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

Threat of major cyber attack on critical infrastructure real, national security boss warns

 

Nour Haydar - 24 May 2021

 

One of Australia's top national security figures has warned the threat of a cyber attack on Australia's critical infrastructure is "immediate", "realistic" and "credible", and could take down the nation's electricity network.

 

Home Affairs Department secretary Mike Pezzullo believes the threat posed by sophisticated criminals and hackers acting for other nations is "deeply concerning".

 

"Of all the things that keep me awake at night, and there are quite a number, that is the most pressing, immediate concern," he told Senate estimates.

 

"COVID has been dreadful, COVID has been terrible given the deaths, imagine trying to do COVID without electricity.

 

"It's as immediate, it is as realistic, and it is as credible a threat as that."

 

In response to increased cyber attacks, the federal government has proposed new legislation aimed at better protecting assets in critical sectors including water, health, energy and transport.

 

The new laws would impose greater cybersecurity obligations on operators responsible for the infrastructure in those sectors.

 

Earlier this year, federal parliament and Channel Nine were the targets of an unsuccessful cyber attack which caused a crippling IT disruption for many staff.

 

Western Australia's parliament was also the subject of an attack in March.

 

Mr Pezzullo's comments also come after Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly urged Australian organisations, including governments and businesses, to protect themselves after saying many were currently being targeted by a sophisticated foreign "state-based" hacker.

 

Federal government agencies believed China was the nation behind ongoing cyber attacks on institutions including hospitals and state-owned utilities.

 

Australia's cyber authorities are currently working to establish what has caused a crippling IT disruption at federal parliament that has left many of the building's occupants without access to email across the weekend.

 

Mr Pezzullo said without the additional measures, which are currently being considered by parliament's powerful Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Australia faced a "perilous" road.

 

"We've laid information before the parliamentary committee that potentially state actors could take advantage of these vulnerabilities," he said.

 

Mr Pezzullo said the increased interconnectedness of software and machinery used by operators could expose businesses to sabotage and ransomware.

 

"We're seeing this with hospital systems, we're seeing it with vaccine data, we're seeing it with healthcare providers, typically the criminals will chase opportunity in the knowledge that it's likely to achieve a benefit," he warned.

 

"Cyber criminals tend to be very business savvy so they will chase opportunity and typically the more critical a system, the more critical a data set, the more the criminal opportunity there might be.

 

"It makes good business sense to have common platforms and connected systems so your plant operators can remotely dial in to see how machinery is performing, but it increases what cybersecurity experts call the attack surface.

 

"That's before you get to state actors, and also there is a combination effect of state actors operating with criminal actors effectively acting as proxies."

 

Pezzullo defends 'drums of war' comments

 

Under questioning from Greens senator Nick Mckim, Mr Pezzullo defended a speech he made in which he warned the "drums of war" were beating.

 

He said the comments, which formed part of an Anzac Day message to staff, were not a warning of imminent danger.

 

"The point of my message to my staff was neither to advocate nor of course to glorify war, but to lament for peace," he said.

 

"It's a lament for peace and an acknowledgement of the significant price that has been paid by many generations for the freedoms that we have.

 

"It's clearly on its face not a statement of policy, that is a matter for ministers to outline, nor I would contend is it an assessment or a warning of imminent danger."

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-24/cyber-attack-threat-critical-infrastructure-mike-pezzullo/100160894

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 2:53 a.m. No.13741399   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

Parliament hit by brute force 'attack'

 

Marion Rae - 24 May 2021

 

Federal parliament has suffered a brute force attack, two years after cyber espionage by a sophisticated state actor thought to be China.

 

President of the Senate Scott Ryan told an estimates hearing on Monday the "malicious activity" lasted just under 24 hours.

 

He said it was unsuccessful and Department of Parliamentary Services networks were not compromised.

 

"I'm not going to get into a backdoor discussion of attribution," Senator Ryan said.

 

"What I can say about the attack is the following: On March 26, 2021, the DPS was the subject of malicious cyber activity."

 

"A malicious actor sought to access the DPS network accounts from MobileIron devices," he said, naming the commercial software used to manage the security and management of DPS-issued mobile devices.

 

He said "unsophisticated brute force tradecraft" was used.

 

The attempted hack sparked an outage for department-issued mobile phones and tablets from March 27 to April 5 as accounts were locked down.

 

Those controls were successful in blocking the malicious actor but also impacted legitimate users, Senator Ryan said.

 

"DPS has been and will remain an attractive target for malicious cyber activity, which is increasing in frequency and sophistication," he said.

 

The federal government had previously stopped short of describing the March incident at Parliament House as an "attack".

 

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess told a hearing last month he was not concerned by the latest outage.

 

A "sophisticated state actor" was detected in February 2019 conducting malicious activity within the networks of federal parliament and major Australian political parties.

 

https://thewest.com.au/politics/parliament-hit-by-brute-force-attack-c-2917772

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 3:17 a.m. No.13741432   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

United States Consulate General in Melbourne Tweet

 

Thanks to the Uyghur Association of Victoria for hosting us over the weekend. We’re proud to stand by our Uyghur friends and speak out for those arbitrarily detained in Xinxiang Province. - CG Mike Kleine

 

https://twitter.com/usconsulatemelb/status/1396667316931158020

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 3:30 a.m. No.13741464   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post

 

May 21 2021

 

Holding Down the Fort

 

Do you know where the U.S. embassy is located in Australia?

 

U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, perform embassy reinforcement drills with Marines role playing as notional potential enemy combatants at Kangaroo Flats Training Area, NT, Australia, May 18, 2021. An embassy reinforcement involves evacuating civilians in the case of a threat to an area of importance, establishing vehicle checkpoints and enemy control points in order to search for potential combatants entering these areas. This training allows #Marines with MRF-D to prepare methods of response to any crisis or contingency within the #IndoPacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Cpl. Colton K. Garrett and Cpl. Lydia Gordon)

 

https://www.facebook.com/MRFDarwin/posts/4130893973666538

Anonymous ID: b66925 May 24, 2021, 6:05 a.m. No.13741900   🗄️.is 🔗kun

War Is Declared After Priory of Sion Fails To Respond

 

Benjamin Fulford 5/24/21

 

War has been declared against the Priory of Satan after they refused to agree to a campaign to save the planet, White Dragon Society sources say. However, a decision has been made to decline the Gnostic Illuminati’s offer to hit Lake Geneva, Nato Headquarters, and Jerusalem with 4th generation hydrogen nuclear weapons that don’t cause long-term radioactive pollution. Instead, Special Forces will be making pinpoint attacks to eliminate key individuals and institutions involved in the ongoing fake pandemic and related war crimes.

 

MI6 sources say an underground base in Switzerland has already been attacked and taken out of commission. This attack led to an emergency meeting being held at the Vatican, according to P3 Freemason sources. The meeting was called by the Rockefeller Foundation and meeting attendance revealed exactly who they still control. The answer is the World Bank, the IMF, the African Union (but not individual African states), Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

 

Furthermore, the attack forced the Satanic World Economic Forum to cancel a special annual meeting it had planned for Singapore in August.

https://www.weforum.org/press/2021/05/media-advisory-special-annual-meeting

 

An emergency meeting held at the Vatican has also alerted the P3 to the fact that Pope Francis has been killed and replaced by an actor wearing a rubber mask who is openly calling for every single human being on earth to be killed with vaccinations. https://www.bitchute.com/video/4KzcvUhGHFSS/

 

Nobel Prize-winning virologist Dr. Luc Montagnier said last week “there is no hope and no possible treatment for those who have already been vaccinated,” after seeing the ingredients of the Covid gene treatments being used. What is happening basically is that the Khazarian Mafia is trying to murder its hostage slave peoples rather than give up power.

 

P3 Freemason sources say “the Vatican secret service knows everything, revenge is on, starting with…

 

Sauce: https://benjaminfulford.net/2021/05/24/war-is-declared-after-priory-of-sion-fails-to-respond/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 11:15 p.m. No.13748272   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8275 >>8489 >>6806 >>4361 >>9863

>>13608307 (pb)

Latest research by ‘bat woman’ shows novel coronavirus closer to pangolins, 'unlikely from Wuhan lab'

 

Leng Shumei - May 25, 2021

 

1/2

 

Latest research again indicates that it was unlikely the novel coronavirus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), experts said, amid US media's recent hyping of the lab leak theory ahead of the World Health Assembly (WHA).

 

Researchers from the WIV and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, including Shi Zhengli, who has been dubbed China's "Bat Woman" for her years of research and achievements with bats and viruses, published a report on Friday on BioRxiv that further refutes the hyped theory that the virus came from the laboratory.

 

The research shows that none of the known viruses of the bat SARSr-CoV-2 lineage or its novel variant use the human ACE2 as efficiently as SARSr-CoV-2 from pangolins or some of the SARSr-CoV-1 lineage viruses.

 

"These results suggested the SARSr-CoVs discovered in bats now may be just the tip of the iceberg. These viruses may have experienced selection or recombination events in the animal hosts and rendered viral adaption to a new host and then spread to the new species before they jumped to humans," researchers said in the report.

 

Bats and pangolins are recognized as the most probable reservoir hosts that harbor viruses which are very similar to SARS-CoV-2.

 

Based on the Friday report, it is safe to say that bats are probable ancestors of the coronavirus that led to SARS in 2003 and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and coronavirus strains discovered in pangolins are closer to the novel coronavirus in humans, Yang Zhanqiu, a virologist from the Wuhan University, told the Global Times on Tuesday, noting that the report still did not explain how the virus transferred and adapted from bats to humans via pangolins.

 

But the results were enough to demonstrate that it is unlikely that the coronavirus leading to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic leaked from the WIV, where Shi and her team kept virus samples from bats, a Beijing-based immunology expert told the Global Times on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

 

"When we say a virus is from a lab, we are indicating that either the virus, or a highly similar virus, is leaked from a lab, or a virus is manufactured by man in a lab. But the two possibilities have both been refuted so far by scientific research," Zhuang Shilihe, a Guangzhou-based expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

 

The most likely process is that the coronavirus from bats had mutated in nature for decades before it successfully infected humans and led to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Zhuang said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 24, 2021, 11:16 p.m. No.13748275   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6806

>>13748272

 

2/2

 

US politicians and media outlets have been pursuing the lab leak theory as the origin of COVID-19, despite scientists from the WHO-China joint study team concluding, in a full report after their field study in Wuhan, that a lab leak is extremely unlikely.

 

Hours before the WHA began on Monday, the Wall Street Journal ran a story, citing an undisclosed US intelligence report, indicating that three researchers from the WIV became sick in November 2019 with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses.

 

Yuan Zhiming, director of the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory of the WIV, refuted the report, calling the story "an outright lie that came from nowhere."

 

The Global Times found that the claims of three WIV researchers getting sick had been spread by Australian media as early as March by Australian journalist Sharri Markson, an active disseminator of conspiracy theories and lies that smear China.

 

In early May, Markson released a so-called exclusive report in The Australian newspaper quoting a Chinese book that is openly on sale as a "leaked" exclusive document smearing China over the origins of COVID-19, twisting the book's contents to support her own conspiracy theory that China was engaged in weaponizing the novel coronavirus several years before the pandemic.

 

In May 2020, Markson revealed that a Five Eyes intelligence report claimed the novel coronavirus may have come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. However, another Australian media outlet, The Age, soon pointed out that the so-called exclusive report was suspected of being provided by the US Embassy in Australia.

 

Chinese experts had reiterated that tracing the origins of the coronavirus is a scientific task and the aim of the work is to prevent future disasters rather than to assign responsibility.

 

Many international scientists have shown support for their Chinese counterparts over the issue, but recently some have left Chinese scientists feeling "betrayed" as they seem to be changing their tone.

 

The US' top epidemiologist Anthony Fauci said at a Poynter event earlier this month that he was not convinced the virus developed naturally, saying we should continue to investigate what went on in China, the New York Post reported on Sunday. However, last May, the US scientist said in an article in the National Geographic that there was "no scientific evidence the coronavirus was made in a Chinese lab."

 

Fauci's modification of his remarks sparked more speculation about the Biden administration's future moves of politicizing the virus origins.

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224394.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 12:17 a.m. No.13748489   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13748272

Mike Pompeo Tweet

 

The CCP was actively engaged in viral research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Every piece of evidence points to a leak from this laboratory.

 

The CCP has done everything to cover up and deflect blame, even blaming the U.S. Prove it.

 

They must be held accountable.

 

https://twitter.com/mikepompeo/status/1396898406614904843

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 12:36 a.m. No.13748562   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13718126 (pb)

>>13718277 (pb)

Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 24, 2021

 

AFP: According to Australia, Chinese-born Australian academic Yang Jun will go on trial on espionage charges on Thursday. Can you confirm it? Do you have any detail on this case?

 

Zhao Lijian: China has made clear on many occasions its position on the individual case of the relevant Australian citizen. China is a country under the rule of law. China's judicial organs handle cases in accordance with law and fully protect the lawful rights and interests of relevant personnel. As for the specific situation you mentioned, I have no information to offer you at present.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1878214.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 12:43 a.m. No.13748583   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9872

Masks, social restrictions return to Australia’s Melbourne after fresh outbreak

 

Renju Jose - May 25, 2021

 

Australia’s second largest city Melbourne reinstated COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday as authorities scrambled to find the missing link in a fresh outbreak, prompting New Zealand to pause a “travel bubble” with the state of Victoria.

 

Amid worries the cluster, which has grown to nine cases in two days, could spark a major outbreak, Victoria imposed social restrictions and made face masks mandatory in hotels, restaurants, and other indoor venues from 6 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Tuesday until June 4.

 

The latest outbreak ends Victoria's run of zero cases for nearly three months and saw New Zealand suspend quarantine-free travel with the state and the neighbouring state of South Australia impose travel restrictions.

 

Australia has avoided the high COVID-19 numbers seen in many developed countries by closing its international borders in the early stages of the pandemic and with lockdowns. It has reported just over 30,000 cases and 910 deaths.

 

Thousands of people in Melbourne have been ordered to self isolate and undergo COVID-19 tests with health alerts issued for several sites, including one of the largest shopping centres in the country.

 

One of the cases had a high viral load while he visited some venues prompting authorities to warn Melbourne's five million residents to brace for more positive cases in the next few days.

 

Authorities urged Victorians to get vaccinated.

 

"There are right now millions of Victorians that are eligible to be vaccinated. They shouldn't wait for tomorrow, they shouldn't wait for next week. They should move now and get vaccinated," James Merlino, Victoria state's acting premier, told reporters in Melbourne.

 

Victoria was the hardest-hit state during a second wave late last year, accounting for about 70% of total cases and 90% of deaths in Australia. The state, the country's second most populous, only controlled the outbreak after one of the world's longest and strictest lockdowns.

 

Five new locally acquired cases were reported in Victoria on Tuesday, a day after four infections were recorded in Melbourne.

 

All cases belong to one extended family across different households and could be traced back to the variant found in an overseas traveller who returned to Melbourne early this month after completing quarantine in the city of Adelaide.

 

Authorities, however, said they could not yet find how the latest cases contracted the virus from the overseas traveller.

 

New Zealand's COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the 'travel bubble' with Victoria has been suspended for three days from Tuesday evening.

 

"New Zealand officials have assessed that the most cautious option is to pause the travel bubble with Victoria as there are still several unknowns with the outbreak," Hipkins said.

 

Melbourne's fresh outbreak comes as Australian authorities try to ramp up a sluggish national vaccination drive with health experts worried many people were delaying getting inoculated because of the country's success in effectively eliminating the virus.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/australia-reinstates-covid-19-curbs-melbourne-after-fresh-outbreak-2021-05-25/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:26 a.m. No.13748711   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8717 >>5129 >>2141 >>2152 >>9262 >>9270 >>9853

Ben Roberts-Smith wiped laptop days after being told to retain documents, court told

 

Georgina Mitchell - May 25, 2021

 

1/2

 

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith wiped the contents of his laptop five days after he was told by lawyers in a defamation case to retain certain information and documents, a court has heard.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times over a series of stories published in 2018, which he says are defamatory because they portray him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and committed murder.

 

A trial, due to begin in Sydney on June 7, is expected to last six to eight weeks.

 

On Tuesday, the newspapers’ barrister Lyndelle Barnett told the Federal Court her clients have asked for a series of USB sticks retrieved from Mr Roberts-Smith’s former home in June 2020 to be produced to the court. However, they were told the contents of the USBs had been “condensed” onto Mr Roberts-Smith’s laptop in August or September last year and the USBs were then discarded.

 

“We then sought the laptop, with a view to it being inspected by an expert, and were told on Friday night that the applicant has wiped the hard drive of that laptop very recently, on the 17th of April,” Ms Barnett said. “Nonetheless, we still press for production of that laptop.”

 

Ms Barnett said the newspapers plan for an independent expert to examine the laptop to see if anything is recoverable, and to examine any metadata on the laptop so it might be seen how it was wiped.

 

“That did occur five days after we wrote to the applicant requiring him to retain documents associated with the USBs, so we are concerned about the hard drive having been wiped in those circumstances. It is something we wish to explore,” Ms Barnett said.

 

“We don’t accept it was appropriate for the applicant to wipe his hard drive after being asked to retain it, but that will be a matter for trial.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, said he is happy to provide the laptop, adding “there’s nothing sinister in what occurred”.

 

“My client was in the course of buying a new computer and trading in the old one, and that’s the reason for these events,” Mr McClintock said. “The five USBs, or whatever number they were, were in fact condensed into one USB.”

 

He said this USB remains with his instructing solicitors because, “I believe there are national security issues.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:27 a.m. No.13748717   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13748711

 

2/2

 

Mr McClintock asked for the newspapers to produce interview recordings with relatives of Ali Jan, an Afghan man who was allegedly kicked off a cliff and shot dead by Australian soldiers in September 2012 in the village of Darwan.

 

The barrister said his understanding is some interview excerpts were published, while others were “destroyed”, which he finds hard to accept and is a matter he will take further.

 

“This is a significant issue about destruction of documents by the respondents,” Mr McClintock said.

 

“As I understand it, one of the recordings is of the supposed Ali Jan’s wife. I fail to see how anyone could have ever thought that wouldn’t be relevant.”

 

Ms Barnett said the recordings were made, and deleted, some months prior to the stories in the defamation case being published. She said the interviews were filmed on an iPhone with recordings starting and stopping, which meant there were short clips which contained nothing relevant.

 

“Those were the kinds of videos that were deleted,” Ms Barnett said. “We reject entirely the idea that there’s anything nefarious about these documents, the ones that were deleted, being deleted.”

 

Ms Barnett said none of the interviews were with the Afghan witnesses who will give evidence in court that they witnessed the circumstances of Ali Jan’s death.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is arguing in the defamation case that the newspapers wrongly suggested he disgraced his country and the Australian Army through his conduct in overseas deployments with the SAS.

 

The stories published in 2018 also portray him as a “hypocrite” who “abused a woman”, Mr Roberts-Smith says, by detailing allegations that he punched a woman with whom he was having an affair.

 

In a defence, the newspapers have argued the articles do not convey the defamatory imputations pleaded by Mr Roberts-Smith and he is not identifiable in some of them.

 

However, if the Federal Court finds the articles did identify and defame him, the outlets have pleaded a defence of truth or contextual truth to all the claims, including alleging Mr Roberts-Smith was involved in unlawful killings in Afghanistan.

 

In a judgment published on Tuesday, Justice Anthony Besanko said he will allow Mr Roberts-Smith to give evidence in the trial first, before the newspapers present their case.

 

Justice Besanko outlined the anticipated evidence of three witnesses in the case, including Mr Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife Emma. She is expected to say the former soldier concealed evidence, including by burying USBs in the backyard of a home, and took steps to communicate covertly with witnesses.

 

The case will return to court for further pre-trial directions on June 2.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-wiped-laptop-days-after-being-told-to-retain-documents-court-told-20210525-p57uxa.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:36 a.m. No.13748743   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8746 >>9831 >>9853

Embassy in Kabul packs up as troops prepare to leave

 

AMANDA HODGE and BEN PACKHAM - MAY 25, 2021

 

1/2

 

Australia is packing up its embassy in Kabul less than six weeks after the government announced it would pull its last 80 troops from Afghanistan and promised a “new chapter” in the bilateral ­relationship.

 

Following a report in The Australian on Tuesday morning, Scott Morrison confirmed Australia’s embassy in Afghanistan will close on May 28 following the government announcement it would pull its last troops from the country.

 

Mr Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia would revert to the pre-2006 model of diplomats visiting Afghanistan from a residence in another part of the region. But the government expected a permanent bricks-and-mortar presence would be established in Kabul “once circumstances permit”.

 

“This form of diplomatic representation is common practice around the world. It does not alter our commitment to Afghanistan or its people,” the statement said.

 

“The departure of the international forces and hence Australian forces from Afghanistan over the next few months brings with it an increasingly uncertain security environment where the government has been advised that security arrangements could not be provided to support our ongoing diplomatic presence.”

 

Mr Morrison and Senator Payne said Australia remained committed to an ongoing bilateral relationship with Afghanistan and supporting the stability and development of the nation.

 

“Australia is proud to have worked over the past 20 years to assist Afghanistan in protecting itself from exploitation as a base for terrorist groups, to address inequality, and to contribute to improvements in the rights and livelihoods of women and girls,” the statement read.

 

Private security companies have been notified that their contracts are to end next month, and most Australian diplomats to be out of leased buildings inside the capital’s ­fortified diplomatic zone in the next fortnight.

 

The US embassy is understood to be finalising plans to expand its Kabul compound, with an eye to accommodating allied diplomatic missions, even as it too reduces in-country diplomatic staff.

 

This month, Senator Payne met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul to reaffirm Australia’s continued “support for the people of Afghanistan”, and its commitment to a “new chapter” in the bilateral relationship in the wake of the military withdrawal.

 

“We will continue our close friendship, and support our shared aspiration of peace, stability and prosperity,” Senator Payne said in a statement.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:36 a.m. No.13748746   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13748743

 

2/2

 

Ahmad Shuja Jamal, Afghan director general for international affairs at the National Security Council, said security conversations were “ongoing” between the government and all foreign ­embassies in Kabul, and that ­“bilaterally or through allies such as NATO, Afghanistan is addressing any concerns from our allied embassies”.

 

Mr Jamal would not comment on the Australian embassy plans.

 

“Afghanistan is serious about ensuring the security of diplomatic missions in Afghanistan,” Mr Jamal said.

 

“The Afghan government wants to maintain all our diplomatic relationships.

 

“Unlike the Taliban, we are not a pariah ­government and have diplomatic arrangements with governments from Australia to Bangladesh and beyond and we would like to maintain these friendly relations.”

 

Australia had little option but to end its military involvement in Afghanistan after US President Joe Biden announced last month he would pull the last 2500 American troops from the country by September 11, drawing America’s involvement in the long-running conflict to a close.

 

A US Defence Department report released last week found a 37 per cent surge in attacks on ­Afghan security forces by the ­Taliban in the first quarter of this year, and warned that large-scale attacks on provincial capitals should be expected.

 

Australia only re-established an embassy in Afghanistan inside the US compound in 2006, and opened its own independent embassy five years later. But the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan in recent years has made it one of Australia’s most expensive overseas missions.

 

Mahmoud Saikal – a former Afghan deputy foreign minister, UN ambassador and the first resident Afghan ambassador to Australia – said that withdrawing the embassy or moving it into the US compound would represent a “setback in bilateral relations”.

 

“We see Australia as a more neutral country with its own vision for the region, so to operate from within the US embassy compound would be to operate in the shadow of the US,” Professor Saikal said.

 

He lobbied hard for Australia to open its Kabul embassy.

 

“Despite some mistakes, a lot of good things have happened in Afghanistan in the last 20 years and the Australian taxpayer has been part of that,” Professor Saikal said.

 

“It’s important to keep an eye on these gains.”

 

Uncertainty over the embassy’s future has only compounded the fears of 12 locally engaged embassy staff, and 45 Afghan interpreters for the Australian Defence Force and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who are seeking relocation to Australia with their families.

 

Faheem, an ADF interpreter in Oruzgan and Helmand provinces from 2014 to 2019, said he received approval last year to come to Australia with his wife and four children.

 

But the process had ground to a halt.

 

“Nobody is answering our emails now,” said Faheem, who is living in hiding because of Taliban death threats.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/embassy-in-kabul-packs-up-as-troops-prepare-to-leave/news-story/50647c7715d7098b9fa683ee78f13e6f

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:46 a.m. No.13748782   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8789 >>6731 >>9863

‘A matter of time’: New Zealand’s foreign minister warns China ‘storm’ could be coming

 

In an interview with the Guardian, Nanaia Mahuta says exporters must diversify to protect themselves from a potential cooling of ties with Beijing

 

Tess McClure - 25 May 2021

 

1/2

 

New Zealand could find itself at the heart of a “storm” of anger from China, foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta has warned, saying exporters needed to diversify to ensure they could survive deteriorating relations with Beijing.

 

Mahuta’s comments come as the New Zealand government faces increasing pressure to take a firmer stance on human rights violations and crackdowns by China, putting the spotlight on the potential repercussions for countries who provoke Beijing’s ire.

 

Neighbouring Australia is in a deepening trade war with China, which Mahuta likened to being at the centre of a storm – one which could easily engulf New Zealand.

 

“We cannot ignore, obviously, what’s happening in Australia with their relationship with China. And if they are close to an eye of the storm or in the eye of the storm, we’ve got to legitimately ask ourselves – it may only be a matter of time before the storm gets closer to us,” she told the Guardian.

 

It was one of the minister’s more frank discussions of the vulnerability of New Zealand’s trade dependency on China – and a clear directive to local exporters that they should be seeking to redistribute some of those eggs to baskets elsewhere.

 

“The signal I’m sending to exporters is that they need to think about diversification in this context – Covid-19, broadening relationships across our region, and the buffering aspects of if something significant happened with China. Would they be able to withstand the impact?” she asked. China accounts for more than $33bn of New Zealand’s total trade, and nearly 30% of exports.

 

New Zealand is attempting to walk a difficult tightrope with China: maintaining a strong trade relationship, while still carving out space to criticise violations of human rights or international law. Over the past year, that position has become increasingly difficult to maintain.

 

The country is under pressure to take a stronger moral stance on human rights issues in and around China. Human rights groups have described mass human rights abuses in Xinjiang, including the incarceration of more than a million people in internment and re-education camps, forced labour, mass sterilisation of women, and restrictions on religion, culture and language, as cultural genocide.

 

The crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong is ongoing: an operation rounding up of dozens of pro-democracy politicians and activists in March means many key voices of dissent are now in custody or prison. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand’s differences with China were becoming “harder to reconcile”.

 

New Zealand has issued statements expressing “grave concerns” about China’s actions in both Xinjiang and Hong Kong, but those statements have tended to be softer than those of its longstanding allies in the Five Eyes network, Britain, the US, Canada and Australia.

 

New Zealand, along with Australia, welcomed coordinated sanctions announced by the UK, US, the EU and Canada over Uyghur abuses, but did not institute sanctions of their own. In May, New Zealand shied away from using the word “genocide” in a motion on Xinjiang debated and unanimously adopted by parliament – opting instead to use more general, watered-down language of “human rights abuses”. Mahuta says New Zealand “didn’t go to the degree of naming it is genocide because of the international legal threshold around that”.

 

At the time, trade minister Damien O’Connor said that using the language of genocide would hurt New Zealand’s trade relationship. “Clearly the Chinese government wouldn’t like something like that … I have no doubt it would have some impact [on trade]. That’s hardly rocket science,” O’Connor said.

 

The opposition leader, Judith Collins, also said New Zealand’s trade relationship with China was the “elephant in the room” in the discussion. “At the moment, clearly we are [beholden to China] in terms of trade,” she told Stuff.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:48 a.m. No.13748789   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13748782

 

2/2

 

Mahuta has previously come under fire for comments that New Zealand was “uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes,” a remark that some saw as a shift away from traditional allies. In China, state-run media heralded the comments as “New Zealand secure[ing] its interests by distancing from US-led clique”.

 

“In sharp contrast with Australia, which tied itself to the US’ chariot, New Zealand has maintained a relatively independent approach on foreign policies, paving the way for the country to pursue policies that benefit its own economy,” the Global Times wrote.

 

“To be clear, New Zealand values the Five Eyes relationship,” Mahuta told the Guardian. “It’s a security and intelligence framework from which we can work with trusted allies on those specific issues. But the human rights community is much broader than that. … We don’t need the Five Eyes to articulate where we stand on human rights issues.”

 

Australia provides a vision of what collapse in that trade relationship could look like. The diplomatic rift escalated when Australia called for an investigation into the origins of Covid-19 in China. It has only intensified since.

 

China has retaliated with tariffs, import restrictions and a warning to its citizens not to travel to Australia. Analysis last year found China’s declared and undeclared sanctions cost Australia around AU$47.7bn (£26.5bn) last year. So far, the impact of that trade war has been buffered by China’s continued reliance on Australian iron ore. But China has been exploring how to shift its sourcing to mines in Brazil and Guinea – if they’re successful, Australia could be hit harder.

 

New Zealand does not have an equivalent resource monopoly in its China trade relationship. “Everything that you can get from New Zealand, you can get elsewhere,” international law professor Alexander Gillespie said.

 

“China will know our vulnerability in this area. And I think the way that we’re positioning ourselves with our statements shows that we’re conscious of that vulnerability as well,” he said.

 

If it came, trade retaliation from China could hit New Zealand across multiple industries. Near the end of 2020, the value of exports to China alone surpassed the value of New Zealand’s next four largest trading partners – Australia, the US, UK, and Japan – combined.

 

Trade to China accounts for 28% of New Zealand’s overall exports, including a quarter of dairy exports, more than 60% of forestry products and around 50% of meat. The country is New Zealand’s second-largest source of tourism cash, behind only Australia – before Covid-19, Chinese tourists were spending about $1.7bn in New Zealand each year. International education is a $5bn industry for New Zealand, and Chinese students make up about 47% of international students at New Zealand universities.

 

“Right now, China will be delighted with us because they will see us as the weak link in the Five Eyes,” Gillespie said. “For a country like New Zealand to steer away from that words like genocide when the other countries use it, symbolically, it’s important.”

 

Asked about the differences between New Zealand and Australia’s approaches to China, Mahuta said she did not “want to be drawn into commenting on the approach of another country in its bilateral relationship”. But she did say that New Zealand’s connection with China had changed, maturing over time.

 

“The relationship with China has moved beyond the relationship of firsts – we were the first to achieve a free trade agreement with China – to a maturing relationship … where we can be respectful, consistent and predictable on the issues that are important to us, but also on the issues that separate and differentiate our view of the world from China.”

 

Mahuta was careful to frame her message to exporters as part of a wider broadening of New Zealand’s connections across the Asia-Pacific. “We’ve said that it’s ‘China, and,’ not ‘China, or’,” she said.

 

New Zealand would need to strengthen its relationships across the region in the coming years, she said. “Trade is – while it is important, so is regional peace and stability.”

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/25/a-matter-of-time-new-zealands-foreign-minister-warns-china-storm-could-be-coming

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvLlBttZ3uk

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:51 a.m. No.13748794   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

Right-wing terror threat still on the rise

 

Matt Coughlan - 25 May 2021

 

Australia's right-wing terrorism threat has continued to rise with almost half of domestic spy counter-terrorism investigations now dedicated to ideological extremists.

 

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Tuesday terror threats were complex and challenging.

 

"Our investigations in ideologically motivated violent extremism, such as racists and nationalists, are approaching 50 per cent of our counter-terrorism onshore caseload," he said.

 

"This reflects a growing international trend as well as ASIO's decision to allocate more resources to the threat."

 

He said the increase was concerning and challenging but needed to be viewed in context.

 

"Religiously motivated violent extremism remains, in the short term, our most serious terrorist threat."

 

Mr Burgess said battle-hardened foreign fighters could return to the country, while 14 Australians convicted of terrorism offences were due to end prison terms over the next five years.

 

"Right now ASIO is aware of multiple religiously motivated violent extremists who want to kill Australians. Groups such as ISIL continue to urge attacks," he said.

 

The threat of a terrorism attack remains probable, with Mr Burgess telling a hearing last month an incident was likely within the next year.

 

He also warned foreign spies and extremists were using encrypted messages along with other technology to evade authorities.

 

The ASIO boss said recent increased government investment would allow ASIO to connect more dots in combating espionage and terrorism.

 

"Given the volume and complexity of data, we are not searching for a needle in a haystack, we are searching for a needle in a hayfield," the director-general said.

 

Mr Burgess backed an Australian Federal Police push to criminalise possessing swastikas and terrorist manifestos.

 

"There is a link between hate speech and hate crime including acts of terrorism," he said.

 

"There's a link between possession of violent or extremist insignia and acts of terrorism."

 

Mr Burgess said threats to lives in Australia would always be a priority which was "hard to walk away from" with the terror threat level at probable.

 

"At the same time though, espionage and foreign interference is unacceptably high and we do think will supplant terrorism as this country's principle security concern," he said.

 

https://thewest.com.au/politics/right-wing-terror-threat-still-on-the-rise-c-2928441

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:57 a.m. No.13748811   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8815 >>9849

19 alleged incidents of misconduct involving federal MPs, staff reported to AFP

 

Katina Curtis and Anthony Galloway - May 25, 2021

 

1/2

 

Police have received reports about 19 incidents of possible misconduct involving federal MPs and their staff since former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins came forward in February to allege she was raped by a colleague in Parliament House.

 

The criminal investigation into Ms Higgins’ allegation is reaching its final stages with police preparing a brief for prosecutors. It comes as cabinet prepares to consider an independent mechanism to deal with serious complaints within parliamentary workplaces.

 

Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday that police had received 40 reports relating to the 19 alleged incidents of misconduct involving federal politicians and their staff. Mr Kershaw confirmed some of the reports related to alleged sexual assaults and said 12 had been identified as “sensitive investigations”. The AFP defines a sensitive investigation as one that involves an elected member, journalist or prominent person, could impact the operation of government and Parliament, or may be of “significant interest” to the Australian community.

 

The AFP later confirmed it had referred 15 of the matters to state and territory police for further investigation.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will take recommendations from his department’s deputy secretary, Stephanie Foster, on how to improve workplace conditions for political staffers at Parliament House to a cabinet meeting later on Tuesday.

 

The review of complaints handling was called after Ms Higgins went public with an allegation she was raped by a colleague in a ministerial office in March 2019.

 

Ms Foster has recommended an independent and confidential complaints mechanism be set up and that there be face-to-face education for managers and staff to understand their workplace obligations and how to respond to serious incidents.

 

She spoke to staffers, politicians and experts in the field for her report, which was finished late on Monday night. She also spoke with organisations such as sporting codes and mining companies which had already tackled similar issues.

 

“Her proposals and recommendations seek to ensure that processes are independent, provide empowerment to victims and provide timely, effective and ongoing support,” Mr Morrison said.

 

He noted work to establish a new complaints mechanism was “more detailed and complex and will require consultation across the Parliament”.

 

Mr Morrison briefed coalition MPs on Ms Foster’s report on Tuesday morning.

 

The union representing parliamentary staff called for the government to release Ms Foster’s report and consult employees about its recommendations, but said mandatory training was welcome if long overdue.

 

Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Melissa Donnelly said this would not be “the last step in making Parliament House a safer place”.

 

Ms Foster told a Senate estimates hearing she had sought to focus on things that could be done immediately or in the very short term.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 1:58 a.m. No.13748815   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13748811

 

2/2

 

Mr Kershaw earlier said a criminal investigation into Ms Higgins’ allegations was reaching its final stages, with a brief of evidence to be handed to the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions in the coming weeks.

 

Appearing before a Senate estimates hearing, the police boss was also forced to clarify a statement he gave to a parliamentary hearing in March in which he insisted he did not order the head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Philip Gaetjens, to halt his inquiry into the handling of the complaint.

 

Mr Kershaw said he told Mr Gaetjens it was “strongly advisable” that he pause his inquiry but that he did not direct him to do so – which appeared to contradict Mr Gaetjens’ comments in March to a separate inquiry.

 

“Mr Gaetjens called me after my testimony given there was seemingly misunderstanding about different interpretations of our evidence. This is not unusual or surprising in the circumstances, and if he had not called me, I would have made the call,” Mr Kershaw said on Tuesday.

 

Mr Gaetjens, appearing in a separate estimates hearing at the same time, said he had not told Mr Kershaw to issue a clarifying statement in March, saying it was not his place to do so.

 

He also revealed he had not made a formal note of the phone conversation for governmental records, describing it as a “process phone call”.

 

Mr Gaetjens resumed his inquiry into who in the Prime Minister’s office knew what about Ms Higgins’ allegation and when on May 11, after receiving an all-clear from Mr Kershaw. He expects to be finished in “weeks, not days” but couldn’t say whether his work would become public.

 

“In my view, I have interviewed all relevant people,” he said.

 

However, he refused to tell the committee how many people he had interviewed or whether any had taken legal representation on the basis it might breach their privacy.

 

Senior Labor senators Katy Gallagher and Penny Wong said this did not follow the usual protocol for public servants appearing before committees.

 

“There are 60 people working in the Prime Minister’s office,” Senator Gallagher said. “How can you indicating how many interviews you’ve done for this inquiry constitute personal information or a privacy breach? It’s just unbelievable.”

 

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

 

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

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/police-investigation-into-alleged-parliament-rape-close-to-going-to-prosecutors-20210525-p57uwp.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 2:04 a.m. No.13748832   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2367 >>9877

Priest charged with indecent assault wanted to change ‘feeling towards young boys’, court told

 

Laura Chung - May 24, 2021

 

A Catholic priest charged with indecently assaulting 12 boys in a NSW Southern Highlands boarding school in the 1980s allegedly wrote if he could change something about himself it would be “this feeling I have towards young boys”, a court has heard.

 

Father Anthony William Peter Caruana, 79, allegedly assaulted the boys when he was a dormitory manager, rugby coach and band teacher at Chevalier College, in Burradoo, between 1982 and 1988.

 

He has pleaded not guilty to 29 charges, including four counts of homosexual intercourse with a student and several counts of indecent assault of a person aged under 16.

 

In her opening statement at the Sydney Downing Centre on Monday, crown prosecutor Nerissa Keay outlined the allegations and told the jury what they could expect to hear from the 12 complainants over the course of the eight-week trial.

 

Among the allegations is the indecent assault of a student who took part in an extracurricular school activity in 1984.

 

Ms Keay told the jury the complainant would tell them that on one occasion after practice, Father Caruana allegedly rubbed his erection against the boy’s buttocks.

 

During the incident, Father Caruana allegedly said words to the effect of “God will love you if you let me teach you” and told the student he would be expelled if he told anyone what had occurred, Ms Keay expects the complainant will say.

 

In a separate incident, Ms Keay said another former student will recall that on one night in Father Caruana’s office, the priest allegedly pulled his erect penis from his pants, grabbed hold of the student’s head and forced his penis into the student’s mouth.

 

After the alleged incident, the student was given a lolly and told to return to his room.

 

“It is the Crown’s case that there is evidence that establishes the accused had a sexual interest in boys between 11 and 15 years [of age] in the 1980s and had a tendency to act in accordance with that sexual interest,” Ms Keay said.

 

The court was also told there was a questionnaire which had been located in church records by police that had been completed in 1989, the year the complaints were made, “which is in the accused’s handwriting”, she said.

 

When the questionnaire asked: “what do you like least about yourself”, Father Caruana allegedly responded with,“my sexual problem.”

 

In response to the question: “do you or did you feel there might be something wrong with you” he allegedly wrote: “Yes and now for the last 30 years, my sexual problems.”

 

When asked if he could change something about himself, he responded, “this feeling I have towards young boys.”

 

Following the 1989 complaints, Father Caruana was moved from a “teaching role to an archiving role in Sydney” and did not teach again, Ms Keay said.

 

The Crown is also expected to hear from a former manager in the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, who allegedly wrote a file note in 1993 that “Tony acknowledges he is a paedophile and there is little likelihood of change,” Ms Keay said.

 

She added while the man couldn’t remember writing the note, he will likely tell the jury “he wouldn’t have written it if that wasn’t said to him”.

 

Defence barrister Bernard Brassil told the jury it was vital they gave his client a “fair trial” and urged them to be patient.

 

“That imperatively means that you must not decide anything at this point in time,” he said. “Listen with open ears and open minds what it is the defence says about this trial … We all know the sound that liars make when they give untruthful stories and sometimes intelligent questioning reveals more.”

 

Detectives launched Strike Force Caber in 2018 to investigate reports of sexual and indecent assaults and arrested Father Caruana at a home in Kensington in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in April 2019.

 

The trial continues.

 

National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line: 1800 737 732. Crisis support can be found at Lifeline: (13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au), the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and suicidecallbackservice.org.au) and beyondblue (1300 22 4636 and beyondblue.org.au).

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/priest-charged-with-indecent-assault-wanted-to-change-feeling-towards-young-boys-court-told-20210524-p57ukx.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 2:23 a.m. No.13748898   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post

 

24 May 2021

 

Color Guard, Post!

 

U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force - Darwin provided a color guard to carry the national colors and Marine Corps colors for the Battle of The Coral Sea Commemorative Service in Darwin, NT, Australia, May 8, 2021. Known as "the battle that saved Australia," the Battle of The Coral Sea was a historic demonstration of interoperability between U.S. and Australian militaries during World War II and its strategic importance is commemorated annually. The 2021 rotation provides the U.S. Marine Corps and Australian Defence Force with an exceptional opportunity to develop relationships, learn about each other’s cultures, strengthen partnership, and increase shared military capabilities.

 

(U.S. Marine Corps photos and photo illustration by Cpl. Lydia Gordon)

 

https://www.facebook.com/MRFDarwin/posts/4140744202681515

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 11:35 p.m. No.13756589   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6596 >>9831

US eyes Top End military build-up to combat China threat

 

BEN PACKHAM - MAY 26, 2021

 

1/2

 

The US wants to store munitions and defence equipment in Australia’s Top End under a bilateral force posture review to better prepare the ANZUS allies for growing strategic threats from China.

 

In an interview, acting US ­ambassador Mike Goldman said it “just makes sense to forward deploy” US war stocks in Australia, given US bases in Guam and elsewhere in the region were within reach of Chinese missiles.

 

The US charge d’affaires also expressed support for a more “ambitious” redevelopment of the Lombrum naval base in Papua New Guinea, subject to negotiations with PNG and Australia.

 

Mr Goldman said geostrategic tensions required a more “innovative defence partnership” between Australia and the US, including co-production of precision-guided weapons on Australian soil.

 

He said a bilateral force posture review working group, established following last year’s AUSMIN talks, had met for the first time ­earlier this month to discuss “a wide range of contingencies”.

 

Mr Goldman said it was too early to provide details on any new initiatives, but said pre-positioning US weapons in Australia offered strategic advantages.

 

“A lot of that just makes perfect intuitive sense, particularly when we talk about how we are going to project force in any sort of contingency,” he told The Australian.

 

He stressed that “any change in US force posture in Australia would be in full consultation with the Australian government”.

 

Mr Goldman’s comments follow the US government’s announcement last year of a $15m contract to build an earth-covered weapons magazine and munitions conveyor at RAAF Base Tindal, south of Darwin, as well as upgraded fuel storages.

 

The base’s runway is also being extended to 3.3km to accept larger aircraft, which could potentially include B-52 bombers.

 

As the US reviews its broader Indo-Pacific military footprint, Mr Goldman said the Lombrum deep-water naval base on Manus Island – which is currently a small facility for Australian-donated patrol boats – was one the US hoped could be developed further.

 

“I think we would like to make it as ambitious as possible in co-operation with Australia and Papua New Guinea,” he said of the base, which has progressed slowly since it was announced as a joint PNG-Australian-US facility at APEC in 2018. Australia, which is leading the negotiations, has been unable to resolve political difficulties surrounding the base, including a backlash by local landowners.

 

Mr Goldman indicated talks were already under way on manufacturing US-designed missiles in Australia, which Scott Morrison has thrown his support behind under a $1bn plan for a new sovereign guided-weapons enterprise.

 

“We are in a new geostrategic context now that requires a different set of platforms and a different force posture,” he said.

 

“These things aren’t instantaneous but our militaries and strategic thinkers are engaged in discussions about how best to confront these new challenges ­together. So I think we will see new, innovative ways that we are enhancing our partnership.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 25, 2021, 11:36 p.m. No.13756596   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13756589

 

2/2

 

Mr Goldman said the “unbreakable” ANZUS alliance, which has its 70th anniversary in September, would outlast current tensions with China over Taiwan, declaring it was “much stronger and more comprehensive than any one contingency”.

 

“We are not going to dictate countries’ self-interest here. Every country will have to make its own determination (on Taiwan),” he said.

 

Mr Goldman also lashed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “bellicose” disregard for the inter­national rules-based order, reiterating US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s assurances that the US would not leave Australia “alone on the pitch” to face China’s “economic blackmail”.

 

He said unlike Donald Trump, President Joe Biden would not make Australia wait for years for a new US ambassador. The appointment would be “if not in the very first tranche, then in the first wave” of ambassadorial announcements, and would be a political operator of a similar stature to Kim Beazley, Joe Hockey or Arthur Sinodinos.

 

“We don’t have a name yet; in fact, there have not been any political appointees named for any ­bilateral ambassadorships,” he said. “What that suggests strongly is they are … ­vetting candidates with extreme thoroughness and precision.”

 

Mr Goldman said Mr Biden wanted to visit Australia for the September 1 anniversary of ANZUS, but “the big variable is how Covid goes in the US”.

 

“If Covid allows domestically and internationally, it would be something that we would really like to see,” he said.

 

Mr Goldman – a career diplomat who has lived three times in Taipei – said the US Taiwan strategy was not solely a military approach, but one of “compre­hensive deterrence”.

 

He said the West’s difficult relationship with China was more challenging than the Cold War with Russia because it needed to work with Beijing on key issues such as cutting carbon emissions.

 

Mr Goldman said the US was leading by example on climate change, and expected “real concrete ambition” from Australia to get its emissions down. Australia has sought to focus on a technology-led climate change policy, and is yet to give ground on setting fresh emissions targets.

 

Mr Goldman said the US was determined to work with its partners on fighting Covid across the world, and rejected suggestions that China was leading the West in its vaccine diplomacy efforts.

 

“(Beijing) over-promised in the very beginning but there has been a lack of transparency in the quality of data that has been presented on its vaccines, and there has been a significant under-delivery of vaccines compared to the quantities promised,” he said.

 

“Whereas if you look at our efforts, I think the US and Australia share a view that vaccines should be aggressively distributed to the places that are most in need.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/us-eyes-top-end-military-buildup-to-combat-china-threat/news-story/1f75ea2038aba861fa9c553bfc6c6228

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 12:14 a.m. No.13756731   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13748782

Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 25, 2021

 

Bloomberg: New Zealand's foreign affairs minister said that exporters from the country should be preparing for any potential deterioration in the trade relationship with China by diversifying into other markets. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on these remarks?

 

Zhao Lijian: China and New Zealand are each other's important cooperation partners. The considerable progress in China-New Zealand relations is achieved on the premise that the two sides have long been committed to mutual respect, mutual trust and win-win results. We hope New Zealand can carry forward the spirit of "striving to be the first" and the principle of mutual respect and equal treatment, work with China toward the same direction, make the pie of cooperation bigger, rise above external distractions, and jointly advance China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1878445.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 12:36 a.m. No.13756806   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6809 >>9863

>>13748272

>>13748275

Backstage manipulators: Western press’ guide to creating anti-China rumors on hot issues, or out of nothing

 

Bai Yunyi - May 25, 2021

 

1/3

 

As some Western media spread more rumors about China, their formula of creating such misinformation becomes clearer.

 

The latest report from the Wall Street Journal on Sunday revealed an "undisclosed US intelligence report" indicating that several researchers in the lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick in November 2019 displaying symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and other common seasonal illnesses, implying the possibility of the so-called virus "lab leak theory."

 

Yuan Zhiming, director of the institute's Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, told the Global Times on Monday that the report is an outright lie that came from nowhere.

 

In fact, China's National Health Commission had publicly clarified the matter at a press conference as early as March 31: The institute has reviewed samples collected from patients in Wuhan with influenza symptoms from January 2019 to January 2020 and found that four of them (three adults and one elderly patient) were positive for SARS-CoV-2, but none of them were workers at the Institute. The three positives were revealed in January 2020, not "November 2019" as the WSJ claimed. But most of the Western media continued to turn a blind eye to such a clarification.

 

US politicians and media outlets have again been pursuing the lab leak theory as the origin of COVID-19, despite scientists from the WHO-China joint study team concluding in a full report that a lab leak is extremely unlikely.

 

Behind this highly conspiratorial report by the Wall Street Journal, more clues and characters working in collusion emerged to piece together how such COVID-19-related rumors were produced and disseminated.

 

The production line of concocting such anti-China rumors has become clear: Taking an unidentified source of information, labeling it as a "top secret intelligence document" to create "mystical credibility," and then using a distorted and exaggerated interpretation in the report to attack China.

 

Right-wing conservatives in the US are hyping and amplifying these unscientific conspiracy theories. This directly led many American scientists who originally opposed the conspiracy theory, such as top epidemiologist Anthony Fauci, to betray science under political pressure and turn to calling for an "investigation" of Chinese laboratories in searching for the virus' origins.

 

'Celebrity journalist'

 

The Global Times found the rumor that three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology contracted the disease in November 2019 had been circulated in the Australian media more than two months ago.

 

On March 21, Australian journalist Sharri Markson published a widely circulated "exclusive report" in The Australian, citing a chief researcher at the US State Department named David Asher as a source, claiming that the novel coronavirus disease may be a "biological weapon" developed by China and that vaccine is the "antidote" being developed.

 

This is not the first time that Markson has made a "scoop" about the plot "Novel coronavirus [disease] leaked from Wuhan Institute of Virology lab."

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 12:37 a.m. No.13756809   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6811

>>13756806

 

2/3

 

On May 7, Markson published another article in The Australian claiming that the Chinese government had discussed "the possibility of using the SARS virus as a biochemical weapon" as early as 2015, and thus drew the inference that COVID-19 may come from laboratory leak.

 

Sky News reported that Markson assessed "chilling" details from a "document produced by Chinese military scientists." However, the document is in fact a widely available book.

 

This book entitled The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons, published in 2015, speculates that SARS may not be of natural origins but may be a man-made disease. Due to its radical views, this book has not been accepted by China's mainstream scientific community, nor has it been widely circulated in China. The book actually concludes that SARS may be a weapon for the United States to attack China, but this point is deliberately downplayed by Markson.

 

According to Fox News, in May 2020, Markson had already concocted fake news in another right-wing Australian tabloid, The Daily Telegraph. She claimed that she had exclusive access to a 15-page "China dossier" showing "China deliberately covered up evidence of the virus [COVID-19] early on in a pure case of negligence."

 

In the report, Markson depicted the source in a vague, misleading, and mysterious way, saying it was compiled by the so-called "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance. But the so-called dossier was verified by several news outlets as just a research report based on publicly available information, including news reports.

 

However, Markson dismissed the mainstream media's criticism of her work on the origin of the virus and claimed to have been savaged by the left-wing Australian media.

 

Several facts prove that Markson has a clear "formula" for fabricating anti-China rumors: first, find or create a piece of information out of nothing, second, package it into "top-secret intelligence documents" to create a sense of mystery and credibility, and third, interpret and distort it wildly to slander China … now a rumor that is easy to be welcomed by Western anti-China forces is born.

 

'China observer' and 'cybersecurity specialist'

 

Sharri Markson has two close partners; Robert Potter, a so-called "network security specialist" and Christopher Balding, "a China observer." Both of them appeared regularly on Markson's show, accepting her interviews, endorsing the so-called "intelligence" documents, becoming the "exclusive sources" of her reports.

 

For example, in the above-mentioned conspiracy "China has discussed the weaponization of SARS since 2015," Potter said in Markson's interview that the document was authentic.

 

In another rumor, "China purged a database about the coronavirus [disease] from the Wuhan lab," he and Balding became "informed persons," saying that there were "reliable sources" who told them hackers were able to get into the institution's systems and found that there were major differences between the data stored in the institution and the data reported by China to the WHO.

 

From May to September 2020, Potter and Balding tirelessly told the same story in the media, including The Australian, Sky News Australia, and The Sun in the UK, to spread the rumor. But they failed to provide any evidence about "data obtained from the database," so even Western media themselves were reluctant to hype this topic anymore.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 12:38 a.m. No.13756811   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13756809

 

3/3

 

Another rumor about China is the work of Markson and Potter. In December 2020, Markson, again on Sky News Australia, hyped that "a leaked list of 1.9 million members of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai showed that many of them were working in foreign consulates in China and large multinational companies such as Boeing, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca," while Potter stood by this fake news and analyzed the "Chinese infiltration" revealed in the list.

 

The purpose of this rumor is very obvious. On the one hand, it is used to publicize the theory of the "China threat" and "Chinese infiltration." On the other hand, it also implied that China could have possibly stolen COVID-19 vaccine technology from the West.

 

The list was later dismissed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China. Some people on the list reached by the Global Times also proved that the list was completely forged. Hyping that "CPC members are found in consulates and multinational companies" also exposed their ignorance of China, as the number of CPC members in China has exceeded 90 million. However, this rumor was still heavily quoted and further hyped by the British and American media.

 

Balding, another black hand, often spread conspiracy theories about China with Potter, but he has become quieter lately after holding American feet to the fire while attempting to spread more rumors about China.

 

In August and September 2020, before the US elections, a rumor about "Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, having business with China" went viral on the internet, which came from a 64-page so-called "intelligence" document. The document appeared to be the work of a fake "intelligence firm" called Typhoon Investigations. And the author of the document is a self-identified Swiss security analyst named Martin Aspen, an identity found to be a fabrication, according to an in-depth analysis by technical experts.

 

According to a report by NBC, Aspen's profile picture was created with an artificial intelligence face generator, and the intelligence firm that Aspen lists as his previous employer said that no one by that name had ever worked for the company.

 

Later, the media found that the original poster of the document was Christopher Balding. In the beginning, Balding denied that he had fabricated the document, saying it was just a report he was "handed."

 

Balding later admitted that he wrote some of the document, Aspen is "an entirely fictional individual," and the document was commissioned by Apple Daily, a Hong Kong-based tabloid led by separatist Jimmy Lai who is now serving prison terms.

 

The release of fake news about then-presidential candidate Joe Biden by balding was seen to be disturbing presidential elections and had crossed the "red line" of Western political rules.

 

Since then, Balding has appeared less frequently in right-wing Western media, though he is still active on Twitter churning out conspiracy theories about China.

 

Notably, Markson was invited to appear on the media program created by Steve Bannon, who used to advise former US president Donald Trump, several times to re-disseminate almost all of the above conspiracy theories about China and COVID-19. Perhaps, in this outbreak, the "chain" behind the creation of China-related rumors runs even longer than what meets the eye.

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224464.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 12:49 a.m. No.13756846   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6851 >>9884

Chef Pete Evans another traveller down the dark road of misinformation

 

JACK THE INSIDER (Peter Hoysted) - MAY 26, 2021

 

1/2

 

The company of celebrity chef, Pete Evans has been hit with almost $80,000 fines for alleged false advertising of wellness products.

 

The Therapeutic Goods Administration fined Evans’ company for alleged false advertising of therapeutic goods, including the Bio-Charger lamp, hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers and two medicines.

 

The TGA also issued a directions notice to the company and its sole Director, Evans, for removal of alleged non-compliant advertising.

 

Therapeutic goods, including medical devices and medicines, must be entered in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods before they can be legally advertised in Australia.

 

A quick peek into Evans’ website reveals the products that drew the wrath of the TGA have been removed. There is no sign of the Bio Charger lamp that in April 2020, Evans claimed had recipes that could cure “the Wuhan coronavirus.”

 

At the time, the manufacturers of the Bio Charger distanced themselves from Evans’ claims, stressing it was “not a medical device” and “not intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of diseases or any other conditions.”

 

You can still buy some wellness pills made from sustainably sourced red marine algae, turmeric and organic agaricus bisporus (mushroom powder) of which no medical or health claims are made and bench top water filters that start at $869. Gotta get rid of that fluoride somehow.

 

I keep a fairly close eye on Evans, not from a consumer advocate point of view but because his claims are invariably weird and often inadvertently funny.

 

His latest obsession is the old, tortured conspiracy of chemtrails where condensation trails that appear from planes flying at high altitude are not condensation at all, but biological or chemical agents designed to… Well, you know, we’re all being crop dusted by the deep state for some reason.

 

Evans, who said in his podcast he was able to trace air traffic in his part of the world (you guessed it, Byron Bay and its environs), made the fanciful claim that there were more aircraft in the skies during a pandemic when international borders were closed and the states themselves closed their borders.

 

Get a new conspiracy theory, Pete. This one’s got very old.

 

Is Evans a harmless idiot or a dangerous influencer?

 

What we have seen is that in the space of a few years, Evans has gone from promoting various diets – paleo, more recently keto, not of themselves harmful when consumed by adults — to reposting neo-Nazi memes. That is a big shift in thought and belief, a quick fire veer to the fringes but it is actually commonplace among many people in the wellness industry.

 

We saw it last week when a beautician on the Gold Coast declared (with a massive publicity free kick from the media) she was banning customers from her shop who had been vaccinated for Covid-19.

 

She’s not the first and she won’t be the last. There was a massage business that did the same in NSW’s Northern Rivers and several weeks ago, a NDIS service provider emailed her clients (some with intellectual disabilities) telling them she would no longer offer her services if they have been vaccinated for Covid-19.

 

In all three cases, the rationale was more or less the same. Each business spouted nonsense about viral shedding. None of the Covid-19 vaccines in use around the world are “live viral” vaccines. Viral shedding is bunk, a lie put about by anti-vaxxers.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 12:50 a.m. No.13756851   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13756846

 

2/2

 

The businesses also claimed their public liability insurance would not cover them for viral outbreaks. It’s hard to know where to begin with this. There is no conceivable instance where a business could be subject to legal action for a viral outbreak and given viral shedding is an anti-vax fantasy, an outbreak could only come from either a) community infection or, b) a quarantine break-out where any legally claimable act of negligence would be directed elsewhere if it exists at all.

 

The other claim made by the massage business and the beautician is that the Covid-19 vaccines could render the vaccinated, women especially, infertile.

 

There is no basis for any of this but what is interesting is the consistency of messaging. They are singing from the same song sheet.

 

Who is the composer? Well, most of it comes from what the Centre for Digital Hate described as the Anti-Vax Dirty Dozen. A statistical analysis of social media posts reveals just 12 people disseminate two-thirds of the misinformation around Covid-19 vaccination. Most are grifters flogging their own cures and treatments for Covid-19 as well as a long list of other illnesses.

 

The target audience for the viral spread of misinformation is broadly speaking, the wellness community both in Australia and overseas.

 

I’ve come across yoga instructors who’ve been pressured out of the business because they could not be persuaded to engage in QAnon conspiracies and “scamdemic” tropes.

 

I interviewed a Vancouver-based Brazilian jiu jitsu instructor, Steven Kesting, considered one of the most highly skilled practitioners of the grappling martial art and a well-worn pathway to UFC fighting.

 

Kesting is also a qualified microbiologist. He was dismayed that many in the instruction of mixed martial arts in North America had fallen into a similar mindset to that adopted by Evans – Covid-19 was fake, wearing masks was a sign of servitude to the deep state and receiving a vaccination was more about deep state surveillance than controlling a global pandemic.

 

He took on the spread of misinformation with his own social media campaign. As a result, his business suffered. He received death threats. To his considerable credit he remained unwavering, asking but not telling people to be properly informed on the science of the pandemic.

 

One might think it odd that many of those in the wellness industry are now active spruikers for all manner of conspiracy theories, but people who obsess about diet, exercise and healthy living are predisposed to adopt conspiracy theories. They reject science and often see scientific reason as the enemy, or a direct competitor to the wares they are hawking. They carry not just a healthy scepticism of government but an outright distrust. So, when it comes to what should be a Himalayan leap of logic that say, claims the deep state is poisoning our minds and bodies by chemtrails, for the wellness folk, it is little more than a quick step to the right.

 

And that is why this group has been successfully targeted by people like the anti-vax Dirty Dozen. It’s not just anti-vax falsehoods, it’s the messaging from QAnon cultism, anti-lockdown hysterics, sovcits, and drooling deep state paranoids.

 

The wellness industry is a gaping, salivating maw gobbling it all up.

 

Evans, who had almost 1.5 million Facebook followers and a quarter million followers on Instagram before he was deplatformed for repeatedly spreading misinformation, is just another traveller along that dark road.

 

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/chef-pete-evans-another-traveller-down-the-dark-road-of-misinformation/news-story/4bc1abb9415a88668658f3c9c94b4906

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 1:25 a.m. No.13756942   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876

Ghislaine Maxwell seeks to dismiss new indictment, cites prosecutors' overreach

 

Jonathan Stempel - May 26, 2021

 

Ghislaine Maxwell has urged a U.S. judge to throw out the criminal case alleging she procured four teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, accusing prosecutors of overreaching in an effort to "get" her.

 

In a filing made public on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, Maxwell's lawyers said prosecutors waited too long to add the fourth accuser's allegations to an amended indictment filed in March, despite knowing of them for more than a decade.

 

They also said some charges were covered by Epstein's 2007 non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, which Maxwell has unsuccessfully argued also immunized "potential" co-conspirators like herself.

 

The new indictment "demonstrates just how far the government is willing to go to 'get' Ms. Maxwell and disingenuously blame her for the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein," Maxwell's lawyers said.

 

In a response filed on Tuesday night, the office of U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan said Maxwell could not relitigate the scope of the non-prosecution agreement, and said the new indictment reflected evidence it did not have earlier.

 

"The defendant's argument that the government acted in bad faithto the extent she is making such an argumentis based on no evidence whatsoever, and for good reason: it is not true," prosecutors said.

 

Epstein, a financier, killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

 

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and other charges in an eight-count indictment related to Epstein's alleged abuse of three girls from 1994 to 1997, and a fourth girl from 2001 to 2004.

 

Prosecutors said Maxwell groomed and paid the fourth girl who, starting at age 14, gave Epstein nude massages and engaged in sex acts with him, and recruited others for erotic massages.

 

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan previously denied Maxwell's request to dismiss an earlier version of the indictment, and will consider the latest dismissal request.

 

The 59-year-old Maxwell has been jailed in Brooklyn since her arrest last July. Nathan has denied bail three times, saying Maxwell was a flight risk.

 

A trial on six of the eight charges is slated to begin in November. The two perjury charges would be tried separately.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ghislaine-maxwell-seeks-dismiss-new-indictment-cites-prosecutors-overreach-2021-05-25/

 

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

 

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.293.0.pdf

 

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.295.0.pdf

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 2:09 a.m. No.13757012   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7013 >>9863

Carping about Port of Darwin sends anti-investment message

 

Landbridge’s CEO says he’s never seen an international company that’s ticked all the regulatory boxes treated so badly. It sends the message Australia doesn’t want foreign investment.

 

Mike Hughes - May 26, 2021

 

1/2

 

Having spent most of my career working for multinationals investing in different parts of the world, most of it for an American company in south-east Asia, I have not seen a company as badly treated as Landbridge Group in Australia. For a country so heavily dependent on foreign investment, that is a worrying sign.

 

In 2015, Landbridge submitted to a year-long process to bid for the lease of Darwin Port. The Northern Territory government had made it clear from the outset that no conditional bids would be accepted; bidders would need to have any and all required sign-offs from Canberra in place. Landbridge engaged with the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) over many months, met with the Department of Defence, and provided full information on our company to all who asked.

 

In October 2015 we were announced as the winning bidder. Shortly afterward at a conference in Darwin the owner of Landbridge was welcomed in person by senior government ministers, including the current treasurer, as a significant new foreign investor.

 

Unfortunately, in the months and years since, sideline critics have continued to carp about the lease. That is despite a Senate inquiry in which senior officials from Defence and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) both clearly said they had no issue with Landbridge.

 

In almost six years I have yet to hear a single concern about Landbridge operating the Port that has merit. Landbridge manages commercial wharves. To suggest that we could control the entry of foreign naval vessels into Australian waters is risible. So is the suggestion that we would block Australian or US naval vessels entering Darwin.

 

The lease is simply a contractual right that comes with clear obligations to allow fair and equal access to the Port’s facilities. If we do not, we breach the contract and lose the lease. And in any kind of wartime situation the Australian government can simply step in and assume control of the port.

 

Much is made of the fact that Darwin has a significant naval and defence presence. But the Australian Naval presence is at the Coonawarra base, which is in Darwin Harbour but has nothing to do with Landbridge and Darwin Port operations.

 

The Department of Defence conducted a full review of Landbridge’s lease over the Port in 2015. It is a 99-year lease, so it would be safe to assume the Department anticipated there could be periodic tensions in the bilateral relationship with China and factored that in.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 2:09 a.m. No.13757013   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13757012

 

2/2

 

Then there are concerns about Chinese laws that require companies to follow directions in China’s national interest.

 

Such laws, even if implemented, would have no effect on Landbridge’s physical port assets, especially when they are subject to licence conditions and managed day to day by an Australian workforce. What exactly would China be trying to persuade Landbridge to encourage its Australian workforce to do?

 

The irony here is that the undermining of Landbridge is in no one’s interest. Defence officials pointed out to me in 2015 that the best thing for Australia’s defence would be for Darwin to grow and for Darwin Harbour’s infrastructure to develop. For the Territory government, the sniping is a barrier to the growth of the port and its economy.

 

While the lease was signed by the Country Liberal Party (CLP) both sides of Territory politics have supported Landbridge.

 

The NT government has regularly confirmed that Landbridge has met its commitments under the lease. Landbridge has extensively engaged with, and invested in, the local community; we sponsor the Clontarf and Stars Foundations which make a real difference to indigenous youth development in the Territory. We also have sponsored the Darwin International Film Festival and many other local community events.

 

The government has the right to review its defence position at any time. At no point has any official government entity formally expressed any concern about Landbridge operating Darwin Port to Landbridge. In any normal situation it would be unacceptable for the government to sit silently while parties take swipes at a foreign investor that has met all legal and regulatory requirements and with which they have raised no concerns.

 

Australia relies on foreign investment but seems to have lost sight of the fact that foreign investors have a choice. Having observed the last five years of treatment meted out to Landbridge, other prospective investors might consider putting their money elsewhere.

 

Mike Hughes has been vice-president of China-owned Landbridge in Australia since 2014.

 

https://www.afr.com/companies/infrastructure/carping-about-port-of-darwin-sends-anti-investment-message-20210524-p57uqy

Anonymous ID: 7cb3b7 May 26, 2021, 7:12 p.m. No.13762807   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4021 >>3095 >>9872

Victoria Australia Lockdown Again

Coupla people tested positive to the fake test.

Well, they all do but why the positive result now?

And why the lockdown?

What don’t they want us to see or know?

Oooooo.

I love a good government conspiracy.

Maybe the economy is showing healthy signs.

Better nip that right in the bud.

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 26, 2021, 11:06 p.m. No.13764021   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4310 >>9872

>>13762807

Victoria plunged into seven-day lockdown from midnight

 

Sky News Australia

 

May 27, 2021

 

Victorians are being plunged into a seven-day lockdown as the Andrews government takes drastic measures to stop the spread of the latest coronavirus outbreak.

 

From midnight tonight a state-wide circuit breaker lockdown will be imposed until June 3.

 

Acting Premier James Merlino announced this morning more than 10,000 primary and secondary contacts had been identified.

 

“If we can ease those restrictions earlier we will but this is a seven-day circuit breaker lockdown,” he said.

 

Under the lockdown, residents will have five reasons to leave home including essential shopping, a two-hour exercise period, giving compassionate care and for medical reasons.

 

Mr Merlino confirmed a new fifth reason to leave home is to get vaccinated.

 

State residents will also be required to wear masks in every setting except for their homes.

 

Victorians will only be allowed to accept intimate partners into their homes, however, people living alone can form a bubble with another single-person household.

 

Public gatherings have also been suspended, although approved professional sports events will go ahead without spectators.

 

Restaurants, cafes and pubs will be open for takeaway only and essential workers and workplaces – such as supermarkets – will be allowed to continue operating.

 

Schools will also be moving to remote learning – except for vulnerable children.

 

Victoria recorded 11 new local cases overnight, taking the state’s total case load to 26.

 

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

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 12:55 a.m. No.13764297   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

Ron Watkins Is Done With Q and Has Moved On to Aliens

 

Lucas Ropek - May 27, 2021

 

Ron Watkins, conspiracy-peddler extraordinaire, has found his next gig: leaking “disclosures” about extraterrestrials, Julian Assange-style.

 

Yes, do yourself a favour and check out “AlienLeaks,” a new website Watkins just launched that he claims will be a destination for secret “never before seen” documents and disclosures regarding extraterrestrials. In an insult to Assange and actual whistleblowers everywhere, Watkins further stated that the site was “heavily” inspired by WikiLeaks.

 

In case you don’t know, Watkins, also known by his Telegram handle “CodeMonkeyZ,” is basically a professional conspiracy theorist. He lives in the Philippines, where he apparently spends his days promulgating the crap-pop conspiracy fodder of our day. Until recently, Watkins was neck-deep in the QAnon movement — some have even ventured to argue that he is the “Q,” of legend. He and his father, Jim Watkins, were the primary subjects of HBO’s recent docu-series Q: Into the Storm, which examined the QAnon phenomenon and the Watkins’ ties to it. Ron was formerly the site administrator for 8chan, an image board where the conspiratorial-minded were known to gather (the elder Watkins created and ran the site). Both have largely been credited with helping to spread the QAnon conspiracy theory widely across the internet.

 

But as of recently, Q’s star is waning. Aliens are the new thing.

 

“AlienLeaks will be focused on collecting, curating, and publishing leaked documents regarding extraterrestrial technology, biology, and communications,” Watkins’ new website hilariously claims in a “press release.” “If you are a scientist, researcher, in communication with aliens, or otherwise have access to original — never before seen — documents regarding alien technology, biology, or communications, please consider reading the AlienLeaks Submit Documents with Tor page for further information regarding the process for submitting documents to AlienLeaks,” it continues shamelessly.

 

On Telegram, Watkins let his audience know what the situation is: “The government is currently gearing up for some kind of soft alien disclosure. They will only reveal the tip of the iceberg.”

 

The timing of this whole project is appropriate since the government is, indeed, gearing up for a disclosure of some kind — or at least claims it is. As required by a stipulation in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, the U.S. intelligence community is required to deliver an unclassified report about what it knows about UFOs to Congressional intelligence and armed services committees sometime next month. Knowing America’s spooks and their reputation for saying little except carefully curated and calculating bullshit, we may not actually be in for much. But you never know.

 

Indeed, in a head-spinning reversal, America’s national security state has gone from a decades-long dismissive eye-roll re: UFOs to saying that, uh, yeah, they’re probably real! What appear to be officially sanctioned disclosures by U.S. Navy and Air Force personnel about sightings in the line of duty keep popping up on 60 Minutes, in the New York Times, and in pretty much any other large, prestige news organisation that will have them — suggesting that the military establishment, for whatever reason, wants the American public to know that they suddenly take UFOs very seriously. It’s all very weird and surely leaves the average person wondering what kind of bizarro world we’ve all just slipped into.

 

I doubt we will get any satisfaction by visiting “AlienLeaks” — unless, of course, you consider laughter the balm for life’s mysteries. In that case, I’m sure it’ll be great.

 

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2021/05/ron-watkins-is-done-with-q-and-has-moved-on-to-aliens/

 

https://alienleaks.org/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 1 a.m. No.13764310   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

>>13764021

ADF ‘crucial’ as criminal groups seek to ‘exploit’ confidential health information

 

Sky News Australia

 

May 27, 2021

 

The ADF is “absolutely crucial” in combatting organised crime groups seeking to “exploit” confidential health information, according to Defence Minister Peter Dutton.

 

Mr Dutton said during Question Time on Thursday, the defence force has provided “significant efforts” in protecting the cybersecurity of the coronavirus vaccine rollout.

 

“It’s almost unbelievable to conceive that organised criminal groups and indeed state actors would seek to exploit health information, patient records of aged care facilities, of health facilities, of state health authorities that hold important and confidential and essential information,” he said.

 

“But that is the case. So the work of the Australian Defence Force is absolutely crucial along with the staff of the Department of Home Affairs.”

 

The Defence Minister also said Operation COVID-19 Assist had seen the ADF deliver “significant support” to the Victorian Government throughout the pandemic, with almost 4,000 defence force personnel deployed in Victoria as part of the operation.

 

Mr Dutton’s comments come as Greater Melbourne is set to plunge into a seven-day snap-lockdown amid a growing cluster in the city’s north.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iko5NOHwpEE

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 1:14 a.m. No.13764341   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876

Alan Dershowitz Suing Netflix Over Jeffrey Epstein Series

 

The law professor takes issue with how 'Filthy Rich' presented a rape accusation against him.

 

ERIQ GARDNER - MAY 26, 2021

 

Alan Dershowitz isn’t done on the libel front. The Harvard law professor has now filed a new suit against Netflix over Filthy Rich, the docuseries that examines convicted and deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

That series premiered on the streaming platform on May 27, 2020. Dershowitz, who was friendly with Epstein and once represented him, gave interviews for the series. On camera, he defended Epstein’s 2008 plea bargain and continued to deny having raped Virginia Roberts Giuffre as part of Epstein’s sexual trafficking of minors.

 

Dershowitz continues to be in court with Giuffre over her allegations, and now he’s expanded the battle to preserve his reputation to include Netflix as well as Filthy Rich producers Leroy & Morton Productions and Radical Media over “a deliberately one-sided narrative.”

 

The suit takes issue with the presentation of the Dershowitz/Giuffre elements in Filthy Rich as “he said/she said.”

 

“It wasn’t a ‘he said/she said’ situation, however, given Professor Dershowitz’s totality of the evidence establishing he never had sex with Giuffre,” states the complaint. “To have presented that evidence in Filthy Rich, as had been promised, would have undercut the credibility of Brad Edwards, Sigrid McCawley and Giuffre — the very people whose interviewed comments Filthy Rich depended upon.”

 

Dershowitz brings a libel claim as well as contract and fraudulent inducement causes of action based on the agreement for an interview. He says that producers promised not to disparage him.

 

The suit, coming a day after Dershowitz convinced a federal judge to greenlight a separate libel case over CNN coverage of his work defending Donald Trump, is the latest in the attorney’s campaign over what he perceives to be misleading.

 

Here, for example, he attacks non-chronological editing choices that he believes lent credibility to Giuffre’s accusations. Also, in what seems to be an effort to avoid fair report privilege, he alleges that there were portions of Filthy Rich that presented allegations “anew” and outside the context of any report of litigation. He also faults producers for not including exculpatory materials he provided.

 

A Netflix spokesperson responds, “Mr. Dershowitz’s lawsuit is without merit, and we will vigorously defend our partners and the series.”

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/alan-dershowitz-netflix-epstein-series-1234959456/

 

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20791390/dersh-v-netflix.pdf

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 1:30 a.m. No.13764361   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4363 >>9872

>>13748272

Coronavirus lab leak theory not ruled out by Australia

 

Andrew Tillett - May 27, 2021

 

Australian officials continue to believe that the coronavirus emerged naturally but they do not discount the possibility of a laboratory leak, after US President Joe Biden ordered intelligence agencies to re-examine how the pandemic originated.

 

Mr Biden has set a three-month deadline after US intelligence agencies were divided over whether the virus originated from human contact with an infected animal or was the product of an accident at Wuhan’s Institute of Virology in China.

 

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she welcomed Mr Biden’s announcement and noted the “contested” views among the US agencies, one of which believed the lab leak was the most plausible source.

 

“We’ve been consistent about the need to identify the origins to ensure a pandemic doesn’t happen again and to ensure we are all better prepared,” Senator Payne told the ABC.

 

“We will continue to work with our international partners, including the United States, with whom we share concerns on this.”

 

Government sources said Australian intelligence agencies believed the virus crossed over from animals to humans naturally, although the possibility of a lab accident could not be ruled out.

 

A senior source said Mr Biden’s announcement was significant because earlier attempts to raise the lab leak theory got caught up in “anti-Trump politics” after the former US administration pushed that line of thought.

 

“People floating this as a possibility previously were dismissed as conspiracy theorists and now we’ve got no less than the President of the US and a Democrat addressing it as a genuine possibility,” the source said.

 

“Until it can be proved it was natural origin, then we’ve got to keep our mind open it could have been a lab accident. Natural origin has its nose ahead but can’t say much more than that.”

 

The source said the idea the virus had been created as a “bioweapon”, a theory given publicity by elements of News Corporation, was doubtful. Instead, scientists could have been conducting research on treating and preventing coronaviruses, only to have it escape accidentally. “It’s much more likely it was completely innocent.”

 

World Health Organisation investigators said in February that the lab leak theory was “extremely unlikely”, but there has been criticism that China’s lack of transparency hampered the inquiry.

 

In recent weeks, scientists have also spoken out that a lab accident remained plausible and should be investigated, and there have been media reports based on US intelligence that several researchers at the Wuhan institute were sick with coronavirus-like symptoms in November 2019.

 

‘Roaring back into fashion’

 

Richard McGregor, a China expert at the Lowy Institute, said the lab leak theory had “come roaring back into fashion”.

 

“Everything about the COVID-19 origin story is sensitive for the Chinese, whether it came through the wet markets or the lab nearby, they do not want to take responsibility for it or be landed with responsibility for it,” he said.

 

“This is becoming an issue for China of sovereignty and standing up to the West, and once that happens the science gets sidelined.”

 

China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday critics were obsessed with “spreading lab leak theories and other conspiracy theories and disinformation”.

 

“For some people in the US, what they say is ‘facts’, but what is really on their mind is political manipulation,” a spokesman said.

 

“Every time when the issue of pandemic is brought up, they smear and attack China, while totally ignoring the doubts over the origin-tracing work and failure of pandemic response in the US.”

 

Senator Payne’s early call for an independent investigation into the outbreak of the pandemic had angered Beijing and triggered trade sanctions against more than $20 billion of Australian exports.

 

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/lab-leak-theory-not-ruled-out-by-australia-20210527-p57vlv

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 1:31 a.m. No.13764363   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9872

>>13764361

Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 26, 2021

 

The Paper: Recently, several US officials claimed that China's investigation on virus origin-tracing lacked transparency, and called for a comprehensive and experts-led investigation on the origin of the coronavirus. Do you have any comment?

 

Zhao Lijian: Origin-tracing of the virus is a scientific issue. The purpose is to improve human's understanding of the virus and better guard against infectious diseases in the future.

 

After the outbreak of the pandemic, China took the lead to support the WHO in conducting researches on origin-tracing on a global scale. From January 14 to February 10 this year, the WHO international expert team carried out an in-depth study in Wuhan together with the Chinese experts for one month or so. Experts on both sides jointly made field trips, analyzed a large number of statistics, issued an authoritative study report, and reached many significant conclusions. This joint study actively promoted the origin-tracing globally.

 

Some people in the US talk about "facts", when what is really on their mind is political manipulation. Every time when the issue of pandemic is brought up, they smear and attack China, while totally ignoring the doubts over the origin-tracing work and failure of pandemic response in the US. They are obsessed with spreading "lab leak theory" and other conspiracy theories and disinformation. What they did is total disrespectful of the spirit of science and research results of the WHO expert team, and undermines global anti-epidemic efforts and solidarity.

 

I want to stress again that, according to the clues, reports and researches, the COVID-19 pandemic was spotted in various places around the world early in the second half of 2019. China takes the origin-tracing work seriously with a responsible attitude, and has made positive contributions that are widely recognized. If the US side truly demands a completely transparent investigation, it should follow China's lead to invite the WHO experts to the US, open Fort Detrick and bio-labs overseas to the rest of the world, and disclose the detailed data and information on the unexplained outbreaks of respiratory disease in northern Virginia in July, 2019 and the EVALI outbreak in Wisconsin. We urge the US and other relevant countries to cooperate with the WHO in a scientific, open and transparent manner.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1878751.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 1:43 a.m. No.13764374   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4375 >>4382 >>3053 >>0350 >>3334 >>5144 >>9872

China’s trial of Yang Hengjun begins with Australia’s ambassador denied access

 

Sarah Zheng and Linda Lew - 27 May, 2021

 

1/2

 

Australian diplomats were denied access to the closed-door trial of Chinese-born Australian writer Yang Hengjun on espionage charges in Beijing on Thursday, in a high-profile case that looks set to put further strain on relations between the two countries.

 

There was tight security around Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court on Thursday morning as Australia’s ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, was prevented from watching the proceedings, with the Covid-19 pandemic given as the reason.

 

“This is deeply regrettable and concerning and unsatisfactory,” he told reporters outside the court, adding that the Chinese foreign ministry had also said it would not be able to access the trial because the case involved national security.

 

“We’ve had long-standing concerns about this case, including the lack of transparency, and therefore have concluded that it is an instance of arbitrary detention.”

 

Fletcher said that Yang’s condition was “fine”, and that the Australian government had been informed about the trial date late last week.

 

He said that consular officials had access to Yang last month, and would continue to provide support to him and his family. He denied that the case would affect China-Australia relations.

 

If found guilty – which is likely given China’s 99.9 per cent conviction rate – Yang, who has been in detention for more than two years, faces between three years and life in prison.

 

Australia’s government has pushed for its officials to be allowed access to the trial but without success. Foreign Minister Marise Payne said last week that Canberra had raised its concerns over the treatment of Yang and the “lack of procedural fairness in how his case has been managed”, including depriving him of access to his family and allowing only limited access to legal representation, and the lack of evidence for the espionage charge.

 

Payne said on Australian radio on Thursday that Yang’s treatment had been “difficult” and that she hoped for a fair process for the writer.

 

“I very much hope that we have a transparent and open process,” Payne told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio programme AM. “We’re not interfering in China’s legal system; the concerns we have raised are legitimate ones. But we do expect those basic international standards of justice to be met.

 

“We have not seen any explanation or evidence for the charges that have been brought against him.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 1:43 a.m. No.13764375   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13764374

 

2/2

 

A letter written by Yang to his supporters in March was released by Australian media on Wednesday. In it, Yang said the criminal charges were brought against him to “take revenge on me for my writings”, but that he had come to accept it.

 

“I will face suffering and torture with resilience,” the letter said. “Please explain to the people inside China what I did, and the significance of my writing to people in China.”

 

Tensions between the two countries have been running high since Canberra called for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 and Beijing responded with punitive sanctions against Australian imports.

 

Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who worked for state-run broadcaster CGTN in Beijing, has been detained in China since August on national security charges, and the last two accredited reporters for Australian media in mainland China fled the country over fears for their safety.

 

Yang, an influential blogger who has previously written articles calling for democratic reforms in China, was detained in January 2019 at Guangzhou airport in the south of China while travelling with his wife and child. He was later transferred to a facility in Beijing, where it is alleged he was subjected to torture and interrogated hundreds of times.

 

The 56-year-old former Chinese diplomat and naturalised Australian citizen was first detained in China in 2011 but was released amid international pressure ahead of then Australian prime minister Julia Gillard’s visit to Beijing.

 

Yang’s lawyers said he faced a lengthy pre-trial conference on Monday that went on for more than three hours. His wife, Yuan Ruijuan, who is an Australian permanent resident, told Australian broadcaster ABC that officials had prevented his lawyers from sharing information about the case with her as it involved national security, and that it was “very hard to judge” whether the trial would last more than a day.

 

Feng Chongyi, a Sydney-based academic and close friend of Yang’s, said the writer wrote in a message to his family that he would “never confess to something I haven’t done”.

 

“I am innocent and will fight to the end,” he said.

 

Foreign diplomats and journalists were also prevented from attending the trials in March of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, both of whom were detained in December 2018, soon after the detention in Canada of Chinese businesswoman Meng Wanzhou. The verdicts in the trials have yet to be made public.

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3134994/chinas-trial-yang-hengjun-begins-australias-ambassador-denied

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 1:46 a.m. No.13764382   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3053 >>9863

>>13764374

Sarah Zheng 鄭雅儒 Tweets

 

police check the credentials of the Australian ambassador to China Graham Fletcher before he seeks to enter the Beijing court where Chinese Australian writer Yang Hengjun will be tried in closed court today

 

https://twitter.com/_szheng/status/1397716386735001602

 

 

Fletcher denied access to the trial, told it’s because of Covid-19 but the foreign ministry earlier told them it’s because the case involves national security. He says this is “deeply regrettable and concerning and unsatisfactory.”

 

https://twitter.com/_szheng/status/1397726289990021123

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 2:05 a.m. No.13764410   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4416 >>9863

Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 Tweet

 

China government official

 

The smear campaign against #Xinjiang is based on nothing but lies.

 

https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/1397416220891226112

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 2:13 a.m. No.13764416   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13764410

~339~ The Chinese Forced Labor Lie Collapses

 

Redacted Tonight

 

May 22, 2021

 

Watch the full episodes at https://www.portable.tv/videos/forcedlabor

 

The corporate media are heavily pushing stories about child labor in China because they have a new Cold War to sell to us. Lee Camp brings you the slavery stories the propagandists won't tell you about. The corporate world is run on child labor from the precious metals that make our cell phones work to the chocolate that Nestlé delivers to the store shelves.

 

Also on this episode:

 

Lee Camp also covers racist police violence. This time with the case of Ariane McCree who was shot while handcuffed and fleeing the police while their bodycams were off. Anders Lee reports on the British Labour Party's major losses in recent elections. The party spent the last several years attacking and quashing the resurgent left-wing of their party which was led successfully by Jeremy Corbyn. After ridding the party of socialist leadership Keir Starmer's party lost seats across the country and now they want to blame Corbyn.

 

Natalie McGill finishes out the show on Joe Biden's clean energy plan, and more.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vLbj8L-dso

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 27, 2021, 2:20 a.m. No.13764427   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

Alleged Chinese agent of foreign interference Huifeng 'Haha' Liu wins reprieve in court fight to stay in Australia

 

Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop and Echo Hui - 26 May 2021

 

Australia's domestic spy agency ASIO is reconsidering its assessment that a Liberal Party donor with ties to prominent federal government MPs threatened national security by engaging in acts of foreign interference for the Chinese government.

 

Melbourne-based businessman Huifeng 'Haha' Liu has won the reprieve in the Federal Court, where he is fighting ASIO and Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to allow him to stay in Australia.

 

Mr Liu, 52, is challenging a deportation order issued by the minister last September and an ASIO security assessment which alleged he engaged in "acts of foreign interference" on behalf of Beijing.

 

An ABC investigation this year revealed the Chinese national developed ties with federal Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar and Liberal MP Gladys Liu (no relation) over several years while running a public security agency that had an agreement with Beijing.

 

Mr Liu was the president of the Australian Emergency Assistance Association Incorporated (AEAAI), an official consular assistance agency of China's Melbourne consulate which doubled as a popular Chinese-Australian neighbourhood watch organisation.

 

The AEAAI agreed to take instructions from the consulate while acting as a middleman in police incidents, accidents and legal cases involving Chinese citizens deemed to require consular assistance.

 

Federal Court judge Wendy Abraham today cancelled a one-day hearing planned for tomorrow, adjourning the case and allowing ASIO to use a new affidavit filed by Mr Liu to conduct another security assessment.

 

While ASIO is yet to decide whether it stands by its original assessment, Mr Liu has declared the development "a great victory", posting on WeChat that the agency contacted his solicitor before the hearing.

 

"After reading my appeal in writing, the lawyer of ASIO took the initiative to contact my lawyer and said that they decided to reconsider their original decision," he wrote.

 

According to Mr Liu's court application, ASIO last year found he "had engaged, and was at risk of engaging, in activities which constituted 'acts of foreign interference'".

 

ASIO also concluded he lied in interviews with the agency about his relationships with and activities on behalf of unnamed Chinese government officials, Mr Liu's application said.

 

Mr Liu's solicitor, William Wang, told the ABC he believed ASIO's August 2020 assessment was the result of a smear campaign.

 

"We've always believed in the full innocence of Mr Liu and also the fact that there's been an informant potentially that's essentially given misleading and false representations to ASIO which resulted in the initial decision," he said.

 

"That is a part of our case, but I will not be giving any specifics to that at this stage."

 

Mr Wang said he was prohibited from revealing new evidence submitted to the court in Mr Liu's latest affidavit.

 

"We are now given the opportunity to submit further material, to be given the opportunity to speak with ASIO again, to be interviewed in a setting that is not within the confines of the court, for Mr Liu to have his lawyers present when interviewed if required," he said.

 

"For us, this is as close to a win as we can get without having to go through the litigation process of a full day's hearing that was going to happen tomorrow.

 

"We're also able to do a number of things, for example, by suggesting who ASIO could potentially be interviewing or getting their information from."

 

The adjournment of the Federal Court case delays and potentially closes a rare window for the public into Australia's opaque strategy to counter alleged Chinese government interference by cancelling visas.

 

The details of ASIO's allegations against Mr Liu have not been revealed publicly, nor have they been tested in court.

 

Mr Liu, a former soldier in the Chinese army, is accusing the agency of denying him a fair process and failing to demonstrate how his actions constituted "acts of foreign interference" under Australian law.

 

Justice Abraham has ordered ASIO to advise within a month when it will provide the new security assessment.

 

The AEAAI previously told the ABC its formal agreement with China's Melbourne consulate lapsed last July and it was not aware of any evidence of wrongdoing.

 

The Home Affairs department and ASIO declined to comment because the matter is before the court.

 

The ABC also contacted Immigration Minister Alex Hawke for comment.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-26/asio-reconsiders-huifeng-liu-s-national-security-risk-status/100168336

Anonymous ID: 88dcaf May 27, 2021, 4:36 a.m. No.13764699   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Victoria is back in lockdown. Interestingly, the Covid variant that has caused this new lockdown is B1.617.1, according to the Acting premiers statement today. Quote from paragraph 3:

 

"Our public health experts’ prime concern: just how fast the B1.617.1 variant is moving."

 

B is the second letter of the alphabet, or the numeral 2 in basic alphabet coding.

 

So we have 2 + 1 + 6 + 1 + 7 + 1 = 18 18 = 6 + 6 + 6

 

What are the chances of the Covid variant being 666?

 

Full statement at: https://www.premier. vic. gov. au/statement-acting-premier-1

Anonymous ID: b66925 May 27, 2021, 7:50 p.m. No.13771568   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Ben Fulford Part 2

P3 Freemason sources say “the Vatican secret service knows everything, revenge is on, starting with Italy first.”The P3 says the Covidiot “vaccine” murder campaign has been orchestrated from Israel and Switzerland.

 

Special forces in the U.S. will be raiding the Rockefeller Foundation Headquarters located at 420 Fifth Avenue in New York, according to Pentagon sources.All other Rockefeller Foundation branches will also be raided. In addition, all members of the Rockefeller family will be hunted down, the sources say.

 

The British Secret Service is also on the case. This is how a senior MI6 source described the situation:

“We took out [George] Bush [Sr.] to get at [Benjamin] Netanyahu to blow up the Khazarian Mafia –the root cause of world terrorism. Hit the source and end it. All of the world’s military know this. It just happened. MI6 will find and kill all concerned, you know how we work as does everyone.”

 

A senior European Royal described the situation as:

 

“It will all come right but there is a lot to deal with. The Nuremberg protocols should deal with this lot in one fell swoop,”

https://humansarefree.com/2021/05/who-trials-crimes-against-humanity.html

 

“All the world’s militaries have shoot to kill legal warrant but if we end up in legals we have to show proof that the shoot to kill, was to protect. Anyone involved in the so-called pandemic is sentenced to death. The worldwide warrant has been signed by a senior European royal. Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

 

MI6 sources say a secret war has been raging ever since:

“The DVD Dachau was found to have killed – in law murdered – Adnan Sakli at BIS Basel. It was possibly the most critical case in geopolitics. All Watergate affairs are worse for the cover-up than the original crime. In this case, the cover-up involved events like 9.11 and Fukushima.”

 

At this point, we would like to send a message to General Michael Flynn. General Flynn has been talking to Christian groups about having faith. What he needs to understand is that while it is a good thing to turn the other cheek, if they then hit the other cheek, you have run out of cheeks to turn and it is time to take action. Any action needs to be decisive and final.

 

That is why we are asking Patriotic U.S. forces to take over the AT&T telecommunications infrastructure in order to put an end to the fake corporate news, including the fake Biden presidency.

 

One of the key battles is going to be the takedown of the high-tech firms located mainly in or near Palo Alto, California. Here you will find Google and Facebook. It has just been discovered that Facebook Covid vaccine fact-checkers are funded by the vaccine companies, according to CIA sources. In other words, Facebook, run by David Rockefeller’s Grandson Mark Zuckerberg, is complicit in mass murder. His female clone is now playing the role of spokesperson Jen Psaki for the fake Biden presidency.

 

Google has also been actively censoring pandemic truth and is thus a designated transnational genocidal organization. All Google employees involved in vaccine and pandemic censorship need to be executed.

 

Another place that needs to be raided is the underground base and communications hub around CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

Until these nests of criminals are dealt with, censorship and lies will continue to dominate most Western screens and corporate media outlets.

 

Sauce: benjaminfulford.net

Anonymous ID: b66925 May 27, 2021, 8:01 p.m. No.13771654   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Ben Fulford Part 3

We can also confirm that uber vaccine pusher Bill Gates has been executed for war crimes. Microsoft as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are now in the hands of White Hats. This can be confirmed by the stories about the divorce between Melinda Watson (of the Watson IBM family) and Bill Gates. A campaign to ruin Bill Gates’s reputation by associating him with Jeff Epstein and other salacious stuff is further confirmation this source is telling the truth. If Gates was alive, you can sure he would be using his army of lawyers and PR agents to fight this.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/how-bill-gates-carefully-curated-tech-savior-image-unraveled

 

We also know that the Dutch Royal Family members have been executed. Here is what the Senior European Royal had to say about their Dutch relatives:

The Dutch were heavily Satanic, the last Queen, Beatrix, was a terror. Bloodthirsty Satanic cult.”

 

Other people who have been, or will soon be removed include Justin Castro in Canada, Henry Kissinger, Heizo Takenaka, David Rockefeller Jr., and many others.

 

If you saw the Oscar awards ceremony this year you would have noticed that almost none of the usual celebrities were there. This is a good sign the purge there has been very thorough.

 

We are also hearing that a purge of the U.S. military, the CIA, and the FBI is continuing. CIA sources tell us that former CIA boss John Brennan’s military tribunal starts this week.

 

We also note thatIsrael has been forced to retreat from its massacre of Palestinians.Apparently several different countries, including Russia (FSB sources confirmed that Russian citizens were ordered to evacuate parts of Israel last week) told them to cease and desist or else Tel Aviv would be obliterated.

Angry Israeli citizens also demonstrated in front of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house last week. Mossad sources, for their part, insist the Netanyahu who recently appeared in public was a “clone.”

 

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/anti-netanyahu-protesters-to-gather-blame-pm-for-gaza-escalation-668825

 

The Satanists in Israel, however, remain dangerous, cornered rats and it may be necessary to evacuate all Jews and Palestinians from Israel before wiping out the entire nest there.

 

Despite continued resistance, there can be no doubt the good guys are winning. This can be confirmed by a sudden winding down of the fake pandemic in England, Germany, and the U.S.

In the UK members of a committee that advises the British government on pandemic response admitted last week a “totalitarian,” and “unethical” Covid-19 response used fear to manipulate people’s behavior.

British Scientists Say That "Totalitarian" and "Unethical" COVID-19 Response Used Fear to Control People's Behavior - Big League Politics

https://bigleaguepolitics.com/british-scientists-say-that-totalitarian-and-unethical-covid-19-response-used-fear-to-control-peoples-behavior/

 

This was followed by a public announcement the overall death rate in the UK was at its lowest level since such statistics started being collected 20 years ago. Furthermore, the percentage of deaths attributed to Covid-19 was only 2.4% of the total in April, less than a quarter of the March level. https://sputniknews.com/uk/202105211082950788-death-rate-in-england-at-20-year-low-as-covid-19-pandemic-dwindles/

In Germany as well, large parts of the country relaxed more pandemic restrictions Friday as reported numbers there also dropped sharply. This came despite efforts by Angela Hitler to keep restrictions in place. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-05-21/germany-lifts-more-restrictions-merkel-urges-caution

 

In the U.S. too we are starting to see headlines like:

 

“Hope Rises as U.S. Virus Cases Fall Sharply.”

 

https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2021/05/23/hope-rises-as-us-virus-cases-drop-sharply

 

Similar drops are being reported in other countries as well. This is a sign the roundup and execution of vaccine and pandemic pushers are starting to take effect.

 

We also note the Chinese have decided to stop supporting the Rockefeller’s fake Biden administration. The following from Reuters was evidence of this:

 

“U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has so far been unable to speak with China’s top general despite multiple attempts to set up talks, U.S. defense officials said on Friday.” https://www.reuters.com/world/china/pentagon-chief-unable-talk-chinese-military-leaders-despite-repeated-attempts-2021-05-21/

 

“We do not talk to him because he has no influence over the U.S. military,” explained an Asian Secret Society source. “We continue to have friendly relations with the real U.S. military at the highest level,” the source added. At this level, the U.S. and Chinese military forces are fighting against a common satanic enemy.

 

Source: https://benjaminfulford.net/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 1:16 a.m. No.13773025   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3026 >>9863

Eight reasons I think Covid escaped from the lab

 

PETER JENNINGS - MAY 28, 2021

 

1/2

 

US President Joe Biden’s statement two days ago on the investigation into the origins of Covid-19 shows the US intelligence community is making progress towards uncovering whether the virus was released because of a laboratory accident or from human contact with an infected animal.

 

Biden tells us his intelligence agencies agree these are the two likely scenarios, with one agency leaning towards the lab accident, two towards the pangolin-bites-man theory, while the others “do not believe there is sufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other”.

 

It’s no small thing to get all 18 US intelligence agencies agreeing that the laboratory accident scenario was a likely cause of the pandemic. The agencies clearly have made progress since their first statement, Intelligence Community Statement on Origins of Covid-19, released in April last year, which found the virus “was not man-made or genetically modified”. They could do no more than promise to “rigorously examine emerging information” about the origins of Covid-19.

 

Biden has given his intelligence system 90 days to “bring us closer to a definitive conclusion”. I’ll speculate here that the administration thinks a conclusion can be made. Why set up the intelligence agencies to fail?

 

The President also said the further inquiry would include asking “specific questions for China”. It is astonishing that it has taken 15 months before a US administration decided to put Beijing on the spot with some direct questions. In effect, Xi Jinping is on 90 days’ notice for his regime to put aside the bluster and make its own case about the two likely scenarios.

 

I’m with the courageous US intelligence agency that is leaning towards the laboratory accident scenario. Here are my reasons for this view.

 

First, we know China has long had an interest in developing biological and chemical weapons. The US State Department made that assessment public years ago.

 

Second, we know Chinese military personnel and scientists have written studies on how to fight wars with biological agents. The Australian’s Sharri Markson has reported extensively on this. It’s true there is a huge volume of Chinese military writing that does not necessarily represent Chinese Communist Party policy, but it’s significant that specialists inside Chinese military science are writing on this subject.

 

Third, we know the Wuhan Institute of Virology is designed to be a secure bio-research facility and before 2019 was working on coronaviruses, including on so-called gain-of-function research on how to make viruses more virulent.

 

The much-discredited Joint World Health Organisation-China Study into the origin of the pandemic said the strain of coronavirus closest in genetic makeup (in fact, 96.2 per cent identical) to the Covid-19 virus was “detected in bat anal swabs (that) have been sequenced at the Wuhan Institute of Virology”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 1:17 a.m. No.13773026   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13773025

 

2/2

 

Fourth, we know serious concerns existed about security at the institute. In late 2017 the US embassy in Beijing flagged these worries in a cable reporting there was “a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory”. The embassy was so worried it wanted Washington to help China improve the laboratory’s biosecurity. The proposal was never acted on.

 

Fifth, we know the Wuhan institute was presenting itself as a civilian institution, but a US intelligence judgment reported by Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, in January was that “the WIV has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017”.

 

Six, a point highlighted in the WHO-China Study, the WIV-linked Chinese Centre for Disease Control laboratory moved on December 2, 2019, to a new location near the Huanan wet market. The study dryly states, “Such moves can be disruptive for the operations of any laboratory.”

 

The seventh point is that it seems at least three workers at the WIV fell ill with Covid-19-like symptoms some time before the first publicly known cases emerged in December 2019. This was mentioned by Pompeo in January and is being bolstered, according to The New York Times, with corroborating information from non-US sources.

 

Finally, there is the remarkable CCP cover-up of the whole issue: the fatuous claims that Covid-19 was planted by US military personnel visiting Wuhan, or arrived on frozen salmon; the refusal to hand over samples of the original virus as opposed to the genomic sequence; the refusal to grant access to the WIV until the tightly stage-managed WHO-China Study visit on February 3; the over-the-top attempts to prevent international access to research the virus; and the hysterical denunciation of Scott Morrison’s request for a credible international examination.

 

It is almost as though Xi has something to hide.

 

Put these elements together and it becomes clear that China was working on coronaviruses, was interested in biological weapons, had thought about how to fight with them and had sufficiently shoddy processes to make the laboratory accident scenario a real possibility.

 

Something else we should be clear about is that once the virus was released, the CCP instantly weaponised its use. It allowed international flights out of Wuhan for weeks while countries dithered about closing borders.

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Marise Payne on January 30 last year, “Given the current situation, the epidemic is generally preventable, controllable and curable.” This was at precisely the time China was stripping stocks of medical equipment and protective gear from Australia and other democracies.

 

Again to speculate: I suspect Biden has a clear sense about what his intelligence review will find. We are getting closer to uncovering the reality of what happened in Wuhan. The truth could force a rethink about how the democratic world deals with Xi’s China, and domestically Xi’s legitimacy as the people’s hero in the struggle against Covid-19 will take a significant blow.

 

Peter Jennings is executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former deputy secretary for strategy in the Department of Defence.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/eight-reasons-i-think-covid-escaped-from-the-lab/news-story/f8f279fc6cc2bcd5cff6f69a39da5928

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 1:23 a.m. No.13773035   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3039 >>9863

Has NZ chosen China trade over mateship with us?

 

MARK WATSON - MAY 28, 2021

 

1/2

 

New Zealand and Australia are close neighbours. Not physically (Auckland is more than 2000km from Sydney) but culturally, historically and via the extensive family and business relationships that stretch across the Tasman Sea and back again.

 

More than 600,000 New Zealanders live in Australia, 60,000 Australians in New Zealand; and, until the pandemic, citizens of both countries enjoyed almost unrestricted access to live and work on either side of the ditch.

 

The Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement was signed in 1983, creating a free trade zone with zero tariffs for goods and services originating in Australia or New Zealand, harmonisation of trans-Tasman food standards, mutual recognition of goods and occupations, and a protocol to liberalise two-way investment.

 

Then add into the mix a history of shared military commitments from Gallipoli and through the major conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries, together with our membership of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

 

In short, leaving rugby aside for the moment (please!), Australia and New Zealand have enjoyed the closest of bilateral relationships for more than a century. On Saturday Scott Morrison will travel to New Zealand for the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders Meeting.

 

In announcing Morrison’s visit, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, described the relationship with Australia as New Zealand’s “closest and most important”. But that historically tight relationship has been under serious strain lately and the reason can be summed up in one word: China.

 

While Australia remains in China’s diplomatic doghouse, suffering through a deterioration in trade relations with its largest export market, New Zealand’s trade relationship with China goes from strength to strength. China is New Zealand’s largest goods market, largest source of international students, second largest source of tourists (behind Australia) and a significant foreign investor. And in January the two countries signed an upgraded free trade agreement. When tourism numbers have crashed because of pandemic restrictions, the $10 billion of agricultural exports that New Zealand sends to China annually takes on even greater significance.

 

But the buoyancy in the NZ-China relationship has coincided with a dip in the trans-Tasman partnership. New Zealand’s current issues with Australia (and its other Five Eyes partners) rests not with New Zealand’s trade success but with a growing perception that New Zealand has gained China’s approbation at the expense of its commitment to the shared values of its Five Eyes alliance partners in Australia, the US, Britain and Canada.

 

New Zealand opted not to join its Five Eyes partners in openly criticising China’s actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta recently signalled that NZ considered such matters to be “out of the remit of the Five Eyes”. Instead, New Zealand would respect China’s “particular customs, traditions and values”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 1:24 a.m. No.13773039   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13773035

 

2/2

 

This statement came on top of an earlier suggestion from New Zealand Trade Minister Damien O’Connor that if only Australia would follow New Zealand’s approach and show China’s government “respect” and exercise “a little more diplomacy”, Australia too would be rewarded by China as New Zealand had been. Although he quickly walked back those comments, they will not be forgotten soon in Canberra and, rightly or wrongly, the message received on this side of the Tasman was that our Anzac partner had chosen profit over partnership and commercial convenience with China over diplomatic support for Australia in its hour of need.

 

Not surprisingly, New Zealand’s public instruction of Australia in how to “get along” with China was greeted with scarcely concealed joy in Beijing. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin praised New Zealand’s “positive attitude in attaching importance to and working to develop China-New Zealand ties”. And when China’s Global Times stepped up its attacks on the Five Eyes partnership as an “axis of white supremacy”, suggesting racism, colonialism and anti-China sentiment lay at the heart of the alliance, it specifically exempted New Zealand from the criticism – a logical non sequitur, perhaps, but highlighting China’s desire to reward the New Zealand government for its less confrontational approach.

 

Even when Ardern sought to rebalance the rhetoric coming out of Wellington somewhat by noting there were “some things on which China and New Zealand do not, cannot and will not agree” and that the differences between the two countries’ “interests and values” were becoming “harder to reconcile”, Global Times ran an article under the headline “New Zealand stands to gain from Australia’s loss in China”, touting New Zealand’s ability to fill gaps created by China’s energetic rejection of Australian exports. The article concluded that the benefits reaped by New Zealand under enhanced trade arrangements “should teach Australia and other Western economies a lesson”.

 

And that lesson is simple: criticise China and suffer trade and diplomatic pain; keep quiet about China’s human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, or its regional expansionism, and be rewarded with tasty trade deals.

 

New Zealand appears to have taken the lesson on board and has been rewarded with a giant panda stamp on its homework.

 

So when the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand sit down together for bilateral talks in coming days, it won’t be just tourism and travel bubbles that are being discussed. The first item on the agenda should be how to ensure that Australia and New Zealand don’t forget the hard lessons learned together at Gallipoli and in the 106 years since.

 

Mark Watson is a former diplomat, most recently serving in Washington, and is strategic adviser on national security for Bondi Partners, a US-Australia consultant group.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/has-nz-chosen-china-trade-over-mateship-with-us/news-story/9fb79cf983dbfe5691d7c9b99bd2d412

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 1:34 a.m. No.13773053   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3056 >>9863

>>13764374

>>13764382

Closed-door trial of Yang Jun’s espionage case ‘a common practice,’ Canberra urged not to interfere: FM

 

Xu Keyue - May 27, 2021

 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that a Beijing court on Thursday heard the case of Chinese-Australian Yang Jun, or Yang Hengjun, who is charged with espionage, and the court will give its verdict at a later date.

 

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the ministry, said at a press conference on Thursday that as state secrets are involved, the trial is not heard in public or attended by spectators according to law, which is also a common practice in many countries.

 

The Second Branch of the People's Procuratorate of the Beijing Municipality initiated the prosecution against Yang, a Chinese-born Australian writer, to the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court on October 7.

 

China is firmly opposed to Australia's gross unjustifiable interference in its handling of the case and its judicial sovereignty, Zhao stressed. He noted that China has lodged solemn representations to Australia.

 

According to Chinese law, cases related to state secrets are not heard in public and no one is allowed to attend, as is the practice of counterparts in many countries, which is legal and reasonable, Zhao said.

 

The relevant Chinese departments are handling the case strictly in line with laws, fully ensuring and protecting Yang's legal rights, and fully respecting and implementing the relevant Australian personnel's right to visit and receive consular notification, Zhao said.

 

Under Chinese law, individuals convicted of espionage can be sentenced to between three years and life in prison, depending on severity of the cases.

 

Zhao's remarks came after Graham Fletcher, Australia's Ambassador to China, said earlier Thursday that he had been denied entry to the Beijing court.

 

Australian media outlet the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday quoted Fletcher as saying that "Unfortunately, we have just been denied entry to the court. The reason given was because of the pandemic situation, but the [Chinese] Foreign Ministry has also told us it is because it is a national security case. Therefore, we are not permitted to attend it."

 

"This is deeply regrettable and concerning and unsatisfactory," said Fletcher, accusing the case of "lack of transparency" and "an instance of arbitrary detention."

 

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in a statement on Friday made a similar complaint. The Chinese embassy in Australia responded by calling Payne's statement "deplorable."

 

Refuting the Australian politicians' claims, Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the research center for Pacific island countries of Liaocheng University in East China's Shandong Province, told the Global Times on Thursday that Yang's case falls within the scope of domestic law, and foreign countries have no right to interfere in the case.

 

Their remarks violated the basic principles of international law on sovereign state relations and have interfered in China's judicial sovereignty, Yu noted.

 

"If the Canberra really believes in procedural justice, please first give due legal process and conduct a fair trial for Australian aboriginal victims of the genocide," Yu said.

 

China-Australia relations have been on the decline for about two years, which resulted from Australia's politicization of economic and cultural relations with China, said Yu. "This has nothing to do with Yang's case," Yu said.

 

Amnesty International, a UK-based international non-governmental organization focused on so-called human rights, claimed on Wednesday that Yang's espionage charge is "totally baseless" and "politically motivated" as Yang had written articles critical of the Chinese government.

 

Yu pointed out such NGOs are often influenced by their donors and they are merely serving as "public stunt" for some Western power under the guise of so-called human rights.

 

"In terms of Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo issues, its righteous voice is hardly heard," Yu said.

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224715.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 1:35 a.m. No.13773056   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3059 >>9863

>>13773053

Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 27, 2021

 

1/2

 

Reuters: This morning, a Beijing court barred Australia's ambassador from attending the trial of the Australian citizen Yang Jun. Can the foreign ministry clarify why this was the case?

 

Zhao Lijian: After examination in accordance with law, the Second Branch of Beijing People's Procuratorate initiated a public prosecution to the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court on October 7, 2020 regarding the case of the Australian citizen Yang Jun who is suspected of espionage. Pursuant to law, Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court held a trial on May 27. Currently, the case is under trial and the court will pronounce judgement when the case is closed. China's judicial authorities handle this case in strict accordance with law, fully protect Yang Jun's litigious rights, and fully respect and ensure the Australian side's consular rights, including visits and notifications.

 

Chinese law stipulates that the cases involving national secrets shall not be tried in an open court or sit in by anyone. This is a common practice in many countries. It is reasonable and legitimate that the Australian citizen Yang Jun's case is not heard in an open court and no one is allowed to sit in, because it involves national secrets. China firmly opposes Australia's unjustifiable obstruction in China's handling of the case in accordance with law, and its gross interference in China's judicial sovereignty. China has lodged its solemn representation to the Australian side.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 1:36 a.m. No.13773059   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13773056

 

2/2

 

Bloomberg: I have three questions. One way for the virus controversy over its origins to be cleared that would be for China to provide all of the data about the coronavirus that scientists around the world want. I'm not speaking about the US here, but scientists around the world. Will China consider this option? If not, why not? Second question, Kurt Campbell, the White House top official for Asia, said the US is entering a period of intense competition with China. He said that "the period that was broadly described as engagement has come to an end … the dominant paradigm is going to be competition." Does the foreign ministry have a comment on Kurt Campbell's comments? Finally, I'm hoping you can clear some confusion about the trial of the Australian writer Yang Jun in Beijing. On the one hand, the court has told Australia's Ambassador Graham Fletcher that he wasn't allowed in because of COVID measures. At the same time, he apparently said that the foreign ministry told him that the trial was closed for national security issue. I wonder if you could clear the confusion here.

 

Zhao Lijian: I will first respond to Yang Jun's case. We have made clear explanation to the Australian side that the case is about national security and involves national secrets. As I said just now, China firmly opposes Australia's unjustifiable obstruction in China's handling of the case in accordance with law and gross interference in China's judicial sovereignty. China has lodged its solemn representation to the Australian side.

 

On your first question, as we repeatedly stated, from January 14 to February 10 this year, China responded to the request of the international experts on the joint mission in an open, transparent and cooperative manner by arranging field visits to different biosafety laboratories, including Wuhan Institute of Virology, and holding in-depth, candid and science-based discussions between international experts and experts from relevant laboratories. The experts learned in detail of lab management, work specification and latest progress on virus research. It is fair to say that they went to every place they asked to see.

 

China has set a good example for the global origin-tracing effort. Now the question is whether the US has the confidence and willingness to invite international experts to Fort Detrick, as well as its more than 200 bio-labs all over the world. We hope that the US will follow China's example, and cooperate with WHO in origin-tracing study with a science-based attitude so as to respond to the concerns of the international community.

 

On your second question, China and the US are two major countries that share broad-based common interests in upholding world peace and stability and promoting world economic recovery and development. The two sides stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. It is only natural that China and the US experience some competition in their relationship, which is the case in any major-country relations. However, using "competition" define or dominate China-US ties is a total mistake that will only lead to confrontation and conflict. Even if there is competition, it should be a sound one that helps to reinforce each other and pursue common progress, rather than a vicious competition to beat each other. China firmly rejects US moves to exclude and contain China in the name of competition.

 

The US should follow the trend of the times, abandon the obsolete cold war and zero-sum game mentality, and view China in a objective and reasonable light. It should adopt a positive China policy, and work with China to enhance dialogue, manage differences and focus on cooperation, so as to move forward the bilateral relations along the track of sound and steady development.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1879105.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 2:02 a.m. No.13773095   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9872

>>13762807

'There is no immune cloak for a nation': Hunt urges vaccine uptake

 

Sky News Australia

 

May 28, 2021

 

Health Minister Greg Hunt has dismissed suggestions Victoria’s fourth lockdown could have been avoided if the national vaccine rollout had been more successful.

 

“What we see is that around the world countries that have high rates of vaccination are having in some cases, thousands of cases a day,” he said.

 

“We are perhaps the most successful, or one of the most successful, countries in the world but no country is immune.

 

“There is not an immune cloak for a nation, vaccination is critically important.”

 

Mr Hunt told Sky News Victoria has the “significant capacity” to boost their rollout as the state had received 666,000 vaccine doses before Thursday.

 

“Our focus is absolutely on ensuring as many people are vaccinated as early as possible, we know that there are significant supplies that have been prepositioned in Victoria.”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=272_WzMUsi8

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 2:41 a.m. No.13773137   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3142 >>9849

Malka Leifer’s lawyers want medical records of one of her accusers

 

Adam Cooper - May 28, 2021

 

Lawyers for accused paedophile Malka Leifer want the medical reports of one of the former school principal’s alleged victims that were used in a previous civil trial.

 

Ms Leifer is in custody having been extradited earlier this year from Israel, charged with abusing three of her then students when she was principal of the Adass Israel School in Elsternwick between 2004 and 2008.

 

Ahead of a major hearing in September that will determine whether the 54-year-old faces a criminal trial, one of Ms Leifer’s lawyers told Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday her legal team sought the medical records of one of the alleged victims, Dassi Erlich, which were used in a civil trial in 2015.

 

Ms Erlich and her sisters, Elly Sapper and Nicole Meyer, allege they were abused by Ms Leifer when they were girls.

 

Ms Leifer, who was not present in Friday’s hearing, denies the allegations against her. She faces 74 charges comprising 11 counts of rape, 47 of indecent assault, three of sexual penetration of a child and 13 of committing an indecent act with a child.

 

Lucinda Thies, for Ms Leifer, said her team sought Ms Erlich’s medical reports that were tendered in the civil trial given they were relied upon at the time by the complainant.

 

But lawyers for Ms Erlich and a law firm which acted for her in the civil trial opposed the release of the medical records as they were confidential communications.

 

Adrian Strauch, for Ms Erlich, said: “This sounds like and is a fishing expedition looking for … information about the alleged victim. The forensic purpose has not been identified today to even get off the ground.”

 

Paul Kounnas, representing Mazzeo Lawyers, said it would be improper to release the medical records as they were confidential reports.

 

Prosecutor Angela Ellis said she was “in the dark” about the contents of the medical records.

 

Ms Erlich, Ms Sapper and Ms Meyer were last year granted a court order allowing them to publicly identify as victims of sexual assault. They all watched Friday’s online hearing.

 

Ms Thies moved to have the sisters excluded from the virtual hearing to prevent “any suggestion of collusion or contamination”, but magistrate Johanna Metcalf said they didn’t have enough time on Friday’s link.

 

The magistrate asked the lawyers to file written submissions about the medical records and ordered the case return to court on July 15.

 

Ms Leifer remains in custody and has not applied for bail.

 

Charge sheets allege she committed offences in Elsternwick, Elwood, Frankston and Emerald and the regional towns of Blampied and Rawson.

 

Ms Leifer left Australia for Israel in 2008 when allegations against her emerged. She was charged in 2012 and extradition hearings began in 2014.

 

The legal fight to have her return to Australia lasted six years and included more than 70 court hearings in Israel.

 

Ten witnesses, including the three sisters, are to be called at the five-day committal hearing scheduled to start on September 13.

 

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

 

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

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/malka-leifer-s-lawyers-want-medical-records-of-one-of-her-accusers-20210528-p57w0y.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 2:42 a.m. No.13773142   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9849

>>13773137

Litzman to be prosecuted for intervention in Malka Leifer extradition

 

Litzman will be investigated for two cases: Keeping a food establishment open against Health Ministry codes, and intervening with Malka Leifer's extradition.

 

JERUSALEM POST STAFF, YONAH JEREMY BOB - MAY 27, 2021

 

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday said Construction and Housing Minister Ya’acov Litzman should be tried for breach of public trust and allegedly interfering with court proceedings.

 

But a final decision on whether the United Torah Judaism MK will be put on trial will also depend on the result of a pre-indictment hearing that is available to public officials.

 

Litzman is suspected of having used his influence, when he was health minister, to prioritize the interests of private individuals over the needs of the general public. He served as health minister from 2015-17 and from 2019-20.

 

Litzman allegedly prolonged the delay in the extradition to Australia of accused pedophile Malka Leifer and is said to have tried to prevent the closure of a food establishment that he visited.

 

He is suspected of pressuring the Jerusalem district psychiatrist at the time into falsely stating that Leifer was mentally unfit to be extradited to Australia to stand trial. She was eventually deported in January to Melbourne, where she faces 74 separate charges of child sexual abuse.

 

In the second case, Litzman is suspected of helping the food establishment Beit Israel to remain in operation despite a Health Ministry order that it should close.

 

A bribery charge originally included in the indictment was dropped.

 

“In these two cases, Litzman took advantage of his political and ministerial power to advance the interests of private individuals,” Mandelblit said in statement.

 

Litzman’s office responded that it “believed fully that he is innocent and welcomed the decision to drop the bribery charge.”

 

“Litzman’s door is always open, and he will continue to serve as a trusted servant to Israeli citizens,” it said.

 

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/a-g-utj-party-leader-litzman-to-be-prosecuted-669391

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 2:53 a.m. No.13773154   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3156 >>9863

>>13700239 (pb)

American support for Australia is a mirage

 

Bruce Haigh - May 27, 2021

 

1/2

 

After the American defeat by the Japanese in the Philippines during the start of World War II, it needed a base from which to regroup, resupply and take the fight back through the Pacific. Australia was a bread bowl, training camp and aircraft carrier. Its north was intersected with airfields used by American bombers and fighters in attacks against Japanese bases and shipping on and around Papua New Guinea, the Solomons and other nearby islands.

 

Australia was fearful of attack by the Japanese after their rapid advance through Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The Americans arrived as the Japanese were advancing over Papua New Guinea toward Port Moresby. The Australian Army had been conducting a successful fighting retreat in order to shorten their supply line, extend that of the Japanese and organize a major offensive. Douglas MacArthur, the arrogant American general in command, sacked a number of Australian generals and ordered the retreat to stop.

 

Instead of being angry with MacArthur, the average Australian thought he was a hero. The myth was born that America had saved Australia, whereas America came to Australia purely for self-interest. Australians were impressed with American largesse and technology. Many bought into the American "dream." This was the point at which America could do no wrong. The ANZUS Treaty came into being at the time of the Cold War and hostilities in Korea. America was seen by Australians as the protector against Russian and Chinese expansionism.

 

Australia was also seduced by American consumerism, Hollywood, Nashville and Detroit. A common language facilitated the absorption of American culture. Military, academic and business exchanges grew. However, it was largely a one-way street, although that went mostly unnoticed in Australia given the sycophantic nature of the relationship. Australians were in awe of American power and wealth.

 

They undertook no foreign policy initiatives without first checking with the Americans. The exception being the recognition of China by the Whitlam government in 1972, which many junior diplomats welcomed with pride and pleasure. Australia bought into the American line on the civil war in Vietnam, much to its subsequent but unacknowledged regret. That did not stop the "provincial" Prime Minister, John Howard, from buying into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a favor to the equally limited George Bush.

 

Australia bought military hardware from the Americans, under pressure, to increase US force structure in the region. We bought the F-111 which took forever to iron out the cracks, pun intended, the single screw FFG's, the next to useless Abrams tanks, the F35 flying lemon and to boost the alliance Australia has ordered 12 submarines from the French which it does not need.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 2:54 a.m. No.13773156   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13773154

 

2/2

 

America has a highly sophisticated spy base, Pine Gap, in the Northern Territory, but from which Australia is excluded from sharing sensitive information. They have access to Tyndall Air Force Base from which B52, in theory, could bomb submarine pens in Sanya and they have established a military base in Darwin for 10,000 American marines. None of this offers any advantage for Australia, although the Americans have convinced the conservative governing establishment that it does. They believe that no matter what, Australian interests are best served by remaining in lock step with America interests. The Australian governing party lacks emotional intelligence and courage. They are "provincial" politicians, who know and understand very little of the wider world. To illustrate the point the governing party does not believe in climate change, at least insofar as believing in the efficacy of fossil fuels.

 

As products of the Howard-era Prime Ministers, Abbott, Turnbull and most recently Morrison, all have demonstrated blind faith in the American alliance. They have placed a great deal of trust in the word of Americans. Morrison has possibly been the most naive and gullible. He took Trump at his word, a big mistake. Trump fired up Morrison over China and convinced him that not only did the COVID-19 virus originate in Wuhan, but he should unilaterally make a demand that an international investigation take place. Morrison took Australia way out in front with an unsustainable and undiplomatic demand, the US and Trump stood in the background and grinned.

 

Australia refused to back down and apologize, so China imposed sanctions on a range of Australian imports in order to obtain a change of attitude on the part of Australia. The loss of income has not been felt because of unprecedented levels of borrowing by Australia to meet the economic challenges of COVID-19. And Australia has allowed itself to be lulled into a false sense of security by words of reassurance from US Secretary of State Blinken, who guaranteed that America had Australia's back. It does not and it never did. America acts purely in self-interest. Australia because of its long love affair with the US and its inferiority complex is in denial. Australia seems blind to the fact that the US has stepped in to supply China with many of the goods denied through trade sanctions.

 

China does not seem to understand the extent of the incompetence and naivety of the Australian leadership. Thinking people and intellectuals in Australia are appalled at Morrison and his government. However tough Chinese sanctions and harsh words have only given Morrison the domestic ammunition he needs to bolster his claims that China is aggressively expansionist and seeks to dominate the region.

 

The author is a retired diplomat and political commentator. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224677.shtml

 

https://brucehaigh.com.au

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 3:06 a.m. No.13773170   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

Pedophile priest citizenship appeal fails

 

Greta Stonehouse - MAY 28 2021

 

Convicted pedophile and former Catholic priest Finian Egan has failed a Federal Court appeal to retain his Australian citizenship.

 

The 86-year-old's back-and-forth citizenship battle began while serving time in prison for sexual assault against minors.

 

The Irish-born man was charged in 2012 with eight counts of historical sexual offences between 1961 and 1987, against three girls aged between 10 and 17.

 

He was found guilty by jury in the NSW District Court and sentenced to a maximum term of eight years, with a non-parole period of four years from December 2013.

 

Peter Dutton was immigration and border protection minister when he made an application to revoke Egan's citizenship in 2016, but from jail the elderly man sought a successful review to set aside this decision.

 

Following his release on parole in December 2017, Mr Dutton appealed and aired his views with Ray Hadley on Radio 2GB, saying Egan was a "horrible individual" and "not a worthy member of our society," according to court documents.

 

After another tribunal weighed in favour of Mr Dutton, Egan relied upon this interview as indication he would likely be deported to Ireland if his citizenship was revoked.

 

His latest Federal Court appeal was based on four grounds, including that he had renounced his Irish citizenship earlier in the process.

 

But the Federal Court found he would be granted an ex-citizen visa in Australia, which would not necessarily be cancelled.

 

"The Tribunal's findings are clear that there was no remaining uncertainty about the applicant's Irish citizenship or any risk of de facto statelessness."

 

In 2018, he was dismissed by the Catholic Church from the clerical state and stripped of his priesthood after the Diocese of Broken Bay presented its case to Rome.

 

Justices John Nicholas, Angus Stewart and Wendy Abraham dismissed Egan's appeal and ordered him to pay costs.

 

https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/pedophile-priest-citizenship-appeal-fails-c-2956567

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 3:24 a.m. No.13773196   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

Chinese military says Australia’s Taiwan comments ‘provocative’

 

Michael Smith - May 28, 2021

 

China’s Defence Ministry has accused Australia of “inciting confrontation” by talking up the threat of war over Taiwan in the strongest response from Beijing so far to comments from Morrison government officials about the prospect of a military confrontation.

 

“We express strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the recent provocative actions on Taiwan-related issues by Australia,” said Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defence.

 

“Recently, the Australian side has taken a series of provocative actions, and some people have even incited confrontation and exaggerated the threat of war on Taiwan-related issues. Such actions are incredibly irresponsible.”

 

Colonel Tan made the remarks at a regular press conference on Thursday when asked to comment on remarks by some Australian government officials. The comments were published on the Ministry of Defence’s website on Friday.

 

He said Taiwan was an integral part of China and it was important that the international community adhered to the “One China” policy, which does not recognise Taiwan as a separate country.

 

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said in April that conflict between China and Taiwan could not be discounted, while Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo warned that the “drums of war are beating”.

 

The Chinese government has not responded directly to the comments in the past although state media has accused Australia of having a “pathological obsession” with war against China.

 

Colonel Tan did not name Mr Dutton or Mr Pezzullo but praised comments by former prime minister Kevin Rudd and former Liberal Party leader John Hewson that it was not in Australia’s interests to talk up the prospect of war.

 

He reiterated earlier comments from China’s Foreign Ministry blaming Australia for the current difficulties in the bilateral relationship.

 

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu has said the self-governed island territory was preparing for war. Any conflict could involve Australia if the United States became involved, although there are no signs a conflict is imminent.

 

https://www.afr.com/world/asia/chinese-military-says-australia-s-taiwan-comments-provocative-20210528-p57w3n

 

 

China slams Australia for its provocative actions on Taiwan-related issues

 

''Wang Xinjuan, China Military Online - 2021-05-27

 

BEIJING, May 27 - "We express strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the recent provocative actions on Taiwan-related issues by Australia," said a Chinese defense spokesperson at a regular press conference on Thursday.

 

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense (MND), made the remarks when asked to comment on the speeches speculating about war over Taiwan by some Australian politicians.

 

There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an integral part of China. Adherence to the one-China principle is the common consensus of the international community. Recently, the Australian side has taken a series of provocative actions, and some people have even incited confrontation and exaggerated the threat of war on Taiwan-related issues. Such actions are incredibly irresponsible, Tan said.

 

Currently, China-Australia relations are faced with serious difficulties, and the responsibility lies squarely with the Australian side. We hope the Australian side will not go further down the wrong path and can do more things conducive to the development of relations between the two countries and the two militaries, Tan added.

 

http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2021-05/27/content_10040607.htm

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 3:35 a.m. No.13773218   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9849

Alexander Downer Tweet

 

Debstar @DbBourke

 

Treasonous @AlexanderDowner is now famous for all the wrong reasons. Bring on #Nuremberg2 trials for #CrimesAgainstHumanity Clips From Peters/Papadopolous Interview - Dynamite Against Deep State Cabal And "Five Eyes"

 

https://twitter.com/DbBourke/status/1397804072728596481

 

Clips From Peters/Papadopolous Interview - Dynamite Against Deep State Cabal And "Five Eyes"

 

https://rumble.com/vhmxj7-clips-from-peterspapadopolous-interview-dynamite-against-deep-state-cabal-a.html

 

 

Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner

 

Replying to @DbBourke

 

Two possibilities here. One, I’m a secret lefty trying to destroy the Democratic world or two Papa is a wing nut!

 

https://twitter.com/AlexanderDowner/status/1397934743853883402

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 4:36 a.m. No.13773348   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3357 >>9863

Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd Speaks at China Trade Forum

 

DANIEL Y. TENG - May 28, 2021

 

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has addressed a trade forum organised by a Chinese propaganda body and state-run media outlet, aimed at encouraging “regional exchange and cooperation” surrounding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

 

The appearance comes despite current Australian ministers being frozen out of diplomatic contact with their Chinese counterparts since 2020 amid an ongoing economic coercion campaign being waged by Beijing against Australia.

 

Rudd delivered his message via video saying free trade played an important role in China’s economic development but he noted that due to political factors, “protectionism” was becoming more prominent, according to state-run media outlet China Daily.

 

“It is hoped that China will continue to adhere to free trade, reform and opening up, and multilateralism, which will benefit the development of China, the region, and the world,” he said.

 

The RCEP Media and Think Tank Forum was attended by 300 individuals including members of the press, think tanks, embassy officials, and business representatives from the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.

 

The conference was also dedicated to encouraging free trade around China’s southernmost province Hainan. It was organised by the China Daily newspaper, the Publicity Department of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee, and the China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute.

 

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) heavyweight Jiang Jianguo, the deputy director of the Publicity Department—previously known as the Propaganda Department—addressed the meeting calling for deeper cooperation between regional neighbours.

 

The RCEP was minted in November last year and is the world’s largest trade agreement covering 15 nations, and 30 percent of the world population and gross domestic product. Australia joined RCEP with an eye on further opening the South East Asia market.

 

RCEP does not completely open free trade across the region, instead, it establishes a baseline of norms and rules for customs control and access to certain markets.

 

Further, the agreement gives countries dispute resolution mechanisms against other nations, a service the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been unable to provide since 2019.

 

The WTO’s dispute resolution mechanism—the appellate body—has been unable to resolve disputes since the former U.S. administration refused to appoint new members to the body because of problems such as judicial overreach, slow decision-making, and consistent rulings against U.S. tariffs designed to protect American businesses. The European Union has only recently recognised these issues as well.

 

Rudd’s appearance comes despite Australian trade ministers being unable to establish contact or meet with their Chinese counterparts.

 

Over the past year, Beijing has launched a year-long economic coercion campaign against Australia targeting numerous exports to China including coal, beef, wine, barley, lobster, timber, lamb, and cotton industries. The actions came in response to calls for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

 

Australia has launched an action at the WTO to have tariffs worth around 80 percent removed from barley exports after allegations of “dumping” against Australian businesses.

 

Beijing, meanwhile, entered the RCEP reluctantly and due to fears of increasing international isolation, according to Yang Wei, an Epoch Times China affairs commentator. He noted RCEP was unlikely to open up any new opportunities for China.

 

“The political situation in the South China Sea and East China Sea is tense. The signing of the RCEP may be a temporary respite for the CCP’s senior leaders, but it cannot actually solve the regime’s problems at home and abroad,” he wrote in an op-ed.

 

https://www.theepochtimes.com/former-australian-pm-kevin-rudd-speaks-at-china-trade-forum_3834399.html

 

https://twitter.com/geoff_p_wade/status/1398050107832999942

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 4:38 a.m. No.13773357   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13773348

Google Translation

 

RCEP Regional Development Media Think Tank Forum was held in Haikou

 

China Daily - 2021-05-23

 

China Daily, Haikou, May 23. On the morning of May 23, 2021, the RCEP Regional Development Media Think Tank Forum opened in Haikou, Hainan. The forum is co-sponsored by the Propaganda Department of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee, China Daily, China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute, and Free Trade Port Research Institute with Chinese Characteristics. Demonstrate the good momentum of the development of China's free trade zone and the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, and promote the exchange and cooperation of RCEP regional media think tanks.

 

Jiang Jianguo, Deputy Minister of the Central Propaganda Department, Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia and President of the Asia Society of America, Xiao Yingzi, Member of the Standing Committee of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee and Minister of Propaganda of the Provincial Party Committee, Zhou Shuchun, Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, President and Editor-in-Chief of China Daily, China (Hainan) Reform and Development Chi Fulin, Dean of the Institute and Dean of the Institute of Free Trade Ports with Chinese Characteristics, Thai Ambassador to China Atayu Xisam, Minister and Deputy Ambassador of the Indonesian Embassy in China Dino, and people from China, South Korea, Singapore, More than 300 people including mainstream media, high-end think tanks, embassy officials and business representatives from the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries participated in the forum online and offline to focus on the theme of "RCEP and Asian Economic Development" Share opinions, exchange ideas, and offer suggestions for promoting regional exchanges and cooperation.

 

…..

 

Kevin Rudd pointed out in his special video speech that when he came to Hainan in 2019, he had an in-depth understanding of the Hainan Free Trade Zone's construction plan. Free trade is conducive to economic development and world peace, and is conducive to the well-being of the people. Free trade has played an important role in China's economic development. The rise and continued development of Asia's economy require free trade to play a greater role. Due to some political factors, the harmfulness of trade protectionism has become more and more prominent. Free trade requires domestic political protection and international political coordination. It is hoped that China will continue to adhere to free trade, reform and opening up, and multilateralism, which will benefit China’s development, regional development, and world development.

 

https://cn.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202105/23/WS60aa04d1a3101e7ce9751161.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 5:12 a.m. No.13773485   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

Ron Brierley told police child abuse images in his possession were ‘perfectly OK’

 

Georgina Mitchell - May 28, 2021

 

Corporate titan Ron Brierley had more than 10,000 images of child abuse material in his possession when he was arrested at Sydney Airport in 2019, telling police he thought they were “perfectly OK” and he looked at them for recreation, court documents reveal.

 

Brierley, 84, had been on his way to Fiji when Australian Border Force officers stopped him on December 17. He unlocked his laptop, and the officers observed material that amounted to child abuse material.

 

A total of 11,765 child images were found on his laptop and two USBs, some of which were duplicates. Brierley also had two sexually explicit written stories, detailing the abuse of children, and an almost two-hour video of six young girls in their swimmers.

 

According to agreed facts, tendered to Downing Centre District Court on Friday, Brierley was taken to a private room by police and informed officers had located “a number of images and videos”.

 

“I reckon they’re all, they’re perfectly okay,” Brierley responded.

 

He said the images were freely available on the internet, and he downloaded them because they “looked interesting”. Brierley said he looked at the images for “recreation” and he had most recently looked at them the night before.

 

He denied looking at the images for a sexual purpose. Asked if the photos were sexually suggestive, Brierley responded: “Depends what you mean by sexually suggestive”.

 

Brierley admitted to reading the written stories, which detailed the abuse of a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl. He said he had received them from the United States and hadn’t been sent any for a long time.

 

Later that day, police raided his home in the affluent Sydney suburb of Point Piper and seized one laptop and 12 USBs, which contained a combined total of 35,030 child abuse images, some of which were duplicates. The youngest of the children appeared to be about four years old.

 

It is not known how long Brierley possessed the images, how he organised them, or how frequently he accessed them.

 

“He appears to have duplicated folders and images across multiple devices. The full extent of the duplication is not known,” the agreed facts state.

 

Brierley – who made his name as a corporate raider in New Zealand and Australia in the 1980s – pleaded guilty in April to three counts of possessing child abuse material. The charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

 

The former board member of the Sydney Cricket Ground trust was knighted in 1988 in his native New Zealand for his contribution to business and the community.

 

However, after he pleaded guilty, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern indicated she would begin a process to strip Brierley of his knighthood.

 

In a statement earlier this month, Ardern said Brierley was written to on April 6, giving him 30 days to respond, and responded tendering his resignation as a Knight Bachelor.

 

Brierley, who is a dual Australian and New Zealand citizen, has no criminal history in either jurisdiction.

 

He will face a sentencing hearing on August 20.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/ron-brierley-told-police-child-abuse-images-in-his-possession-were-perfectly-okay-20210528-p57w6e.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 5:21 a.m. No.13773516   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9311 >>9831

Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet

 

Honoured to meet with Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP at Parliament House earlier today.

 

https://twitter.com/YamagamiShingo/status/1398123179567054849

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 5:34 p.m. No.13779177   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9183 >>9414 >>4754 >>2164 >>9872

Anthony Fauci backed virus experiments ‘despite pandemic risk’

 

SHARRI MARKSON - MAY 28, 2021

 

1/2

 

America’s top medical adviser for the coronavirus, Anthony Fauci, argued that the benefits of experimenting on contagious viruses – manipulating and heightening their infectious potency – was worth the risk of a laboratory accident sparking a pandemic.

 

In previously unreported remarks, Dr Fauci supported the contentious gain-of-­function experiments that some now fear might have led to an escape from a Wuhan laboratory causing the Covid-19 pandemic, calling them “important work”.

 

An investigation by The Weekend Australian has also confirmed Dr Fauci, the director of the Nat­ional Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, did not alert senior White House officials before lifting the ban on gain-of-function research in 2017.

 

Writing in the American Society for Microbiology in October 2012, Dr Fauci acknowledged the controversial scientific research could spark a pandemic.

 

“In an unlikely but conceivable turn of events, what if that scientist becomes infected with the virus, which leads to an outbreak and ultimately triggers a pandemic?” he wrote. “Many ask reasonable questions: given the possibility of such a scenario – however remote – should the initial experiments have been performed and/or published in the first place, and what were the processes involved in this decision?

 

“Scientists working in this field might say – as indeed I have said – that the benefits of such experiments and the resulting knowledge outweigh the risks.

 

“It is more likely that a pandemic would occur in nature, and the need to stay ahead of such a threat is a primary reason for performing an experiment that might appear to be risky.”

 

In the paper, Dr Fauci also writes: “Within the research community, many have expressed concern that important research progress could come to a halt just because of the fear that someone, somewhere, might attempt to replicate these experiments sloppily. This is a valid concern.”

 

Dr Fauci has led the US response to the outbreak but is now facing serious questions about his role in funding the radical experiments being conducted inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

 

A forthcoming book, What ­Really Happened in Wuhan, documents increasing concerns that a leak from the Wuhan lab – and not natural spread via an animal in a wet market – could have sparked the Covid-19 crisis that has up-ended every nation in the world and killed 3.4 million people.

 

Dr Fauci on May 11 reversed his position on whether Covid-19 had leaked from the WIV, and said he was now “not convinced” the virus had developed naturally and authorities needed to find out “exactly what happened”.

 

Gain-of-function experiments – often with bat-derived coronaviruses – centre on manipulating, splicing and recombining viruses potentially into strands of highly infectious and little understood diseases.

 

This type of research carries such a risk of causing a pandemic that the Obama administration paused funding for gain-of-­function experiments in 22 fields in 2014, including those involving SARS, influenza and MERS.

 

US President Joe Biden this week ordered a fresh US intelligence inquiry into whether the virus had originated at the laboratory, while WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his team’s inquiry into the origins did not sufficiently examine an accidental laboratory leak.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 5:35 p.m. No.13779183   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13779177

 

2/2

 

The NIH has come under significant criticism in recent weeks over funding WIV research relating to change-of-function, which Dr Fauci denies. Earlier this month, he told a US Senate hearing that the NIH “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the WIV”.

 

Yet papers published as late as last year in American peer-­reviewed academic journals that include WIV researchers – including its prominent virologist Shi Zhengli – disclose that work on coronaviruses had been funded by at least three NIH grants.

 

At the time of Dr Fauci’s paper, there was a voluntary ban on gain-of-function research related to highly infectious influenza ­viruses. He asked what would happen if the experiments were conducted by a lab not subject to adequate safety regulations.

 

“Putting aside the specter of bioterrorism for the moment, consider this hypothetical scenario: an important gain-of-function experiment involving a virus with serious pandemic potential is performed in a well-regulated, world-class laboratory by experienced investigators, but the information from the experiment is then used by another scientist who does not have the same training and facilities and is not subject to the same regulations,” he wrote.

 

Dr Fauci wrote that virologists needed to respect “that there are genuine and legitimate concerns about this type of research, both domestically and globally.”

 

“We cannot expect those who have these concerns to simply take us, the scientific community, at our word that the benefits of this work outweigh the risks, nor can we ignore their calls for greater transparency, their concerns about conflicts of interest, and their efforts to engage in a dialogue about whether these experiments should have been performed in the first place,” Dr Fauci wrote.

 

“Those of us in the scientific community who believe in the merits of this work have the responsibility to address these concerns thoughtfully and respectfully.”

 

Dr Fauci added: “Granted, the time it takes to engage in such a dialog could potentially delay or even immobilize the conduct of certain important experiments and the publication of valuable information that could move the field forward for the good of public health,”

 

“If we want to continue this important work, we collectively need to do a better job of articulating the scientific rationale for such experiments well before they are performed and provide discussion about the potential risk to public health, however remote,” he wrote.

 

In December 2017, the National Institute of Health, of which the NIAID is a part, announced it would resume funding the gain-of-function research.

 

Multiple Trump administration officials told The Weekend Australian Dr Fauci had not raised the issue of restarting the research funding with senior figures in the White House.

 

“It kind of just got rammed through,” one official said.

 

“I think there’s truth in the narrative that the (National Security Council) staff, the president, the White House chief-of-staff, those people were in the dark that he was switching back on the research.”

 

The Weekend Australian has also confirmed that neither Mike Pompeo, the then director of the Central Intelligence Agency, nor National Security Council member Matthew Pottinger, was briefed.

 

The experiments are also opposed by prominent scientists, including the Cambridge Working Group of 200 researchers which issued a public warning in 2014.

 

“Accident risks with newly created “potential pandemic pathogens” raise grave new concerns,” the group’s letter read. “Laboratory creation of highly transmissible, novel strains of dangerous viruses, especially but not limited to influenza, poses substantially increased risks.

 

“An accidental infection in such a setting could trigger outbreaks that would be difficult or impossible to control. Historically, new strains of influenza, once they establish transmission in the human population, have infected a quarter or more of the world’s population within two years.”

 

And Steven Salzberg, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in 2015 said the benefits of gain-of-function research were “minimal at best” and they could “far more safely be obtained through other avenues of research”.

 

“I am very concerned that the continuing gain-of-function research on influenza viruses, and more recently on other viruses, presents extremely serious risks to the public health,” he wrote.

 

Dr Fauci did not respond to queries.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/anthony-fauci-backed-virus-experiments-despite-pandemic-risk/news-story/3c604681cfcbfeda88bac25e372a1b8a

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 5:55 p.m. No.13779414   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9427 >>9872

>>13779177

Enough of Fauci’s lies!: Devine

 

Miranda Devine - May 26, 2021

 

1/2

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci was absolutely adamant that the National Institutes of Health has never funded dangerous research on bat viruses in the Chinese lab suspected of being the source of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was questioned by Republican Sen. Rand Paul two weeks ago.

 

“Senator Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect that the NIH has not ever and does not now fund ‘gain of function’ research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Fauci said in the fiery Senate hearing on May 11.

 

He couldn’t have been more certain.

 

Until he wasn’t certain a few hours later.

 

That very afternoon, Fauci admitted to “a very minor collaboration as part of a subcontract of a grant we had a collaboration with some Chinese scientists,” during an appearance at Poynter.org’s “festival of fact checking.”

 

It’s like being a little bit pregnant. The NIH either funded so-called gain-of-function research to juice up bat coronaviruses in China, or it didn’t. Turns out it did. And it did it by exploiting a loophole in an Obama-administration ban on the Frankenstein research put in place in 2014.

 

Fauci’s defensive answer at the Poynter event this month was in response to a mild-enough question about the coronavirus: “Are you still confident that it developed naturally.”

 

Rattled by the morning’s confrontation with Sen. Paul, Fauci for the first time admitted he was not at all confident the virus had ­developed naturally and maybe, just maybe, it could have come from a lab leak. But he still tried to have the last word against Paul.

 

“I think the real unfortunate aspect of what Senator Paul did is he was conflating research in a collaborative way with Chinese scientists which was, you’d almost have to say if we did not do that we would almost be irresponsible because SARS-CoV-1 [the coronavirus responsible for the 2003 Asian SARS outbreak] clearly originated in China and we were lucky to escape a major pandemic so we really had to learn a lot more about the viruses that were there, about whether or not people were getting infected by viruses, so in a very minor collaboration as part of a subcontract of a grant, we had a collaboration with some Chinese scientists. He conflated that … therefore we were involved in creating the virus which is the most ridiculous majestic leap I’ve ever heard of.”

 

Methinks he doth protest too much.

 

Paul, a medical doctor, did not allow Fauci to slide away as usual from a direct answer to the crucial question: did American taxpayers fund dangerous research to “juice up” bat viruses in the Wuhan Institute?

 

He answered no. But the correct answer is yes.

 

The NIH gave $3.7 million in funding to a New York-based nonprofit, EcoHealth Alliance, run by British-born Dr. Peter Daszak, who then, with the approval of the NIH, gave nearly $600,000 of that money to help fund the gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute, and co-authored scientific papers with the scientist who conducted the lab’s research, China’s so-called batwoman, Shi Zhengli.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 5:56 p.m. No.13779427   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13779414

 

2/2

 

Daszak has been one of the most vocal opponents of the “lab leak” theory and has asserted that the virus probably emerged spontaneously from the wild.

 

Clearly he is conflicted on the question of the origins of the pandemic. Yet he was chosen by the World Health Organization as the only representative from America to take part in its fake investigation of the Wuhan lab overseen by Beijing in February.

 

No surprise Daszak and his WHO team comprehensively ruled out a leak from the Wuhan lab, and farcically suggested the virus might have been imported into China via frozen food such as Australian beef.

 

Daszak also was instrumental in shaping the early media narrative on the origins of the pandemic. In February 2020, he drafted an influential letter from 26 scientists published in The Lancet dismissing the lab-leak hypothesis as a “conspiracy theory” and insisting the virus emerged naturally. E-mails released under Freedom of Information laws revealed that he was the originator of the letter.

 

Did the gain-of-function research partly funded by the NIH result in a lab leak in Wuhan that caused the COVID-19 outbreak?

 

We don’t yet know for sure, but increasingly, this lab-leak theory is regarded by scientists and intelligence agencies around the world as the most likely cause of the pandemic. Yet until recently the theory was dismissed by the scientific establishment and most of the media as “debunked” and a “conspiracy theory.”

 

Fauci was the most influential debunker of the ­theory since the start of the pandemic.

 

He trashed the lab-leak theory about the origins of COVID-19 using all the authority of his office as the lead infectious-disease expert in the country, the director for 37 years of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, chief medical adviser to the president, and the founding expert on then-President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force.

 

“If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what’s out there now, [the scientific evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated,” Fauci said last May.

 

“Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that [this virus] evolved in nature and then jumped species.

 

Fauci has changed his mind about almost everything else, from masks to herd immunity to opposing Trump’s ban on flights from China in January 2020.

 

But on this, potentially the most consequential of all of Facui’s errors, he had to be dragged kicking and screaming by Paul to a final acknowledgment of the ­obvious.

 

He’s done enough damage. Time to resign.

 

https://nypost.com/2021/05/26/enough-of-faucis-lies-devine/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 6:29 p.m. No.13779799   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0460 >>7457 >>9863

Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison to build bridges over China

 

BEN PACKHAM - MAY 28, 2021

 

China will loom large during talks between Scott Morrison and ­Jacinda Ardern when the leaders meet in Queenstown on Sunday.

 

The pair are keen to push past recent divisions over the Asian superpower during Mr Morrison’s two-day trip to New Zealand, with Ms Ardern recently delivering a speech criticising Beijing’s human rights record.

 

But differences remain, with New Zealand still keen to stand apart from Australia and other Five Eyes countries in its messaging on China.

 

Mr Morrison is also prepared to absorb Ms Ardern’s now-routine criticism of Australia for ­deporting Kiwi-born criminals, described by Peter Dutton as “taking the trash out”.

 

“It plays well for her, and frankly it plays well for us,” one senior government source said.

 

Robert Ayson, a professor of strategic studies at Victoria University of Wellington, said it was “very clear there are differences” between the prime ministers on key issues.

 

“Neither prime minister needs to say anything for people to know that is the case,” he said. “Their role now is to find a form of words to allow for those differences to be there but not allow them to get in the way of the fact that this is a very strong and close relationship with lots of common views on similar issues.”

 

Trans-Tasman relations crashed earlier this year when New Zealand Trade Minister Damien O’Connor declared Australia should “show respect” and be more “cautious with wording” towards China.

 

He later admitted the comments were “unhelpful”, but the rift widened when New Zealand declared its reluctance to join in statements by Five Eyes nations criticising China. Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said other multilateral avenues might be a better to make such statements, rather than expanding the Five Eyes’ remit.

 

However, Australian officials’ fears that New Zealand was “wobbly” on China were eased by Ms Ardern’s speech earlier this month about the difficulties posed by China’s profoundly different history, worldview and political and legal system.

 

“We need to acknowledge that there are some things on which China and New Zealand do not, cannot, and will not agree,” Ms Ardern said. “This need not derail our relationship, it is simply a ­reality.”

 

Senior Australian government sources said the speech represented a welcome repositioning of New Zealand’s stance on China.

 

“The Five Eyes stuff was a little unsettling. But Ardern made it clear we are not fundamentally moving in different directions,” one source said.

 

Australian Institute of International Affairs president Allan Gyngell said the deportation issue was a long-running irritant in the relationship, but the countries were far apart in their positions on China.

 

He said both leaders would make an effort to present a united front.

 

“There’s never going to be a love fest between the two leaders,” Professor Gyngell said.

 

“They are very different people with different political views and personalities, but they each understand the importance of the relationship and will try to manage it carefully.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/leaders-to-build-bridges-over-china/news-story/52ca6cc76cbb5953e415facd188ab783

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 6:35 p.m. No.13779858   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9861

Australia’s Holy See ambassador under fire for saying she wants to change ‘narrative’ away from George Pell

 

Abuse survivors say Chiara Porro should be working to avoid a repeat of the child abuse scandal exposed by the royal commission

 

Christopher Knaus - 29 May 2021

 

The new ambassador to the Holy See told a Catholic publication that her aim was to change the Vatican’s “narrative” about Australia away from the child abuse royal commission and cardinal George Pell – comments that have infuriated abuse survivors.

 

In an interview with Catholic Health Australia in September, the newly appointed ambassador Chiara Porro spoke of a recent audience with the Pope, during which she raised the work local Catholic groups were doing on health and education.

 

She then said: “You know whenever people [in the Vatican] think of Australia they think immediately about cardinal Pell and the royal commission.

 

“So my aim here is to change that narrative.”

 

The comments, which have since forced a clarification from the foreign affairs minister, angered abuse survivors, who say Australia’s ambassador, as a representative of all Australians, should be raising the royal commission as often as possible to help avoid a repeat of the horrific child abuse scandal it exposed.

 

“Our embassy isn’t flying Australia’s flag, it’s flying the Vatican’s flag,” one survivor, who requested anonymity, said.

 

“The frustration is that the ambassador isn’t just sitting on the fence, but actively working to … change the narrative, to divert the attention away from the negative things that happened in the church.

 

“It’s so annoying to watch because the ambassador’s job is to try to fix the problems identified by the royal commission.”

 

The foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has since distanced the government from the ambassador’s comments.

 

In response to questions on notice from Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, Payne said the ambassador’s words did not reflect the position of the Australian government.

 

Payne said that neither she nor her department had told Porro that, upon arriving at the Vatican, her aim should be to “change that narrative” away from cardinal Pell and the royal commission.

 

Pell left a senior position at the Vatican in 2017 to face charges that he sexually molested two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral in 1996. He was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to six years in prison, but the conviction was thrown out by Australia’s high court in April last year, which unanimously found there was reasonable doubt in the testimony of his lone accuser.

 

Porro, a career diplomat and practicing Catholic, was appointed ambassador last year, around the time of her half-hour meeting with Pope Francis.

 

She also told Catholic Health Australia that she had sought the Pope’s views on “how to engage youth, when there is such a crisis of confidence in the Catholic church, particularly in Australia” and how to go about “regaining trust and re-establishing those links”.

 

In the same interview, Porro acknowledged it was not her role to represent the views of the Catholic church in Australia.

 

She said her role was to represent “the Australian government” and “all Australians”.

 

“I’m here to be able to provide that bridge to the Holy See. There’s lots of erroneous reporting [about the Vatican], so where I can try to explain certain things I will.”

 

The department of foreign affairs and trade was approached for a further clarification of Porro’s comments.

 

A spokeswoman said the ambassador had not intended to detract from the importance of the royal commission, or suggest that the Australian government wanted to help the church engage Australian youth.

 

“Rather, she was emphasising that Australia has a broad relationship with the Holy See and that her responsibilities are to put forward the interests of Australia across the breadth of that relationship,” the spokeswoman said.

 

Australia has had resident ambassadors to the Holy See since 2008.

 

Porro is the fourth to hold the position, after former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, barrister John McCarthy, and diplomat Melissa Hitchman.

 

Prior to 2008, the role was typically handled by Australia’s ambassador to Ireland.

 

Survivors say the department should discipline the ambassador by removing her from the post.

 

“The ambassador should have been pulled into line and told you are not there to work for the church, you are there to work for Australia and the thousands of Australian children abused in the church,” the survivor said.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/29/australias-holy-see-ambassador-under-fire-for-saying-she-wants-to-change-narrative-away-from-george-pell

 

https://www.aph.gov.au/api/qon/downloadquestions/Question-ParliamentNumber46-QuestionNumber3546

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 6:53 p.m. No.13780035   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0038 >>7481 >>9863

Don't take on China alone, says ex-Australia PM Kevin Rudd

 

Karishma Vaswani - 29 May 2021

 

1/2

 

Countries should unite against China's growing economic and geopolitical coercion or risk being singled out and punished by Beijing, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has told the BBC.

 

Mr Rudd said governments in the West should not be afraid to challenge China on issues such as human rights.

 

Around the world, countries are navigating a new geopolitical order framed by the rising dominance of China.

 

"If you are going to have a disagreement with Beijing, as many governments around the world are now doing, it's far better to arrive at that position conjointly with other countries rather than unilaterally, because it makes it easier for China to exert bilateral leverage against you," Mr Rudd told the BBC's Talking Business Asia programme.

 

His comments come as relations between Australia and China have deteriorated to their worst point in decades. The relationship has soured following a series of economic and diplomatic blows dealt by each side.

 

Australia has scrapped agreements tied to China's massive infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative. It also banned Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei from building the country's 5G network.

 

But it was really Australia's call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic that set off a new storm between the two sides.

 

China retaliated by placing sanctions on Australian imports - including wine, beef, lobster and barley - and has hinted more may come.

 

Beijing has also suspended key economic dialogues with Canberra, which effectively means there is no high-level contact to smooth things out.

 

A new battleground

 

Mr Rudd, who led Australia twice between 2007 and 2013, has criticised the current government's approach to China, saying that it has been counterproductive at times.

 

"The conservative government's response to the Chinese has from time to time been measured - but other times, frankly, has been rhetorical and shrill," said Mr Rudd, who is now president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

 

The former Labor party prime minister believes it could risk the fortunes of a key Australian export to China: iron ore.

 

"They [the Chinese leadership] will see Australia as an unreliable supplier of iron ore long term, because of the geopolitical conclusions that Beijing will make in relation to… the conservative government in Canberra.

 

"That long-term supply may be put at risk because of geopolitical factors."

 

A fifth of Australia's exports go to China, an economic relationship that has only grown in importance in the last few decades.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 6:53 p.m. No.13780038   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13780035

 

2/2

 

Taking on China

 

Increasingly countries - especially those ideologically allied with the US - are speaking out against China. In many ways, they followed the lead of the US.

 

Under former President Donald Trump, America launched a bitter trade war with China, imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods.

 

That sparked a tit-for-tat battle over trade with China, and changed the tone of relations between the two countries.

 

China had hoped that under President Joe Biden things might be different, but that hasn't been the case.

 

While trade negotiations are ongoing, this week Kurt Campbell, the American deputy assistant to President Biden on national security issues, said the US was effectively done with the period of engagement with China.

 

In the past many countries, including Australia and the US, had a different approach to China. As China grew richer, there was also a sense it would grow more free.

 

Engagement and dialogue were the ways the global community tried to navigate China, but there appears to be growing consensus that is not working.

 

Mr Rudd said navigating China means picking your battles.

 

"China won't like it," he said, referencing growing concerns directed at China's treatment of its Uyghur population in Xinjiang, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan.

 

"But the fact that China doesn't like something doesn't necessarily mean the rest of us shouldn't do it.

 

"That is not to say that you go and pick a fight with China every day of the week," he added.

 

Mr Rudd, who speaks fluent Mandarin, dismissed criticisms that he was perhaps naïve or optimistic about China when he was in office.

 

He said he raised a number of concerns with the Chinese government on human rights.

 

"I've had many, many disagreements with China on human rights in the past," he told the BBC.

 

"On my first visit to Beijing as prime minister, I delivered an address at Peking University in Chinese criticising China's human rights performance."

 

However, he said the manner in which he conducted the relationship with China was diplomatic.

 

"It was hardline, but we also managed to preserve the overall balance of the relationship."

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57264249

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 7:34 p.m. No.13780350   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13764374

Payne labels Yang’s trial a case of arbitrary detention

 

Eryk Bagshaw - May 28, 2021

 

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has labelled jailed Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun’s trial a case of arbitrary detention, escalating Australia’s response to Beijing as he awaits a verdict on charges of espionage.

 

Australia’s ambassador to China Graham Fletcher was on Thursday denied entry to the Beijing courthouse where Yang was being held in a closed-door trial, a move Australia claimed was a breach of China’s treaty obligations.

 

Fletcher said on Thursday the embassy believed Yang was being held under arbitrary detention, where a person is charged without due process or evidence, but the statement from Payne elevates the allegation to an official government position.

 

“Given our enduring concerns about this case, including the lack of detail as to the charges and the investigation made available to Dr Yang and to Australia, we consider this to be an instance of arbitrary detention of an Australian citizen,” Payne said on Friday.

 

It is the first time Australia has named China in an arbitrary detention case since diplomatic relations between the trading partners started to sour. In February, Australia signed a declaration against the use of arbitrary detention in state-to-state relations with 55 international partners, but did not name China.

 

Yang’s treatment has been linked to deepening diplomatic animosity between China and Australia after two years of public hostility over national security, human rights and trade.

 

The writer had spent a decade in Australia pushing for democratic reforms in China and criticising economic policy and corruption within the Chinese Communist Party after earlier working for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. He was visiting China after working in business and academia in the US when he was detained in 2019.

 

The one-day trial ended on Thursday with the court deferring its verdict and sentence. The 56-year-old now faces months waiting for either outcome, more than two years after he was forced from a plane into detention by Chinese authorities.

 

The Chinese criminal justice system has a 99 per cent conviction rate. Yang faces a sentence ranging from 3 years in jail to death under the national security charges.

 

In his final message to his family and supporters released on Wednesday, Yang said that if the “worst comes to the worst, please explain to the people inside China what I did, and the significance of my writing to people in China”.

 

Payne said since Yang’s detention in January 2019, the government has repeated the importance of procedural fairness, basic standards of justice and international legal obligations. She confirmed embassy staff had visited Yang on Friday.

 

“Following today’s trial, we renew our calls for China to uphold these principles,” she said. “These are well-accepted principles of legal process. Seeking their observation does not amount to interference in the Chinese legal system.”

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Thursday night said China firmly opposed Australia’s “unjustifiable obstruction” in China’s handling of the case and its gross interference in China’s judicial sovereignty.

 

“Chinese law stipulates that the cases involving national secrets shall not be tried in an open court or sat in by anyone,” he said.

 

“Currently, the case is under trial and the court will pronounce judgement when the case is closed.”

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/payne-labels-yang-s-trial-a-case-of-arbitrary-detention-20210528-p57w82.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 7:45 p.m. No.13780408   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9260 >>9831

U.S. says looking at Quad meeting in fall focused on infrastructure

 

David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina - May 27, 2021

 

The United States is looking to convene an in-person fall summit of leaders of the Quad countries - Australia, India and Japan - with a focus on infrastructure in the face of the challenge from China, President Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific policy coordinator said on Wednesday.

 

Kurt Campbell said other countries were welcome to work with the Quad, which held a first virtual summit in March and pledged to work closely on COVID-19 vaccines, climate and security.

 

"We want to look this fall to convene an in-person Quad and the hope will be to make a similar kind of engagement on infrastructure more generally," Campbell told an online event hosted by Stanford University.

 

"And I do want to underscore … this is not a fancy club. If there are other countries that believe that they'd like to engage and work with us, the door will be open as we go forward," Campbell said.

 

The March Quad summit was carefully choreographed to counter China's growing influence and Biden and his fellow leaders pledged to work to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of challenges from Beijing.

 

They also agreed to hold an in-person summit this year. A White House official said it had yet to be decided where or exactly when the summit would be held.

 

Campbell said there was now a new set of strategic parameters when it came to China and "a period that had been broadly described as engagement has come to an end."

 

"The dominant paradigm is going to be competition. Our goal is to make that a stable, peaceful competition that brings out the best in us," he said, while cautioning: "There will likely be periods ahead, in which there will be moments of concern."

 

Campbell said the "operating system" the United States had helped build in Asia remained intact but was "under substantial strain" in the face of China's rise.

 

"It's going to need to be reinvigorated in a number of ways, not just by the United States, but other countries that use the operating system and that means Japan, that means South Korea, Australia, countries in Europe that want to do more in Asia and across the board."

 

Campbell said it was important for the United States to have a "positive economic vision of what it wants to contribute, what it wants to engage on in Asia."

 

"We can do everything right in Asia, but without an economic strategy, it's hard to be successful. That's what Asians are looking for as we go forward … we're ambitious about the Quad."

 

Biden, who is pushing for big infrastructure spending at home, said in March he had suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that democratic countries should have an infrastructure plan to rival China's Belt and Road Initiative.

 

Belt and Road is a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure scheme launched in 2013 by China's President Xi Jinping involving projects from East Asia to Europe and seen as a means of significantly expanding Beijing's economic and political influence.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-says-looking-quad-meeting-fall-focused-infrastructure-2021-05-26/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 28, 2021, 7:57 p.m. No.13780479   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews Tweet

 

#ransomware is a significant cyber threat to Australia and was a key topic of discussion in my recent meeting with US AG Merrick Garland. I'll continue to work with the US and other international partners to ensure the internet is secure for Australian citizens and businesses.

 

https://twitter.com/karenandrewsmp/status/1397799254899322881

 

 

United States Department of Justice

 

Readout of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s Call with Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews

 

May 28, 2021

 

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland met virtually with Karen Andrews, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs. In this inaugural meeting, the Attorney General and Home Affairs Minister reaffirmed their shared commitment to deepening our bilateral cooperation on countering common threats, including those posed by terrorism and cybercrime. The two leaders also discussed their intention to work to promote infrastructure security and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse. They look forward to further in-depth discussions on these and other issues central to the protection of the citizens of both our countries.

 

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/readout-attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-s-call-australia-s-minister-home-affairs-karen

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 8:04 p.m. No.13788675   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8683 >>0988 >>8460 >>5312 >>5572 >>7040 >>3811 >>1350 >>5450 >>5492 >>3606 >>9831

Before Dan Andrews slipped and suffered serious injury, he was one Australia's most prominent politicians. But he's only been seen TWICE since… and it's fuelling sinister conspiracies about what REALLY happened

 

SAM MCPHEE - 30 May 2021

 

1/2

 

Wild conspiracy theories have emerged about how Dan Andrews suffered his serious back injury that saw him temporarily step down as Victorian Premier.

 

Before the state Labor leader slipped down stairs at his holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula on March 9, breaking several ribs and suffering a badly damaged spine, he was one of the most prominent politicians in not just Victoria, but Australia.

 

The 48-year-old's profile had grown exponentially after spending 112 days through Victoria's lockdown doing a daily press briefing, which were broadcast live across the nation, amid the longest and harshest restrictions in the world as the state battled a second-wave Covid outbreak that killed more than 800.

 

But in the two months since handing over the reins to Acting Premier James Merlino, there have been just two social media posts since his fall - and it's that lack of communication with the electorate that's fuelling a number of false conspiracy theories about how he really suffered his injuries.

 

The first post showed him stepping out of bed during his stay in hospital, while the second showed him at home with his teenage daughter Grace on April 18th.

 

And that's it. All other media announcements have been on Twitter with text posts or through Mr Merlino.

 

But filling the void are the conspiracy theories that suggest his fall wasn't an accident, but something more nefarious - with some even claiming the image showing his recovery has been doctored.

 

'I heard you had your head bashed in by people after what you did to the people of Victoria. That is why you hired Photoshop artists to put your head on somebody else's body,' one person claimed on Andrews' last Instagram photo.

 

'This is also the reason we have not seen your actual face since the incident. We have not seen your actual hospital photos. And we haven't heard you speak. Because you got your head bashed in.'

 

Conspiracy theorists falsely allege a number of alternative causes to his injuries, one which claims the Belt and Road Deal his government signed with China - which has since been disbanded - angered Victorian businesses and led to someone acting out against him.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 8:05 p.m. No.13788683   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13788675

 

2/2

 

Others claim Andrews' handing of the hotel quarantine to a private security company, which ended in a disastrous outbreak and prolonged lockdown in the second half of 2020, saw him become a target.

 

Other conspiracists even falsely claim Andrews was attacked at the party held by a prominent Australian businessman.

 

'Start telling the truth as to why you were pushed when… you were at the party,' one person replied to Andrews' Instagram post.

 

'How's that Belt and Road Deal, Dan? Selling us out to the commies. Who pushed you down those stairs?' another wrote.

 

There are several comments suggesting the image of Mr Andrews and his daughter is Photoshopped, claiming the black and white filter hides 'inconsistencies' like bruises.

 

However, in reality, Andrews' suffered serious injures that require months of painstaking recovery. He suffered at least five broken ribs and an acute compression fracture of the T7 vertebra in his spine.

 

Since being released from hospital on March 15, he has been recovering at home.

 

'I landed flat on my back and hit the steps hard directly below the shoulder blades fracturing at least five ribs and sustaining an acute compression fracture of the T7 vertebra,' he said in a statement following the incident.

 

'I narrowly avoided permanent damage to my spinal cord.

 

'These are serious injuries that require me to wear a brace throughout each day except when sleeping.

 

'My doctors also want me to get rest and undertake a comprehensive program of physiotherapy.

 

'That's why I will take a leave of absence from my duties for at least six weeks.

 

'It's important that I take this rest and recovery seriously.'

 

Later he revealed that a trauma specialist told his wife that he should purchase a Lotto ticket he was so lucky to avoid a life-altering injury.

 

'I'm not sure about the Tattslotto ticket but I'm certain that with rest, continued high quality care and the support of family, friends, colleagues and the Victorian community, I'll be back doing the job I love as soon as possible,' Andrews said.

 

Deputy Premier James Merlino provided an update on his condition last week saying he was planning to return to work in June.

 

'He's up and about, so I'm really pleased with his progress. There's still quite a way to go but he's doing very well,' he told reporters.

 

'We're on track for a June return, that'll obviously be subject to doctor's advice.'

 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Victorian Premier's staffers for comment.

 

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

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNy5Xj-rsiD/

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9631549/Wild-conspiracy-theories-emerge-Victorian-Premier-Dan-Andrews-pushed-stairs-bashed.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 8:16 p.m. No.13788732   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4930 >>9877

Victim of notorious paedophile to sue Brisbane school for $30 million

 

Cloe Read - May 29, 2021

 

A victim of notorious paedophile Kevin Lynch who abused more than 130 children at a Brisbane school is raising funds to sue the institution for about $30 million.

 

David Welsh said he was sexually abused by Lynch when he was 15 years old in 1985 while he attended Brisbane Grammar School in Spring Hill.

 

The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in 2017 examined allegations of abuse at Brisbane Grammar School and St Paul’s School in Bald Hills, hearing evidence that school counsellor Lynch had sexually abused a “large number of students” during his employment at the school from 1973 to 1988.

 

A number of former students gave evidence at the public hearing, detailing the devastating effect the abuse had on them.

 

About 130 victims have so far settled with Brisbane Grammar for compensation.

 

But Mr Walsh said he believed damages should be determined by a judge, not the school.

 

“I want to create as much transparency on this process and everything that happens because when these deals are done at mediation, the victims all have to sign a confidentiality agreement so there’s no transparency,” he said.

 

“This guy must be one of the worst paedophiles in Australia’s history.

 

“I will be suing…it’ll be round about $30 million we’ll be suing them for.”

 

Mr Welsh said he was significantly impacted by the abuse when he was in Year 11, later losing his million-dollar job.

 

His life spiralled downward and he was diagnosed with chronic depression, a generalised anxiety disorder, PTSD and an alcohol abuse disorder that left him incapable of working.

 

“In 2001 I was working as a derivatives trader for Goldman Sachs in London and I earnt a million Aussie dollars that year,” he said.

 

“I quit Goldman Sachs that year because of issues with depression and anxiety and all of these conditions I was suffering from because of what happened with me and Kevin Lynch.

 

“I’ve gone from there in 2001 to living with my parents currently on a disability pension.”

 

Representing Mr Welsh, JML Rose lawyer James Lavercombe said victims were forced to sign up to a no win, no fee structure that preferred the interests of solicitors over the clients.

 

“There’s a real risk the lawyers who represent their clients then turn on their victims and say hey, you better accept this offer because I’m owed all this money… its going to have to come out of these offers,” he said.

 

“It all goes to settle and the lawyers take a little bit of their cream off the top and it never actually goes to court… everything gets swept under the carpet.”

 

Mr Lavercombe is urging other victims and witnesses in the Royal Commission to come forward for the case, as the findings from the commission are not admissible in court proceedings.

 

An online fundraiser has so far raised $13,000 of its $1 million goal.

 

A Brisbane Grammar spokesman declined to comment, saying the matter was subject to legal proceedings.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-david-sue-brisbane-grammar-school?member=11271507

 

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/victim-of-notorious-paedophile-to-sue-brisbane-school-for-30-million-20210529-p57was.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 8:24 p.m. No.13788781   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8784 >>9877

Former Wesley College student demands justice over ‘tag-team attack’

 

Cameron Houston - May 30, 2021

 

1/2

 

Former Wesley College student David Kay has been burdened with a terrible secret for decades after he was sexually assaulted by two teachers in the 1970s in what he describes as a “tag-team attack”.

 

Mr Kay was first abused by former outdoor activity teacher John McMillan as an 11-year-old at the Glen Waverley campus, before the school’s long-serving counsellor, Stewart Heywood, preyed on him again at the Prahran campus.

 

Now 58, Mr Kay has decided to speak publicly about the ordeal that “tarnished almost every aspect of my life”.

 

He wants Wesley College to be held to account and says he was inspired to speak out publicly by “kick-arse, young women” such as 2021 Australian of the Year and sexual assault survivor Grace Tame.

 

“I was sexually assaulted at school, on school grounds, during school hours, by two school teachers. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are responsible. But I’m still having to deal with [the school’s] obstructive legal tactics,” Mr Kay said.

 

He was not the only victim of McMillan and Heywood.

 

Last week, The Age revealed that another former Wesley student had received a record settlement of $3 million after being repeatedly abused by McMillan and then, after seeking support and guidance from Heywood, assaulted again for three more years.

 

Lawyers acting for Wesley College had only agreed to the landmark settlement in that case on the third day of a Supreme Court trial in March, despite being aware both McMillan and Heywood were sexual predators.

 

It was the largest payment for institutional child abuse in Victorian history, which prompted Wesley College president Marianne Stillwell to concede that “as an institution, we failed this student” in a statement released by the school.

 

Other victims of McMillan and Heywood have come forward in the past week, and Mr Kay is currently pursuing Wesley College for further compensation, after receiving a modest ex-gratia payment in 2005.

 

A father of four, Mr Kay accuses the college and its lawyers of deliberately frustrating his attempts for a fair settlement.

 

“Right from the start, they have put up whatever legal obstacles they could in front of me. The royal commission reached a conclusion that people should be able pursue a fresh claim if they had previously settled for a small amount. But Wesley’s first tactic was to attempt to deny me that right,” he said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 8:24 p.m. No.13788784   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13788781

 

2/2

 

Mr Kay has urged the prestigious school, which includes former prime ministers Sir Robert Menzies and Harold Holt among its notable alumni, to help identify other victims and offer support.

 

“Obviously, there were at least two paedophiles roaming the halls of the school in the 1970s. I suspect there might have been more and there would have been other victims, possibly dozens. They need to reach out to potential victims and make a public statement that acknowledges what happened and condemns Heywood and McMillan,” Mr Kay said.

 

His lawyer, Michael Magazanik from Rightside Legal, confirmed that other victims had recently come forward.

 

“In the past week, I’ve been contacted by other Wesley survivors, who were also abused by McMillan and Heywood, and by other teachers. In some cases, those survivors received small compensation because they were told they had no other choice. But the law has changed, and they now have fresh options,” Mr Magazanik said.

 

He said the current administration should avoid a “pitched legal battle in every case” if it was genuinely concerned about the welfare of victims.

 

Ms Stillwell said Wesley Cllege supported the right of any person who had suffered child abuse to fully pursue their legal options.

 

She said the college would seek to engage with Mr Kay as part of the legal process in a timely and respectful manner.

 

“The college acknowledges that it failed this student [Mr Kay], and expresses its deepest apologies for those failings,” Ms Stillwell said in a statement.

 

In 2004, Mr Kay reported McMillan and Heywood to police, after suffering a breakdown. Within days of being interviewed by police, Heywood took his own life near a school camp owned by Wesley College near Healesville.

 

The Wesley College community magazine paid tribute at the time, when it described Heywood as an “outstanding servant”.

 

McMillan initially denied the allegations of sexual assault made by Mr Kay. But when a second victim came forward more than a decade later, McMillan eventually pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of Mr Kay and another student from progressive Kew school Preshil. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail in 2016.

 

Mr Kay was unperturbed by the relatively lenient sentence.

 

“There were a lot of people complaining about the sentence he got but I didn’t really care. I was pleased that he was held accountable and it wasn’t so much that I wanted him punished.

 

“I’d like the school to now be accountable, too,” he said.

 

Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.

 

https://www.lifeline.org.au

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/former-wesley-college-student-demands-justice-over-tag-team-attack-20210528-p57w17.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 9:16 p.m. No.13789137   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9144 >>9877

>>13682462 (pb)

The Filipino mothers selling their children for online sexual abuse

 

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Tech companies report more than 1.29 million images and videos of child abuse materials produced in the country in 2020 – triple the number in 2019

 

NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS - MAY 30, 2021

 

First of four parts. Trigger warning: This article contains depictions of child sexual abuse.

 

1/4

 

The coronavirus pandemic forced Carmen Lirio*, 31, to close down in March 2020 a snack stand she was running in front of a school in the town of Baliwag in Bulacan, a province just outside the country’s capital.

 

She has five children. Unless she found another way to earn money, the entire family would have to rely on her husband’s meager salary as barangay tanod or village watchman.

 

This was the quandary that led Carmen to sell her children online for sexual exploitation. She was arrested in January 2021 over allegations that she had streamed live shows of her 8-year-old daughter and sent naked clips and photos of her 11-year-old son to paying customers abroad.

 

“[My husband] earns P1,600 ($32) monthly. My baby still needs infant milk formula,” Carmen told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) as she attempted to explain how she could do such things to her own children.

 

PCIJ met Carmen in January at the Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) inside the police headquarters in Camp Crame, where she was detained. She agreed to be interviewed.

 

Carmen said she started out doing live shows on the internet and sending her photos to customers in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. She did not finish elementary school, but her English was enough for the necessary communication.

 

“I wrote in my profile that I was looking for help to buy food. They told me they’d take care of it,” she said.

 

One day, a frequent customer seemed uninterested during a call. She got worried. “I asked the foreigner if he wanted a solo show. He said no. He wasn’t talking much. I thought to myself, maybe he wanted a child and he just didn’t want to say it,” she recalled.

 

“When I told him I had a daughter, he suddenly became jumpy. I sent him videos of my child.”

 

For months until her arrest, she allegedly sold clips of her children doing various performances for fees that ranged from P150 ($3) to P2,500 ($50).

 

Livestream abuse, where the perpetrators can talk to their victims and instruct them to perform specific sexual acts on camera, are more expensive compared to taped videos and photos.

 

The Philippines has been tagged as the global epicenter of livestream sexual trafficking of children, based on data from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC).

 

Cases surged during the pandemic as many Filipinos lost their jobs. Tech companies reported that more than 1.29 million images and videos of child abuse materials came from the Philippines in 2020. This was more than triple the number in 2019 or before the pandemic hit.

 

From March 1 to May 24, 2020 – in the early weeks of the lockdown – the Department of Justice (DOJ) reported 202,605 cases of OSEC or a 265% increase compared with the same period the previous year.

 

Social networking giant Facebook also found 279,166 images of child sexual abuse and similar content on its site from March to May 2020.

 

According to a study by the Washington-based International Justice Mission (IJM), the children’s own mother or another female relative is often the trafficker in many cases in the Philippines.

 

Colonel Sheila Portento, who leads the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division of the WCPC, said the mothers often justified their actions by saying they did not inflict harm on their children because there was no physical contact with the pedophiles.

 

WCPC is the lead unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in dealing with OSEC.

 

Mothers also told their children that “it wouldn’t hurt if mommy” touched them upon the instructions of the customers, she said.

 

“I keep asking myself if they’re not terrified of their actions. It seems not. Their moral fiber seems very thin,” said Portento.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 9:17 p.m. No.13789144   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9152

>>13789137

 

2/4

 

There were more than a dozen inmates at the WCPC lock-up cell in Camp Crame during PCIJ’s visit. Most of them, like Carmen, were mothers who sold their own children for sexual abuse online.

 

One who was weeping inside her cell, and who was holding a rosary so tightly in her fist, admitted to taking videos of her nine-year-old daughter performing oral sex on her father. Investigators who rescued the child found the video in her storage disks.

 

She, Carmen, and the rest of the women gathered to pray the rosary when the sun was about to set at 6 pm.

 

The disconnect has left a bad taste in the mouth of the police, many of them also Catholics. An investigator said one of the inmates had a Santo Niño statue – a Filipino representation of Jesus when he was a child – outside the room where her child was being abused.

 

Short of saying that they are not faithful Catholics, Irish priest Shay Cullen said these kinds of people only performed the rituals of the church but did not understand that faith also demanded commitment to human rights and human dignity.

 

Cullen founded a child rights organization in Olongapo City, Preda Foundation, which rescues sexually and physically abused children and offers them treatment and recovery programs.

 

“[For them] it’s only rituals. Like you go there, you get the sacrament and you’re saved,” he said.

 

Mother blackmailing children

 

The relationship between mothers and abused children is often complicated. In many instances, the children are subjected to different forms of emotional blackmail, said Portento.

 

She recalled a rescue operation in Pampanga province in 2020, where a 16-year-old victim screamed at the sight of police officers who were there to rescue her. She was quick to defend her mother and tried to drive the cops away from the house where she was being abused.

 

But the girl’s attitude changed when the cops whisked her mother away in handcuffs. “Will my mother be jailed?” she asked the social workers.

 

When they told her she might, the girl said: “I hope she rots in prison because she’s a demon.”

 

In another rescue operation in Batangas province, Portento recalled a 10-year-old victim bawling inconsolably when her mother was arrested. She carried the child to a room where she couldn’t see her mother in handcuffs and spoke with her to ask why she was still defending her mother.

 

The girl replied: “If I don't do as I’m told, we can’t buy milk for my younger sibling.”

 

“Convincing, guilting the child was easy,” said Portento. “Mothers don’t even have to lift a finger because their children trust them. If there’s one person the child knows would protect them at all costs, it’s [supposed to be] their mother.”

 

Mothers have also blackmailed their children into thinking that their family’s livelihood and survival depended on their cooperation.

 

“I talked to a mother facilitating OSEC. She was the same age as I was, and her kid was the same age as my youngest daughter. I told her: ‘How could you do this? How did you convince her to do this?” Portento said.

 

The mother supposedly told her daughter that their electricity supply would be cut if she didn’t perform for the online customers.

 

But they weren’t as cash-strapped as the mother would like her to believe. When the cash transfer was made, the mother told her she’d buy her new shoes in exchange for the “trouble.”

 

“That’s how shallow and selfish [these mothers could be],” Portento said.

 

Help from other countries

 

The real extent of online child abuse in the country is hard to ascertain. In many cases, OSEC is a secret crime, one that usually has no witnesses.

 

IJM reported that 793 OSEC victims were rescued in law enforcement operations from 2011 to May 2020. About half were under 12 years old and 57% of the perpetrators were relatives or close family friends of the victims. The youngest was a three-month-old infant.

 

IJM is part of the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC), an alliance also composed of the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation, as well as the UK’s National Crime Agency, the Dutch National Police and the Australian Federal Police.

 

The total number for 2020 was not yet available as of posting. (The NBI declined to provide data to PCIJ, citing confidentiality.)

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 9:19 p.m. No.13789152   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9161

>>13789144

 

3/4

 

OSEC was once run by organized criminal syndicates but it turned into a cottage industry in the past decade, with perpetrators driven by poverty and aided by technological advancements that allowed easy connection to paying customers.

 

A cheap web camera and an internet connection are basically what they need to set it up.

 

Widespread English proficiency among Filipinos is another factor why OSEC thrives.

 

The countries where the paying customers come from have come to help the Philippines address the problem.

 

The DOJ receives cyber tip line reports from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), for example.

 

The organization established by the US Congress receives millions of reports of child sexual abuse and exploitation from social networking and electronic service companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter and more.

 

The tips typically include the IP addresses of Filipino facilitators and other the perpetrators of abuse.

 

A study published by IJM in 2020 showed that 64% of OSEC cases filed in the Philippines from 2014 to 2017 were initiated by referrals from international law enforcement agencies. Most cases came from the US or Scandinavian nations (22%), Australia (12%), UK (7%), Canada and New Zealand (2%).

 

“Referrals from foreign law enforcement counterparts have exploded during the pandemic. Kids are forced to stay at home and many people lost their jobs,” said Lt. Noeralyn Tamayo, a PICACC Philippine police deputy.

 

Remittance centers

 

One way the crime is being tracked is through the remittance centers. The financial service providers that allowed the country’s army of overseas Fipino workers to easily send money to their relatives back home have also been used by foreigners abusing Filipino children online to pay the facilitators.

 

The Philippine government’s Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has required remittance centers to submit suspicious transaction reports (STRs) based on a study containing a “typology” of OSEC-related transactions.

 

AMLC Executive Director Mel Georgie Racela said the typology was essentially a list of red flags that should prompt financial institutions to report a transaction as suspicious and related to OSEC.

 

“What you’ll do is scrub that database to determine whether or not your customers are part of that study and then you will report an STR on those customers or persons of interest in the study,” Racela told the PCIJ.

 

For example: If the amount of money sent to the Philippines was worth at least P2,500, came from a country under the AMLC’s watchlist on OSEC, and did not come from a relative, the compliance officers of remittance centers, banks and electronic money apps can flag these transactions and send them to the AMLC for investigation. The AMLC sends these reports to law enforcement agencies like the PNP and NBI.

 

From January 2019 to June 2020, remittances from the US recorded the most number and the highest value of suspicious transactions – 10,927 reports involving P39.6 billion.

 

Recipients of these suspicious transactions were mostly in the provinces of Rizal, Cebu, Davao del Sur, Bohol, Iloilo, Bulacan, Quezon, and the cities of Taguig and Manila.

 

From 2015 to 2018, about 3,000 persons of interest in child trafficking and exploitation were referred to the AMLC for money laundering probes, Racela said .

 

“We did an update to cover 2019 to the first half of 2020. So that’s one and a half years, and you’ll be interested to know that persons of interest increased from 3,000 to 23,000 only for that period. So adding it up, it would be 26,000 POIs,” Racela told PCIJ.

 

The AMLC has yet to publish a new study, but Racela said they were also expecting an “exponential increase.”

 

Cat and mouse operations

 

Since the PNP hatched its first operation against OSEC in 2015, it has rescued 680 children sexually trafficked online in 202 operations.

 

From March 2020 to May 2021 alone, police rescued 245 kids in 75 different operations.

 

“I get the creeps. I am distressed for the victims,” said Police Lieutenant Colonel Lucrecio Rodrigueza Jr.

 

“This country prides itself with the maxim: ‘Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan (the youth is the hope of the nation),’ but because of these crimes, not only are we destroying the future of these kids, we’re also destroying our country’s future,” he said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 29, 2021, 9:20 p.m. No.13789161   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13789152

 

4/4

 

He joined a team that rescued eight children in Camarines Sur on May 7, in an operation that required officers to wear hazmat suits as protection against the coronavirus pandemic. He couldn’t shake the image of a two-month-old infant bawling in the arms of a police officer as they arrested the mother, Jocelyn, who exploited her 12-year-old daughter.

 

She had forced her to undress in front of a laptop while pedophiles from the US, Europe, Australia and even the Philippines asked her to spread her legs and perform sexual acts. Sometimes her mother guided her hands. Police suspected that a sex toy they found during the search was also used on the child.

 

He shuddered at the thought of what could have happened to the baby if a pedophile heard it wailing at the background of her sister’s live show.

 

The criminals are fast to adapt to increased monitoring from law enforcement agencies, however, underscoring the challenges in making significant gains against OSEC.

 

Perpetrators used to be concentrated in Metro Manila, where facilitators set up dens that looked like call centers. “Since more busts and raids have been conducted, they have dispersed into provinces,” said Police Major Joseph Villaran, ACG’s spokesman at the time of the interview. He now teaches digital forensics at the PNP Academy.

 

They’ve also changed their set up into guerilla-type operations, he said. “They make use of one computer nowadays, which makes it difficult [for law enforcers] because they have decentralized. Not only one person is handling the whole operation, they’ve multiplied,” he added.

 

An IJM heat map identified Metro Manila and Cebu as the areas with the most number OSEC facilitators in 2010 to 2017.

 

In Pampanga and Lanao del Norte, at least 6 to 21 facilitators have been identified, while there were at least four in Cavite and Negros Occidental.

 

Bulacan, Batangas, Leyte, Bohol and Davao del Sur, had one to three facilitators each.

 

The toll on investigators

 

It’s a job that has taken its toll on investigators.

 

The has been a surge in referrals and cyber tip line reports, but the WCPC remains understaffed.

 

The shortage is still manageable, according to Portento. But poring through horrendous images of abuse and exploitation has affected the officers’ emotional wellbeing.

 

“We can’t help but be emotionally affected, too. But we have to fight it,” Rodrigueza said.

 

WCPC has field units in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. This means that if the field unit in Visayas, which is located in Cebu City, needs to conduct an operation for OSEC in Tacloban City, agents need to travel for hours to get there.

 

The Women and Children Protection Desks in cities and municipalities mainly deal with cases of violence against women and children. They are not allowed to handle OSEC cases.

 

“Dealing with OSEC needs technical skills,” Portento said.

 

The typical training program in handling OSEC cases, both in operational and cybercrime capacities, is largely offered abroad. Aside from cybersecurity and operations, WCPC officers also work with foreign law enforcement agencies when Filipinos fall victim to trafficking schemes abroad.

 

Right now, the PNP leadership and lobbyists are thinking of prodding Congress to turn the WCPC into the Women and Children’s Protection Group, which would mean increased staffing and more resources.

 

The WCPC investigators said the public has a big role to play in fighting OSEC, for instance by stopping an online culture where men fetishize children and contribute to their continued abuse.

 

While females appear mainly responsible for facilitating the exploitation of children, males have been the target of porn site channels that promote videos using search engine keywords that intentionally or unintentionally make sexual objects out of children, even if the actors in these videos aren’t children.

 

These porn sites have been the subject of investigations last year by the US media for allowing channels to monetize child rape content.

 

Police Major Lalaine Marty, a PNP child cybercrime protection officer, said these channels should not be allowed to monetize content that use such titles and keywords. People should cringe – not get sexually stimulated – when they see these materials, he said.

 

People should recognize that it’s not pornography. It’s abuse, she said. It’s a crime.

 

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/filipino-mothers-selling-their-children-online-sexual-abuse

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 30, 2021, 2:29 a.m. No.13790460   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13779799

NZ to back Australia in WTO China tariff dispute

 

BEN PACKHAM - MAY 30, 2021

 

New Zealand will support Australia in its World Trade Organisation dispute against China over Beijing’s imposition of 80 per cent tariffs on barley imports.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife, Jenny, have received a traditional “powhiri” Maori welcome to New Zealand after their arrival in Queenstown on Sunday afternoon, where they were greeted by New Zealand prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her partner, Clarke Gayford.

 

The leaders touched noses and foreheads in a Maori “hongi” — a symbol of unity and “sharing the breath of life”.

 

Local Maori leader Edward Ellison welcomed Mr and Mrs Morrison, and acknowledged the more than 200 years of friendship between both countries, which began with contact between whalers and sealers.

 

“We liked you then, we like you now,” he said.

 

He also acknowledged Australia’s “first peoples”, and New Zealanders who had “put their roots down” in Australia.

 

Mr Morrison is meeting with local business people in Queenstown on Sunday. He and Mrs Morrison join Ms Ardern and Mr Gayford for a private dinner.

 

The leaders will lay a wreath at a war memorial tomorrow before bilateral talks.

 

Key issues for discussion will include how the nations can present a united front on China, and how to support Pacific nations through the Covid crisis.

 

Barley tariff trade backing

 

Ahead of Mr Morrison’s arrival, NZ Trade Minister Damien O’Connor confirmed he would participate in the barley dispute because it “raises systemic issues of importance to the effective functioning of the multilateral rules-based trading system”.

 

“New Zealand upholds international rules and norms, so ensuring international trade rules are fairly applied by others is important to us and our exporters,” Mr O’Connor told New Zealand media outlet Newshub.

 

“We rely on the rules-based trading system to provide a secure and predictable global trading environment for everyone so we will act to uphold it.”

 

Relations between Canberra and New Zealand have become strained in recent weeks after Australian officials said they were blindsided by Wellington’s reluctance to put pressure on China on trade and other issues. Mr O’Connor has previously said Australia should “show respect” and be more “cautious with wording” when criticising China.

 

Chinese officials in Switzerland on Friday said Beijing would “vigorously defend itself” against Australia’s attempts at taking the 80 per cent barley tariffs to formal arbitration.

 

Before the trade restrictions, 50 per cent of Australia’s feed barley and 86 per cent of malting barley was exported to China. The Australian has previously reported that Canada and Russia have also moved to join the WTO dispute. It is a common practice for countries with direct interests in the outcome of dispute negotiations to join as third parties.

 

In January, GrainGrowers chief executive David McKeon said there was “heightened” interest in Australia’s WTO dispute with China and welcomed other nations looking into the issue. “The WTO process is the ­opportunity to have open conver­sations around the details of the international and legal aspects of the barley tariffs applied by China,” he said.

 

New Zealand’s intervention comes as Trade Minister Dan Tehan flagged a second WTO dispute with China – this time over punitive wine import tariffs introduced last year.

 

“That is something we’ve got under active consideration,” Mr Tehan told Insiders on Sunday.

 

“We’ve had detailed discussions with the wine industry on this, and from the outset, we’ve always said that we would take a very principled approach when dealing with these trade disputes, and if we think our industry has been harmed or injured, we will take all necessary steps and measures to try to address that.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/nz-to-back-australia-in-wto-china-tariff-dispute/news-story/4b9fa01850480b8da2f35c6b4390bf3a

Anonymous ID: 24f066 May 30, 2021, 7:09 a.m. No.13791477   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1536

Just stepping back to get a bigger perspective on recent events, in regards to the 'B' post, which I am now thinking is probably a distraction.

What was happening on the board over the last few weeks that was out of the ordinary and controversial, increasing in intensity, and getting unusually strong reactions by those opposed to it?

>>13628964 pb

>>13679104 pb

 

What claims were made that, if true, might cause someone with admin access to do something drastic to try to silence the claims, or disprove them, or take all the focus off of them?

>>13784236 pb

>>13785672 pb

 

Prior to that was it ever normal for any board admin (BV) to be posting 20+ times in every bread? Was it ever normal for a BV to try to control the conversations, or determine for the board what is true and what's false, or "remove anything that makes anons feel uncomfortable? Do I need to worry about being banned for this post, myself?

>>13691773 pb

Was it ever normal for a BV to talk about how much they can see about anons behind the scenes, and how people that post here are not as anonymous as they think?

>>13724416 pb

Was it ever normal for a board admin to make posts with racist terminology, or repeatedly post the same long copypasta with lots of red text and purple text?

>>13786026 pb

 

What happened right before the post on Q's board?

>>13785902 pb

Until yesterday how many times had you ever seen "USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST" on the qresearch board since 8kun began? Did you ever see or hear about people being banned for making unpopular statements or larping?

Was the timing just coincidence, that the 'threat' was banned right around the same time that the new mysterious post went up on projectdcomms?

 

And now what topic is the most popular today, instead of the controversies and claims that were the most talked about the day before? Distraction successful?

>>13785340 pb

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 30, 2021, 11:37 a.m. No.13793285   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

Taiwan wants FTA with Australia amid rising tensions with Beijing

 

GLEN NORRIS - MAY 30, 2021

 

Taiwan is pushing for a free-trade agreement with Australia as it moves to reduce its exposure to China amid heightened military tensions in the region.

 

Edward Tao, the new director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brisbane, said in an exclusive interview that a FTA would make sense for both nations that had experienced “economic bullying” at the hands of an increasingly aggressive China.

 

Taiwan is Australia’s sixth-biggest export market with huge amounts of coal, LNG and agricultural products shipped to the island nation every year.

 

“Like Australia, we also have experienced economic bullying from China and are fearful about what it will do,” said the Australian-born diplomat who took up his role in April. “Last year, they stopped our export of pineapples to the mainland.”

 

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, reportedly blocked talks for an FTA in 2016.

 

Australian officials are believed to have had talks with Taiwan officials last year about closer economic and trade links with the island nation, but are fearful a FTA would cause further frictions in the already tense relationship with Beijing.

 

Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Dan Tehan declined to comment on any discussions but noted the government was focused on negotiating FTAs with the UK and EU as well as scoping studies for FTAs with Israel and the European Free Trade Association.

 

Mr Tao downplayed speculation China would start an all-out war in the region but conceded President Xi Jinping was ratcheting up regular incursions into Taiwan’s airspace.

 

“We are very aware of the real threat from China and that the situation is getting heated, but we hope that sensible heads prevail,” said Mr Tao, who was born in Sydney where his father was based as a Taiwanese diplomat in the early 1970s.

 

“China has ambitions to penetrate the island chain from Taiwan to Japan. Xi Jinping is a very different leader from his predecessors who were more focused on the Chinese economy. Mr Xi has different aspirations and wants to leave a legacy.”

 

Mr Tao said the $12 billion worth of trade between both nations was highly complementary with Taiwan importing raw materials, such as coal, gas and beef, and Australia receiving finished goods, such as electronics and vehicle parts, in return.

 

Mr Tao said the island, which is about half the size of Tasmania with a population of 25 million, was the biggest buyer of Australian ­products on a per capita basis. “Australia runs a very healthy trade surplus with Taiwan of about $9 billion and trade is set to increase over the coming years,” he said.

 

Mr Tao said Taiwan’s new “Southbound Policy” aimed to enhance economic and trade relations between Taiwan and 18 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Australasia. Like Australia, the island was heavily dependent on trade with China.

 

“Traditionally, many of our companies, particularly those in the tech sector, have gone west to China but there is now a risk they will be caught up in the trade war between China and the US,” Mr Tao said.

 

He said the Southbound Policy was likely to boost Taiwanese investment in Australia’s commercial and residential property markets.

 

“Australia has always been seen as a safe and friendly investment environment,” Mr Tao said.

 

He said Taiwan also was seeking the support of Australia in its efforts to join the Transpacific Partnership, a FTA between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/economics/taiwan-wants-fta-with-australia-amid-rising-tensions-with-beijing/news-story/5b01c2d02b47e9bd14cd654e608dfe35

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 30, 2021, 11:47 a.m. No.13793334   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13764374

Australian Yang Hengjun proclaims his innocence after Chinese espionage trial

 

Bill Birtles - 30 May 2021

 

An Australian citizen tried for espionage in Beijing last week has told supporters he's "100 per cent innocent" and still isn't sure which country he's accused of spying for.

 

Yang Hengjun conveyed a message to family and supporters on Friday, a day after he was tried behind closed doors in Beijing.

 

The 56-year-old one-time employee of China's state security agencies and former online political writer also speculated that forced confessions and rough treatment he endured while in detention showed that someone may be "taking revenge" on him.

 

Since being pounced upon by state security agents at a southern Chinese airport in early 2019, Dr Yang's case has been shrouded in secrecy.

 

Australian diplomats and his Shanghai-based Chinese wife were barred from observing his trial and authorities have gagged his lawyers from sharing any information about it.

 

But his message from prison gives the clearest insight yet into the process.

 

Dr Yang says he was taken from his prison to the court at 6:00am, supposedly to "avoid traffic".

 

Dressed from head to toe in a full PPE suit, mask and goggles despite Beijing's successful containment of COVID-19, he waited three hours for the trial to begin and said he was "tired and confused" during the hearing.

 

Dr Yang also said he'd had a pre-trial meeting with the judge three days earlier in which he unsuccessfully requested his interrogation records from the first six months be disallowed as evidence.

 

"It's illegal. Torture. They had hidden camera records. I will ask the Chinese government to provide the truth," he's quoted as saying, referring to the first six months when he was being held incommunicado in what he described as a "really bad period".

 

Under China's law, investigators are able to cut off a suspect from lawyers and the outside world and interrogate them under what's called RSDL — Residential Surveillance at a Designation Location.

 

One of his supporters, UTS Chinese studies academic Feng Chongyi, says using evidence gathered under duress violated China's own criminal law.

 

"Yang's request to exclude interrogation records under torture during RSDL deserves special attention," he said.

 

China's criminal procedure law states: "The use of torture to extract confessions is strictly prohibited, as are threats, enticement, trickery and other illegal methods of gathering evidence; no person may be compelled to prove his own guilt."

 

The crime of espionage carries a sentence of anywhere from three years to the death penalty, and the secrecy around the specific offence has left all but those in the courtroom in the dark about a potential sentence.

 

In his message, Dr Yang alludes to his previous role working for China's government, which supporters say he abandoned before moving to Australia in the early 2000s.

 

He later became prominent as a political writer who advocated for democracy, although he wasn't regarded as a dissident and made multiple trips to China.

 

"I served China when I was young, even secretly, and I helped people," he's quoted as saying.

 

"This isn't a crime of ideology. The charges are about espionage. But who did I work for?

 

"I didn't work for Australia or the US. I'm only writing for people. Writing for the rule of law, democracy and freedom," he said.

 

After diplomats were denied access to the trial in breach of a bilateral agreement, Foreign Minister Marise Payne dubbed Dr Yang's case "arbitrary detention".

 

"The Australian government has stated a number of times the fundamental importance of procedural fairness, basic standards of justice and international legal obligations," Senator Payne said.

 

Dr Yang also expressed concern that the current poor bilateral relations may affect the verdict and sentence, which is expected before mid-July but could be delayed.

 

"I hope Australia can keep communicating with China on good terms to help bring about my release as soon as possible," he's quoted as saying.

 

"I will keep writing to help China, to promote the rule of law and to help China be strong, prosperous and respectable."

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-30/yang-hengjun-message-from-chinese-jail-to-supporters/100177254

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 30, 2021, 11:02 p.m. No.13797457   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9863

>>13779799

GT Voice: NZ doesn’t need a lesson in China trade from Australia

 

Global Times - May 30, 2021

 

With the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand set to meet on Sunday for the first time in 15 months, some Australian media outlets appeared to be using the timing to drive a wedge between New Zealand and China, but that may only underscore their increasing envy of their neighbor's apparent advantage in trade with China.

 

A promotional video clip by newsmagazine show 60 Minutes Australia went on viral on social media last week. A voiceover in the video accused New Zealand of ditching friends for "a fast Chinese buck," but for anyone who has the basic knowledge of China-New Zealand trade cooperation, such accusation is nonsense and ridiculous.

 

Following China-Australia trade ties becoming strained amid the deteriorating bilateral relations caused by Canberra's provocation, some Australian media outlets have been hitting out at China-New Zealand trade, criticizing the latter for cozying up to China for economic interests. Such rhetoric is full of contempt for the judgment and diplomatic independence of New Zealand.

 

It is true that economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand has been moving forward on a steady and healthy footing. In January this year, the two trading partners signed an upgrade to their existing free trade agreement, which is bound to benefit New Zealand exporters of agricultural, dairy and seafood products amid deepening bilateral economic ties. If anything, such development only makes Australian politicians more envious and frustrated, because their government has consistently refused to make any real move to ease tensions with China.

 

From another perspective, Australian media's attempt to drive a wedge between China and New Zealand may be a reflection of their despair toward the prospects of China-Australia trade. In early May, after Australia revoked agreements signed between Victoria state and China on the Belt and Road Initiative, the National Development and Reform Commission suspended all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, marking a further downward spiral in bilateral relations.

 

Yet, the irony is that instead of reflecting on the provocative actions and hostility toward China, some politicians and media outlets in Australia have been trying to step up pressure on New Zealand, in the hope of dragging it into the same mire.

 

But New Zealand will not necessarily be the second Australia despite the historic friendship between the two countries. It is clear to New Zealand that none of its Western allies could or would compensate them for the loss caused by trade tensions with China, and instead, those allies would only compete to fill the market void in China as proved in Australia's case.

 

We believe New Zealand knows how to weigh its own interests.

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224884.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 30, 2021, 11:08 p.m. No.13797481   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7484 >>9865

>>13780035

Has Kevin Rudd betrayed China-Australia relations?: Global Times editorial

 

Global Times - May 30, 2021

 

1/2

 

Has former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd changed his tune? According to BBC, Rudd said in an interview last Friday that countries should unite against China's growing economic and geopolitical coercion or risk being singled out and punished by Beijing. He also criticized the current Australian government's China policy, stating that it, "has from time to time been measured - but other times, frankly, has been rhetorical and shrill." However, his remarks still sound quite hawkish, and they contradict the Chinese people's previous impression of him as a politician who understands and befriends China.

 

Rudd's change of tune is not an isolated case. For some time now, we have witnessed the West and some US allies in the Asia-Pacific region adjusting their attitude toward China, officially or not. For instance, the EU has launched sanctions against China for the first time after more than 30 years. Japan and South Korea have mentioned the Taiwan question in their joint statement with the US as never before. French warships have come to the East China Sea to engage in symbolic joint military exercises with the US and Japan. Germany and other countries have taken a harsher attitude toward Chinese tech company Huawei. The list goes on.

 

But these moves are telling and allow us to analyze and strategize.

 

Returning to Rudd, first of all, how should we interpret his change of tune? Does it mean that he somehow "betrayed" China? It should be pointed out that he has never truly stood by China's side. Rudd is a politician whose behaviors and actions serve the interests of himself as well as his party. The political system of Western countries, for example, the US and Australia, plays the biggest role in advancing these interests.

 

Yet it is in Canberra's interest to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with Beijing and to safeguard a relevant political environment. However, Australia's conservative government has fully tilted in favor of the US to confront China. This has caused some controversy in the country. Therefore, this might be why Rudd used to express rational statements toward China.

 

But what Rudd said in the interview with BBC sends two signals. One is that Australia feels more and more uncomfortable about China's counterattack against its provocations. The second is that the West's US-led anti-China campaign has caused such a big influence that a "political correctness" has emerged in the ideology of the West. Rudd is catering to these two sentiments and trends to create a political balance between himself and the Australian Labor Party.

 

We need to understand that we should make friends in the West, but we cannot count on them to go against the general environment there to call for justice when China is being unjustly suppressed. Most Western people and forces will submit to such "political correctness."

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 30, 2021, 11:09 p.m. No.13797484   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13797481

 

2/2

 

Regardless, we need to have the confidence that most Western countries, political forces, companies and influential figures will not become an "enemy" of China in the traditional sense. We must realize that the anti-China forces with extreme hostility are only a small percentage of Western populations. The majority of countries, forces and even individuals swing from side to side: sometimes they follow the US' steps to suppress us, sometimes they speak and act independently, which is beneficial to China.

 

In the short term, as Washington's pressure on China becomes stronger and the Western ideological anti-China front takes shape, we will see this pattern: more Western countries and forces will shift their stance toward the US. In the long run, if China's power continues to grow, and if our strategy to destroy Washington's attempt to build an anti-China front is accurate and effective, then the West's attitude toward China will gradually change in our favor.

 

We should not try to identify who is our enemy and who is our friend. Making such a distinction should not be how today's Chinese society thinks. As the second-largest power in the world strongly suppressed by the biggest power, China needs a strong will and a strong heart. We have few real "deadly enemies." Most of the forces in the world are willing to be our friends and partners because it is in their interest to do so. But many of them need to balance the pressure from Washington and make compromises according to their political, security and economic dependence on the country.

 

Neither China nor the US is bold enough to make Washington's allies choose between the two. But Washington will use its various levers to coerce those countries to give it maximum support, and even to demand them to pick a side at some point. On the contrary, Beijing has relatively few bargaining chips. So in the short term, it is inevitable to stay in a passive position.

 

At this time, we cannot act on impulse and equate some countries and forces with the US only because they have followed Washington to raise their voices on issues such as Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

 

On the other hand, we have to fight back by exerting our influence over these countries. We cannot allow other countries and forces to harm China's interests as the US does. We must motivate them to increase their resistance to unreasonable pressure from Washington to preserve long-term relations with us.

 

This is a difficult game to play, and needs wisdom. Rudd tried to please the US by advocating an anti-China club, and this, of course, has upset the Chinese public. It has also become a blot on his image in China. He may gain a little more from the US side by doing that, but it will also weaken the favorable impression and trust some Chinese institutions and groups had toward him.

 

Nevertheless, we don't need to define our relationship with him clearly as either friend or foe. We need to maintain a certain kind of flexibility and be clear about the logic in such flexibility. And let Rudd grasp the difference in the temperature of our attitude toward him.

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224837.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 12:15 a.m. No.13797769   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7771 >>7794 >>7852 >>4841 >>9865

China trying to drive a wedge between Australia and NZ, Scott Morrison says

 

Stephen Dziedzic - 31 May 2021

 

1/2

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has suggested that China is trying to drive a wedge between Australia and New Zealand, after holding annual talks with Jacinda Ardern.

 

Trans-Tasman tensions have bubbled up recently over how best to deal with Beijing, with New Zealand pushing back against using the "Five Eyes" intelligence group to condemn China's human rights abuses.

 

However, both leaders were keen to present a united front on China during a joint press conference in Queenstown.

 

Ms Ardern bridled at questions from visiting Australian journalists, who asked her if New Zealand was "cosying up" to China.

 

"At no point in our discussions today did I detect any difference in our relative positions on the importance of maintaining a strong and principled perspective on issues around trade and human rights," she said.

 

"[We] have been broadly positioned on exactly the same place on these issues consistently."

 

Chinese state media have pounced on the disagreement over Five Eyes, suggesting that New Zealand has a more "sober" approach to dealing with China's government.

 

When asked about the editorials, Mr Morrison said had "no doubt" that some would "seek to undermine Australia and New Zealand's security by seeking to create points of difference which are not there".

 

"There will be those far from here who would seek to divide us, and they will not succeed," Mr Morrison said.

 

"We have stood resolutely and together for the principles Australians and New Zealanders have fought for, and that will continue to be the case."

 

Reporters followed up by asking Mr Morrison which countries he was referring to, but he wouldn't be drawn.

 

Australia and NZ united over trade, COVID-19 investigation

 

There has been some frustration in Canberra over the Five Eyes disagreement.

 

There was also a brief flare of irritation earlier this year when New Zealand's Trade Minister suggested Australia could repair ties with China by showing its government more respect.

 

But government sources from both countries have emphasised that both sides recognise the sharp threat posed by China's recent campaign of economic coercion against Australia.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 12:16 a.m. No.13797771   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13797769

 

2/2

 

Earlier this month New Zealand's Foreign Minister said China's campaign of economic punishment had shaped views of Beijing in her country, and suggested New Zealand would need to diversify trade in case it was caught in a similar "storm" in the future.

 

On the weekend New Zealand also announced that it would join Australia's action in the World Trade Organisation challenging crippling Chinese tariffs on Australian barley.

 

And both Mr Morrison and Ms Ardern made it clear they would maintain pressure on China to facilitate the World Health Organization probes into the origins of COVID-19 and the global response to the outbreak.

 

"We'd be concerned at any suggestion that we weren't able complete that work," Ms Ardern said.

 

"Because as an international community how will we better protect ourselves from further outbreaks in the future if we don't better protect ourselves."

 

Mr Morrison said the probe had "nothing to do with global politics", but was crucial to get to the bottom of the outbreak "so we can do everything we possibly can to ensure that it does not happen again."

 

Deportations and trans-Tasman bubble raised

 

The two leaders also said they discussed the vexed issue of criminal deportations from Australia to New Zealand, although Scott Morrison reiterated his government would not soften its stance.

 

They also discussed the case of Suhayra Aden, who travelled to Syria from Australia in 2014 to live under Islamic State.

 

Australia stripped Ms Aden of citizenship, even though she moved from New Zealand to Australia when she was just six years old.

 

That drew a furious response from Ms Ardern, who accused Australia of evading its responsibilities.

 

Ms Aden is still in detention in Turkey — and now looks almost certain to be resettled in New Zealand — but today Mr Morrison suggested Australia might still be able to offer support to her young children.

 

"Ms Aden's not an Australian citizen. But we have spoken today about her children, and the pathway that they have for eligibility in Australia, and stand ready to address those issues," he said.

 

They also discussed expanding the trans-Tasman bubble to include Pacific Island countries, although neither made any firm commitments, emphasising that public health remained the top priority.

 

Ms Ardern said it was vital not to give COVID-19 a chance to spread more widely in the region.

 

"That means maintaining the very high bar that between ourselves we have set," she said.

 

"We don't want to jeopardise the freedom that we have within our own countries to move around freely and protect the health of our citizens."

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-31/morrison-ardern-press-conference-new-zealand-china-tasman-bubble/100178224

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 12:20 a.m. No.13797794   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13797769

Jacinda Ardern stresses New Zealand, Australia are in lockstep on China

 

Rob Harris - May 31, 2021

 

Queenstown: Jacinda Ardern has moved to quash speculation of a splintering between her government and Australia over China policy, stressing there is no more important relationship than the trans-Tasman alliance.

 

The New Zealand prime minister faced a barrage of questions while standing alongside Australian counterpart Scott Morrison in Queenstown on Monday about the growing perception her government had drifted from the strong stance of its allies had taken against Beijing’s growing assertiveness and economic coercion in the region.

 

The topic of China dominated the face-to-face annual bilateral meeting between the nation’s two leaders, which took place at the picturesque south island tourist destination on Monday.

 

Ms Ardern said she had not detected any difference in the positions on trade or human rights between herself and Mr Morrison and said New Zealand remained “very committed” to the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership.

 

“I really push back on any suggestion we are not taking a strong stance on these issues,” Ms Ardern told reporters.

 

“At no point in our discussions today did I detect any difference in our relative positions on the importance of maintaining a very strong and principled position on issues around trade and issues around human rights”.

 

Without mentioning China directly, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there were countries that sought to undermine regional security and tried to divide the two nations by claiming there were “differences that are not there”. He said neither country would trade their sovereignty or values.

 

Hours before the meeting, China’s international propaganda news tabloid, The Global Times, published a story praising the Ardern administration as “more peaceful and friendly amid the anti-China clamour in the US and some other Western countries”.

 

“In fact, it has repeatedly demonstrated its political wisdom and sobriety. Apart from the fact that New Zealand’s positioning and its priority of national interests is different from Australia, the composition and status of its people between the two countries are also different.“

 

It had followed the announcement New Zealand would act as a third party in Australia’s trade dispute with China. Beijing has imposed a range of tariffs and trade strikes on Australian products, including 80 per cent duties on barley because it said Australia was dumping the product there below cost, hurting domestic producers. In December, Australia took the row to the World Trade Organisation, which on Friday agreed to establish a dispute settlement panel.

 

Mr Morrison said the two nations were in lockstep on the aim of a “free and open Indo-Pacific, a peaceful Indo-Pacific”.

 

“As great partners, friends, allies and indeed family, there will be those far from here who will seek to divide us and they will not succeed,” Mr Morrison said.

 

Leaders discussed a wide range of issue affecting both nations, including the Pacific recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding on the travel bubble to include nations such as Fiji, Vanautu, the Solomon Islands and Tonga, as well as climate change and regional security.

 

Mr Morrison said both nations had “a big stake” in defending a world that favoured freedom and a “free and open” Indo-Pacific.

 

“The broader issue of a free and open Indo-Pacific is something Australia and New Zealand feels very strongly about, and working with our like-minded partners all around the world – the US and the UK, across Europe, Japan, India,” he said.

 

Ms Ardern said both countries were keen to expand the bubble when and where it was safe to do so, but stressed it would be a “very high bar”.

 

“It is most likely to be our Pacific neighbours we both look to,” she said.

 

Mr Morrison said both governments were aware of the health risk for the Pacific as well as in Australia and New Zealand should the strict current standards be compromised.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/jacinda-ardern-stresses-new-zealand-australia-are-in-lockstep-on-china-20210531-p57wrl.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 12:33 a.m. No.13797852   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4841 >>9865

>>13797769

Australia, New Zealand Call On China to Let UN Visit Xinjiang

 

Bloomberg News - 31 May 2021

 

The leaders of Australia and New Zealand have urged China to give outside observers “unfettered access” to Xinjiang, a move that is likely to draw criticism from Beijing.

 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern “expressed grave concerns about the human rights situation” in China’s far western region and said the United Nations and others should be allowed to make “meaningful” visits, according to a statement they released after a meeting Monday in Queenstown, New Zealand.

 

The joint statement from the annual meeting also included statements on Hong Kong and the South China Sea, two other areas that China regards as domestic affairs.

 

The announcement is the latest in a series of statements the two nations have signed together in the past year expressing concern with the situations in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. China sees those statements as interference in its internal affairs and has attacked the individual signatory nations and also larger groups of countries such as the “Five Eyes” intelligence sharing community when they make such criticisms.

 

Ties between Beijing and Canberra have been deteriorating recently, hitting new depths since China blocked or tariffed a series of imports from Australia, which has sought an inquiry into the origins of the pandemic. Australia last week criticized China’s move to close the espionage trial of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, calling it “deeply regrettable.”

 

China frequently says it allows reporters and others into Xinjiang, where a panel of UN experts said in 2019 that an estimated 1 million people had been sent to counter-terrorism internment facilities, part of a set of policies the U.S. has said amount to genocide. However, journalists who visit Xinjiang complain that they are followed by police, prevented from talking to people without interference and barred from entering places of interest.

 

Beijing says its activities in Xinjiang are aimed at countering domestic terrorism and unrest, building infrastructure, and providing economic and educational opportunities.

 

Hong Kong

 

Ardern and Morrison said they had “deep concern over developments that limit the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong” and had “serious concern over developments in the South China Sea, including the continued militarization of disputed features and an intensification of destabilizing activities at sea.”

 

Last Thursday, Hong Kong’s legislature approved a sweeping overhaul of the city’s elections that was drafted by Beijing and that dramatically curtails the opposition’s ability to participate in government. The Legislative Council voted 40-2 to approve the measures creating a review committee to vet candidates for elected office and ensure they are “patriots.”

 

The same day authorities in the former British colony also blocked democracy advocates from holding a candlelight vigil for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown for the second straight year. Police on Saturday reminded that public that individuals convicted of attending an unauthorized assembly face a prison term of up to five years.

 

The leaders’ statement also included a section expressing support for the multilateral trading system and the World Trade Organization. New Zealand earlier announced that it would be joining Australia’s WTO case against Chinese barley tariffs as a third party, according to local media.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-31/australia-new-zealand-call-on-china-to-let-un-visit-xinjiang

 

https://www.pm.gov.au/media/joint-statement-prime-ministers-hon-scott-morrison-mp-and-rt-hon-jacinda-ardern

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 12:46 a.m. No.13797905   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7913 >>9831

Caroline Kennedy in running for Ambassador to Australia: reports

 

Harley Dennett - MAY 31 2021

 

1/2

 

The United States embassy in Canberra has responded to reports out of Washington DC suggesting a member of the famous Kennedy family is in the running as the next ambassador to Australia.

 

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JFK and former ambassador to Japan, was named in reports by AP and Axios as a possible pick for the most watched diplomatic post in Canberra.

 

A spokesperson for the embassy says it cannot confirm who US President Joe Biden is considering for the position.

 

"We cannot comment, except to say that we are confident we will have a superb Ambassador, matching the enormous value we place in our Alliance with Australia," the spokesperson said.

 

"Consistent with normal diplomatic practice, any nominee would first receive agreement from the government of Australia."

 

The role has been vacant since former ambassador Arthur Culvahouse resigned one day ahead of the presidential handover from Donald Trump to Joe Biden on January 20.

 

Four months into his administration, Mr Biden is yet to announce any nominees for the highest profile ambassador appointments that are typically reserved for political allies.

 

The US Senate has been busy holding hearings and votes on the top administration roles including cabinet positions and deputy secretary and directorships of key agencies.

 

It is not unusual for ambassador positions normally reserved for political appointees to be left vacant for between three to six months into a new president's term, with top fundraisers to the presidential campaign often among those nominated.

 

Reports claim Mr Biden was expected to approach candidates with offers over the weekend, with the first slate of ambassadors as soon as this week.

 

Caroline Kennedy served in the role in Japan during Barack Obama's second term and was an early supporter of his presidential bid, along with her uncle, Ted Kennedy, helping him get an edge over Hillary Clinton.

 

Another Kennedy, Vicki, was on his radar for the representative to Western Europe, the reports claimed, both names are notable for not being large fundraisers to the Biden presidential campaign.

 

Other top diplomatic rumours include Eric Garcetti for the role in India, Rahm Emanuel for Japan, Ken Salazar for Mexico, Denise Bauer for France, Jane Hartley for Italy, David Cohen for Canada, and Cindy McCain, daughter of Republican senator John McCain, for UN envoy roles including leading the World Food Program.

 

US State Department insiders say once the nominations begin, they'll come in batches.

 

The Australian nomination is expected to be made during the first round, but officials in the embassy in Canberra are not aware of when the news will come.

 

The announcement will be made by Mr Biden directly following private consultation with Australian government counterparts.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 12:47 a.m. No.13797913   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13797905

 

2/2

 

The ambassadorial appointments in Australia and New Zealand are considered of high importance due to the real work involved, both as Five Eyes countries and also their strategic importance in the Indo-Pacific region, which has been a priority focus for this White House.

 

Former US ambassador to Australia John Berry told The Canberra Times early in the year that the White House would take time to find a "high quality" nominee, as Mr Biden had made the Indo-Pacific a priority focus for his administration.

 

The two countries will mark 70 years of the ANZUS alliance this year, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison having invited Mr Biden to visit in 2021.

 

Political nominees rather than career diplomats are also expected in regionally significant countries of China, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Philippines, Japan and India, as well as the the US envoy to ASEAN.

 

A number of career diplomatic posts have already had nominations or had the existing ambassador remain in the role, such as the ambassadors to Indonesia and Malaysia. A career diplomat is awaiting confirmation as ambassador to Vietnam.

 

The ambassador to Pacific island countries including Fiji is typically a career diplomatic role, but the White House has kept that position open suggesting it may become a political appointment.

 

While waiting on an ambassador appointment, embassies are run by their second in command, known as the Chargé d'Affaires.

 

Chargé d'Affaires Michael Goldman is currently the top US embassy official in Canberra, having arrived in March last year.

 

The US embassy in Canberra is used to being run by the Chargé d'Affaires, with the top post left vacant for two years under the Trump administration.

 

The Biden White House is yet to name candidates for 345 senior administration positions, including ambassadorships, out of around 1200 that require Senate confirmation.

 

The administration is still working through nominations for administration deputy secretaries, undersecretaries and assistant secretaries which are all treated as political appointments requiring Senate confirmation, in what is considered one of the longest processes in any developed country for a new leader to appoint their top officials.

 

While the US Senate is currently tied 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris providing the tie-breaking vote the White House has allowed the administration to move swiftly in filling positions.

 

Only one Cabinet candidate, in Neera Tanden at the Office for Budget Management, was withdrawn over difficulties obtaining Senate confirmation due to the volume of partisan comments on her social media accounts.

 

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7276570/we-will-have-a-superb-ambassador-us-embassy-says-amid-kennedy-rumours/

 

https://www.axios.com/caroline-vicky-kennedy-biden-ambassador-e46a4d7f-cc0c-4c77-91ef-6997513946e6.html

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 1:45 a.m. No.13798146   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

Hi-tech tool to prevent next terror attack revealed

 

Australian spies are using cutting-edge technology to foil the next terror attack with the nation on alert amid a rise in radicalisation.

 

Matthew Killoran - May 31, 2021

 

Cutting-edge tech and AI are the next weapons Australia is deploying in a bid to head off the next terrorist attack, as the nation’s spooks fear an increased chance of an incident after radicalisation sped up in the past year.

 

Taking a new approach to national security, recently-appointed Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews, a former engineer, said there will be a strong technology focus under her leadership.

 

The new focus will be applied across the board, including to Operation Sovereign Borders, police pursuit of child exploitation, defence against cyber assaults and terrorism.

 

Using AI to scour recordings and data of suspected terror suspects, and “tech dogs” – specialised trained sniffer dogs who can ferret out hidden USBs – will increasingly be used in Australia’s defence arsenal.

 

Speaking to The Courier-Mail, Ms Andrews said spy agency ASIO was reporting an increase in radicalisation in the past 14 months during Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions, particularly from ideologically-motivated and religious extremists.

 

She said AI was being used to scour the masses of data collected and to help ASIO operatives find the links, potentially giving them the extra time needed to foil an attack.

 

“There are people out there right now who want to harm Australians. We need to be alert to threats to us here,” she said.

 

“It’s difficult for people to travel around the world at the moment. That will change.”

 

She said there was $1.3 billion over 10 years in the budget for ASIO to increase its capabilities, including on the use of artificial intelligence.

 

“We will be increasingly looking at, artificial intelligence,” Ms Andrews said.

 

“(ASIO) are very good at collecting the dots, what technology and particularly AI enables them to do was start to connect all of those dots. Tech will give them the opportunity to quickly find the links.”

 

She said “tech dogs” capable of sniffing out USB storage devices would increasingly be used by the AFP to help crackdown on paedophile and child pornography rings.

 

Ms Andrews said cyber crime would also be a focus, and she had begun working with the Cyber Security Strategy Industry Advisory Panel’s chairman, Andy Penn, about engaging with businesses to take greater responsibility for cyber security.

 

“Corporate Australia has to make sure that they are taking responsibility for defending themselves,” she said.

 

“We know that there are risks to our infrastructure… particularly to our critical infrastructure.

 

”Businesses are under an increasing threat and they need to be taking action.”

 

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/qld-politics/hitech-tool-to-prevent-next-terror-attack-revealed/news-story/89a89548c29bc04921f1bbc8ae6e7fe1

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 1:54 a.m. No.13798166   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

‘Vile’ pedophile blasted by judge for describing relationship with mother who helped him abuse her child as ‘adventurous’

 

A “vile and scary” sex offender who convinced a woman to help him abuse her five-year-old daughter has been blasted by a judge for his horrifying excuses.

 

Mitch Mott - May 31, 2021

 

A District Court judge has slammed a “vile” sex offender who described his relationship with a woman he convinced to help him abuse her own child as “adventurous”.

 

The man, whose name is suppressed to protect the identity of the victim, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of grooming and abusing the young girl, as well as transmitting child exploitation images of her.

 

In a brief victim impact statement read to the court by a prosecutor, the young victim, now aged 7, said “I don’t like you, you have a bad habit, you were mean to me, I don’t love you, you hurt my feelings”.

 

Edward Stratton-Smith, acting for the man, said his client met the victim’s mother on a dating website.

 

“He described their relationship as adventurous,” he said.

 

Judge Liesl Chapman appeared horrified by the submission.

 

“Please don’t say that,” she said.

 

“It’s not adventurous – it’s criminal. I have read these text messages, I know the difficulty of your submissions but adventurous is not an appropriate term to use.

 

“He and his partner spoke constantly about sexually abusing her five-year-child and then he did it. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

 

“Describing that as adventurous shows he has absolutely no insight.”

 

Mr Stratton-Smith said his client’s marriage had broken down in the years before the offending.

 

He said his client had “enjoyed a house full of children” with his own offspring, a submission which Judge Chapman also took issue with.

 

“That submission troubles me,” she said.

 

“This kind of offending is not born out of loneliness and sadness. The concept that he enjoyed a house full of children is quite distressing.

 

“He has expressed in these text messages the most vile attitude towards children that can be imagined.

 

“He is, on the face of the materials before me, a very scary pedophile from which the community needs to be protected.”

 

The man’s offending was discovered when the man answered an online ad and begun messaging an undercover police officer.

 

Over the course of their conversations, the man described in detail his offending against the girl and also tried to procure more children for sex.

 

The messages led to police arresting the man on November 28, 2019.

 

A search of his phone located dozens of text messages between the man and the victim’s mother discussing and conspiring about abusing her daughter.

 

The messages led to the mother being charged with sexual offences.

 

Both were arrested but released on home detention bail despite warnings from police that more serious charges were about to be laid.

 

Only a short time after they were released into the community, more charges were laid and both were taken into custody and refused bail.

 

The woman pleaded not guilty to those charges and has yet to stand trial.

 

The man will be sentenced in July.

 

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-sa/vile-pedophile-blasted-by-judge-for-describing-relationship-with-mother-who-helped-him-abuse-her-child-as-adventurous/news-story/65afd291276feb85aa63345b8e1f2515

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 2:17 a.m. No.13798261   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8266 >>9831

'Act of stupidity and extremely disrespectful': Five charged after Sydney WWI Cenotaph vandalised

 

Olivana Lathouris - May 31, 2021

 

Five men have been charged after CCTV was released of a group of alleged vandals climbing onto the WWI Cenotaph in Sydney's Martin Place and inappropriately posing with the statue.

 

The video, released by NSW Police, shows the alleged men, aged 19 to 21, clambering over the monument, with one shown sitting on the shoulders of the statue.

 

Police have described the alleged incident as "an act of stupidity" and "extremely disrespectful".

 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian also expressed her disappointment, describing the incident as "personally hurtful" while announcing a new training program for war veterans.

 

"I think it's really hurtful that a small number of Australians don't appreciate the sacrifices many Australians made for our freedom," she said.

 

"That's what hurts me the most, that some people don't understand our history."

 

Police began an investigation into the incident after being notified of damage to the bayonet on a statue.

 

Three men were arrested at Sutherland Police Station about 1.30pm today with inquiries into the incident still ongoing.

 

A fourth man, aged 21, also attended Sutherland Police Station this afternoon.

 

Three of the men – aged 19, 20, 21 – were issued Court Attendance Notices for desecrate protected place.

 

The second 21-year-old was issued a Court Attendance Notice for offensive conduct.

 

They are all due to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday 30 June 2021.

 

About 3.30pm today, a fifth man, aged 21, was arrested at Sutherland Police Station and charged with destroy or damage property and commit offensive act in, on war memorial/interment site.

 

He was granted conditional bail to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Monday 28 June 2021.

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-wwi-cenotaph-vandals-caught-on-cctv-police-slam-act-of-stupidity/f5a3ce38-454c-4929-9a2d-06472b237bfe

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 2:18 a.m. No.13798266   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

>>13798261

Men arrested after disrespecting Martin Place Cenotaph

 

9 News Australia

 

May 31, 2021

 

Three men have been arrested after CCTV was released of a group climbing onto the WWI Cenotaph in Sydney's Martin Place and inappropriately posing with the statue.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMRmD-7ue_g

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 2:46 a.m. No.13798383   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9831

US Embassy Canberra Tweet

 

Today is Memorial Day in the United States.

 

We express our deepest gratitude for the courageous Americans who have given their lives in military service.

 

https://twitter.com/USAembassyinOZ/status/1399224186111860739

 

 

U.S. Department of Defense Tweet

 

Today we commemorate Memorial Day and honor the sacrifices of all those who ensured the freedom we enjoy today. We will never forget. #HonorThem

 

https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/1399214059225030658

Anonymous ID: bd69fd May 31, 2021, 3:10 p.m. No.13802137   🗄️.is 🔗kun

World Military and Intelligence Agencies To Remove Western Civilian Governments

 

Benjamin Fulford 5/31/21

 

“A decision has been made at the highest echelons of power that the world is just not working,” and a wholesale revamp is needed, according to a senior European royal. In particular, the ongoing “pandemic is entirely a drug-pushing effort” and means “all of the world’s civilian governments are suspected of engaging in genocide,” according to MI6, CIA, and other intelligence agencies.

 

To summarize, the world’s military and intelligence agencies have come to the conclusion that Western civilian governments have been hijacked by a satanic cult and need to be removed.

 

The process is being started off with the removal of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Mossad sources say.“This particular character is a very difficult one and the only way to remove someone like him is to manage them out,” the Royal Family source said. The implication is Netanyahu possesses plenty of blackmail insurance and needs to be given certain guarantees in exchange for relinquishing power. In any case, even Rothschild family-owned propaganda outlets like AP are now reporting his removal.

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-israel-338004eee311023736078cec262713be

 

After the removal of the de facto most senior sitting Khazarian Mafia leader, a campaign will take place over the summer to cleanse most civilian governments, multiple sources agree. A separate MI6 source located in the Americas confirmed action on the ground saying:

 

“Something really big is taking place Now. Senior Members of The Cabal are going down. Gates is out of the system now. He has disappeared. Not a word was spoken about him. Now it’s Fauci’s turn. Then, guess who’s next, Matt Hancock, followed by Boris Johnson. Humanity is waking up.”

 

These purges will prepare the ground for a complete revamp of post-World War II institutions including the UN and the BIS, the sources say.

 

“There has been a coalescence among the world’s intelligence agencies because we share a common enemy,” was how the head of MI6 (the real head not the public one) described the situation. The CIA, which is a consortium run out of Switzerland, agrees, according to senior CIA sources. These agencies have come to the conclusion that if urgent action is not taken “billions of people will die by the autumn,” the MI6 and CIA sources said.

 

As a part of this campaign of removal, MI6 has decided to publicly name the person who ordered the murder of Princess Diana Spencer. This was Baron Robin Butler, a German DVD agent (Deutsches Verteidigungs Dients) who ran the British Civil service from 1988 to 1998, according to MI6.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Butler,_Baron_Butler_of_Brockwell

 

Queen Elizabeth was not involved and had him removed as soon as she found out he was responsible for the murder, MI6 says. “Diana’s two sons should not be without their mother,” said Queen Elizabeth II.

Furthermore, MI6 says all Cabinet secretaries since WWII have been double agents including Simon Case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Case

the current cabinet secretary and his predecessor Mark Sedwill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sedwill

 

These men are “both DVD agents and traitors to the United Kingdom,” according to MI6. These revelations have put Number 10 Downing Street “in a blind state of panic,” the sources said, noting their servers were down.

To summarize: The DVD has been on a massive killing spree ever since World War II that culminated in their seizing of power in the U.S. in the coup d’etat that followed 9.11. The execution of George Bush Sr. helped put an end to it but the battle is not over yet. As long as we see the fake Biden presidency show and pandemic pushed in the media, we have to keep fighting. We are dealing with a cult that has run large parts of humanity literally for thousands of years and they do not plan to go quietly into the night.

 

The rabbit hole runs very deep. Basically though,the world’s military and intelligence agencies have finally realized that a cult of Sabbatean Frankist Jews really is trying to kill most of the global population.

 

They realized the ongoing “pandemic” was “another 9.11 or Fukushima being carried out by these genocidal fanatical lunatics.”

Anonymous ID: bd69fd May 31, 2021, 3:17 p.m. No.13802168   🗄️.is 🔗kun

'Ben Fulford Part 2

 

When asked, “how in the name of God did these people seize the world,” a senior European royal said, “The Rothschilds are particularly dangerous people, they are beyond evil.”

As an example of their Mafia-like compromise and control system, the source described an incident where “beautiful children were beheaded in front of a congregation” of elite Australians who had all been drugged. “All of their faces were recorded so there is a repository of blackmail intelligence,” the source said. This sort of event has taken place all over the world. In Japan too, this writer has noted over the years how only compromised politicians are allowed into positions of power.

 

Furthermore, the Khazarian Mafia plan long-term, making it very difficult for normal humans to comprehend. For example, “The Rockefellers staged a ritualistic bloodthirsty orgy at the groundbreaking before the World Trade Center buildings were built,” the Royal Family source said.

 

The incredible extent to which this blackmail and compromise network runs is why a truth and reconciliation process is needed for the people who were unwillingly dragged into this cult.

 

In any case, the Rothschilds are going to be told to back off and the BIS will be dissolved, the agency sources promise.

 

The Pentagon is also on the case. According to a senior official:

“Gitmo is operating 24/7 processing detainees. There are four teams working 6-hour shifts with three persons in the JAG (judge advocate generals) team. There are currently tens of thousands of prisoners in a multi-level underground prison facility near the Thule, Greenland, U.S. Space Force Base; all Transferred from Gitmo. Special operations forces and Marines are the only ones being used to make the arrests of the Cabal and their minions.”

 

He suggested we read between the lines of the article at the link below: https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/05/U.S.-space-force-seeks-2020-civilian-acquisition-staff-2022/174360/

 

Sauce: benjaminfulford.net

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 11:44 p.m. No.13804841   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4843 >>4852 >>9865

>>13797769

>>13797852

China blasts Scott Morrison, Jacinda Ardern over ‘irresponsible remarks’

 

WILL GLASGOW - JUNE 1, 2021

 

Beijing has lashed out at Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison for making “irresponsible remarks” after the Tasman leaders demonstrated their broad alignment on China policy at a leaders meeting in Queenstown.

 

In China’s first official response to the meeting, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin scolded the two prime ministers for raising concerns about Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea in their joint statement.

 

“We have taken note of and are deeply concerned over the relevant statement,” said Mr Wang at a briefing in Beijing on Monday evening.

 

“The leaders of Australia and New Zealand, with irresponsible remarks on China’s internal affairs relating to Hong Kong and Xinjiang as well as the South China Sea issue, have made groundless accusations against China, grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs and seriously violated the international law and basic norms governing international relations,” he said.

 

“China firmly opposes this.”

 

The annual Australia-New Zealand prime ministers’ meeting came after months of media debate — and some muttering within the Morrison government — about how the two countries were handling their relations with the rising power.

 

Speaking after the meeting, the two leaders pushed back on perceptions of a split on China policy.

 

“At no point in our discussions today did I detect any difference in our relative positions on the importance of maintaining a very strong and principled perspective on issues around trade, on issues around human rights,” said Prime Minister Ardern.

 

Prime Minister Morrison added that there were “those far from here who would seek to divide us”. “And they will not succeed.”

 

The New Zealand-Australia joint statement — released on Monday after the highly anticipated two-day leaders meeting — also included concerns about China’s economic coercion, interference in other countries political systems and undermining of sovereignty in the Indo-Pacific.

 

China’s foreign ministry spokesman did not respond directly to these concerns.

 

But he did warn Ardern and Morrison against “targeting or damaging the interests of third parties” and “forming enclosed small cliques with ideology as the yardstick”.

 

Denunciations of Australian foreign and domestic policy have become routine at Beijing’s daily press briefings over the last year.

 

Criticism of New Zealand is much rarer, as China has presented the smaller Tasman country as a model US ally whose example Australia should follow.

 

Ning Tuanhui, an assistant research fellow at the Foreign Ministry-run research centre China Institute of International Studies, downplayed the significance of the joint statement.

 

Mr Ning suggested some in Australia had used it to “hype the anti-China atmosphere and rope in New Zealand” to join “an anti-China chariot”.

 

“In the 51-point joint statement, only several items are related to China,” he argued in a piece in published by the nationalist tabloid Global Times.

 

“Australia-New Zealand bilateral relations and co-operation are the main content of this statement, and China-related issues are obviously not a major part of it — as some Australian media have sensationalised for obvious political purposes.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/china-blasts-scott-morrison-jacinda-ardern-over-irresponsible-remarks/news-story/693e4fdfad0f46d3ab9520724796568a

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 11:45 p.m. No.13804843   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13804841

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on May 31, 2021

 

Bloomberg: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern "expressed grave concerns about the human rights situation" in China's Xinjiang and said that the United Nations and others should be allowed to make "meaningful" visits. Does the foreign ministry have any comment?

 

Wang Wenbin: We have taken note of and are deeply concerned over the relevant statement. The leaders of Australia and New Zealand, with irresponsible remarks on China's internal affairs relating to Hong Kong and Xinjiang as well as the South China Sea issue, have made groundless accusations against China, grossly interfered in China's internal affairs and seriously violated the international law and basic norms governing international relations. China firmly opposes this.

 

I would like to reiterate that Hong Kong is China's Special Administrative Region and its affairs are purely China's internal affairs. China will not waver in its determination and confidence to uphold the principle of One Country, Two Systems and safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. Nor will China waver in its resolve and will to reject any external interference in China's internal affairs. Xinjiang-related issues are about counter-violence, anti-separatism and de-radicalization, rather than human rights, ethnicity or religion. Xinjiang has not seen a single violent terrorist case in the past four years. Remarkable achievements have been made in economic and social development and improvement of people's livelihood. The rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups, including the Uyghurs, have been fully protected. These are the facts that are recognized by all those without bias. At present, the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable. China firmly upholds its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. At the same time, China is willing to properly handle maritime differences with relevant countries through consultation and negotiation to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the region. There is never any problem with the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. We firmly oppose any groundless accusations against China under the pretext of the South China Sea issue.

 

China maintains that the development of bilateral relations between countries in the region should help enhance mutual understanding and trust among countries in the region, and be conducive to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific, instead of targeting or damaging the interests of third parties, and much less forming enclosed small clique with ideology as the yardstick. It's not justifiable for relevant countries to say and do wrong things on issues bearing on the sovereignty and security of a third country, or interfere in its internal affairs under the guise of human rights. We once again urge relevant parties to stop making irresponsible remarks and act in ways that are conducive to bilateral relations and regional peace and stability, rather than the opposite.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1880105.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b May 31, 2021, 11:49 p.m. No.13804852   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13804841

Wellington continues its pragmatic policy despite Canberra pressure

 

Ning Tuanhui - May 31, 2021

 

Different from the other four Five Eyes countries, New Zealand has been declining to join an anti-China chariot, and this has obviously disappointed some Australian elites. A split between Australia and New Zealand is not something that China wishes to see. Yet some Australian people clearly want to pressure New Zealand to jointly oppose China. For example, after the release of a joint statement on Monday between the prime ministers of New Zealand and Australia, there are voices that try to hype the anti-China atmosphere and rope in New Zealand.

 

But in the 51-point joint statement, only several items are related to China: The two prime ministers expressed "serious concern" over developments in the South China Sea, and "deep concern" over "the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong" as well as the so-called human rights issues in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The statement also expressed concern over harmful economic coercion, without referring to any specific country.

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday, in response to the joint statement, that China firmly opposes gross interference in China's internal affairs. Nonetheless, the joint statement between Canberra and Wellington did not really exceed the previous position of New Zealand regarding China-related issues. The statement was more intended to show the two sides' general unity. And by including these China-related issues in the statement, New Zealand was showing some respect and support for Australia's feelings, instead of blindly joining an anti-China chariot.

 

There are a lot differences between Australia and New Zealand in terms of their attitude toward China. Since 2017, Australia has severely provoked China in many ways. These include hyping up the so-called Chinese political infiltration into Australia, banning Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, and attacking China over issues regarding the COVID-19 epidemic origin, the South China Sea and the Belt and Road Initiative. Canberra's behavior has caused severe deterioration of bilateral relations.

 

New Zealand holds a more practical approach in terms of relations with China. China-New Zealand relations are rather stable with the joint efforts of both countries. New Zealand has also in the past made statements on the South China Sea, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, something that is difficult to avoid as a member of the Five Eyes alliance.

 

Australia has been irrational in its handling of relations with China, including using "microphone diplomacy" to provoke China for no reason. New Zealand is much more rational. In many cases, Wellington has been able to communicate with Beijing through diplomatic channels. Judging from the history of China-New Zealand ties, Wellington has adhered to pragmatism in developing its relations with China. Even when the US and Australia's China policies have taken a sharp turn for worse, New Zealand did not blindly follow suit to suppress China.

 

For this reason, in recent years, Australia has been exerting pressure on New Zealand. Some Australian media outlets have even accused New Zealand of selling its "soul" to China for economic interests. New Zealand and Australia have close cooperation in diplomacy and military matters. As a result, Australia has a great influence on New Zealand.

 

China-related issues are not the only reason why Morrison paid a visit to New Zealand this time. The meeting is an annual meeting of the two prime ministers, and is part of institutionalized exchanges between the two sides. In the two countries' joint statement, they reached a broad consensus on the COVID-19 response and recovery, trans-Tasman cooperation, people-to-people ties, climate change and the environment, global trade, Indo-Pacific and global security, etc - a long list of achievements after their meeting. Australia-New Zealand bilateral relations and cooperation are the main content of this statement, and China-related issues are obviously not a major part of it - as some Australian media have sensationalized for obvious political purposes.

 

The author is an assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1225013.shtml

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 12:05 a.m. No.13804899   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

‘No concrete proof’ of espionage: Malaysia on verge of Huawei 5G deal

 

Chris Barrett - June 1, 2021

 

Singapore: Banned by the United States and Australia and shut out by other Western nations, Huawei is ramping up its 5G push into south-east Asia with Malaysia shaping as next in line to welcome the Chinese giant.

 

A lightning rod in the geopolitical rivalry and technological arms race between the US and China, the controversial telecom equipment supplier has been widely ostracised since the Australian government in 2018 blacklisted it from its 5G network and former US president Donald Trump pressured Britain and European nations to exclude it from their rollouts on national security grounds.

 

Its sidelining in the West, as well as by India and Japan, has made south-east Asia an even more important market for the company. While it has been edged out in Singapore and shunned by Vietnam, it did strike a deal with Indonesia last December and is now the front-runner to build Malaysia’s nationwide 5G network.

 

Kian Ming Ong, who was deputy minister of international trade and industry in the Malaysian government until the Pakatan Harapan coalition collapsed last year, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that fears about Huawei’s technology being susceptible to Chinese state espionage were not shared by Malaysia.

 

The likelihood, he said, was that Huawei would be selected by a specially formed 5G government agency as the majority provider for Malaysia’s so-called single wholesale network. Fellow Chinese company ZTE and Scandinavian heavyweights Ericsson and Nokia are among seven other potential vendors who have been asked to bid for the deal.

 

“The thinking in Malaysia is different from Australia,” Kian Ming Ong said. “Firstly, we have not been exposed to any concrete proof that there is spying equipment or capabilities for Huawei in their existing products.

 

“Secondly, even if there is this kind of possibility of this kind of thing being put into the network, we’ve not experienced the kind of industrial espionage in Malaysia that perhaps has been the case for many Western countries.”

 

The forecast on Huawei’s 5G rollout in Malaysia came as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern met in Wellington on Monday to discuss, among other matters, regional security and Australia’s trade dispute with China.

 

Tom Uren, a senior analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s international cyber policy centre, said Australian government officials would be watching Malaysia’s moves with interest. Australia and Malaysia have deep bilateral ties including in defence and this month announced a new partnership on digital co-operation.

 

“I think the concerns about Huawei are broadly shared in many places and the question for governments is ‘how do you manage that risk?’,” he said.

 

“Then there is also the issue of how you manage that politically.”

 

China has been Malaysia’s largest foreign investor for the past four years and the south-east Asian nation has been an active player in the superpower’s Belt and Road Initiative. It is building a 640-kilometre East Coast Rail Link to connect Port Klang on the Strait of Malacca, in the west, to north-eastern Malaysia near the border with Thailand.

 

Huawei has consistently denied spying allegations or that its 5G technology could be used to shut down a country’s basic infrastructure.

 

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammad said in 2019 his country would continue to use Huawei products “as much as possible” and analysts say the government’s position has not changed.

 

In February it was announced that CyberSecurity Malaysia, agency within in Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, was strengthening relations with Huawei and the company’s end-to-end capability, its cheaper pricing and its long-term presence and investment in Malaysia put it in the box seat when it comes to 5G.

 

Kian Ming Ong, who visited Huawei’s facilities in China as deputy minister in Mahathir’s government, argues Australia’s hard-line stance on the multinational company was a mistake.

 

“By making these kinds of actions Australia ends up hurting itself in the long run. By trying to play this divide-and-conquer game together with the US, I think Australia is being a little shortsighted,” he said.

 

“In the context of ASEAN, there are going to be more countries adopting Huawei’s technology and equipment in the 5G rollout than not.”

 

Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah has laid out an ambitious plan to have a 5G network up and running by the end of 2021 with government backing of 15 billion Malaysian ringgits ($4.7 billion) over 10 years.

 

Malaysia’s Communications Ministry and Huawei were approached for comment.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/no-concrete-proof-of-espionage-malaysia-on-verge-of-huawei-5g-deal-20210531-p57wn4.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 12:14 a.m. No.13804930   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

>>13788732

Child sex victim fails to reopen damages claim against elite school

 

Calls are being made to urgently fix ‘flawed’ legislation, after a man who was abused by notorious paedophile Kevin Lynch lost his last-ditch bid to reopen a damages claim against Brisbane Grammar School.

 

Kylie Lang - June 1, 2021

 

The State Government is being pressured to urgently fix “flawed” legislation that makes it almost impossible for victims of historical child sex abuse to receive fair compensation.

 

It comes after a survivor of horrific abuse by paedophile counsellor Kevin Lynch lost his last-ditch bid to reopen a damages claim against Brisbane Grammar School.

 

The man’s lawyers said ill-defined terms in amendments to legislation made in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse meant respondents could be favoured over victims.

 

The man, known as TRG, was abused at least six times as a 12 and 13-year-old student at Brisbane’s most prestigious boys’ school in the 1980s.

 

On May 20, the High Court of Australia rejected TRG’s appeal of a Supreme Court ruling that prevented him fighting for a higher payout than his earlier 2002 settlement of $47,000.

 

TRG was the first Lynch victim to test the 2016 amendment to the Limitation of Actions Act (Qld), which states a court can set aside previous settlements to permit new claims if it decides it is “just and reasonable to do so”.

 

TRG’s lawyers, who said their client was “recovering from the High Court findings”, said the Government’s failure to define “just and reasonable” left the words open to broad interpretation that could disadvantage victims.

 

Peter Wilkinson, McNamara Law managing director, called on Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman to clarify the phrase.

 

“We believe Parliament’s intention was to benefit victims but without defining that phrase we can’t see how a case will ever get around it,” Mr Wilkinson said.

 

Joshua Brown, senior associate at McNamara Law, said TRG’s case was submitted to the High Court as “a clear injustice”.

 

“But all a respondent needs to say is this all happened 30 years ago and it creates a prejudiced defence,” Mr Brown said.

 

He said the High Court finding “demonstrates the underlying flaw and failure in the Queensland legislation”.

 

The Brisbane Grammar board of trustees submitted to the High Court that the school would suffer prejudice – that would not be “just and reasonable” – if TRG’s settlement agreement was set aside.

 

This was based on issues relating to the credibility of former headmaster Max Howell, who swore an affidavit in 2002 denying he knew of Lynch’s abuse.

 

Dr Howell, who died in 2011, was unavailable to test evidence referred to in the Royal Commission in which witnesses said he had explicitly been told of the abuse as early as 1980.

 

Brisbane Grammar School is also facing a $30 million lawsuit from David Welsh, who was abused by Kevin Lynch as a 15-year-old boy in 1985.

 

Commenting on the TRG case, headmaster Anthony Micallef said: “We acknowledge the decision of the High Court in this matter”.

 

“Since 2000, the school has openly acknowledged the abuse that occurred and the harm caused as a result,” Mr Micallef said.

 

“The school has worked to support those coming forward since that time, providing compensation, ongoing counselling, a direct personal response and other support.

 

“The school is committed to continuing to resolve matters with those who have experienced abuse, either directly or through the National Redress Scheme.”

 

A spokesperson for acting Attorney-General Mark Ryan said the 2016 amendments were introduced by the LNP.

 

“This Government will always put victims first, that’s why the Attorney-General has requested departmental advice about this matter.”

 

https://www.couriermail.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-qld/child-sex-victim-fails-to-reopen-damages-claim-against-elite-school/news-story/a035ac2d53750b2a87a8bc58d174aba0

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 1:03 a.m. No.13805067   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9872

NT News praised for Covid-19 vaccine front page

 

An Australian newspaper known for its witty front pages has pulled no punches with this simple message to unsure Aussies.

 

Natalie Brown - JUNE 1, 2021

 

The NT News has been praised for “doing the job for the Fed Gov” with its front page today, which calls on Territorians to “just get the damn jab”.

 

As Victoria battles its latest Covid-19 outbreak, a harsh spotlight has been thrown on Australia’s lagging vaccine rollout, and who’s to blame for the hesitancy that a huge portion of people are feeling about getting vaccinated – with a third of the population saying they don’t intend to.

 

“Firstly, I think we have been complacent,” Defence Minister Peter Dutton told the Today show last Friday, when challenged over the fact that only a million Australians have received the jab.

 

“If you’re living in London or New York at the moment and you’ve seen your 70-year-old next-door neighbour contract Covid and become very sick or die, if you’ve seen the devastation of thousands of people a week dying, then you’ve rushed out to get the vaccination, as a 60-or 70-year-old.

 

“Here in Australia, I think there is a level of complacency because people have said to themselves, ‘Well you know, it’s not here, we’re not at risk, we’re not going to get it, we’ll wait.’”

 

Mr Dutton said the outbreak in Victoria “is really a wake-up call to the general community that we need to get the complacency out of the way, have the vaccination, the risk is very low, the capacity for the health system to deal with any adverse reaction is quite remarkable”.

 

On its front page today, the NT News* echoed a similar sentiment, declaring: “The Covid-19 vaccines are safe. The health professionals say so. It’s time to end the scare campaigns. The outbreak happening down south is a reminder how quickly this virus can spread. Your family, friends, the Northern Territory and the rest of Australia needs you. So, if you’re eligible it’s time to … just get the damn jab.”

 

Under an image of the front page shared by ABC journalist Michael Rowland on Twitter, there was the typical anti-vax rhetoric – but also a significant level of praise for the publication’s blunt and efficient message.

 

“I think every paper in the country should run a version of the NT News on their front page,” one user wrote.

 

“NT News has really nailed the front page! Go get jabbed if you’re eligible!” wrote Labor MP Peter Khalil.

 

Others quipped that they’re “doing the job for the Fed Gov”, writing that “this is what we need, not [Greg] Hunt saying we can wait till the end of the year & maybe pick our vaccine of choice”.

 

“Underlying this is the big question. Why is there no federal campaign? Why the total silence from them?” another social media user said.

 

Others said they would get the vaccine if it were actually available – which has been another argument levelled at the Federal Government almost since Australia’s rollout began.

 

“Maybe it should read … Government fails to procure enough vaccines to immunise Australians. AstraZeneca isn’t suitable or recommend (sic) for everyone either, not enough Pfizer is the big issue,” one user wrote.

 

Labor MP Ed Husic said on last week’s Q+A that “there’s no sense of urgency” from the federal government to get Australians vaccinated”.

 

“We don’t have a mass information campaign urging people to go out and get the vaccination. Because our belief is that with the borders being closed, ‘She’ll be right’,” he said.

 

“That’s not a good public health strategy. We need to have a firm commitment out of the government to encourage people to get the vaccine.

 

“We need to get quarantine sorted out. We need to get the vaccine production and manufacturing here done. We need to get our act together.”

 

*NT News is owned by News Corp, the publisher of news.com.au

 

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/nt-news-praised-for-covid19-vaccine-front-page/news-story/df45bc1608fbda54f45ae185ea8461d7

 

https://twitter.com/PeterKhalilMP/status/1399475557792837633

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 1:34 a.m. No.13805129   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

>>13748711

Ben Roberts-Smith’s old comrade ordered to hand documents to media

 

Adam Cooper - June 1, 2021

 

A soldier who is to appear as a witness for Ben Roberts-Smith in a looming defamation trial must hand over documents related to his own involvement in a military inquiry that investigated alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

 

On Tuesday The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, which are being sued by Mr Roberts-Smith, were granted access to documents about an SAS soldier’s involvement in the inquiry by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, which probed the conduct of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, a highly decorated former SAS soldier, is suing the media outlets over reports he allegedly committed murder during deployments to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012 and that he allegedly punched the woman with whom he was having an affair in Canberra in 2018.

 

He denies the allegations and says the reports are defamatory because they portray him as a criminal.

 

The media will defend the claim using a truth defence at a defamation trial in the Federal Court starting on Monday and set to run up to eight weeks.

 

Among the allegations against Mr Roberts-Smith, the news outlets have reported he shot and killed an unarmed and detained Afghan man on Easter Sunday in 2009. The outlets allege his conduct that day constituted murder.

 

One of Mr Roberts-Smith’s then-colleagues, a soldier known as Person 35, is to give evidence in the defamation trial about what he saw and knew about that day.

 

In the countdown to the trial, Justice Wendy Abraham ruled on Tuesday that Person 35 must hand over documents related to his involvement in the inspector-general’s inquiry. The documents could include papers advising Person 35 that an adverse finding was found against him by Major-General Paul Brereton, who conducted the inquiry.

 

Person 35 opposed releasing his files to lawyers for the news outlets and argued they were not in the public interest.

 

Justice Abraham did not provide reasons for her orders.

 

The news outlets allege that after Mr Roberts-Smith shot and killed the Afghan man, Australian soldiers took the dead man’s prosthetic leg as a souvenir and then used the artificial limb as a drinking vessel. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have published photographs of Mr Roberts-Smith alongside Australian and US soldiers drinking from the prosthetic leg at a party at a coalition military base in southern Afghanistan in 2012.

 

The case will return to court on Wednesday for a directions hearing. The trial starts in Sydney on Monday, with Mr Roberts-Smith to be the first witness to give evidence.

 

If you are a current or former ADF member, or a relative, and need counselling or support, contact the Defence All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036 or Open Arms on 1800 011 046.

 

https://www1.defence.gov.au/adf-members-families/health-well-being/services-support-fighting-fit/need-help-now/all-hours-support-line

 

https://www.openarms.gov.au

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-s-old-comrade-ordered-to-hand-documents-to-media-20210601-p57wzl.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 1:43 a.m. No.13805144   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7098 >>9865

>>13764374

Chinese diplomat Wang Xining says he has no information on the secretive trial of Australian writer Yang Hengjun

 

Stephen Dziedzic - 1 June 2021

 

A senior Chinese diplomat in Canberra has admitted he has almost no information about the secretive trial of Australian writer Yang Hengjun.

 

Dr Yang is being tried for espionage in a closed court in Beijing.

 

But the former Chinese state security employee says he still has not been told which country he allegedly spied for, and has accused the Chinese government of persecuting him for championing democracy.

 

The Federal Government has also become increasingly frustrated after being blocked from Dr Yang's trial, with Australia's Ambassador to China Graham Fletcher labelling it a case of "arbitrary detention".

 

The ABC's Stan Grant raised Dr Yang's case with China's Deputy Head of Mission in Canberra, Wang Xining, during a wide-ranging interview which will air on the ABC later this evening on the first episode of "China Tonight."

 

Security agencies rarely share information widely within the Chinese system, and Mr Wang conceded the embassy had little information about what was going on.

 

"As a Chinese diplomat, I speak with what I'm offered from my headquarters. The embassy was not offered much detail because this is a case that concerns national secrets and national security," Mr Wang said.

 

The Deputy Head of Mission also said China's government would provide more details about the case when Dr Yang's trial was concluded.

 

"My government will offer a statement at the end of the judicial procedure. I don't think it's right for a diplomat to speak on no grounds and try to prophesise what the outcome will be," he said.

 

"It's a very strict, very systematic legal procedure."

 

Mr Wang also argued it was hypocritical for the Morrison government to demand more transparency from China when there was so much secrecy surrounding foreign interference cases in Australia.

 

"In the cases that pertain to national security in Australia I don't think it's transparent – even less transparent than the case you mentioned," he said.

 

Last month, the ABC revealed that security agencies are reassessing whether a Liberal party donor with ties to federal government MPs was engaging in foreign interference on behalf of the Chinese government.

 

Wang Xining also alluded to the contentious case of Wang Liqiang, who sought political protection in Australia after claiming to have worked as a Chinese intelligence operative.

 

"There are so many allegations of Chinese spies … which have no clear story at all. Even the case of Wang Liqiang became a fiasco," he said.

 

'Potential' to repair China-Australia relationship

 

The Deputy of Head of Mission fielded questions about the joint statement issued yesterday by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his New Zealand counterpart, which included criticisms of China's crackdowns in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

 

China's foreign ministry spokesman issued a stern rebuke on Monday evening, saying the accusations were "groundless" and saying Australia and New Zealand "should not target the interests of third parties, let alone be delineated by ideology."

 

But Wang Xining took a slightly less confrontational tack.

 

He said while China did not agree with the sections of the joint statement which "interfered" with China's sovereignty, the embassy was still intent on trying to improve the Australia-China relationship.

 

"We do value the relationship between China and the two countries, Australia and New Zealand. There is a vast potential for the countries to work together to overcome the difficulties posed by COVID-19 and the economic downturn," he said.

 

He again suggested that the federal government's China policy was being dictated by individual politicians — as well as security and defence agencies — deeply hostile to Beijing.

 

Mr Wang said Australia should "anchor" its China policy "on the basis of long-term interests, not sectoral interests or departmental ambitions, or the personal political ambitions of certain players."

 

There has been increasing anxiety in Canberra about the prospect of conflict in the Taiwan Strait, with Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo recently warning that free nations were "again hearing the beating drums" of war.

 

Wang Xining said China would "love to see peaceful reunification" but warned that the central government "cannot rule out other options to make our country reunified again."

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-01/wang-xining-yang-hengjun-china-australia/100182234

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 3:18 a.m. No.13805301   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5305 >>5319 >>9838

Department of Defence Tweet

 

Australia's largest warfighting exercise, #TalismanSabre, is back!

 

International forces will arrive gradually, ahead of the exercise commencing on 14 July 2021.

 

More info on #TS21 - http://bit. ly/TS21-Info-

 

https://www1.defence.gov.au/exercises/talisman-sabre-21

 

#YourADF

 

https://twitter.com/DeptDefence/status/1399635863965868042

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 3:21 a.m. No.13805305   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5309 >>9838

>>13805301

TalismanSabre Tweets

 

We are back!

 

International forces participating in #TalismanSabre will arrive into Australia throughout June and July for mandatory quarantine, ahead of the exercise!

 

#YourADF #TS21

 

https://twitter.com/TalismanSabre/status/1399635624806608896

 

 

#TalismanSabre is critical in maintaining #YourADF’s preparedness and combat readiness however due to #COVID19, #TS21 will look a bit different from previous years.

 

More information - http://bit. ly/TS21-ADF

 

https://news.defence.gov.au/media/media-releases/international-forces-arrive-ahead-exercise-talisman-sabre

 

https://twitter.com/TalismanSabre/status/1399635634759766022

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 3:24 a.m. No.13805309   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

>>13805305

Australian Government - Department of Defence

 

International forces to arrive ahead of Exercise Talisman Sabre

 

1 June 2021

 

International forces participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre, Australia’s largest bilateral training activity with the United States, will arrive into Australia throughout June and July.

 

Participating foreign military personnel from the United States, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom will undertake 14-days mandatory quarantine in approved Defence managed facilities. France, India and Indonesia will participate as observer nations.

 

Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Greg Bilton, said the scale of this year’s exercise will be reduced due to COVID-19, with around 17,000 personnel expected to participate.

 

“Around 1,800 foreign military personnel will arrive in Australia for this year’s exercise. We will also have part of the Marine Rotational Force – Darwin participating, as well as naval and air assets exercising exclusively off-shore,” Lieutenant General Bilton said.

 

“The ADF, together with our United States and visiting partner nations, are committed to delivering a safe exercise, not just for the personnel involved, but the community as well.

 

“The exercise is fundamental to our alliance with the United States and critical to maintaining ADF combat readiness.”

 

The exercise will take place at a range of Defence bases and non-Defence training areas, predominantly across central and northeast Queensland, but also off the east coast of Australia.

 

“Talisman Sabre would not be possible without the cooperation and ongoing support of the local community, councils, state authorities – including Chief Health Officers – and traditional owners,” Lieutenant General Bilton said.

 

“Defence will keep the public well-informed of planned activities and movements, implement COVIDSafe plans agreed to with the states and territories to mitigate the risks of COVID-19.”

 

With agreement from relevant state and territory authorities, the majority of international forces will quarantine in either Bladin Village in the Northern Territory or ADF managed hotels in Queensland. A small number will also quarantine in ADF managed hotels in New South Wales.

 

International forces will arrive gradually, in tranches of up to several hundred, from early June to mid-July. All international forces entering Australia will comply with mandatory quarantine and travel requirements. These include:

 

• Presenting a negative COVID-19 PCR test before departure to Australia;

 

• Mandatory 14-day quarantine in facilities approved by the relevant state or territory Chief Health Officer;

 

• COVID-19 testing on arrival and before exiting their mandatory 14-day quarantine period; and

 

• Daily health checks that include screening for COVID-19 symptoms.

 

No military member entering Australia will take the place of an Australian returning from overseas.

 

For more information on Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 visit: https://www1.defence.gov.au/exercises/talisman-sabre-21

 

Media note

 

The exercise will commence on 14 July 2021 with an opening ceremony at RAAF Base Amberley, with major events planned in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area and the Townsville region. The exercise will conclude on 31 July 2021.

 

Media interested in opportunities throughout Exercise Talisman Sabre are encouraged to register their interest and availability with Defence Media.

 

Vision is available at: https://innovatehub.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/mediahub/ElY9rYcCtaVDi0UoPtsv-Q4B5I5zHsyPfXHGViBq6TOg8g?e=a5SOl9

 

https://news.defence.gov.au/media/media-releases/international-forces-arrive-ahead-exercise-talisman-sabre

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 3:26 a.m. No.13805319   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

>>13805301

Exercise Talisman Sabre 21

 

TS21 is the largest bilateral combined training activity between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and United States (US) military

 

Welcome to Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 (TS21). Here you will learn about TS21, the importance of the exercise for preparing our military, and how we involve the community and protect the environment.

 

TS21 is the largest bilateral combined training activity between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and United States (US) military. It is designed to test our respective forces in planning and conducting Combined and Joint Task Force operations and improve the combat readiness and interoperability between Australian and US forces.

 

Occurring every two years, Talisman Sabre reflects the closeness of our alliance and strength of our enduring military relationship.

 

TS21 is the ninth iteration of the exercise and consists of a Field Training Exercise incorporating force preparation (logistic) activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvre, urban operations, air combat and maritime operations.

 

COVID-19

 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Defence is adjusting how it does business while still maintaining operational readiness. TS21 is critical to Defence maintaining that readiness.

 

Defence will work with relevant authorities to understand and develop safe COVID practices while still allowing the exercise to achieve its objectives. Any community engagement that occurs will follow relevant government requirements at the time.

 

Where will TS21 take place?

 

TS21 exercise activities are planned to occur in Queensland including in the Charters Towers region and ADF Townsville Field Training Area (TFTA); coastal locations including Bundaberg, Stanage Bay peninsular, ADF Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA), Mackay, Bowen, Proserpine, Ingham region, Lucinda, Forest Beach, ADF Cowley Beach Training Area (CBTA) and RAAF Scherger, as well as Evans Head in NSW.

 

Townsville will see increased military presence over this time, mainly at Lavarack Barracks and RAAF Townsville, and on the roads between there and Charters Towers.

 

When is it being held?

 

TS21 will run from late June to mid-August 2021, this time frame includes the initial surge of equipment and people and their subsequent departure after the exercise. Exercise activities will peak during 18-31 July 2021.

 

Lead up training will occur in Stanage Bay, SWBTA and the Townsville region prior to TS21. While that training is separate to TS21, please contact us if you have any questions and we will direct your question to the appropriate team to respond.

 

How are communities being involved?

 

The ADF has a long history of training and living in Queensland. For many it’s our home and where our families live.

 

Community engagement is already underway with GBRMPA, graziers, local government, communities and businesses, indigenous representatives and industry groups such as AgForce.

 

We really appreciate the very strong support shown for TS21.

 

It is important that as many interested parties as possible hear about the exercise and are encouraged to provide input. The TS21 website will be the central point of information. You can also contact us by sending a query via the Contact Us page. Media should call Defence Media on (02) 6127 1999 (24 hrs), Email: media@defence.gov.au

 

Environmental management

 

Defence takes all necessary steps to safeguard the environment during TS21. The ADF protects endangered species and marine mammals through a comprehensive framework of risk mitigation procedures developed after careful analysis of all Defence activities, ensuring it complies with relevant Queensland and Commonwealth legislation. Further information is on our Environmental Planning webpage.

 

https://www1.defence.gov.au/exercises/talisman-sabre-21

 

https://images.defence.gov.au/assets/Home/Search?Query=%3Fq%3Ds20191584&Type=NavAlbum&TabIndex=1&AlbumName=Talisman%20Sabre%202019

 

>Talisman Sabre

 

>MAGIC SWORD

 

https://qanon.pub/?q=Operation%20Specialists

 

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

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 1, 2021, 11:23 a.m. No.13807098   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13805144

China's population crisis, interview with Wang Xining, and the stand-up comedy scene | China Tonight

 

ABC News In-depth

 

Jun 1, 2021

 

FULL EPISODE - In this new series Stan Grant and Yvonne Yong take a fresh look at news and current affairs from inside China.

 

Stan interviews China’s Deputy Head of Mission, Wang Xining.

 

Plus Annie Louey checks out China's stand-up comedy scene and we take a close look at country's population crisis.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz5WIzppY-k

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 12:11 a.m. No.13811944   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1953 >>9872 >>9884

How it ends for the anti-vaxxers

 

JACK THE INSIDER (Peter Hoysted) - JUNE 2, 2021

 

1/2

 

On 10 March this year, the Kenyan newspaper, The Nation, reported “an African leader”was in a Nairobi hospital being treated for Covid-19 infection. Speculation arose that the leader in question was John Magufuli, the President of Tanzania who had last been seen in public on 27 February.

 

A week later, it was officially announced that Magufuli had died of heart failure. The Tanzanian Vice President, Samia Suluhu, made the announcement, saying Magufuli had suffered from heart problems for a decade. Those problems were later described as “chronic atrial fibrillation”, a condition known to cause an irregular and often accelerated heart rate. In an overwhelming number of cases, it is easily treated by a pharmacological response.

 

In May 2020, Magufuli had declared Tanzania free of Covid-19 after two weeks of national prayer. In an odd way he was right because the Tanzanian government had stopped publishing its Covid-19 infections and deaths despite lectures from the US State Department and the World Health Organisation. No Covid-19 data, no Covid-19.

 

Magufuli instructed the Tanzanian Army to conduct Covid-19 tests on goats, sheep, even pieces of fruit and claimed they had been found to be positive for Covid-19.

 

He sacked the head of the country’s national laboratory. It became a crime to distribute any information about Covid-19 that was not approved by his government. Magufuli denounced those who chose to wear masks.

 

And now Magufuli is dead. We’ll never know the exact cause of death but Magufuli was the world’s most politically prominent avowed anti-vaxxer, a national leader spruiking his own version of anti-vax misinformation.

 

In a speech three months before his death, Magufuli said, “Vaccinations are dangerous. If white people were able to come up with vaccinations, a vaccination for AIDS would have been found.” Instead, he urged traditional remedies including herbal treatments, witchcraft and soothsaying for an infectious disease he and his government maintained did not exist within Tanzanian borders.

 

The late Tanzanian President is decaying proof that sometimes life comes at you fast and can go away just as quickly.

 

It’s important to make the distinction between anti-vaxxers and the vaccine hesitant. The vaccine hesitant are those unsure, uncertain, perhaps sceptical of accelerated clinical trials. It’s OK to be hesitant. It’s OK to source as much information as one can but if you find yourself prowling the darker corners of the web where it is claimed the federal government along with governments around the world, are in the megadeath business-by-vaccine in order to turn the mountains of corpses into a form of bio-slurry to be used as crop fertiliser, you probably should take it down a notch.

 

An anti-vaxxer, however, is a person who spreads misinformation that seeks to deter people from receiving the vaccination. It has ceased to be about their own personal choices. They insist on telling others what they should do by force of propaganda and sometimes, by shouting at them.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 12:13 a.m. No.13811953   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13811944

 

2/2

 

I was reminded of this yesterday after a reader forwarded me a link to a video of a motley group of maskless anti-vaxxers who were filming at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, known colloquially as Jeff’s Shed after former Premier Jeff Kennett, during the lockdown late last week.

 

There they were mocking people standing in line to receive the vaccine and going so far as to shriek at them that they’d all be dead within three years.

 

One member of the group watched people emerge from Jeff’s Shed and pronounced them all “walking dead” and wished they could be identified in some way so she and those of her ilk could avoid their company. Vaccine passports perhaps?

 

This ramshackle collection of idiots also celebrated as they saw a woman scuttle away from the long queue. Perhaps she had forgotten her car keys or her phone. But the anti-vaxxers pronounced her “converted.”

 

Frightening people about to receive a needle is just one of their nasty methods.

 

The good news is, the anti-vaxxers’ days are numbered. Once the roll out of vaccines occurs around the world and in this country, as slow as it has been, there will come a time where the world must return to a kind of pre-Covid-19 normal.

 

Let’s attempt to peer into the future, perhaps as far away as early next year where hopefully, large numbers of the population are vaccinated. International departures and arrivals will recommence, quarantine requirements for vaccinated people entering the country will be lifted. Certain parts of the world will be safer than others, driven by high rates of vaccination – the US and the UK for example. There may well be red zones where quarantine remains a requirement.

 

Covid-19 and its variants will still exist. For a period at least after international borders are reopened, Covid-19 infections will rise. Those vaccinated may suffer infection but even with variants, the protection the vaccinated have will ensure they will not be hospitalised or suffer serious illness.

 

Where does that leave anti-vaxxers, many of whom it must be said are on the wrong side of their middle years and are more vulnerable to serious illness and death, post-infection chronic conditions, including loss of cognitive function, renal disorders and heart and respiratory conditions?

 

If I can be allowed to stretch my stint at the crystal ball just a moment or two longer, I’m going to predict that a good few will pop on their baseball caps and sunglasses and head off to medical clinics to have a trained medical professional inject them with a Covid-19 vaccination. Sleeves will be rolled down and firmly buttoned before they return to their keyboards, preach their nonsense on the ever diminishing social media platforms that permit their garbage, dripping in hypocrisy, the ultimate pandemic lie.

 

I am confident of that particular prognostication because your common or street anti-vaxxer loves the notoriety, the attention, the sense of identity they have carefully nurtured through the pandemic, the friends they made along the way as Q poster, Ron Watkins wrote when he walked away from the QAnon conspiracy.

 

For all that deceit, they will be the smart ones among their movement. Those who continue to stick to their guns are going to go out feet first, the Magufuli way.

 

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/how-it-ends-for-the-antivaxxers/news-story/4d0d82da9c9b49541267485a5a1b1254

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 12:56 a.m. No.13812104   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2113 >>9877

Jimmy Patsan: The three women who brought a paedophile to justice

 

They are strong, resilient and brave. They also had to show eight years of debilitating patience to finally being their abuser to justice.

 

Dan Proudman - May 30, 2021

 

1/2

 

The sisters only knew of her as Nina and that she was older. But there was no surname, no description and absolutely no contact.

 

But they could already feel the strength of the bond they had with this stranger. Unbreakable. As thick as blood.

 

And now, on this Friday night nearly eight years after first hearing her name, siblings Naomi Gwyn and Lauren Burrows are walking into an otherwise nondescript Indian restaurant in suburban Newcastle to meet their “hero’’.

 

Nina Kiriakidis and her family are already there. As were the huge bunches of flowers and presents wrapped specifically for her guests.

 

“It was more than magical, it was amazing,’’ Lauren says.

 

“To see this soul that we so desperately wanted to meet for years. And to finally lay eyes on her and just get to hug her and look at the face of somebody who completely understands everything that I have been through even though I have never met.

 

“It was amazing. Sisters for life.’’

 

What was just as amazing was the journey on which these three women had travelled. Many times so personal and lonely, they had now arrived at the destination together.

 

All had been victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Dimitrios Patsantzopolous, a local barber and church member known around the place as Jimmy Patsan.

 

Nina, now aged 53, was just eight when the abuse started in 1976 and continued for four years.

 

Patsan was a neighbour and father of her best friend. She was abused at Patsan’s house which her mother thought was a refuge for her children as she worked late.

 

Naomi, now 39, and Lauren, now 36, were preyed on by Patsan between 1990 and 1992 after he started a relationship with their mother. Naomi was aged nine when it began, Lauren was just six.

 

Bravely, all three women want their stories told. Not just of the decades of silent horror that followed their every step, but of the resilience, strength and bravery that has got them to today.

 

And that includes eight soul-sapping years of a police investigation and court proceedings, where Patsan’s lawyers had argued his medical condition left him unable to properly advise them before a judge found nine counts of child abuse proven.

 

Patsan, now in his 80s, will be formally sentenced next month.

 

“I will describe it as eight years of sheer spiritual, emotional, mental and physical terror,’’ Nina says.

 

“I’ve often thought would I do this again.

 

“I’ve had conflicting and fleeting thoughts but always one constant thought – I owe this to these two young victims who are seeking forced accountability for his inhuman sexual urges and I owe it to humanity to prevent and potentially reduce this criminal behaviour for future generations and, of course, I owe it to my little self.

 

“So for what it’s worth, and regardless of the price that I have paid for this process, my answer will be yes, I would do it again.’’

 

And the sisters would too. Despite knowing what each other had gone through, the sisters could not talk about it for fear that Patsan’s defence team would suggest collusion.

 

That’s eight years without an opportunity to speak with your sister about something so painful and personal.

 

But when the charges were proven in the special hearing, Naomi says there was a moment as she drove home to her family property at Gilgandra, in central west NSW, that will stay with her forever.

 

She was alone in the car, but she could feel the presence of a young girl. That girl was her from 30 years ago.

 

“It was a very real experience for me driving home and picturing this little girl sitting in the passenger seat with a huge smile on her face, just cheering about the fact that we did it,’’ Naomi says.

 

“It was so real and it felt so good because I gave this poor child that was so innocent, a voice and it was heard. It may have taken 30 years but it happened.’’

 

“For any other victims who may want to pursue something, honestly we are very emotionally crippled, we always have been.

 

“But if we had the courage, strength and tenacity to be able to sit through this and do it, other people can.

 

“You just need fight and you do it for yourself, and if you are not doing it for yourself, do it for the child that you were prior to this.’’

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 12:59 a.m. No.13812113   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13812104

 

2/2

 

But as supportive as the women are about others coming forward to find their own justice, they do warn that the road is long and tough.

 

They have all suffered greatly, both mentally and physically.

 

“For myself, and we all suffered with complex PTSD. I fell victim to patterns of addiction,’’ Naomi says.

 

“I have gone through eating disorders, I have huge anxiety, I am constantly searching for acceptance from people and that is because your confidence is shattered from when you are younger or you feel as though you feel the need to reach out that it is OK, I like you.’’

 

Lauren’s journey was possibly even tougher. Along with her PTSD and anxiety, she began to fall into catatonic states, where she could not move or talk. They became a daily occurrence and she became dependant on alcohol in a bid to control it.

 

And Nina just had to battle on by herself. She would drop the kids off at school and go home to curl up in a foetal position until it was time to pick them up.

 

“I am of above average intelligence and yet have been unable to reach my full potential as a human because something was broken and has never been repaired,’’ she says.

 

“Vital connections were stunted, my childhood was severed at the roots – I had something precious stolen from me.’’

 

All three women continued their personal battles until 2013, when Lauren went to the police. Naomi wasn’t ready to give a statement and the detectives were short of enough evidence to charge Patsan.

 

Lauren visited the local Greek Orthodox church, where she had seen Patsan almost a decade before, to warn them he had abused her.

 

She was told she wasn’t alone. And it was the first time she had heard Nina’s name. The church representative urged her to go to the police.

 

Naomi, who was pregnant in 2013 when her sister gave her first police statement, had decided she needed to prioritise her young children first.

 

“It was very confronting to know that if we weren’t alone in this, then who else,’’ Naomi says.

 

“And that is a lot to take in, and there is a lot of guilt as well. A lot of guilt.

 

“Lauren and I had spoken about it on a number of occasions, in the respect of we knew he was so involved in the community so how many other children did he have access to.’’

 

Both Naomi and Nina decided to give their statements in 2016 and Patsan was charged not long afterwards.

 

And even with the charges proven and him awaiting sentence, the triggers continue.

 

Nina’s family own a business in the busy Beaumont Street in Hamilton. Patsan hasn’t stopped getting out.

 

“To this day, even after the trial was taken to a special hearing because of his dementia, and even after being convicted, Jim still continues to antagonise me with his presence,’’ she says.

 

“He has been well enough to be socialising at the cafe across from my business on multiple occasions.

 

“He still has the audacity to try and trigger me with his predatory presence.

 

“I feel vulnerable and unprotected again, as do my family and staff who work in the business, knowing this man is close by and is a convicted predator who has no shame in showing his face.’’

 

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-newcastle-news/jimmy-patsan-the-three-women-who-brought-a-paedophile-to-justice/news-story/f1aae6ef286eead2d300331508736d7b

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 1:06 a.m. No.13812141   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

>>13748711

War crimes investigators to monitor Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial

 

Harriet Alexander - June 1, 2021

 

Investigators probing alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan will monitor the defamation case brought by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith against The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald for any material that might assist in a potential criminal prosecution against the war hero.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment soldier, is suing the media outlets over reports that he says accused him of murder during his 2009 to 2012 tour of Afghanistan. The trial is due to begin on Monday.

 

The Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator, which was established in January to examine the findings of the Brereton inquiry into allegations of war crimes, discussed the benefits and disadvantages of the defamation trial going ahead, according to sources who were not permitted to comment publicly.

 

They formed the view that the defamation trial could yield invaluable evidence for any future criminal prosecution against Mr Roberts-Smith or any other soldier, the sources said.

 

In late May 2018 the federal police launched two separate war crimes investigations into Mr Roberts-Smith, both of which have submitted briefs of evidence to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide whether charges should be laid.

 

The Brereton inquiry was a fact-finding exercise that gave witnesses immunity in that their testimony could not be used against them in a criminal trial but could be used against others.

 

Sources who are not authorised to speak publicly said this meant that some of the evidence from the Brereton inquiry was inadmissable, but the Federal Court defamation trial could be plumbed for first-hand witnesses to alleged war crimes and evidence not otherwise available to the Office of the Special Investigator.

 

Investigations are likely to be impeded by the closure of the Australian embassy in Kabul. OSI director-general Chris Moraitis told a Senate estimates hearing last week that the decision to close the embassy made it more difficult to gain access to witnesses in Afghanistan while preparing the brief of evidence.

 

Several witnesses appearing for Mr Roberts-Smith have been served “potentially affected persons” notices to indicate that they are under investigation, raising the prospect they might incriminate themselves by giving evidence.

 

They will have the opportunity to ask for a certificate as they appear to prevent their evidence being used against them in any future criminal proceedings. A certificate would be granted at the discretion of the judge.

 

But the witnesses need to assert that their own evidence may tend to prove that they have committed an offence, otherwise they will have no reason to ask for a certificate. The AFP and the Special Investigator will then be able to use the statements given by those soldiers in the Federal Court to inform future investigations.

 

The AFP and the Special Investigator will also be able to consider any discrepancies between what witnesses told the Brereton inquiry and what they told the Federal Court, and if they exist, potentially charge people with perjury.

 

Civil trials are often stayed in order to avoid prejudicing upcoming criminal trials. Actor Craig McLachlan’s defamation action against the ABC, Fairfax (now Nine) and an actor was stayed in 2019 until the completion of criminal proceedings against him. He was found not guilty last year.

 

In a separate Victorian case this year, a man involved in criminal proceedings appealed his conviction on the basis that part of the case against him had been taken from the evidence he gave in civil proceedings, which he would not have given had he known he was under investigation.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith launched his defamation action in April 2018, more than two years before the Special Investigator was appointed and before an investigation into allegations that he intimidated war crimes victims had begun.

 

He is unlikely to apply for an immunity certificate because he brought the defamation action and he denies having committed a criminal offence.

 

A spokesperson for the Office of the Special Investigator said the defamation proceedings were a private matter between the parties.

 

The AFP declined to comment.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/war-crimes-investigators-to-monitor-ben-roberts-smith-defamation-trial-20210601-p57x3l.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 1:10 a.m. No.13812152   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

>>13748711

National security concerns likely to keep Ben Roberts-Smith trial offline

 

Harriet Alexander - June 2, 2021

 

The judge overseeing the defamation action brought by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith over war crimes allegations said he was inclined not to allow live streaming of the trial to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of national security information.

 

Justice Anthony Besanko told parties to the trial, which is due to commence in the Federal Court on Monday, that he was concerned sensitive material could find its way into the public domain if it was live streamed, even though the Commonwealth had indicated it was not opposed and the parties are in favour of live streaming.

 

“But that risk seems to me to be one that needs to be taken into account,” Justice Besanko said.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, a decorated war veteran, is suing The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Canberra Times and three journalists over a series of articles about his 2009 to 2012 tour of Afghanistan that he says portrayed him as a murderer, war criminal and perpetrator of domestic violence. The publications are relying on a truth defence.

 

Whether or not the trial is live streamed, the Sydney courtroom will be open to the public. Justice Besanko said alternatives to the live stream included a delayed recording stream or a recording that was published subject to appropriate editing.

 

The trial is expected to run for 10 weeks, with both sides calling multiple SAS soldiers. Justice Besanko was told at an interlocutory hearing on Wednesday morning that the cross-examination of witnesses was expected to take weeks.

 

The court may also need to rely on an interpreter based in Canada to overcome the difficulty in obtaining a qualified local interpreter for the Afghan witnesses.

 

Last week the media outlets dropped one element of their truth defence, related to the alleged killing of an unarmed Afghan, constituting murder, but they are seeking to prove that Mr Roberts-Smith killed that unarmed man, and six other murders.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Matthew Richardson, said he would seek aggravated damages in relation to the claim about the unarmed Afghan due to the lack of fundamental evidence for it.

 

The court also heard that the publications’ legal representatives had still not been granted access to material contained on USB sticks that were relevant to the trial, including photographs of soldiers drinking from a prosthetic leg that belonged to a man alleged to have been unlawfully killed.

 

A previous hearing heard Mr Roberts-Smith had condensed the material onto one USB and transferred it to his laptop, which he subsequently wiped.

 

Mr Richardson said the publications had access to those documents anyway because the USBs had been provided to them by Mr Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife.

 

But Lyndelle Barnett, acting for the newspapers, said that only one of her clients had possession of the material and he was prevented from giving it to his lawyers under National Security Information legislation.

 

“We don’t have the material on the USBs and … my client did not receive them from the applicant’s ex-wife,” Ms Barnett said.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/national-security-concerns-likely-to-keep-ben-roberts-smith-trial-offline-20210602-p57xbu.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 1:13 a.m. No.13812169   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

Scott Morrison and US President Joe Biden likely to meet at G7-plus next week

 

Stephen Dziedzic - 2 June 2021

 

Scott Morrison is likely to hold his first in-person meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7-plus meeting in the United Kingdom next week.

 

The Prime Minister is also hoping to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in at the gathering of world leaders in Cornwall.

 

The G7 is made up of major developed democracies — the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Italy — but is being expanded this year to include leaders from India, South Korea and Australia.

 

The meeting is likely to focus on tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic recovery, as well as coordinating efforts to push back against increasingly aggressive behaviour by China and Russia.

 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also wants to use the summit to press developed countries to ratchet up their commitments to slash carbon emissions.

 

After the G7-plus summit, Mr Morrison will hold meetings with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London and with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

 

Both the United Kingdom and Australia had been hoping to use the meeting to announce a free trade deal, but some sticking points remain, particularly over agricultural exports.

 

The federal government has been signalling it is unlikely to back down, and believes the United Kingdom needs to strike a deal in order to burnish its free trade credentials in the wake of Brexit.

 

In Paris, the Prime Minister is expected to press President Macron about the troubled $90 billion future submarines program being run by the French company Naval Group.

 

Earlier today, the Defence Force confirmed it was canvassing alternative options in the wake of multiple cost blowouts and delays.

 

On the way to Europe, Mr Morrison will also stop by Singapore where he will meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

 

The two leaders are expected to discuss regional security and the possibility of opening a "travel bubble" between the two countries.

 

The government wants to expand quarantine-free travel beyond New Zealand when it's safe to do so, and Singapore — which has largely handled the virus well and has a robust health system — has repeatedly been nominated as a top option.

 

But a recent COVID-19 outbreak in the South-East Asian nation, as well as the resurgence of the virus in Melbourne, means that prospect is now more distant.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-02/scott-morrison-joe-biden-meeting-g7/100184648

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 11:34 a.m. No.13814754   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9872

>>13779177

Bombshell emails over what Anthony Fauci knew

 

NICHOLAS JENSEN - JUNE 2, 2021

 

America’s top medical adviser Anthony Fauci was informed as early as February 2020 that Covid-19 exhibited unusual viral characteristics which could have potentially been engineered in a lab, according to emails published.

 

A trove of private correspondence, obtained by The Washington Post and Buzzfeed, reveal some of the crucial moments leading up to the pandemic in early 2020 when Dr Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, sought urgent information regarding the nature and origins of Covid-19.

 

Dr Fauci, who led the US response to the outbreak, previously rejected claims that Covid-19 leaked from a laboratory setting, but reversed his position in May, admitting that he was “not convinced” the virus had developed naturally and more needed to be done to investigate its precise origins. In one email from Kristian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in California, Dr Fauci was told that Dr Andersen and his fellow scientists had to “look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered”.

 

The email dated February 1, 2020 said Mr Andersen and three other respected colleagues had discovered a genome “inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory”.

 

Dr Andersen, despite his email, later authored a paper published by the Nature which concluded that he did not believe “any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible”.

 

In another email from that same day, Dr Fauci wrote to his deputy at the NIAID, Hugh Auchincloss, attaching a 2015 research paper which described the so-called “gain-of-function research on coronaviruses”, which is designed to make them more deadly and transmissible.

 

Dr Fauci, who has repeatedly denied involvement in gain-of-function research, wrote: “Hugh, it is essential that we speak this AM … Read this paper … you will have tasks today that must be done.”

 

Dr Auchincloss replied: “The paper you sent me says the experiments were performed before the gain of function pause but have since been reviewed and approved by (the US National Institutes of Health) … will try to determine if we have any distant ties to this work abroad”.

 

The Australian last week reported that Dr Fauci had previously supported the contentious gain-of-function experiments, which some virologists suspect might have led Covid-19 to inadvertently escape from a Wuhan laboratory.

 

In March 2020, Dr Fauci also corresponded with Chinese Centre for Disease Control director George Gao, after then Donald Trump blamed China for the outbreak of the virus.

 

Dr Fauci wrote to Dr Gao saying there are “crazy people in this world”, adding they would both “get through this together”.

 

Dr Gao also apologised to Dr Fauci for criticising the US for not wearing masks, describing it as a “big mistake”.

 

“How could I say such a word ‘big mistake’ about others?,” Dr Gao wrote.

 

“That was journalist’s wording. Hope you understand … Lets work together to get the virus out of the earth.”

 

Dr Fauci responded, saying “I understand completely. No problem. We will get through this together.”

 

Weeks later, as Dr Fauci faced mounting criticism for his handling of the pandemic, Dr Gao wrote to him again. “I saw some news (hope it is fake) that you are being attacked by some people.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/science/bombshell-emails-over-what-anthony-fauci-knew/news-story/39c108c393a660b85dce452e4eb4a6b3

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/tony-fauci-emails/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 2, 2021, 11:51 p.m. No.13818968   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2172 >>6637 >>6647 >>6675 >>7112 >>2718 >>0854 >>8071 >>8080 >>8083 >>8087 >>5340 >>3702 >>8968 >>9396 >>2165 >>2382 >>7315 >>7330 >>7427 >>7463 >>7476 >>7510 >>7531 >>7563 >>7837 >>0760 >>5261 >>5294 >>2171 >>2180 >>9518 >>6516 >>9256 >>9269 >>9884

ABC bosses pull Four Corners episode linking PM to QAnon figure

 

Zoe Samios - June 3, 2021

 

ABC management has pulled an upcoming Four Corners episode about the relationship between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, a decision that could be seen as an attempt to dampen tensions between the national broadcaster and federal government.

 

The episode was expected to run this Monday following weeks of delays, but staff have since been informed it will not go to air following a decision by managing director David Anderson. The decision comes just days after Industry Minister Christian Porter decided to drop his defamation action against action the ABC over its reporting of a historical rape allegation.

 

Multiple ABC sources told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age the episode was pulled after news director Gaven Morris failed to give it the seal of approval and referred it to Mr Anderson. However, the sources said the story did receive approval from legal and head of investigations, John Lyons. An ABC spokesperson said it does not comment on upcoming Four Corners episodes.

 

“All ABC content is subject to the same rigorous editorial decision making processes before being published,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The decision to publish is only made once all requirements, including editorial and legal requirements, have been met and it is appropriate to do so.”

 

Mr Porter dropped his defamation action against the ABC over its reporting of a historical rape allegation against him on Monday, but the settlement deal was followed by an exchange of barbs between the parties as they disputed the details. Mr Porter strenuously denies the allegations.

 

Mr Anderson is expected to appear before a parliamentary committee next week to face questions about the settlement of a defamation case brought by Mr Porter.

 

Board director Joseph Gersh said earlier today editorial decisions were made by the editor-in-chief, editorial staff, and managing director, Mr Anderson.

 

He said he would have preferred rape allegations against Industry Minister Christian Porter were never made but asserted it was the national broadcaster’s responsibility to hold the powerful to account.

 

“The ABC has to be frank and fearless in what it does, in holding those in power to account and it has to do so consistently with its charter and editorial policies, and the board can’t interfere,” Mr Gersh said. “Would I prefer a world in which these allegations were never made? Yes. But that’s not my choice. And nor is it my role as a board member to stop the ABC acting professionally in the pursuit of its obligations to the public.”

 

The Qanon conspiracy theory centres on discredited claims about an international paedophile ring involving politicians and celebrities.

 

The Guardian reported in 2019 that a family friend of the Prime Minister is a key follower of the movement.

 

More to come

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abc-bosses-pull-four-corners-episode-linking-pm-to-qanon-figure-20210603-p57xuk.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 12:56 a.m. No.13819175   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876 >>9877

Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail for fifth time

 

Ben Feuerherd - June 2, 2021

 

Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to be released on bail pending trial on sex-trafficking charges was shot down — for a fifth time — Wednesday, according to a new court filing.

 

The jailed British socialite’s request was denied in a one-page order issued by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, court documents show.

 

The appeals court also rejected her bid for a district court hearing about the conditions she’s been living under at a Brooklyn lockup, where she’s been cooling her heels since her arrest last July.

 

Maxwell has repeatedly argued to be released on bail to the judge presiding over her criminal case in Manhattan federal court — and been denied three times.

 

Her lawyers also previously appealed to the 2nd Circuit in April, arguing she’s being unfairly punished because officials from the federal Bureau of Prisons let her alleged cohort, Jeffrey Epstein, kill himself and escape justice. She was denied that appeal as well.

 

Maxwell, the daughter of late disgraced media titan Robert Maxwell, has complained about conditions she faces at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in a number of letters to Judge Alison Nathan.

 

She claims guards awaken her every 15 minutes at night by shining a flashlight in her face during checkups. Maxwell is forced to sleep with a sock over her face to block the light, her lawyers have argued.

 

Maxwell is accused of procuring four girls for Epstein to abuse in the 1990s and early 2000s and also charged with lying under oath. She has pleaded not guilty and maintains her innocence.

 

In a statement Wednesday, her attorney David Oscar Markus said she’s being punished for the “Epstein effect.”

 

“MDC is a complete disaster. Numerous judges have recognized how inhumane it is. And Ghislaine Maxwell is subjected to more grueling conditions than any other inmate there — even waking her up every 15 minutes at night, making it impossible for her to sleep or prepare for trial,” Markus said in an email.

 

“We all know the truth — this is due to the Epstein effect. Because Epstein died on the jail’s watch, it has decided to torture Ghislaine. That’s wrong,” he added.

 

https://nypost.com/2021/06/02/ghislaine-maxwell-denied-bail-for-fifth-time/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 1:09 a.m. No.13819231   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7063

Ex-priest and Labor Party figure Peter Andrew Hansen faces sentencing for possessing child abuse material

 

HEATH PARKES-HUPTON - JUNE 3, 2021

 

WARNING: Disturbing content

 

An ex-Sydney Labor Party figure and Catholic priest told a mystery friend he liked to “keep the camera busy” as he sexually exploited young boys while on depraved holidays in Southeast Asia.

 

Peter Andrew Hansen faces sentence in the NSW District Court after pleading guilty to 31 charges, including sexual intercourse with a child and 15 counts of producing child abuse material, after his vile work was uncovered in 2018.

 

The former lawyer confessed to filming and assaulting young boys aged between 10 and 14 for his own sexual gratification while overseas, with the earliest of his raft of offences coming in 2014.

 

On Thursday the court was told Hansen, now 63, sexually abused nine different children and photographed and filmed several others during trips to Vietnam and the Philippines over four years.

 

Judge James Bennett read perverted online exchanges Hansen had with a person dubbed “Maliboy Hornbag”, during which they rated their sick images and complained of the prices for meeting up with kids.

 

In one exchange Hansen, the Labor Party’s former Cabramatta branch president, sent two pictures of naked boys to the mystery man and asked, “Did you like the two in the garden?”

 

The one-time Fairfield Council candidate went on to say he “hope(d) to keep the camera busy” during his next meeting with children.

 

“I am still thinking how I can milk the max out of my poolside weekend,” Hansen wrote.

 

Hansen also discussed how much he paid to spend time with the boys, revealing that he bought them “stunning” striped Bonds underpants as gifts from Woolworths.

 

“Most get 250/300 (pesos) and a gift plus an outing and food,” he said.

 

“Outstanding performers and those I really like I might pump up to 500 but that’s the absolute limit.”

 

In another message he bragged that his position as a “businessman” meant the frequent trips to Asia would not be seen as suspicious.

 

Judge Bennett said the “abhorrent nature of the commentary” in the messages “illuminate the attitude of the offender … toward the egregious misconduct on which he is to be sentenced here today”.

 

The court was told Hansen organised for boys to be sent to the hotels where he was staying. He would let them swim in the pool before taking them to his room to photograph and perform sex acts on the children.

 

Judge Bennett, reading the agreed facts tendered to the court, said Hansen “talked dirty” to at least one of his victims as he sexually assaulted the boy.

 

Hansen was arrested on his arrival from Singapore into Sydney on October 6, 2018, after Australian authorities were tipped off about his predatory conduct.

 

Among the 100,000 files Australian Federal Police discovered on his electronic devices were videos and pictures of young boys lying naked on beds or in bathtubs, sometimes in groups or masturbating.

 

Some of the material had been downloaded as early as 2008 and as recently as 2018. It was all meticulously filed under categories specifying where the material was filmed, what child was shown and acts depicted.

 

At a sentencing hearing in February, Hansen told the court he was “ashamed” of himself, saying he had fallen short of his own standards.

 

“I didn’t only exploit their age, I exploited the fact they came from a poor Asian country,” he said.

 

Hansen, who has been in custody since his arrest, served as a Catholic priest in the Melbourne Archdiocese between 1996 and 2011.

 

Hansen’s sentencing continues.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/expriest-and-labor-party-figure-peter-andrew-hansen-faces-sentencing-for-possessing-child-abuse-material/news-story/94b9d78d332f8ebad845ef8a65e7ae4d

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 1:15 a.m. No.13819262   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

>>13748711

Ben Roberts-Smith's lawyers say ex-wife leaked photos of soldiers drinking from prosthetic leg

 

Jamelle Wells - 2 June 2021

 

Lawyers for Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith have told the Federal Court his former wife leaked photos of soldiers drinking out of a prosthetic leg to the media.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing Nine owned newspapers, which include The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, over stories that allege he committed war crimes in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012 and punched a woman in the face in Canberra in 2018.

 

In a high-profile trial due to open Monday, the newspapers will rely on truth as a defence.

 

One of the barristers on Mr Roberts-Smith's legal team, Matthew Richardson, told a pre-trial hearing the team was still going through various images on USB drives that were part of the case.

 

Nine has alleged in court the drives contain images of soldiers drinking from the prosthetic leg of a dead Afghan man and that the drives were found buried in Mr Roberts-Smith's yard.

 

After the court heard the legal teams for the newspapers still didn't have access to the USB drives, Mr Richardson said Mr Roberts-Smith's ex-wife, Emma Roberts, leaked the images to the media.

 

He said the images of the prosthetic leg won't all be processed by the time the trial opens because it is an "onerous" task.

 

One of the lawyers acting for the newspapers, Lyndelle Barnett, disputed his claim, saying her clients did not have the material and did not receive it from Ms Roberts-Smith.

 

Ms Barnett said only one of her clients had the information being discussed but could not hand it over to lawyers due to national security laws.

 

Justice Anthony Besanko said the court would be open to the public for the trial but proceedings were unlikely to be live-streamed as there was a risk of disclosing national security information.

 

"My present inclination is not to," he said.

 

"That risk seems to be one that needs to be taken into account."

 

The court heard the opening address by Mr Roberts-Smith's chief barrister Bruce McClintock SC would run for two to three days.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith will be the first witness and his evidence is likely to take four days.

 

The trial is expected to run for up to 10 weeks.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-02/ben-roberts-smith-ex-wife-leaked-photos-court-hears/100186212

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 1:18 a.m. No.13819270   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

>>13748711

Ben Roberts-Smith ‘extremely paranoid and obsessive’ over inquiry, courts hears

 

MAX MADDISON and KIERAN GAIR - JUNE 3, 2021

 

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith became ­“extremely paranoid and obsessive” after Nine Entertainment published allegations he had committed war crimes while serving in Afghanistan, a court has heard.

 

In a Federal Court judgment on Wednesday, judge Anthony Besanko said the war hero’s ex-wife, Emma Roberts, asked her former husband to “seek professional help” to address concerns about his alleged “excessive” drinking, anxiety and depression.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, is suing Nine newspapers the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age for defamation over a series of reports published in 2018, which he says portrayed him as a murderous war criminal during his time as a Special Air Service soldier in ­Afghanistan in 2009-12.

 

The decorated veteran has ­denied the allegations, while Nine has indicated it will defend the ­allegations using a truth defence when the matter goes to trial in Sydney on June 7.

 

The court heard allegations that Ms Roberts, who will give evidence on behalf of Nine, had leaked hundreds of images of soldiers drinking out of a prosthetic leg to the press.

 

The evidence from Ms Roberts is related to her deposition with the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, as part of a wider military inquiry conducted by Major-General Paul Brereton.

 

“She states that following the commencement of the Inspector-General’s investigation, the applicant became, at times, erratic and suffered from mood swings,” the judgment reads.

 

“According to Ms Roberts, these circumstances coincided with an increased consumption of alcohol by the applicant on a nightly basis when he was in her presence.”

 

“The applicant asked his friend, an ex-army doctor, Dr (Parbodh) Gogna, to prescribe him beta blockers for excessive alcohol usage, anxiety and depression … Ms Roberts refers to the applicant’s behaviour when intoxicated. I need not set out the details.”

 

The judgment details how the pair sought counselling at the Psychology Cafe from October 2017 through till the end of 2018. Nine alleges Mr Robert-Smith’s assault of his mistress, who will be ­referred to in the trial as Person 17, took place in March 2018.

 

While psychiatrist Robi Sonderegger, who the subpoena was directed to, was not their counsellor, he holds the files for Psychology Cafe. Ms Roberts’s credibility as a witness is expected to be challenged by her former husband’s lawyers, who have previously said they will put to her that she is a liar during cross-examination.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith’s lawyers had sought to exclude this evidence being presented, but Justice Besanko dismissed the request, saying the documents were relevant due to their ability to ­address the alleged separation of the couple and Mr Roberts-Smith’s affair.

 

However, he did agree with Mr Roberts-Smith’s lawyers that the class of documents relating to Dr Gogna’s subpoena was “too wide” and extended to “irrelevant medical information”.

 

“There are unlikely to be documents in the medical file which are relevant to Dr Gogna’s proposed evidence as to the applicant’s character or the identification of him in the articles,” he said.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/ben-robertssmith-extremely-paranoid-and-obsessive-over-inquiry-courts-hears/news-story/58f70edfc8827b6eb1178169d9234281

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 1:30 a.m. No.13819311   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

>>13773516

Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet

 

Honoured and delighted to catch up with Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP at Australian Minerals Industry Parliamentary Dinner. Expressed my gratitude for #AussieSpirit being the first team to arrive in (Japan) ahead of @Tokyo2020.

@SoftballOz

 

https://twitter.com/YamagamiShingo/status/1400351645792276483

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 1:49 a.m. No.13819343   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post

 

2 June 2021

 

Exercise Crocodile Response 2021

 

The 1st exercise of Marine Rotational Force - Darwin's 10th itteration kicked off on May 25th!

 

U.S. Marines, Sailors, Australian Defence Force, the U.S Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and Australia's Department of Foriegn Affairs and Trade conducted Exercise Crocodile Response 2021, demonstrating our shared ability to provide disaster relief to nations in the Indo-Pacific region.

 

(U.S. Marine Corps video by Cpl. Sarah E. Taggett)

 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4167781269977808&id=410608095695163

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 11:48 a.m. No.13822172   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13818968

ABC managing director David Anderson blocks Four Corners episode

 

JAMES MADDEN - JUNE 3, 2021

 

A Four Corners episode about an alleged association between Scott Morrison and a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory has been delayed by ABC managing director David Anderson on the grounds it failed to meet “editorial and legal requirements”.

 

The Four Corners story by reporter Louise Milligan was slated to air next Monday. But Mr Anderson refused to approve the program after it was “upwardly referred” to him by news director Gaven Morris, according to a report in Nine newspapers on Thursday.

 

The timing of Mr Anderson’s decision is noteworthy — he is due to appear before Senate Estimates next Monday to face further questions about the defamation case brought by Industry Minister Christian Porter against the ABC.

 

The defamation case, which dealt with the ABC’s publication of historical rape allegations against Mr Porter, is expected to be discontinued after the parties agreed to terms on Monday.

 

But as The Australian has reported, tensions between Mr Porter and the ABC were further inflamed when Milligan and Four Corners executive producer Sally Neighbour posted comments about the legal matter on Twitter before the judge presiding over the case had considered consent orders.

 

The Australian reported that Mr Anderson subsequently approached Mr Porter on Monday afternoon to express his regret over the ill-timed social media activity of the two senior journalists.

 

When Mr Anderson fronts the parliamentary committee next week, it is expected that he will be quizzed on the amount of taxpayer money paid by the ABC to Mr Porter as part of the settlement of the case.

 

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the ABC denied the claim in the Nine newspapers that the Four Corners story had been “pulled” from broadcast.

 

“Any suggestion to the contrary is misleading and mischievous,” the spokeswoman said.

 

“All ABC content is subject to the same rigorous editorial decision-making processes before being published.

 

“The decision to publish is only made once all requirements, including editorial and legal requirements, have been met and it is appropriate to do so.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/abc-managing-director-david-anderson-blocks-four-corners-episode/news-story/b6a1be2db7c2da4323a48a0df9bd89d2

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 11:08 p.m. No.13826637   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13818968

‘Deeply offensive’: Prime Minister slams Four Corners’ QAnon probe

 

Zoe Samios and Lisa Visentin - June 4, 2021

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is “deeply offensive” to suggest he has any association with the QAnon conspiracy movement, after ABC managing director David Anderson knocked back a Four Corners episode about Mr Morrison’s alleged links to a QAnon supporter.

 

Responding to reports Mr Anderson withheld the episode due to editorial concerns, Mr Morrison criticised Four Corners’ attempt to explore his connections to the supporter.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not,” Mr Morrison said on Friday.

 

“It is also disappointing that Four Corners, with their inquiries, would seek to cast this aspersion not just against me, but by members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form.”

 

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported on Thursday that Mr Anderson knocked back the episode by prominent journalist Louise Milligan. The decision comes amid escalating tensions between the public broadcaster and the government, and just days after Industry Minister Christian Porter dropped defamation action against the ABC and Ms Milligan.

 

Mr Anderson on Friday defended his decision in an email to ABC employees, saying the program was not ready for broadcast but that he had urged the reporting team to “keep going”, leaving open the possibility the episode could air at a later date.

 

“On Wednesday I was provided with a link to a ‘rough cut’ of a Four Corners story about the influence of QAnon conspiracy theories in Australian domestic politics which had been endorsed by News management,” Mr Anderson said in a note to staff, seen by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

 

“Any suggestion that I “pulled” or “blocked” the program is simply not true. I reviewed the material and made an editorial decision it was not yet ready for broadcast, as any responsible Editor-in-Chief would.”

 

Mr Anderson has assured the feedback was encouraging and that he requested more details to strengthen the story.

 

“My exact words were: ‘Please take on board the feedback and keep going. There is nothing in the program that I can see is time-sensitive. I would like a written response next week addressing the feedback. I know the team have worked on it for a while now, but frankly I would prefer we took our time to make it as strong as possible,’” he said.

 

“I am absolutely confident of that decision and make no apologies for requiring the highest standards of our published journalism.” A date for the episode is not set but could still air at some point in the future provided it meets Mr Anderson’s standards.

 

Four Corners staff were expecting the episode to run this Monday following weeks of delays, but were informed on Thursday it would not go to air following Mr Anderson’s decision. The episode was referred to Mr Anderson by the ABC’s director of news Gaven Morris - a typical practice that occurs with highly sensitive content.

 

The episode was approved by multiple ABC employees including the corporation’s legal department, editorial policy manager Mark Maley, and its head of investigations, John Lyons. Questions about the episode were put to the Prime Minister’s office on and off over a four-week period.

 

The QAnon conspiracy theory centres on discredited claims about an international paedophile ring involving politicians and celebrities. The Guardian reported in 2019 that a family friend of the Prime Minister is a key follower of the movement. The Age and the Herald have not seen any evidence of a relationship between Mr Morrison and a QAnon supporter and does not suggest that one exists.

 

The decision to knock back the episode occurred days after Mr Porter dropped his defamation action against the ABC on Monday over the reporting of a historical rape allegation. But the settlement deal was followed by an exchange of barbs between the parties as they disputed the details. Mr Porter strenuously denies the allegations.

 

Mr Anderson will appear before a parliamentary committee on Monday to discuss the settlement of the defamation case.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/not-yet-ready-for-broadcast-abc-boss-defends-four-corners-qanon-episode-decision-20210604-p57y3o.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 11:09 p.m. No.13826647   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13818968

Morrison rejects 'offensive' link to QAnon

 

Daniel McCulloch - 4 June 2021

 

Scott Morrison has rejected "deeply offensive" suggestions he has any links to the QAnon conspiracy theory.

 

The prime minister hit out at the ABC and Four Corners for "poor form" in trying to tie him or his family to the movement.

 

"I find it deeply offensive there would be any suggestion I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not," he told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

 

"It is just also disappointing that Four Corners in their inquiries would seek to cast this aspersion, not just against me but by members of my own family.

 

"I just think that is really poor form."

 

The Four Corners episode was delayed by management this week.

 

https://7news.com.au/politics/morrison-rejects-offensive-link-to-qanon-c-3014669

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 11:18 p.m. No.13826675   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6678 >>9884

>>13818968

Scott Morrison labels ABC Four Corners program on QAnon ‘disappointing’ and ‘poor form’

 

Comments about program that is yet to air come after ABC boss tells staff ‘any suggestion that I “pulled” or “blocked” the program is simply not true’

 

Amanda Meade - 4 Jun 2021

 

1/2

 

The prime minister Scott Morrison says it is “deeply offensive” and “poor form” of the ABC’s Four Corners program to investigate his relationship with a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy.

 

The program which has upset Morrison was slated for Monday but was delayed for review by the managing director, David Anderson.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation,” Morrison told reporters. “I clearly do not. It is also disappointing that Four Corners would seek to cast this aspersion not just against me but by members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form.”

 

Morrison’s comments came hours after Anderson revealed he had asked Four Corners to answer some “queries and concerns” he has about the program.

 

“Any suggestion that I ‘pulled’ or ‘blocked’ the program is simply not true,” Anderson told staff on Friday after reports the story had been delayed for broadcast.

 

The ABC news director, Gaven Morris, had “upwardly referred” the episode to Anderson, who is preparing for an additional appearance at Senate estimates on Monday. He was recalled to be questioned about Christian Porter’s defamation suit against the ABC which the former attorney general dropped on Monday.

 

The program was sparked by a story in Guardian Australia in 2019 that revealed that a significant Australian proponent of the QAnon conspiracy, Tim Stewart, was a family friend of Morrison and that his wife was on the prime minister’s staff.

 

The QAnon conspiracy purports that powerful forces are hiding and protecting satanic paedophile rings and that a secretive individual named Q leaves clues for his followers to decipher on internet forums.

 

Last year Stewart’s QAnon Twitter account, BurnedSpy34, was permanently suspended for “engaging in coordinated harmful activity”.

 

Stewart said in 2019 he had not attempted to influence Morrison, nor had he had conversations with him about any QAnon content.

 

Anderson told staff he had asked the program for more information because he wants to satisfy himself about a number of claims made in the story, which is reported by the multi-Walkley award-winning journalist Louise Milligan.

 

“I reviewed the material and made an editorial decision it was not yet ready for broadcast, as any responsible editor-in-chief would,” he said.

 

“My exact words were: ‘Please take on board the feedback and keep going. There is nothing in the program that I can see is time sensitive. I would like a written response next week addressing the feedback. I know the team have worked on it for a while now, but frankly I would prefer we took our time to make it as strong as possible.’”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 3, 2021, 11:19 p.m. No.13826678   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13826675

 

2/2

 

The investigative team, led by Four Corners’ executive producer, Sally Neighbour, had been planning to air the program on Monday and were frustrated when management wanted to review it as they had already cleared legal and editorial hurdles.

 

“The ABC would not normally comment on the work of our journalists before their stories have been published, but in the interests of accuracy and transparency I am today compelled to put a few facts on the record,” Anderson said.

 

“My feedback was encouraging to the team and supportive of the hard work they had invested in this story, but I also asked them to come back to me with details of how they had addressed my queries and concerns.”

 

ABC news sources said the story had already been delayed by several weeks and deny claims by management that the story “needs more work”.

 

Guardian Australia understands that management wanted the program to get on-the-record responses from Morrison, as the prime minister has so far declined to respond to questions from Four Corners.

 

The ABC’s political editor, Andrew Probyn, was asked by Four Corners to put a series of questions to Morrison at a press conference this week. But Probyn asked no questions on the topic and focused instead on the Victorian lockdown.

 

Probyn declined to comment.

 

Four Corners sent another reporter to Canberra to ask questions but Morrison did not appear on the day he was in Parliament House.

 

Anderson said he had been given a “rough cut” of the program and confirmed it had been “endorsed by news management”, confirming that it was cleared by legal and editorial.

 

“In making a final decision about whether a program or other content is ready for broadcast or publication I consider all advice from the relevant team, ABC Editorial Policies and ABC Legal, among others,” he said. “I also trust my own judgement and knowledge about the high editorial standards that apply to all ABC content.

 

“I am absolutely confident of that decision and make no apologies for requiring the highest standards of our published journalism.”

 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jun/04/abc-boss-says-he-had-concerns-about-four-corners-scott-morrison-qanon-program

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/05/qanon-conspiracy-theorist-friends-australian-prime-minister-scott-morrison

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 12:24 a.m. No.13826855   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9849

Ex-Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins admitted to hospital over mental health concerns

 

RICHARD FERGUSON - JUNE 4, 2021

 

Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins - who alleges she was raped in parliament - has been admitted to a Brisbane hospital over concerns for her mental health after months in the political spotlight.

 

Ms Higgins sparked a major reckoning over the treatment of women in Australian politics after she came forward last February to allege she was raped in Parliament House.

 

Her partner David Sharaz confirmed on Friday that she has gone to hospital and told other outlets that she was seeking support after “months of sustained political pressure.”

 

Labor has focused a large period of budget estimates and question time in the past sitting weeks to continuing to probe the government’s response to Ms Higgins’ allegations.

 

Scott Morrison’s chief of staff, John Kunkel, last month concluded a review of allegations that advisers in the Prime Minister’s office were responsible for leaking negative information about Mr Sharaz and found no evidence for the claims.

 

“The evidence before me falls well short of the standard that would be needed to arrive at such a finding in conformity with due process,” the report reads.

 

“While I am not in a position to make a finding that the alleged activity took place, the fact that those allegations have been made serves as an important reminder of the need for (Mr Morrison’s) staff to hold themselves to the highest standard.”

 

Mr Sharaz said on Twitter at the time that Mr Kunkel’s findings were an example of government staffers “protecting themselves”.

 

Ms Higgins has become a high-profile figure since she alleged she was raped in 2019 by a fellow Liberal staffer in then-Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds’ parliamentary office.

 

Since then, she has signed a book deal with Penguin Random House and gave a major speech to a women’s right rally outside Parliament House in March.

 

Senator Reynolds – who is now government services minister – also had to make a financial settlement with Ms Higgins after she called her former staffer a “lying cow” in front of staff.

 

''If you or someone you know may need help call Lifeline on 13 11 14.''

 

https://www.lifeline.org.au

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/exliberal-staffer-brittany-higgins-admitted-to-hospital-over-mental-health-concerns/news-story/5cbab6561c744468242aa4244ce5026a

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 12:34 a.m. No.13826883   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6886 >>9861

Media fined a combined $1.1m for contempt of court breaches in Pell reports

 

Adam Cooper - June 4, 2021

 

1/2

 

Some of Australia’s biggest media companies have been fined a combined $1.1 million for breaching contempt of court laws over the way they first reported George Pell’s conviction on sex abuse charges.

 

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald are among the news outlets to have pleaded guilty earlier this year to breaching a suppression order over news reports they published in December 2018, in the days after a County Court jury found Cardinal Pell guilty.

 

The Age was fined $450,000 after pleading guilty to three breaches, related to an online article, a front-page story in the newspaper and an online editorial.

 

None of the media reports named Cardinal Pell or detailed his charges but referred to a high-profile person being found guilty of serious crimes, when the cardinal was still awaiting another trial. That second trial was later aborted by prosecutors.

 

Cardinal Pell had his convictions quashed and was released from prison last year following a successful appeal to the High Court.

 

Supreme Court Justice John Dixon said on Friday some media companies took a “calculated risk” in publishing reports they ought to have known breached the suppression order, and that their breaches diminished the order’s “purpose and efficacy”.

 

“In doing so, the media respondents usurped the function of the court in protecting the proper administration of justice and took it upon themselves to determine where the balance lay between Pell’s right to a fair second trial … and the public’s right to know what happened in the [first] trial,” Justice Dixon said.

 

The media companies, which also include Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail in Brisbane, Channel Nine’s Today program and radio station 2GB, pleaded guilty in February to a combined 21 charges as part of a plea deal that brought to an end a trial that began last year. Both Nine Radio, which owns 2GB, and Channel Nine are owned by Nine Entertainment Co, which also owns this masthead.

 

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors withdrew other charges against the news outlets and against 15 individual journalists, which included the editors of some of the nation’s biggest newspapers.

 

Following the jury’s guilty verdict at 3.44pm on December 11, 2018, The Age was the first news outlet to publish an article later deemed to have breached the suppression order. It published an online story about 27 hours later, on the evening of December 12, 2018.

 

The following morning, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph and The Courier-Mail all ran front-page stories about the case that were found to have breached the suppression order because they included information derived from the cardinal’s trial.

 

County Court chief judge Peter Kidd had imposed the suppression order over Cardinal Pell’s case to ensure nothing was published about the first trial which would have prejudiced his right to a fair second trial.

 

Judge Kidd revoked the suppression order in February 2019, when prosecutors dropped the second trial against Cardinal Pell, and that revocation allowed the media to report the guilty verdict made three months earlier, and details about the case.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 12:35 a.m. No.13826886   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13826883

 

2/2

 

On top of fines totalling $1.108 million, Justice Dixon ordered the media pay the $650,000 that the Office of Public Prosecutions spent prosecuting the contempt case.

 

The judge did not accept prosecutors’ submission the news reports aimed to put pressure on Judge Kidd to revoke his order.

 

But he rejected the media’s claims the breaches were an honest mistake, as he found the media contended they should not be restricted from reporting the trial.

 

“The reporting of News Life Media (the publisher of news.com.au) and The Age … in particular constituted a blatant and wilful defiance of the court’s authority, as each took a deliberate risk by intentionally advancing a collateral attack on the role of suppression orders in Victoria’s criminal justice system,” Justice Dixon said.

 

The large fines imposed on The Age and News Life Media ($400,000) surpass the $300,000 sanction on Yahoo7 in 2017 for a report about a murder trial that included details not before the jury and resulted in the trial being aborted.

 

The Age’s editor Gay Alcorn said the fine imposed on the masthead was extraordinary and disappointing.

 

“The finding that the media generally took a calculated risk to breach the suppression order and to defy the trial judge was not supported by the evidence,” she said. “It was speculation from the prosecutor which should not have been accepted.

 

“The large fine on The Age is disproportionate compared to the trivial fines given to other media in this case and when compared to previous contempt cases. The fact that numerous media outlets, all with independent legal advice, published and broadcast these carefully worded stories and believed they complied with the suppression order demonstrates a problem with the order itself.”

 

Prosecutors had called for substantial fines in the Pell contempt case and argued the offending was serious, the reports had the potential to deny the cardinal a fair second criminal trial and encouraged people to search for information about the case such as in overseas news reports that named the cardinal.

 

Justice Dixon on Friday acknowledged the media apologised but found the companies didn’t demonstate any remorse or contrition, as the collective plea of guilty was entered during the trial and aimed at protecting individual employees.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald was fined $2000 for its breach over its front-page article.

 

The Australian Financial Review was fined a combined $160,000 for publishing two online articles and one in the newspaper.

 

Channel Nine was fined $30,000 for three short segments on Today, in which a reporter referred to the newspaper stories. 2GB was fined $10,000 for a similar reference on its breakfast program.

 

The other media penalised were the Herald and Weekly Times (a $1000 fine for each of the online articles in the Herald Sun and The Weekly Times), The Courier Mail ($1000 for a front-page article), the Geelong Advertiser ($1000 for an online article) The Daily Telegraph ($21,000 for a front-page story and an online article), The Advertiser in Adelaide ($1000 for an online article), Mamamia ($20,000 for an online article) and Business Insider ($10,000 for an online article).

 

Justice Dixon imposed convictions on all media.

 

The case against the media began in 2019 with 205 contempt charges against a combined 36 media companies and journalists but those numbers were whittled down during the proceedings.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/media-fined-a-combined-1-1m-for-contempt-of-court-breaches-in-pell-reports-20210604-p57y1d.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 12:47 a.m. No.13826910   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

Peter Dutton's war crimes meddling risks truth telling: researcher

 

Harley Dennett - JUNE 4 2021

 

The author of an upcoming book on special forces says Australia leads on responding to war crimes, but new political meddling casts a shadow over truth.

 

Dr Samantha Crompvoets helped soldiers come forward with the secrets they were holding that blew the lid on alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.

 

Defence chiefs continue to back the work of Dr Crompvoets, but the Minister Peter Dutton has now ordered a retaliatory strike on her company Rapid Context.

 

Mr Dutton said he has concerns about her upcoming book on the special forces titled "Blood Lust, Trust and Blame" and has sought legal advice.

 

"I've made my view very clear to Defence and I don't think you'll see any more contracts awarded in this regard," Mr Dutton said in a radio interview on Thursday.

 

He said the men and women of the ADF should be told to get back to business, "not to be distracted by things that have happened in the past".

 

Dr Crompvoets, a military sociologist and chair of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Post-Traumatic Stress, has been producing cultural research for the Defence department for more than a decade. That work came under political attack in estimates this week.

 

"I get that I'm telling uncomfortable truths, which is why people are gunning for me," Dr Crompvoets told The Canberra Times.

 

The researcher has been harassed with abusive phone calls and messages since media reports of her book.

 

"I'm disappointed that some have chosen to play politics over issues as serious as these," Dr Crompvoets said.

 

"I'm worried about the message that these attacks send to those members of the ADF who bravely came forward, and about the impact that this will have on people's willingness to come forward in the future.

 

"Australia is leading the way internationally in responding to these allegations of war crimes, however we must continue to work together to improve Defence culture - both for the national interest and for the incredible service men and women who wear the uniform."

 

Dr Crompvoets said Defence has acted on the research she has produced, helping improve Defence culture.

 

"To be honest, I'm more concerned with how I can contribute to renewing a positive culture within Defence than what individuals might say for a particular audience," she said.

 

Monash University Publishing announced Dr Crompvoets will be an upcoming contributing author in its "In the National Interest" book series that so far included Liberal Senator Scott Ryan and former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

 

Dr Crompvoets, a military sociologist and research fellow at ANU, was chosen after she produced an early report into perceptions of Australia's special forces that led to her receiving tip-offs of potential criminal offences committed during the Afghanistan War.

 

General Campbell confirmed Defence had a manuscript copy and was reviewing it in the interests of Defence and its members.

 

"I do believe it is an important aspect of our military history, [but] it's not the only aspect," the chief said.

 

"There's great extraordinary parts of our military history, our Army history and our special operations history.

 

"But we shouldn't walk past the things that make us uncomfortable. If we look them squarely in the eye, we get better as a force."

 

Dr Crompvoets' work helped that process start, he added.

 

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7282931/people-are-gunning-for-me-author-of-sas-report-fears-chilling-effect-of-political-meddling/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 1:02 a.m. No.13826954   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6957 >>9853

Ben Roberts-Smith launches proceedings against ex-wife on eve of trial

 

Michaela Whitbourn - June 3, 2021

 

1/2

 

Former special forces soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has filed Federal Court proceedings against his ex-wife just days before his high-stakes defamation case against The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald is due to start.

 

His estranged ex-wife, Emma Roberts, is expected to give evidence for the newspapers in that case.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, launched the defamation lawsuit over reports that he says accused him of murder during his 2009 to 2012 tour of Afghanistan. He is also suing the parties, that include The Canberra Times, now under separate ownership, and three journalists, over an allegation of committing an act of domestic violence against a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith denies all wrongdoing. The trial, estimated to run for up to 10 weeks, is due to begin in the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday.

 

Ms Roberts was initially expected to be a witness for her ex-husband, saying the couple were separated when Mr Roberts-Smith started a new relationship and that it was not an affair. However, Ms Roberts now says that is false and she was being pressured by Mr Roberts-Smith to lie.

 

At a pre-trial hearing in April, the former soldier’s barrister, Bruce McClintock, SC, said that if Ms Roberts gave evidence he would have to cross-examine her in court, and suggested the media outlets should “rethink what they’re doing” because “sometimes you can pay too high a price” by involving family members in proceedings.

 

Nicholas Owens, SC, acting for the media outlets, said this was an “egregious submission”.

 

Now the Federal Court has listed a new case launched by Mr Roberts-Smith against his former wife with a “return of subpoena” to be heard at 2.15pm on Friday before Justice Robert Bromwich.

 

The nature of the dispute between the two is not yet clear. However, Mr Owens told the court in April that Mr Roberts-Smith had warned Ms Roberts in a letter that month that if she spoke to lawyers for the news outlets about potential evidence, he would seek an injunction, attempt to sue her and take steps to undo a property settlement between them.

 

Mr McClintock said the letter was not a threat. He said a confidentiality agreement had been struck between two legally represented parties this year and “we do not waive” it.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 1:03 a.m. No.13826957   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13826954

 

2/2

 

At a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday, the court heard that the publications’ legal representatives had still not been granted access to material contained on USB sticks that were relevant to the trial, including photographs of soldiers drinking from a prosthetic leg that belonged to a man alleged to have been unlawfully killed.

 

A previous hearing heard Mr Roberts-Smith had condensed the material onto one USB and transferred it to his laptop, which he subsequently wiped. Barrister Matthew Richardson, who is also acting for Mr Roberts-Smith, alleged the publications had access to those documents anyway because the USBs had been provided to them by Mr Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife.

 

But Lyndelle Barnett, acting for the media outlets, said that only one of her clients had possession of the material and he was prevented from giving it to his lawyers under National Security Information legislation.

 

“We don’t have the material on the USBs and … my client did not receive them from the applicant’s ex-wife,” Ms Barnett said.

 

In a judgment published on Wednesday, Justice Anthony Besanko allowed the media outlets to seek documents from a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist who hold files relating to the former soldier, including marriage counselling records. But Justice Besanko set aside a subpoena addressed to an ex-army doctor and friend of Mr Roberts-Smith, on the basis that it was “too wide”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is claiming damages and aggravated damages from the media outlets, and says his mental health has suffered as a result of the articles, published in June and August 2018.

 

Justice Besanko said that, according to the written evidence of Ms Roberts, Mr Roberts-Smith became “extremely paranoid and obsessive” from mid-2017 “when journalists started contacting him about allegations of war crimes”.

 

An inquiry into the conduct of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force started in October 2016. The court heard Mr Roberts-Smith first consulted the psychiatrist in December 2017.

 

In a separate judgment released on Thursday, Justice Wendy Abraham gave reasons for her decision that a soldier who is to appear for Mr Roberts-Smith in the defamation case, known as Person 35, must hand over documents related to his own involvement in the military inquiry that investigated alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

 

“I do not agree with Person 35’s characterisation of the document as ‘innocuous’,” Justice Abraham said.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-launches-proceedings-against-ex-wife-on-eve-of-trial-20210603-p57xsd.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 1:32 a.m. No.13827031   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3540 >>9872

Army chief Lieutenant General John Frewen selected to push national COVID-19 vaccine rollout

 

7NEWS Australia

 

Jun 4, 2021

 

He was charged with stopping the boats, now the prime minister is calling on a prominent army chief to take charge of the country's vaccination program.

 

Lieutenant General John Frewen will now have direct control of the rollout as it enters its busiest stage.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCsYTbXX7vo

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 1:48 a.m. No.13827063   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

>>13819231

Former ALP official and Catholic priest jailed for 17 years over child abuse tourism

 

Jenny Noyes - June 4, 2021

 

A former NSW Labor Party official and priest who abused boys on “abhorrent” child sex tourism trips in south-east Asia, during which he also produced abuse images, has been jailed for 17 years.

 

Peter Andrew Hansen pleaded guilty in February to 31 charges, including eight counts of engaging in sexual intercourse with children under 16 outside Australia, and 20 counts of producing child abuse material.

 

In addition to the Commonwealth offences relating to the production of child abuse material in Asia, the 31 charges include two counts of the NSW offence of possessing child abuse material. Hansen received a separate sentence for those counts of four years and three months, to be served concurrently with his 17-year sentence for the Commonwealth offences and backdated to his 2018 arrest at Sydney airport.

 

From 2014 until his arrest, Hansen used Facebook and an encrypted instant message program called Brosix to connect with fixers and other consumers of child abuse material to discuss and share the material and arrange meetings with young boys in the Philippines and Vietnam.

 

In messages from October 2016, revealed in court documents, Hansen complains to a user called ‘Maliboy Hornbag’ about a “dud” experience in Cebu, and discusses plans for an upcoming “nude party”, including his location requirements – “high wall”, “locked gate”, “caretaker not onsite”.

 

Hansen says “I could have 5-8 in the house, we could lock the doors and pull the curtains”.

 

He tells Maliboy Hornbag he hoped to “keep the camera busy” on the trip and describes one small boy as a “sucker”.

 

On November 5, Hansen arrived in the Philippines and met with his fixer, 34-year-old Filipino national Joey Donozo, with whom he communicated on Facebook.

 

Donozo took photographs of local boys in Cebu under the pretence of a modelling shoot and would send them to Hansen, who would tell him which ones he liked and wanted to meet. Hansen would pay Donozo the equivalent of $8 AUD each time he brought children to his hostel.

 

On November 11, Donozo met with 11 boys and took them to a rented villa where Hansen was waiting with gifts of polo shirts and swimming shorts, which he instructed them to change into from their school uniforms. Hansen took several photos of the boys while clothed before they were instructed to go to his room and undress.

 

Hansen, then in his underwear, took further photos of the boys as he instructed them to remove their clothing. He took photos of them in various sexual poses before instructing them to stand in a line. He then performed sex acts on each boy.

 

Prior to his arrest, Hansen had been the president of Labor’s Cabramatta branch. He had also run as a Labor candidate in the 2016 Fairfield Council election. He was a Catholic priest in Melbourne from 1996 until early 2011 and, before that, a lawyer.

 

In his sentencing remarks in the NSW District Court on Friday, Judge James Bennett said Hansen’s “abhorrent conduct” included a high level of planning and organisation.

 

He said he was not persuaded that the offender was “contrite” in his evidence, that he “had the capacity for manipulation” and sought to deflect responsibility by repeatedly using the term “compulsion” to explain away his “prolific and prolonged” conduct.

 

The remorse Hansen expressed was “more concerned with his own predicament” than what he had done to the children, Judge Bennett said, adding it “beggars belief” that Hansen said he did not appreciate the extent of the harm to his victims until he read their statements.

 

“Protecting children from such behaviour is important,” Judge Bennett said. “These images can be stored anywhere and published anywhere in the world for many years. Each time the victims are revictimised by such occurrences.”

 

Appearing in court via video link, Hansen did not react as Judge Bennett read out his sentence.

 

He will be eligible for parole in October 2032.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/former-alp-official-and-catholic-priest-jailed-for-17-years-over-child-abuse-tourism-20210326-p57e8y.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 1:52 a.m. No.13827064   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

Sydney priest, police officer charged with possessing child abuse material

 

Natassia Chrysanthos and Sarah McPhee - June 4, 2021

 

A Catholic priest in Sydney’s inner west and a police officer have been charged after an investigation into the alleged possession and distribution of child abuse material.

 

Father Joseph Kolodziej, the parish priest at All Hallows Catholic Parish Five Dock, was asked to step down from his public role at the parish and its neighbouring primary school this week after child abuse material was allegedly found on his phone.

 

The principal of All Hallows Catholic Primary School in Five Dock, Helen Elliott, wrote to parents saying Mr Kolodziej would not be involved with the school nor live at the parish next door while the police matter is investigated.

 

“I understand this news may come as a surprise, given Fr Kolodziej’s active involvement in our community, and you or your child may be experiencing feelings of disappointment and concern,” she wrote.

 

“Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of our students is our priority.”

 

Police attached to the professional standards command last month began an investigation into allegations that child abuse material was being stored and distributed on an electronic device.

 

The investigation led them to arrest Mr Kolodziej in Five Dock on Wednesday. The 62-year-old was taken to Burwood police station and charged with possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service for child abuse material.

 

The possession charge, if proven, carries a maximum penalty in NSW of 10 years’ imprisonment. The carriage service charge, under Commonwealth legislation, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment.

 

Mr Kolodziej had previously been the parish priest at St Mary Queen of Heaven in Georges Hall, which he left for the Five Dock posting in late January this year. In that role, he was a leader of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Georges Hall, which is embedded within the parish.

 

Both the Five Dock and Georges Hall Catholic primary schools are part of the Sydney Catholic Schools education diocese.

 

A spokeswoman for the diocese said it had been made aware “that a Parish Priest of the Archdiocese of Sydney has been charged with offences related to child abuse material found on his phone”.

 

“We want to assure our school communities that the safety and wellbeing of our students is always our highest priority. We have been advised by the Archdiocese of Sydney that there is no indication the matter involves our school or parish,” she said.

 

“As this is an ongoing police investigation, we are unable to make any further comments at this time.”

 

Police executed a further search warrant at a Georges Hall address after they charged Mr Kolodziej on Wednesday.

 

At the scene, they arrested a 49-year-old police sergeant attached to a specialist command and seized electronic storage devices.

 

The specialist command is not the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad.

 

The officer was taken to Liverpool police station and charged with possessing child abuse material. He has been suspended with pay and is due to face Liverpool Local Court on June 21. Mr Kolodziej is due to face Burwood Local Court on July 13.

 

All Hallows Catholic Parish, Five Dock and St Mary Queen of Heaven, Georges Hall have been contacted for comment.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-priest-police-officer-charged-with-possessing-child-abuse-material-20210604-p57y86.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 3:24 a.m. No.13827244   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

Geoff Wade Tweet

 

Australia: Former PM Kevin Rudd speaks via video at General Assembly of Beijing's 2021 International Finance Forum Spring Meetings in late May (see 6:44 to 17.30)

 

http://dythz.evp.mudu.tv/watch/7dg2v6k7

 

https://twitter.com/geoff_p_wade/status/1400447446510018561

 

 

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL FORUM 2021 SPRING MEETINGS

 

BEIJING, CHINA - 2021.05.29-30

 

The International Finance Forum (IFF) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental international organisation founded in Beijing in October 2003, and established by more than 20 key international organisations, including the UN and a significant number of financial institutions and leaders. The IFF is a long-standing, high-level platform for dialogue and communications, and a research network in the financial realm. The IFF aims to develop and encourage financial think tanks within China and other emerging economies, and has been upgraded to F20 (Finance20) status.

 

SPEAKERS

 

Kevin Rudd

 

President of Asia Society

 

Former Prime Minister of Australia

 

Jacob Rothschild

 

Former Chairman of RIT Capital Management

 

http://dythz.evp.mudu.tv/watch/7dg2v6k7

 

 

>42:07

 

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

 

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

 

https://qanon.pub/?q=hear%20you%20breathing

 

https://qanon.pub/?q=Lord%20d%20R

Jon James Pratt (999) aka the storm ID: aea327 Wwg1wga (666) June 4, 2021, 8:09 a.m. No.13828510   🗄️.is 🔗kun

As if everyone was going to find God at the same time or something

 

 

Meta 

 

Since the 1st January 2017. 

 

And yes, it can only be demonstrated by actions, not buzzy 3 word slogans like ‘drain the swamp’ 

 

Many politicians and religious leaders in the folder already. 

 

Vile, deceitful politicians and celebrities. 

 

For the fake online twitter holy war between Hillary and Trump, that definitely wasn’t bread and circuses sponsored by Israel. 

 

And for the aberration of QAnon. 

 

Best thing ever, really. 

 

Thick cunts. 

 

Made me invisible. 

 

The demented push by Americans and twitter to push a billionaire property developer as a prophet. ‪

 

327 000 000 ‬thick as fuck Americans.

 

62 million thick as fuck Brits too.

 

And 14,6 gorillion sneaky Jews. 

 

And 13 vile irredeemable kikes 

 

Disdainful and disrespectful. 

 

It’s because none of our leaders have ever had permission to kill, not In the name of God Almighty or any religion. Ever. 

 

Despite what our politicians say. 

 

Always someone else’s fault, isn’t it? 

 

DIRECT LINKS 

 

Illumination route(27 pages)

https://view.publitas.com/51899/497385/pdfs/a8c594cbd211702f0bef3bf4dbe1ae131b2d547c.pdf

 

Methodology (37 pages)

https://view.publitas.com/40132/322676/pdfs/842241c4185d6efcbf67950fee3772a2b07872e3.pdf

 

Direct link to google drive pdf of illumination route (27 pages) 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1if9rCpYtP4PClx7phLG3er7kkMSs3WcW/view?usp=drivesdk

 

Direct link to google drive pdf of methodology. 37 pages 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15IkbtvPCe49XjXjR4k_E5Iu6G-LxIQen/view?usp=drivesdk

 

 

FOLDER 📁 OF DOOM aka 

Victory of the light. 

 

For those that have betrayed, blocked, argued, threatened or knowingly concealed (done nothing, in other words. 

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1-0QMb_G3N4NSCvIROpsNW_fjsZRLmRTU

 

First illuminated polymath in thousands of years (context) 

 

Totally detached from my knowledge too. Argue with that until the cows come home. 

 

Thick, disrespectful and vile Americans, Jews and Brits. 

 

 

KNOWLEDGE 

Direct link to source document in pdf format. 

 

2,238 pages 130mb 

 

17 year long beam of light from the absolute. Every single entry date and time stamped 

 

Direct download 

 

https://view.publitas.com/72234/880115/pdfs/d4f86d8e8c2117fd530ef381c5b3b016936f5ad1.pdf

 

Scrolling google drive version

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18ZEHlCwP1DYUoG1hA4TNCyA3uukJ2zty/view?usp=drivesdk

 

One size fits all. 

 

Kills butthurt Americans, Brits and Jews instantly. 

 

 

What good are your weapons and poor hurt personal feelings and opinions now? 

 

Jon James Pratt (999) 

Aka ‘cosmic Lol’ 

Aka ‘the storm’ 

 

50 year old illuminated polymath from Warwickshire 

 

Humbly blessed as the World's top intellectual and philosopher. 

 

Never lies and is never violent. 

 

#allpointsarereconciled 

 

 

BREADCRUMBS 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?as_st=y&tbm=isch&as_q=%23allpointsarereconciled+&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&imgsz=&imgar=&imgc=&imgcolor=&imgtype=&cr=&as_sitesearch=&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=

 

RESEARCH AND MEMES

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/mobile/folders/1qhE2UWiZJO9FId4Kq67oaQhnLKBuHJbSSBcCj-Cz/1U6Kfa7f0O5e_9JumXg_e8jJlduNitKEfUNszAU9U7w?sort=13&direction=a

 

 

EMERGENCY BACKUP DRIVE

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1du6pXkl_ZQ-87t51FH5aPEmpmchfGNYC?sort=13&direction=

 

BREADCRUMBS 2: GOOGLE CACHE

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%23allpointsarereconciled&client=safari&hl=en&prmd=mvin&sxsrf=ACYBGNSvoeYzzFOuuLo1NT135mCAjPzekw:1579501613116&filter=0&biw=320&bih=527

 

All over 8kun too 

 

https://8kun.top/doomer/res/145.html#27216

 

Front row seats to hell 

Anonymous ID: 7137e2 June 4, 2021, 1:37 p.m. No.13830203   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

AFL child sexual abuse scandal widens to include paedophile coach at Carlton

 

The AFL historic child sexual abuse scandal has widened to include a second club whose 1970s Little League program was overseen by a paedophile coach.

Key points:

 

An ABC Sport investigation has found Carlton's Little League team was coached by a paedophile for five seasons in the 1970s

It follows the revelation that paedophile Darrell Ray ran the St Kilda Little League team for 11 seasons in the same era

The scandal began when former St Kilda star Rod Owen disclosed his abuse at the hands of Ray, prompting dozens of survivors to share their stories

 

An ABC Sport investigation has discovered that Carlton's Little League team was coached and managed for five seasons between 1973 and 1977 by John Dennis Morice, a prolific paedophile who was later convicted on numerous occasions for the sexual abuse of schoolboy footballers he coached.

 

Under the VFL's (now AFL) rules for the Little League competition, clubs were required to select at least 100 boys per season, meaning hundreds of Carlton players were coached by a sex offender whose crimes were once described by a County Court Judge as "depraved, sickening and repugnant".

 

ABC Sport has spoken to a number of former Carlton Little League players who were sexually abused by Morice, who died in 2016. A lauded, popular and successful coach, Morice led the Carlton Little League team for more than 100 games, steering the Blues' Under-11s to multiple grand final appearances.

 

Morice received convictions for the sexual abuse of boys in 1978, 1981, 1991, 2004 and 2006, the latter being historical cases to address abuse that victims had taken decades to report.

 

In 2004, when Morice pleaded guilty to five counts of indecently assaulting a child under 16, County Court Judge Geoff Chettle described the crimes as being "towards the top of the range", and sentenced Morice to two years in jail with a non-parole period of 10 months.

 

Before jailing Morice, Judge Chettle said: "You preyed upon young, vulnerable and impressionable boys."

 

In the past fortnight, ABC Sport has spoken to several former Carlton Little League players who have never previously shared the stories of their abuse.

 

"It [playing for Carlton] was probably a high point of my football," one says.

 

"But there was the loss of that for me.

 

"I can't separate the good times and some of the friends I made with what actually happened to me."

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-05/afl-scandal-widens-paedophile-coach-carlton-john-dennis-morice/100187148

Anonymous ID: 7137e2 June 4, 2021, 1:39 p.m. No.13830206   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Sydney priest, police officer charged with possessing child abuse material

 

A Catholic priest in Sydney’s inner west and a police officer have been charged after an investigation into the alleged possession and distribution of child abuse material.

 

Father Joseph Kolodziej, the parish priest at All Hallows Catholic Parish Five Dock, was asked to step down from his public role at the parish and its neighbouring primary school this week after child abuse material was allegedly found on his phone.

 

The principal of All Hallows Catholic Primary School in Five Dock, Helen Elliott, wrote to parents saying Mr Kolodziej would not be involved with the school nor live at the parish next door while the police matter is investigated.

 

“I understand this news may come as a surprise, given Fr Kolodziej’s active involvement in our community, and you or your child may be experiencing feelings of disappointment and concern,” she wrote.

 

“Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of our students is our priority.”

 

Police attached to the professional standards command last month began an investigation into allegations that child abuse material was being stored and distributed on an electronic device.

 

The investigation led them to arrest Mr Kolodziej in Five Dock on Wednesday. The 62-year-old was taken to Burwood police station and charged with possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service for child abuse material.

 

The possession charge, if proven, carries a maximum penalty in NSW of 10 years’ imprisonment. The carriage service charge, under Commonwealth legislation, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment.

 

Mr Kolodziej had previously been the parish priest at St Mary Queen of Heaven in Georges Hall, which he left for the Five Dock posting in late January this year. In that role, he was a leader of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Georges Hall, which is embedded within the parish.

 

Both the Five Dock and Georges Hall Catholic primary schools are part of the Sydney Catholic Schools education system in the Archdiocese of Sydney.

 

A spokeswoman for Sydney Catholic Schools said it had been made aware “that a Parish Priest of the Archdiocese of Sydney has been charged with offences related to child abuse material found on his phone”.

 

“We want to assure our school communities that the safety and wellbeing of our students is always our highest priority. We have been advised by the Archdiocese of Sydney that there is no indication the matter involves our school or parish,” she said.

 

“As this is an ongoing police investigation, we are unable to make any further comments at this time.”

 

Police executed a further search warrant at a Georges Hall address after they charged Mr Kolodziej on Wednesday.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-priest-police-officer-charged-with-possessing-child-abuse-material-20210604-p57y86.html

Anonymous ID: 7137e2 June 4, 2021, 1:40 p.m. No.13830210   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Former ALP official and Catholic priest jailed for 17 years over child abuse tourism

 

A former NSW Labor Party official and priest who abused boys on “abhorrent” child sex tourism trips in south-east Asia, during which he also produced abuse images, has been jailed for 17 years.

 

Peter Andrew Hansen pleaded guilty in February to 31 charges, including eight counts of engaging in sexual intercourse with children under 16 outside Australia, and 20 counts of producing child abuse material.

 

In addition to the Commonwealth offences relating to the production of child abuse material in Asia, the 31 charges include two counts of the NSW offence of possessing child abuse material. Hansen received a separate sentence for those counts of four years and three months, to be served concurrently with his 17-year sentence for the Commonwealth offences and backdated to his 2018 arrest at Sydney airport.

 

From 2014 until his arrest, Hansen used Facebook and an encrypted instant message program called Brosix to connect with fixers and other consumers of child abuse material to discuss and share the material and arrange meetings with young boys in the Philippines and Vietnam.

 

In messages from October 2016, revealed in court documents, Hansen complains to a user called ‘Maliboy Hornbag’ about a “dud” experience in Cebu, and discusses plans for an upcoming “nude party”, including his location requirements – “high wall”, “locked gate”, “caretaker not onsite”.

 

Hansen says “I could have 5-8 in the house, we could lock the doors and pull the curtains”.

 

He tells Maliboy Hornbag he hoped to “keep the camera busy” on the trip and describes one small boy as a “sucker”.

 

On November 5, Hansen arrived in the Philippines and met with his fixer, 34-year-old Filipino national Joey Donozo, with whom he communicated on Facebook.

 

Donozo took photographs of local boys in Cebu under the pretence of a modelling shoot and would send them to Hansen, who would tell him which ones he liked and wanted to meet. Hansen would pay Donozo the equivalent of $8 AUD each time he brought children to his hostel.

 

On November 11, Donozo met with 11 boys and took them to a rented villa where Hansen was waiting with gifts of polo shirts and swimming shorts, which he instructed them to change into from their school uniforms. Hansen took several photos of the boys while clothed before they were instructed to go to his room and undress.

 

Hansen, then in his underwear, took further photos of the boys as he instructed them to remove their clothing. He took photos of them in various sexual poses before instructing them to stand in a line. He then performed sex acts on each boy.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/former-alp-official-and-catholic-priest-jailed-for-17-years-over-child-abuse-tourism-20210326-p57e8y.html

Anonymous ID: 7552a4 June 4, 2021, 1:46 p.m. No.13830251   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13830217

No.

The virus was created in the Wuhan lab in China.

Gain of Function research supported by US NIH, Dr. Fuckhead Fauci.

 

They wanted to kill off 15% of us, but only managed to get 1%.

 

imho good guys probably swapped out the more deadly virus for a less deadly virus.

 

The vax is another story.

Many, many layers to their evil agenda.

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 6:45 p.m. No.13832164   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2173 >>9872

>>13779177

US paid Chinese People’s Liberation Army to engineer coronaviruses

 

SHARRI MARKSON - JUNE 4, 2021

 

1/3

 

Anthony Fauci’s institute funded research by the Chinese military, the Wuhan Institute of ­Virology and American scientists to genetically manipulate coronaviruses soon before the pandemic hit.

 

The revelation shows American money was funding risky ­research on coronaviruses with People’s Liberation Army scientists – including decorated military scientist Zhou Yusen and the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s “Bat Woman”, Shi Zhengli.

 

Their research paper, submitted to the Journal of Virology in November 2019, was funded with three grants from the National ­Institutes of Health, via US universities. Details of the research funding, contained in the forthcoming book What Really Happened In Wuhan, go to the heart of whether senior US officials were reluctant to give credence to the theory that Covid-19 may be a ­result of a ­laboratory leak, out of concern that it would expose their ­complicity in providing funding to a facility that intelligence agencies suspected might have sparked the pandemic.

 

National security sources said the ties between Zhou and Dr Shi ­supported claims by US intelligence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was engaged in “secret military activity”.

 

Zhou, who conducted the research in conjunction with the Wuhan institute, the University of Minnesota and the New York Blood Centre, was the first to file a patent for a Covid-19 vaccine on February 24 last year, according to documents obtained by The Weekend Australian.

 

This was only five weeks after China admitted there was human-to-human transmission of the virus.

 

Zhou is listed as the lead inventor on the patent application lodged by the “Institute of Military Medicine, Academy of Military Sciences of the PLA”.

 

Nikolai Petrovsky, a medical researcher at Flinders University who has been developing a Covid-19 vaccine, said that while it was technically possible to have a vaccine in this time frame, it ­appeared to be a “remarkable achievement”.

 

He said it left open the possibility the Chinese scientists were working on a vaccine before authorities publicly admitted there was a coronavirus outbreak.

 

“This is something we have never seen achieved before, raising the question of whether this work may have started much ­earlier,” Professor Petrovsky said.

 

In an extraordinary twist, Five Eyes intelligence agencies are ­investigating the unexplained death of PLA scientist Zhou in May 2020 as part of their probe into the origins of Covid-19.

 

While he was an award-­winning military scientist, there were no reports paying tribute to his life. His death was only mentioned in passing in a Chinese-media report in July and at the end of a December scientific paper. Both had the word ­“deceased” in brackets after his name.

 

The Weekend Australian has established that his death has been treated as unusual and is an early line of inquiry under the new Five Eyes probe into the origins of Covid-19 launched by Joe Biden.

 

The US President last month ordered the investigation – following a significant shift from early scepticism about the lab leak ­theory – and asked for it to report in 90 days.

 

Intelligence agencies have held information about Zhou’s death for some months but there was no active investigation into a potential laboratory leak.

 

The question of the origin of the pandemic was, for the most part, treated as a cold case with few staff, if any, investigating the matter full-time and with no sense of urgency.

 

Mr Biden has asked agencies to report back on the question of whether the outbreak is likely to have started through a natural zoonotic jump from animal to ­humans, or through an inadvertent laboratory leak.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 6:46 p.m. No.13832173   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2179

>>13832164

 

2/3

 

Zhou worked at the Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences and sits under the control of the PLA.

 

Born in 1966, Zhou was about 54 years old when the virus broke out in Wuhan.

 

His work for the Chinese military was extensive. Not only did he graduate from the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences in 1998, but he won the first prize of scientific and technological progress of the army.

 

Like Dr Shi, his research focus was “new infectious disease pathogens” and immunology ­research. He worked under Wuchun Cao, a senior PLA colonel who sits on the board of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

 

Despite his work for the PLA, Zhou had ties to the US. He did his postdoctoral research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and had closely collaborated with the New York Blood Centre.

 

As far back as 2004, the PLA-trained scientist was experimenting with spike proteins in coronaviruses – the point of their infectivity that is often subject to manipulation and gain-of-function research. A 2004 paper that he co-­authored and was published in the Journal of Immunology states: “We showed that the S protein of SARS-CoV is highly immunogenic.”

 

Immunogenic is the technical term for how well a vaccine works – how well it provokes an immune response.

 

In 2006, Zhou, then at the State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity at the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, was listed as the main author in a paper that stated the “receptor-blinding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV spike (S) protein elicits highly potent neutralising antibody responses in the immunised animals”.

 

The study made clear that they were looking at vaccine ­development. “In summary, the vaccines containing the (receptor-binding domain) of SARS-CoV S protein may induce sufficient neutralising antibodies and long-term ­protective immunity against SARS-CoV challenge in the ­established mouse model,” it reads.

 

Right before the pandemic, Zhou and three other scientists from the PLA-run Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology – Yuehong Chen, Lei He and Shishui Sun – partnered with two Wuhan Institute of Virology scientists – Dr Shi and Jing Chen – and eight Chinese scientists now based in the US at the University of Minnesota and the Lindsley Kimball Research Institute, New York Blood Centre. Their paper, titled Molecular Mechanism for Antibody-­Dependent Enhancement of Coronavirus Entry, was submitted to the Journal of Virology on November 27, 2019, and was published on February 14, 2020.

 

The research examined MERS and SARS coronaviruses as avenues for antibody-based ­antiviral drug therapy to treat coronaviruses.

 

Their paper had some positive results: “Taken together, our ­results show that RBD-specific neutralising MAbs bind to the same region on coronavirus spikes as viral receptors do, trigger conformational changes of the spikes as viral receptors do, and mediate ADE through the same pathways as viral-receptor-dependent viral entry.”

 

They found this “novel molecular mechanism for antibody-enhanced viral entry” could “guide future vaccination and ­antiviral strategies”.

 

This study was conducted “in vitro”, meaning in a petri dish or test tube, using humanised kidney and lung cells. Their last paragraph indicated the next step in a future paper would be to conduct “in vivo” experiments with ­humanised mice or primates. A paper published in Nature ­Reviews Immunology 18 months later, in April this year, would find that “neutralising monoclonal antibodies” could help the treatment of Covid-19.

 

The patent application lodged by Zhou states: “The invention ­relates to the field of biomedicine, and relates to a Covid-19 ­vaccine, preparation methods and applications. The fusion ­protein provided by the invention can be used to develop the Covid-19 protein vaccine and a drug for preventing or treating the Covid-19.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 6:47 p.m. No.13832179   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13832173

 

3/3

 

The close working relationship between Zhou and Dr Shi supports declassified US intelligence released in January that said the Wuhan lab was conducting “military activity”.

 

“Despite the WIV presenting itself as a civilian institution, the United States has determined that the WIV has collaborated on publications and secret projects with China’s military,” it states.

 

“The United States and other donors who funded or collaborated on civilian research at the WIV have a right and obligation to ­determine whether any of our ­research funding was diverted to secret Chinese military projects at the WIV.”

 

Dr Fauci, America’s top medical adviser for the Covid-19 pandemic, has come under pressure over the coronavirus research his institute funded at the Wuhan ­Institute of Virology.

 

During the early days of the pandemic he did not mention the type of gain-of-function research that was being undertaken at the Wuhan institute, despite being aware of the type of research that was being undertaken in China, funded by America.

 

Dr Fauci, who declined an interview request, also did not alert nor seek permission from the White House leadership before he lifted, in 2017, the pause on gain-of-function research implemented by the Obama administration in 2014. Instead he raised the issue in a meeting with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

 

Emails released under a Freedom of Information request from Buzzfeed this week showed that, in the early days of the pandemic, Dr Fauci was concerned that US funding had gone towards gain-of-function research in China.

 

In other emails, scientists wrote to Dr Fauci expressing the preliminary view that the SARS-CoV-2 genome appeared “inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory” and that it had some features that “potentially look engineered”.

 

A scientist who sent one of the emails on January 31, 2020, Kristian Anderson from the Scripps Institute, authored a paper in ­Nature Medicine on March 17 last year, claiming it could not have come from a laboratory.

 

The Weekend Australian has previously reported that a 2012 paper authored by Dr Fauci showed he acknowledged gain-of-function research could spark a pandemic. Writing in the American Society for Microbiology in October 2012, Dr Fauci acknowledged the controversial scientific research could spark a pandemic.

 

“In an unlikely but conceivable turn of events, what if that scientist becomes infected with the virus, which leads to an outbreak and ultimately triggers a pandemic?” he wrote. “Many ask reasonable questions: given the possibility of such a scenario – however remote – should the initial experiments have been performed and/or published in the first place, and what were the processes involved in this decision?

 

“Scientists working in this field might say – as indeed I have said – that the benefits of such experiments and the resulting knowledge outweigh the risks.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/science/us-paid-chinese-peoples-liberation-army-to-engineer-coronavirus/news-story/4adee56c1433fad332a76ffe043390ea

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 8:10 p.m. No.13832718   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2724 >>9884

>>13818968

Australia's Prime Minister Has an Alarming QAnon Connection

 

David Gilbert - 4.6.21

 

1/2

 

Australia’s Prime Minister is facing renewed questions about his links to the country’s highest profile QAnon supporter, after an episode of an investigative TV show looking into the controversy was suddenly pulled this week.

 

The episode of Four Corners, an investigative reporting series on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), was scheduled to air next Monday, looking at the alleged influence wielded by Tim Stewart, Australia’s foremost QAnon booster, and his friend of 30 years Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

 

But on Thursday the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the show had been pulled after editor-in-chief David Anderson expressed concerns about the show.

 

The decision comes just days after former Attorney General and current Industry Minister Christian Porter decided to drop his defamation action against the ABC over the reporting by Four Corners of a historical rape allegation against him.

 

But in an email to staff on Friday, seen by VICE News, Anderson defended the decision not to air the show, saying “any suggestion that I ‘pulled’ or ‘blocked’ the program is simply not true.”

 

Anderson said he had been shown a rough cut of the episode on Wednesday and wanted to “satisfy myself further on a number of claims made in the story.” He asked the reporters to provide a written response next week, saying the airing of the episode was not time-sensitive.

 

Whether the story was pulled or simply delayed, the result is that allegations that have been simmering for the last 18 months are headline news again, and could now threaten Morrison’s credibility.

 

Morrison, speaking to reporters in the capital Canberra on Friday, said it was “really poor form” for Four Corners to look into those allegations.

 

“I find it deeply offensive there would be any suggestion I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not,” Morrison said. “It is just also disappointing that Four Corners in their inquiries would seek to cast this aspersion, not just against me but by members of my own family.”

 

While QAnon is predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, one of the most startling aspects of a conspiracy theory so deeply rooted in U.S. politics is how quickly it has gone global. And Australia is one of the countries where it has the strongest hold.

 

And Stewart, who previously ran an online health food venture called Fruit Loop, was one of its most vocal supporters from the very beginning, amassing a Twitter following of over 20,000 people.

 

Morrison and Stewart have been friends for 30 years because their wives, Jenny Morrison and Lynelle Stewart, are best friends. The pair were bridesmaids at each other's weddings and today Lynelle Stewart works for her friend in the Prime Minister’s residence in Sydney, where she holds a government security clearance.

 

The claims about Morrison’s links to QAnon date back to a speech given by Morrison in the Australian Parliament on October 22, 2018, when he issued a formal apology to the survivors of institutional child abuse.

 

“The crimes of ritual sexual abuse happened in schools, churches, youth groups, scout troops, orphanages, foster homes, sporting clubs, group homes, charities, and in family homes as well,” Morrison said.

 

The use of the term “ritual” was what caught the attention of some watching, as it was not a term used by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse. At the time the use of the term went unnoticed by the mainstream media, but a blogger called Richard Bartholomew did highlight its use as odd at the time.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 8:12 p.m. No.13832724   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13832718

 

2/2

 

But the strange phase didn’t escape the notice of QAnon figures. Notably, Joe M, at the time one of the biggest QAnon voices on Twitter, wrote: “Do my ears deceive me?” asked Joe M. “The new Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison must be a rider in #TheStorm.”

 

An explanation for the use of the term “ritual” came six months later, when a former friend of Stewart, Eliahi Priest, posted a video on Facebook detailing the close relationship Stewart had with Morrison and how he claimed to wield influence over the prime minister.

 

At one point Stewart told Priest in a Signal message, included in the video, that the prime minister was “awakening”—a term used widely for people who believe in QAnon conspiracies.

 

Stewart then sent a message at 7.30am on the morning of the speech, saying: “I think Scott is going to do it!!” which Priest said was a reference to dropping the word “ritual” into his address to parliament.

 

But the link between Morrison and Stewart wasn’t reported in the media until months later when the Guardian linked Morrison and Stewart. Subsequently the website Crikey reported in October 2019 that Stewart and his son Jesse both openly celebrated on social media Morrison’s use of the term ritual in the hours after the speech.

 

The investigation also highlighted how the Stewarts had worked with Australia’s most notorious conspiracy theorist Fiona Barnett to get Morrison to use the term “ritual” in his speech.

 

“Great moment,” Jesse tweeted. “You know #theGreatAwakening is in full swing when the Australian Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP mentions #RitualAbuse,” describing it as a “big step in a good direction for Australia”

 

“Scott is a patriot,” he added.

 

Tim Stewart also celebrated, tweeting via his now-deleted account Burn Notice, that “a new conversation began today in Australia. It was a stepping stone to be sure, but we took the step. @ScottMorrisonMP took control of the narrative powerfully and commenced phase 1 of our restoration.”

 

Morrison at the time attempted to dismiss any links between the use of the term ritual and QAnon in a statement to Crikey.

 

“The term ‘ritual’ is one that the Prime Minister heard directly from the abuse survivors and the National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Reference Group he met with in the lead up to the Apology, and refers not just to the ritualised way or patterns in which so many crimes were committed but also to the frequency and repetition of them,” a spokesperson for Morrison said in a statement.

 

But 18 months later the controversy has not gone away. And whether or not the Four Corners episode was pulled or simply delayed due to editorial concerns, according to Andersen’s email to staff, it will be aired at some point, meaning Morrison will have a lot more questions to answer about his links to Stewart and to QAnon.

 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7ebnv/australia-scott-morrison-news-four-corners-interview

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 9 p.m. No.13832974   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876

Maxwell Request for Sex-Abuse Accuser’s Teenage Diary Denied

 

Patricia Hurtado - 5 June 2021

 

Ghislaine Maxwell’s request to review the teenage diary kept by one of the women accusing her of engaging in a sex-trafficking scheme with Jeffrey Epstein was rejected by a federal judge.

 

Excerpts of the diary describing interactions with Epstein, including a trip to a New York and a visit to his residence, were previously provided to Maxwell, but the British socialite had asked to see the whole thing in its original form. U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan said Friday that the rest of the diary wasn’t relevant to Maxwell’s case and called her request “little more than a fishing expedition.”

 

Prosecutors say the alleged victim stopped writing in her diary shortly after meeting Epstein, and the parties agree Maxwell isn’t mentioned in it.

 

The judge said Maxwell appeared to want the diary to try to argue that her absence from it proves her innocence and also to attack the alleged victim’s credibility. Maxwell had made “strained” arguments for how the diary might contradict the alleged victim’s possible testimony, including “entirely speculative and unsubstantiated” claims that the diary was altered, Nathan said.

 

Laura Menninger, a lawyer for Maxwell, didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment about the court’s ruling.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-04/maxwell-request-for-sex-abuse-accuser-s-teenage-diary-denied

 

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

 

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.298.0.pdf

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 9:31 p.m. No.13833109   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

Washington Post Live

 

The Path Forward: Global Education with Julia Gillard, Former Australian Prime Minister & Board Chair, Global Partnership for Education

 

Washington Post Live - June 12, 2021

 

Register for the program here - https://gillard.splashthat.com

 

As the leaders of the G7 meet, former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard is drawing the world’s attention to the global education crisis exacerbated by the lockdown. As board chair of the Global Partnership for Education, she is pushing world leaders to bring quality education to all children. Gillard, whose 2012 anti-misogyny speech in Parliament was voted the most unforgettable Australian TV moment, joins Washington Post columnist David Ignatius to share her thoughts on how world leaders can plan for a post-COVID-19 world, why girls are at risk of being shut out of schools, and why it should matter to the United States and the rest of the world. Join Washington Post Live on Friday, June 11 at 12:00pm ET.

 

Julia Gillard

 

Provided by the Global Partnership for Education.

 

Julia Gillard joined the Global Partnership for Education as chair of the Board of Directors in 2014 after a distinguished public service career in Australia. Following her passion for education, she was appointed a Commissioner at the International Commission for Global Education Opportunity in 2015 and became Patron at CAMFED, the Campaign for Female Education, in 2016. She is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution.

 

Ms. Gillard served as Prime Minister of Australia between 2010 and 2013 and delivered nation-changing policies including reforming Australia’s education at every level from early childhood to university education, improving the provision and sustainability of health care, aged care and dental care, commencing Australia’s first ever national scheme to care for people with disabilities.

 

Before becoming Prime Minister, Ms. Gillard was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion. From 2003 to 2006, Ms. Gillard served as Shadow Minister for Health followed in 2006 by an appointment as Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and Social Inclusion.

 

Ms. Gillard is the first woman to ever serve as Australia’s Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. In October 2012, Ms Gillard received worldwide attention for her speech in Parliament on the treatment of women in professional and public life.

 

In recognition of her remarkable achievements and public service, Ms Gillard was awarded a Companion in the Order of Australia in January 2017.

 

In June 2018, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the extension of Ms. Gillard’s term as Board Chair until 2021.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2021/06/11/path-forward-global-education-with-julia-gillard-former-australian-prime-minister-board-chair-global-partnership-education/

 

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

 

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

 

https://qanon.pub/#2401

 

>How many articles has the WASH POST released attacking the 'Q' movement?

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 11:08 p.m. No.13833433   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3444 >>9838

US, Aussie cops bring down drug lord

 

DAVID MURRAY - JUNE 4, 2021

 

1/2

 

Investigators have revealed a drug trafficker jailed in NSW last month was one of their biggest targets, as an unprecedented level of collaboration between Australia and the US notches up a series of blows against organised crime.

 

For up to a decade, Zhen Tao Qi of Sydney was the major drug trafficker that Australian authorities just couldn’t catch in the act.

 

With direct contacts with ­Colombian cartels, Qi was suspected of being behind huge shipments of cocaine and other drugs to feed an insatiable market, funding a lavish lifestyle he couldn’t otherwise afford or explain.

 

It would take a massive international effort involving a stunning undercover operation for law enforcement to finally catch their man, as he attempted to ship half a tonne of cocaine to Australia from South America.

 

Co-operation between Australian and US law enforcement has resulted in the interception and disruption of vast drug shipments, including the foiling of an alleged attempt to import from South America three tonnes of cocaine worth $900 million that led to the arrest of three men in NSW this week.

 

More announcements from law enforcement are imminent, with the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s attache to Australia, Kevin Merkel, saying investigations have never been so focused or effective.

 

“We’re teaming up in ways we haven’t teamed up before,” Mr Merkel told The Weekend Australian. “For criminals, they’re getting punched in the mouth in ways they haven’t been before.”

 

Australian Federal Police ­Detective Superintendent Ben McQuillan said Qi had been a “longstanding, entrenched organised crime” figure in NSW.

 

“He was the subject of significant previous targeting activity over an extended period by multiple law enforcement agencies,” Superintendent McQuillan said.

 

“We considered him to have high-level and enduring international connections, which helped him to facilitate his drug importation activities.”

 

Qi’s network was significant enough that he was on the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s priority organisation target list, reserved for serious and organised crime figures and groups regarded as posing the greatest risk to the nation. Names of priority targets are usually kept secret, and there are currently only 16, the list recently updated to ­include an outlaw motorcycle gang identified as warranting the full attention of Australian law ­enforcement.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 11:12 p.m. No.13833444   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13833433

 

2/2

 

Investigations by the DEA from their Bogota and Cartagena outposts into Colombian drug networks provided the initial intelligence that led to Qi’s arrest.

 

After setting off from Colombia, the 500kg of cocaine, estimated to be worth $200 million-$300 million at the time, was to be dumped at sea near Australia with GPS tracking devices for collection by another boat.

 

Australian authorities trapped Qi through an undercover agent, who gave him an encrypted ­mobile phone that could be secretly monitored. Another undercover agent delivered a $5 note with a pre-agreed serial number to a low-level representative of Qi at a park beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, who in turn handed over cash for a boat.

 

Investigators are understood to have engineered events so that the double-masted, Belgium-registered yacht Vieux Malin, transporting the drugs from South America, had to go to the Solomon Islands. The yacht left Colombia in September 2018 and was intercepted by Royal Solomon Islands Police in Honiara with the cocaine aboard. Qi was arrested the same month.

 

Half a million dollars worth of luxury watches, $20,000 in cash and a new Land Rover were seized at Qi’s home at Wahroonga, on Sydney’s north shore.

 

“We would certainly say that he was able to accumulate a large amount of wealth, which his circumstances and his employment would not be able to justify,” Superintendent McQuillan said.

 

Qi was involved in the trafficking and distribution of “multiple drug commodities, whatever was available, whatever was profitable”, he said.

 

His role included negotiating and communicating with the offshore parties responsible for supplying and transporting the drugs, and he had “significant connections to local distribution networks” to disperse the cocaine in Australia. ACIC chief executive Michael Phelan last month said that in 2018 the DEA, AFP and Australian Border Force intercepted “eight or nine tonnes” of cocaine bound for Australia, more than double the nation’s annual estimated usage at the time.

 

Mr Merkel said the DEA brought to the table its network of human sources, robust intelligence gathering in South America and sheer numbers of agents working on drug cases.

 

Australian law enforcement had adopted a markedly more ­aggressive approach to organised crime over the past two years, he said.

 

“They don’t ignore these high level traffickers, they seek them out,” Mr Merkel said.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/us-aussie-cops-bring-down-drug-lord/news-story/875fcfa56477999cd67c0c0328fdf13e

 

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/500kg-cocaine-seized-solomon-islands-two-arrested-sydney-part-joint

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 4, 2021, 11:47 p.m. No.13833540   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9872

>>13827031

Operation Sovereign Borders-style jab plan

 

GEOFF CHAMBERS - JUNE 4, 2021

 

Scott Morrison has appointed Lieutenant-General John Frewen to lead a powerful new national Covid-19 vaccination taskforce under an “Operation Sovereign Borders” model, integrating multiple government departments, agencies and stakeholders to maintain the record pace of inoculations across the country.

 

The Prime Minister, state and territory leaders on Friday also ordered the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee to devise an urgent plan to implement mandatory vaccination of aged-care and disability workers. With 20 per cent of adults having received their first Covid-19 jab and the country on track to hit 5 million doses by the end of the week, the Morrison government has moved to fast-track vaccine supply to reach more Australians.

 

National cabinet agreed to expand access to vaccines from next Tuesday, with Pfizer jabs to be made available for all Australians aged 40-49, and vaccines ensured for Indigenous Australians and people on the NDIS and their associated carers over the age of 16. Temporary visa holders under 50 who have been approved for return travel to Australia under exemptions will also be eligible.

 

Health Minister Greg Hunt also announced the commonwealth would increase the supply of vaccines to Victoria in response to a vaccination spike in the state, fuelled by the latest outbreak. In the 24 hours to Friday, a daily record 143,659 doses were delivered taking the overall number to more than 1 million in 10 days.

 

The elevation of Lt-Gen Frewen – a former acting head of the Australian Signals Directorate who led the Australian Defence Force’s Operation Covid-19 Assist – adds to the role of Commodore Eric Young, appointed under Mr Morrison’s “war footing” to manage vaccine supply and distribution.

 

Mr Morrison said Lt-Gen Frewen – who will assume responsibilities held by retiring Department of Health associate secretary Caroline Edwards – would have direct operational control of government departments involved in the national vaccination program.

 

“This change gives us the opportunity to step up another gear. Some years ago … there was an operation called Operation Sovereign Borders … a completely new organisational structure … for getting a whole-of-government effect on a very big problem,” he said. “It worked … and I think moving (to) that footing now will further improve how we’re working in the vaccination program.

 

“Lieutenant-General Frewen will have direct operational control across numerous government departments for the direction of the national vaccination program and all of those working in that program, from communications to dealings with states, to the distribution and delivery of vaccines … and the ramp-up … working with the GPs, pharmacists and others.”

 

Mr Morrison and national cabinet leaders on Friday asked the AHPPC, made up of federal, state and territory chief health and medical officers, to work up a plan to vaccinate the aged-care and disability workforce, following recent breaches in Victoria.

 

The national cabinet statement said all leaders had indicated an “in-principle disposition to mandating aged-care and disability workforce Covid vaccinations”.

 

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly urged all aged-care workers to get vaccinated and said authorities were doing everything to make vaccines available to frontline staff. “We need to balance that unintended consequence potentially of affecting the workforce in our aged-care facilities, of course. And we saw this last year when large numbers of workers were furloughed because of contact with Covid-19,” he said.

 

After consultation with the aged-care sector, Mr Hunt said from June 15 mandatory reporting of all aged-care worker vaccinations would be in place. Aged and Community Services Association chair Sara Blunt welcomed the “in-principle disposition” of governments towards mandatory vaccinations for aged-care workers.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/operation-bordersstyle-jab-plan/news-story/eb4a43eb48bb618ba9343d84968d1ae9

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 12:34 a.m. No.13833648   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3655 >>3661 >>8187 >>8191 >>8196 >>9838

U.S. Navy to christen USS Canberra littoral combat ship on Saturday

 

UPI Defense News - JUNE 4, 2021

 

June 4 (UPI) – The U.S. Navy's newest littoral combat ship, to be called USS Canberra, will have its christening ceremony on Saturday in Mobile, Ala., its maker, Austal USA, said on Friday.

 

While the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne is the ship's sponsor, Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's ambassador to the United States, will deliver the principal address at the 1pm EDT ceremony, the Navy said Friday in a press release.

 

"Tomorrow we christen the second USS Canberra, named for the great capital city of Australia, our stalwart ally and superb naval partner," acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker said in the Navy's release.

 

Armed with guns and missiles, and capable of carrying helicopters, 412-foot-long littoral combat ships are small, fast surface warships designed to operate in near-shore environments, countering submarines, mines and small craft.

 

Independence-class vessels, which include the USS Canberra, feature a trimaran hull design, which differs from the steel/aluminum monohull of the Freedom class.

 

Construction of the vessel began in 2019.

 

The ceremony at noon on Saturday will be livestreamed on Facebook.

 

Built by Austal USA in Mobile, it is the first LCS launched by the company this year, and the first to be launched from the shipyards' new floating dry dock, the company said.

 

It is the second U.S. Navy ship named after in honor of the HMAS Canberra, a Royal Australian Navy heavy cruiser that was sunk in the Battle of Savo Island at the start of the Guadalcanal campaign in World War II.

 

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/06/04/navy-lcs-canberra-usscanberra-christening/2931622834453/

 

https://www.facebook.com/AustalUSA/posts/2905144529725513

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 12:35 a.m. No.13833655   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

>>13833648

U.S. Department of Defense Press Release

 

Navy to Christen Littoral Combat Ship Canberra

 

JUNE 4, 2021

 

The Navy will christen its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Canberra (LCS 30), during a 12 p.m. CDT ceremony Saturday, June 5 in Mobile, Ala.

 

The Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator the Honourable Marise Payne, serves as the ship’s sponsor. As she is unable to attend, His Excellency the Honourable Arthur Sinodinos, Australian Ambassador to the United States will deliver the christening ceremony's principal address. Mr. Todd Schafer, acting assistant secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations, and Environment) and Vice Adm. Ricky Williamson, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics (N4) will also provide remarks. In a time-honored Navy tradition, the Australian Ambassador’s wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Sinodinos, will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow on behalf of Foreign Minister Payne.

 

“Tomorrow we christen the second USS Canberra named for the great capital city of Australia, our stalwart ally and superb naval partner,” said acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker. “In so doing we move one step closer to welcoming a new ship to Naval service and transitioning the platform from a mere hull number to a ship with a name and spirit. There is no doubt future Sailors aboard this ship will carry on the same values of honor, courage and commitment upheld by crews from an earlier vessel that bore this name.”

 

LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. The platform is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence.

 

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom-variant and the Independence-variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The Independence-variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).

 

LCS 30 is the 15th Independence-variant LCS and 30th in class. It is the second ship named in honor of the city of Canberra. The first USS Canberra (CA 70) was laid down as USS Pittsburgh on Sept. 3, 1941 and renamed Canberra on Oct. 15, 1942. She was named in honor of the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra, which sank after receiving heavy damage during the Battle of Savo Island. CA 70 was the first U.S. Navy cruiser named for a foreign capital. USS Canberra (CA 70) received seven battle stars for her service in World War II. In May 1958, Canberra served as the ceremonial flagship for the selection of the Unknown Serviceman of World War II and Korea. Canberra was decommissioned in a ceremony on Feb. 2, 1970, at the San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard. One of her propellers is preserved at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, while the ship's bell was donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum in 2001.

 

Media may direct queries to the Navy Office of Information at (703) 697-5342. More information on the Littoral Combat Ship Program can be found at:

 

https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2171607/littoral-combat-ship-class-lcs/

 

https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2646551/navy-to-christen-littoral-combat-ship-canberra/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 12:48 a.m. No.13833707   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

Retired police officer Garry Burton jailed for more than 10 years for abusing boys aged 11 to 16

 

Joanna Menagh - 4 June 2021

 

A retired police officer with almost 40 years' service has been jailed for more than a decade for abusing three young boys, in what a Perth judge said was the work of a "sexual predator".

 

Garry Edward Burton, 64, was found guilty by a District Court jury of 24 offences against the boys, committed over a decade, when they were aged between 11 and 16.

 

Burton was still working as a police officer when he committed the offences and he said to one of his victims he could help him join the force.

 

The court was told he invited the boy, who was 16, to stay over at his house so he could take him to the police complex at Midland, but he abused him.

 

Another victim, who was 14, had an interest in a particular hobby and as a way of getting access to the boy, Burton offered to help him.

 

However, the court heard Burton made it clear to the boy that in exchange for the help, he had to engage in sexual acts with him.

 

Judge Christopher Stevenson said there was also other abuse against two of the boys, which was not the subject of charges but which showed his offences "formed part of a continuing course of conduct".

 

Judge Stevenson said Burton's crimes were not at the lower end of the scale of seriousness for child sex offences.

 

"The nature of the offending … and having regard to the extent of the planning, premeditation and grooming of each victim, indicate you were a sexual predator at work.

 

"You used what was available to you to groom and normalise sexual activity.

 

"You used interests they had at the time, in order to obtain access to them."

 

Judge Stevenson said the abuse was accompanied by "coercive conduct" from Burton, who he said was "able to secure for a long period of time, the silence of the victims".

 

Judge praises victims' courage

 

Burton retired from the police service in 2017 and the following year, when a formal complaint was made against him, he was diagnosed with "dissociative amnesia" — in part because of his work as a police officer — which he claimed meant he could not recall any of his offending.

 

Judge Stevenson said as a long-standing police officer involved in the enforcement of the law, it was not surprising that Burton had found it difficult to admit his guilt, but he said the 64-year-old had not shown any genuine remorse.

 

In contrast, Judge Stevenson praised the victims.

 

"It is to each of their credit that they were prepared to disclose the offending and that they had the courage to maintain their complaints throughout the criminal trial process."

 

'We feared not being believed'

 

In a statement, Burton's victims said his sentencing "marks the end of our silence".

 

"For years, we have feared not being believed and have been scared to speak out."

 

The now-adult men thanked the police officers who they said were prepared to listen to them despite Burton being a former member of the force.

 

"We are so grateful to them and to the prosecutors who made sure our stories were told accurately."

 

The men also thanked the jury who presided over the case for listening to "such horrible events" in their lives.

 

"Thank you for delivering verdicts that reflect your belief in us and your acknowledgement of our suffering.

 

"With this statement we want to raise awareness of the crimes and to try to prevent them occurring again and to stop victim-blaming, to stop minimising abuse and to stop excusing the actions of offenders."

 

Burton was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in jail.

 

He will be required to serve eight years and eight months in prison before he can be released on parole.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-04/retired-police-officer-jailed-for-abusing-three-boys/100192568

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 1:05 a.m. No.13833785   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

Frank Zumbo to fight charges of alleged sexual misconduct against three women, teenage girl

 

Federal MP Craig Kelly has spoken out after his chief of staff fronted court charged with alleged sex offences against four women.

 

Lane Sainty - JUNE 5, 2021

 

Federal MP Craig Kelly has complained of the “innuendo and rumour” surrounding his chief of staff Frank Zumbo after the top aide was charged with sex offences against three women and a teenage girl.

 

The member for Hughes, who defected from the Liberal party to the cross bench in February, said in a statement on Saturday he had spoken to Mr Zumbo who “categorically denies” the allegations.

 

“Further, given he has been subject to over 12 months of innuendo and rumour (which coincidentally was ramped up after I left the government benches) he advises that he looks forward to the opportunity of clearing his name before the courts,” Mr Kelly said.

 

The MP added that none of the complainants had approached him with allegations about his right-hand man.

 

“The first (I) became aware of them was when they were recently reported in the media and I have not had any correspondence from the police in regards to this matter,” he said.

 

Mr Zumbo, 53, was granted bail in Parramatta Local Court on Saturday after spending a night in custody following his arrest on Friday afternoon.

 

His lawyer Michael Moussa told the court: “I’m instructed to plead not guilty to every single charge, all sequences, as it stands.”

 

“That’s correct, Mr Zumbo?” he asked his client, who was beamed in by video link from Surry Hills police station.

 

“Indeed, yes,” Mr Zumbo replied.

 

Mr Zumbo has been charged with two counts of aggravated sexual touching, seven counts of aggravated indecent assault and nine counts of common assault.

 

The charges relate to alleged offences against three women aged 23, 26 and 27 and a 16-year-old girl.

 

Mr Moussa said he disagreed with the police prosecutor the allegations were “very serious”.

 

“We’re dealing with hugs. We’re dealing with kisses on the left cheek, allegedly,” he said.

 

Mr Zumbo was granted police bail on Friday, the court heard, but was not released as he refused to agree to a condition to not contact three colleagues who are also prosecution witnesses.

 

This condition would make it “impossible” for Mr Zumbo — his family’s sole breadwinner — to work while on bail, Mr Moussa said.

 

One of the colleagues told police in May 2020 they had never seen any “untoward behaviour” between Mr Zumbo and one complainant, Mr Moussa told the court.

 

The other, he said, told police: “I’ve never seen anything or heard anyone say anything that would make them feel uncomfortable.”

 

Magistrate Robert Rabbidge agreed to alter the condition, citing the need for bail conditions to be proportionate.

 

“Mr Zumbo holds a very significant position in our fine democracy. He’s a chief of staff of a member of parliament,” the magistrate said.

 

“I’m told he has worked in the past as a law professor, as a tutor. A man obviously well familiar with the law and of his responsibilities.

 

“To have no contact or no approach with staff members within this member of parliament’s office would make it impossible for a citizen who is presumed innocent to go about his daily work, not only for his own financial benefit but also to provide for his family.”

 

The new condition dictates Mr Zumbo cannot discuss the case with the three colleagues.

 

He is barred from contacting other prosecution witnesses, including the four complainants.

 

Mr Zumbo must also reside at a Maroubra address and not enter any schools, universities or points of international departure.

 

Outside court, Mr Moussa said: “Mr Zumbo has denied the allegations since the inception of these matters.”

 

He said the case against Mr Zumbo was weak, adding “it is a case where the prosecution may need to disprove any type of collusion”.

 

The matter is next in court on June 16.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/frank-zumbo-charged-with-sexual-misconduct-offences-against-three-women-teenage-girl/news-story/a263e989d22e1aca2be3ffd8d3f295c7

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 10:27 p.m. No.13840854   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0858 >>9884

>>13818968

Cautious or craven? The saga of Four Corners program on Morrison and QAnon has laid bare fractures within the ABC

 

It’s hard to judge the reasoning behind the ABC’s decision, but what’s clear is both journalists and senior management are feeling deeply betrayed

 

Margaret Simons - 6 Jun 2021

 

1/2

 

A regular trope of dramas about newsrooms is the conflict between the editor or proprietor and the courageous investigative journalist. Cue rows, storm outs, lachrymose reflections in seedy bars, followed by the catharsis of eventual victory and publication.

 

In this story arc, the editor almost never gets to be the hero – or only if they have a change of heart and join their courageous reporters on the barricades.

 

It probably doesn’t need saying that real life is rarely so simple.

 

On Thursday, a story broke about the ABC managing director David Anderson preventing a Four Corners program about QAnon’s influence on Australian politics from going to air.

 

The reason the story broke was because of leaks from inside the ABC. The program was originally scheduled for Monday night. Originally intended for broadcast in May, it had already been delayed once, and had been signed off by the legal department and at least some levels of editorial management.

 

Then Anderson stopped it going to air.

 

After being accused of pulling the show, Anderson issued a statement to all staff saying that he had only delayed it, judging it not ready, and asked for more work to be done.

 

So how are we to understand this sequence of events?

 

Given the pressure the ABC is under, and given that the ABC’s own people are leaking, it is understandable to be concerned that Anderson has crumbled to political pressure.

 

Insiders say that it is the first time in decades that a program already scheduled has been pulled. They contest any suggestion that this is the normal operation of editorial processes.

 

On the other hand, internal communications dating from early this week speak not of the program being pulled, but rather of delay, to allow for further work.

 

My understanding is that the program as it stands is interesting, rather than revelatory – containing some material not already public, but also not likely to bring a government down or impede a career.

 

This is in the context of prime minister Scott Morrison’s family friendship with QAnon proponent Tim Stewart already being on the public record, having been reported by the Guardian and Crikey.

 

As a result of this week’s events, the Four Corners QAnon program now carries an outsized weight of public expectation and, should it air in the future, will come under more than the usual scrutiny.

 

So how are we to understand these events?

 

The term “upward referral” may sound like something your physiotherapist would say when treating sciatica but is in fact a central part of normal process in the ABC – the most managerial of our media organisations.

 

To quote ABC editorial policies:

 

"Editorial decision-making at the ABC is based on upward referral. Those who create, acquire, commission, or oversee ABC content are responsible for ensuring that it complies with the Editorial Policies, but they are also required to upwardly refer any editorial matter where they are in doubt. Editorial content that is controversial or likely to have an extraordinary impact should also be upwardly referred.”

 

What does that mean in practice?

 

In any newsroom, it is absolutely the job of an investigative reporter to push and push and push – first to get the story, then to get as much of it in front of the public as possible, against the barriers of defamation laws, vested interests and pressure from the powerful.

 

But it is equally the job of an editor or producer to question, to test, to examine, to exercise judgement and then – having determined what is to be made public – to back their reporters to the hilt.

 

It is the ABC’s editorial processes, frustrating though they can be, that help make it Australia’s most trusted news source by a country mile. And it is this public trust that is the ABC’s best guarantee of being able to survive the attacks of flawed and hostile governments.

 

Caution is not necessarily craven.

 

We saw the results in the case of the Four Corners Inside the Canberra Bubble story last year, in which reporter Louise Milligan revealed an extra-marital affair by minister Alan Tudge and alleged a long history of misogynistic behaviour by then attorney general Christian Porter.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 10:29 p.m. No.13840858   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13840854

 

2/2

 

Tensions within the ABC have been laid bare

 

We now know that this program was originally to include the now public rape allegation against Porter, but that material was taken out for legal reasons. (Porter denies the allegation strenuously.)

 

The resulting broadcast, once that core had been removed, was thin and oddly structured. I have said elsewhere that I thought it got over the line as meriting broadcast, but other views are certainly possible, and the issue is still hotly debated within the ABC, including by some of those who had reservations about the QAnon story’s readiness.

 

Nevertheless, Anderson and other senior executives signed off on Inside the Canberra Bubble, then backed it and the reporting team.

 

The rape allegation became public later, in February, when friends of the complainant “Kate” sent a letter to South Australian senators and the prime minister, and Milligan reported the contents of the letter. Porter sued both the ABC and Milligan personally, and on Monday settled the defamation case in what can only be seen as a resounding victory for the ABC.

 

During the Porter controversy, Milligan and other ABC executives countered accusations of bias and personnel vendetta by pointing out that all the journalism had been through rigorous checking and managing director sign-off.

 

They were right to do so.

 

So, having gone toe to toe with the government on the Porter matter, facing down the legal and political firestorm, has the ABC suddenly gone to water?

 

These things are hard to judge, even for those directly involved. It is never as simple as someone coming in waving a reporter’s copy and saying “Rupert (or Peter, or Kerry, or Scott) won’t like this.”

 

When does caution become buckling to pressure? When does battle weariness set in? It is clear that opinions among senior journalists at the ABC about the readiness of the QAnon program were divided. Anderson, of course, faces Senate estimates this week. Had the program been aired, we can imagine the pressure he would have been under.

 

Exactly why Anderson considered the program not ready has not been revealed, but it seems the key issue was that Morrison had not responded to questions sent to his office, despite efforts from the Four Corners team.

 

Four Corners sent one of its reporters to Canberra hoping to pitch the questions live, but Morrison didn’t give a press conference that day. ABC political editor Andrew Probyn was asked by the Four Corners team to put questions to Morrison at another press conference but chose not to do so. We can conclude he didn’t want to hitch his reputation and ability to operate to a story in which he was not involved.

 

The frustration of the Four Corners team is understandable. Another program will have to be inserted into Monday evening at short notice. They see the withdrawal of the program as unprecedented. Others see it as the normal operation of editorial processes.

 

Meanwhile the management difficulties and tensions within the ABC have been both laid bare and made worse.

 

People in senior management feel deeply betrayed that someone leaked the fact of the program being withdrawn, particularly after the organisation backed Four Corners through the Porter controversy.

 

Presumably the leaker also feels deeply betrayed, or they would not have leaked.

 

The ABC’s Canberra press gallery’s lack of willingness to get involved is also apparent.

 

One thing is for sure. This flawed and spin-loving government will exploit the fractures that have been revealed. That is an unfortunate outcome.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/05/cautious-or-craven-the-saga-of-four-corners-program-on-morrison-and-qanon-has-laid-bare-fractures-within-the-abc

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 11:04 p.m. No.13840988   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0997 >>9884

>>13788675

Dan Andrews surfaces online for the second time in four days after Daily Mail Australia questioned his six-week silence amid rumours about what REALLY happened when he slipped down stairs - but we still haven't seen his face

 

SAM MCPHEE and LEVI PARSONS - 6 June 2021

 

1/2

 

Daniel Andrews has surfaced on social media for the second time in four days after Daily Mail Australia questioned why he'd remained silent for more than six weeks - despite Victoria being plunged into yet another lockdown.

 

Mr Andrews, who oversaw Melbourne's 112-day lockdown last year, broke his silence on Wednesday to insist he would soon return as state premier as he continued to recover from a horrific fall down a set of stairs in March.

 

It was the first time he had addressed the public since a social media post on April 18, when he said he was making 'slow and steady progress'.

 

Mr Andrews was on Saturday night spotted in wife Catherine's Instagram story, with the Victorian Labor leader getting a lockdown haircut.

 

'On the tools again. Practice makes perfect. Love this one so much - getting better every day,' Mrs Andrews captioned the post.

 

Mr Andrews' face was concealed by his wife's hand and a comb.

 

That could only fuel an influx of comments from conspiracy theorists who have suggested his accident was the result of something more nefarious.

 

Some have even claimed an image showing him in his early recovery stage was doctored.

 

'I wonder when Daniel Andrews will show his face in public,' one conspiracy theorist wrote on Twitter.

 

'As they say in the X Files. "The truth is out there".'

 

It was just the fourth social media post the Labor leader has appeared in since his fall at a holiday house in the Mornington Peninsula on March 9 - and came after Daily Mail Australia questioned his failure to make a public statement since late April.

 

On Wednesday night Mr Andrews called on Victorians to remain strong as they faced another seven days in lockdown.

 

'I have more scans and a meeting with my medical team next week. I'll let you know how that goes and exactly when I'll be back on deck later this month,' he wrote in his first communication to Victorians in more than six weeks.

 

Despite the theories of some online, Andrews suffered serious injures that required months of painstaking recovery.

 

He suffered at least five broken ribs and an acute compression fracture of the T7 vertebra in his spine, putting him on extended sick leave.

 

In his first public Facebook post since April, Mr Andrews also took the opportunity to 'send a message to Victorians'.

 

Victoria's gruelling lockdown was extended because state officials warned the coronavirus outbreak could 'explode' if restrictions were to ease in Melbourne.

 

'There will be no snapback,' a government source told the Herald Sun.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 11:06 p.m. No.13840997   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13840988

 

2/2

 

There were five new cases reported on Saturday, bringing the cluster associated with the Indian double mutant strain to 70.

 

Restaurants and cafes outside Melbourne were ordered to check customers' IDs when they reopen to ensure no one from the city sneaks out into regional towns, and a uniform QR code system has also finally been put in place.

 

Despite the dreaded lockdown extension, the travel limit for Melbournians for exercise and shopping will extend from 5km to 10km, but compulsory wearing of masks both indoors and outdoors will remain in place.

 

Victoria's Chief health officer Brett Sutton hinted some of the restrictions could even stay in place beyond the next week.

 

That's because Victoria are pursing an 'aggressive suppression' strategy, with the intent of bringing cases back down to zero.

 

'We can't have one or two cases out there and open back up to the kind of settings we had before,' Prof Sutton said.

 

'That's what led one case from South Australia to lead to 60 cases and thousands of primary close contacts within a month.'

 

But with stay-at-home order costing the state about $150 million a day, according to KPMG modelling, and no JobKeeper subsidies in place, it remains unclear how vulnerable Victorians will be supported if the draconian measures continue.

 

The lockdown is the fourth for Victoria since the lockdown took hold in Australia.

 

In contrast, the NSW Government has been reticent to impose border restrictions or lockdowns even after it was discovered on Tuesday that a Victorian family who later tested positive for the virus went on 1,765km roadtrip across the state.

 

The man, his wife and their two children were some of Victoria's six new locally acquired infections recorded on Wednesday.

 

Their trip prompted urgent Covid health alerts for numerous venues in NSW.

 

The father had some symptoms on May 25 after driving back to Melbourne on May 24, and tested positive on May 31 - almost a week later.

 

Last year, Victoria was shut down for 112 consecutive days as the state racket up 800 Covid deaths.

 

Mr Andrews was replaced by his deputy James Merlino to manage the latest outbreak.

 

On Wednesday Mr Merlino confirmed Victoria's initial seven-day lockdown, sparked by a Covid cluster arising in May, would be extended for another week in the Melbourne area.

 

'Just because we've had to do this before, doesn't mean it's easy to do again,' Mr Andrews wrote.

 

'Some of us will be tired. Some stressed. Some sick to the back teeth of this pandemic. Maybe a mix of all three.

 

'But please know that every individual effort you made today, and everything you'll do tomorrow and every day after will save lives.

 

'Record tests, record vaccinations, record fight - we're doing this to protect our communities, our state and the entire country. Be proud of what you've achieved and be proud of our state too. Keep fighting Victoria.'

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9655233/Dan-Andrews-surfaces-social-media-wife-Catherines-Instagram-getting-haircut.html

 

https://twitter.com/CathLAndrews/status/1401137955301859335

 

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

 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4159979647399873&id=134712696593275

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 5, 2021, 11:55 p.m. No.13841161   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

Aussie Sean Turnell to join Aung San Suu Kyi in the dock

 

AMANDA HODGE - JUNE 4, 2021

 

Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her Australian economic policy adviser Sean Turnell will face the Supreme Court this month on criminal charges without legal representation, her lawyer warned on Friday as the military junta prepared to meet South-East Asian envoys.

 

Khin Zaw Maung said Ms Suu Kyi, Professor Turnell and three other defendants were listed as respondents in a Union Supreme Court cause list set for June 24 in which they were marked for legal self-representation, despite all of them having appointed lawyers to defend them.

 

“None of the lawyers representing the defendants in the case under the Official Secrets Act knew about the hearing. Nobody notified the defence lawyers,” Khin Zaw Maung said, adding it was not clear if the defendants had even been notified that they were to defend themselves.

 

Prof Turnell of Macquarie University, who has been detained since February 6, and Ms Suu Kyi both face charges of breaching the Official State Secrets act.

 

The 75-year-old Nobel Peace laureate has also been charged with five other offences including breaching Covid-19 protocols and illegally importing walkie talkies.

 

The accusation came as International Committee for the Red Cross president Peter Maurer appealed directly to coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing in a rare meeting on Thursday – the first by a Western official since the February 1 coup – to allow ICRC access to Myanmar’s now overflowing prisons and a humanitarian aid corridor.

 

“Caught between armed conflict, Covid-19 and the current situation, people in Myanmar are in need of urgent assistance and protection,” Mr Maurer told the junta chief, according to an ICRC statement.

 

Mr Maurer did not specifically ask for access to Ms Suu Kyi or other political prisoners but said his visit “aimed to share ICRC’s concerns on the humanitarian situation and reinforce ongoing efforts to ensure space for neutral and impartial humanitarian action”.

 

The US on Friday reiterated its demand for the release of American journalists Daniel Fenster and Nathan Maung, who are among dozens of journalists detained by the junta.

 

“We have pressed the military regime to release both of them immediately and will continue to do so until they are allowed to return safely to their families,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “We have seen the junta in recent days attempt to stifle freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and they do that knowing that only by suppressing the will of the Burmese people might they be able to retain some semblance of control.”

 

At least 845 civilians have been killed and more than 4500 people detained by security forces charged with suppressing mass opposition to the coup that toppled the civilian government of Ms Suu Kyi and has since plunged Myanmar into chaos.

 

Envoys from the Association of South-East Asian Nations were scheduled to meet with General Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyidaw on Friday, after weeks of back channel negotiations between the junta and the regional bloc which has faced rising criticism for its inertia.

 

Myanmar officials confirmed that Brunei’s second foreign minister, Erywan Pehin Yusof, representing the Sultan of Brunei who is the current ASEAN chairman, and ASEAN secretary-general Lim Jock Hoi had arrived in Naypyidaw on Thursday night.

 

It was not clear whether the envoys would also meet members of the National Unity Government, a shadow civilian administration made up of ousted MPs, which on Friday promised citizenship for the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority in exchange for help to overthrow the junta. The junta has classified members of the NUG as “terrorists”, meaning anyone speaking to them can be charged under counter-terrorism laws.

 

ASEAN leaders met with General Min Aung Hlaing at a summit in Jakarta in April to discuss the crisis, and later issued a “five-point consensus” calling for an end to the violence, dialogue between all parties, humanitarian aid access and the appointment of a special envoy to Myanmar to “meet with all parties concerned”.

 

More than a month later a special envoy has to be appointed.

 

Critics have accused ASEAN of buying time for the junta and of helping to legitimise the regime by meeting with the coup leader but not with elected MPs ousted by the military.

 

Footage of General Min Aung Hlaing’s attendance at the summit was repeatedly aired on state television while junta mouthpiece, the Global New Light of Myanmar, published pictures of his meeting with Mr Maurer above a caption which said the two men discussed humanitarian assistance and ICRC support for government efforts to address Covid-19.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/aussie-sean-turnell-to-join-aung-san-suu-kyi-in-the-dock/news-story/0dfc18b945692ea831aee31c5d691338

Jon James Pratt (999) aka the storm ID: f1e126 I’m Lao Tze the Chinese philosopher (999) June 6, 2021, 1:16 p.m. No.13844673   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6723

Who are you, anon?

 

 

It's trump and clinton's dual loyalties to Israel that have destroyed the USA from within.

 

Thanks primarily to infiltration by about 20 or so high profile (pushed by twitter) Qanon accounts who were all Israel 1st, USA 2nd.

 

Our little four man team was banned from twitter about 10 months ago too.

 

Take it personally, like your politicians did, and keep up the pretense on twitter, and see how fast you can annihilate your amazing country.

 

You are in this position, both individually and collectively, due to initially, your politicians and twitter, but by compounding the lie on twitter and not challenging it, it will be a one way ticket to hell for every human being on this planet.

 

Because one man chose to put his faith in the protection of a monopoly on twitter, biblical quotes and Jews more than a higher power.

 

The demented push by Americans and twitter to push a billionaire property developer as a prophet, within the confines of a Jewish safe (((space))).

 

327M thick as fuck Americans.

 

(Great awakening BTFO)

 

62M thick as fuck Brits

 

(Team Satan/totally oblivious to what is happening)

 

14,6M sneaky Jews

 

(Skull caps, wailing wall and jew card in the ass)

 

And 13 vile and irredeemable kikes

 

Put themselves above 7,7bn

 

(Bloodlines wiped off the planet)

 

Disdainful and disrespectful.

 

It’s because none of our leaders have ever had permission to kill, not In the name of God Almighty or religion. Ever.

 

Despite what our politicians say.

 

Always someone else’s fault, isn’t it?

 

FOLDER 📁 OF DOOM aka

 

Victory of the light.

 

For those that have betrayed, blocked, argued, threatened or knowingly concealed (done nothing, in other words)

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1-0QMb_G3N4NSCvIROpsNW_fjsZRLmRTU

 

First illuminated polymath in thousands of years (context)

 

Totally detached from my knowledge too. Argue with that until the cows come home.

 

Thick, disrespectful and vile Americans, Jews and Brits.

 

KNOWLEDGE

 

Direct link to source document in pdf format. 2,238 pages

 

17 year long beam of light from the absolute.

 

130mb

 

https://view.publitas.com/72234/880115/pdfs/d4f86d8e8c2117fd530ef381c5b3b016936f5ad1.pdf

 

Scrolling google drive version

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18ZEHlCwP1DYUoG1hA4TNCyA3uukJ2zty/view?usp=drivesdk

 

One size fits all

 

Fits jews and non jews alike

 

50 year old illuminated polymath from Warwickshire

 

Aka 'the storm ☔️'

 

Aka ‘cosmic lol 😂’

 

Humbly blessed as the world’s top intellectual and philosopher

 

Never lies and is never violent

 

#allpointsarereconciled

 

BREADCRUMBS

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?as_st=y&tbm=isch&as_q=%23allpointsarereconciled+&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&imgsz=&imgar=&imgc=&imgcolor=&imgtype=&cr=&as_sitesearch=&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=

 

Emergency backup drive

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1du6pXkl_ZQ-87t51FH5aPEmpmchfGNYC?sort=13&direction=a

 

RESEARCH AND MEMES

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/mobile/folders/1qhE2UWiZJO9FId4Kq67oaQhnLKBuHJbSSBcCj-Cz/1U6Kfa7f0O5e_9JumXg_e8jJlduNitKEfUNszAU9U7w?sort=13&direction=a

 

See how and why your individual and collective actions and subsequent non actions have had consequences?

 

Sealed indictments and Corona virus in your fucking asses.

Anonymous ID: 7cb3b7 June 6, 2021, 4:05 p.m. No.13845713   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

Posted yesterday

12 mins.

Waking up the Sleepyheads

These tactics are being used by ]US[ to wake Victorians/Australians up.

I see it now.

How much longer till they fucking well wake up?

Fucking CIASM.

CIA Stream Media

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:09 a.m. No.13848071   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8075 >>9884

>>13818968

ABC denies Four Corners, management ‘at war’

 

Four Corners staff have denied they are “at war” with ABC bosses in the wake of an episode about QAnon being pulled.

 

Samantha Maiden - JUNE 7, 2021

 

1/2

 

Four Corners executive producer Sally Neighbour and journalist Louise Milligan have denied they are “at war” with ABC bosses in the wake of the high profile defamation battle with Christian Porter and a story about the QAnon cult that has angered the Prime Minister.

 

Fresh controversy has erupted in recent days over the Four Corners program after it emerged ABC management had delayed the broadcast of a program by Milligan over the QAnon cult that canvasses long standing claims that a family friend of Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny have links with the organisation.

 

The ABC has also confirmed in Senate estimates today the Porter case ended up costing the public broadcaster $780,000.

 

The former Attorney-General launched the legal action over a Four Corners online article that revealed a senior cabinet minister, later revealed to be Mr Porter, had been accused of an historical rape.

 

Mr Porter, who denied the accusation, discontinued the case in May.

 

The broadcaster spent $680,000 defending the action, as well as paying $100,000 to the company of Mr Porter’s high-profile defamation lawyer Rebekah Giles in mediation costs.

 

“We don’t regret publishing the article in the first place. We stand by our journalism. That article still exists online,” ABC managing director David Anderson said at Senate Estimates today.

 

Last week, Mr Anderson flatly denied he “pulled” the latest Four Corners program prepared by Milligan for political reasons but confirmed he did delay the broadcast to “do more work” on it.

 

That prompted a report in The Australian newspaper on Monday that the ABC is “at war” over the fallout and that Four Corners was in conflict with Mr Anderson and the broadcaster’s news boss Gaven Morris.

 

While refusing to comment in the original article, Neighbour tweeted this morning that the suggestion she was at war with anyone was incorrect.

 

“Happy Monday from #4Corners. Fyi no-one here is at war with anyone and morale is excellent,” she said.

 

“We fully accept it is the MD’s role to decide whether/when to publish, and we value ABC management’s unwavering support for our journalism. We are continuing to work on the QAnon story.”

 

The journalist working on the QAnon story is the multi-Walkley Award winning Milligan, who is the author of a book on George Pell, Cardinal.

 

“Any suggestion I’m ‘at war’, least of all with ABC MD, with whom I have an excellent relationship, is completely untrue,” Milligan said.

 

“I declined to speak to any journalist about this – in fact, I’ve been very unwell after (an) operation.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:11 a.m. No.13848075   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13848071

 

2/2

 

On Friday, the Prime Minister dismissed any suggestion he supported or had links with the “dangerous” cult and complained that it was concerning that the Four Corners program had tried to drag his wife Jenny into the issue.

 

The US-based far-right “QAnon” conspiracy movement believes there is a secret “deep state” plot against Donald Trump has been investigated by the FBI as a domestic terrorism threat.

 

It follows widespread claims online that there was some significance to the Prime Minister referring to “ritual” sex abuse in a speech on institutional sex abuse.

 

The use of the term “ritual” is often deployed by QAnon supporters in the context of their belief that the world has been overtaken by Satan-worshipping paedophiles.

 

Mr Morrison said he wanted to make it clear there was no basis for any suggestion he or his family had links to a cult.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation,” Mr Morrison said.

 

“I clearly do not.

 

“It is just also disappointing that Four Corners in their inquiries would seek to cast this aspersion, not just against me but by members of my own family.

 

“I just think that is really poor form.”

 

Last year a man’s QAnon Twitter account, BurnedSpy34, was permanently suspended for “engaging in co-ordinated harmful activity”. The man’s wife is a longstanding friend of Mrs Morrison and previously worked with her at Kirribilli House. She no longer does so.

 

But Mr Anderson rejected reports that he “pulled” the program.

 

“Any suggestion that I ‘pulled’ or ‘blocked’ the program is simply not true,” Mr Anderson told staff.

 

“I reviewed the material and made an editorial decision that it was not yet ready for broadcast, as any responsible editor-in-chief would.

 

“My exact words were: ‘Please take on board the feedback and keep going. There is nothing in the program that I can see is time sensitive. I would like a written response next week addressing the feedback. I know the team have worked on it for a while now, but frankly I would prefer we took our time to make it as strong as possible.’”

 

Mr Morris is understood to have “upwardly referred” the episode to the managing director ahead of his appearance at Senate estimates.

 

The Guardian and Nine newspapers have also reported that the ABC’s Canberra-based political editor, Andrew Probyn, was asked to put a series of questions to Mr Morrison at a press conference this week but declined to do so.

 

Probyn’s refusal to assist was then promptly leaked to newspapers to suggest there was division in ABC ranks between the Canberra bureau and the flagship current affairs program pursuit of the QAnon story and the Prime Minister.

 

Probyn has declined to comment on the claims.

 

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/abc-denies-four-corners-management-at-war/news-story/0f900be92fdefe0036240f76aa27424f

 

https://twitter.com/neighbour_s/status/1401695396540272642

 

https://twitter.com/Milliganreports/status/1401693844928753665

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:13 a.m. No.13848080   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13818968

Four Corners pushes to air QAnon episode within weeks

 

Lisa Visentin and Zoe Samios - June 6, 2021

 

Four Corners will push for its episode linking Scott Morrison to a QAnon conspiracy theorist to air within the next fortnight, despite the Prime Minister’s office rebuffing the broadcaster’s attempts for a detailed response to its questions.

 

The controversy over the episode will be a key focus of a Senate estimates hearing on Monday, when ABC managing director David Anderson will face questions over his decision to delay the program days out from scheduled airing, deeming it “not ready”.

 

ABC sources familiar with the internal dynamics of the controversy who were not authorised to speak publicly said Four Corners was working to address Mr Anderson’s concerns with the aim of having it broadcast-ready in the next two weeks. One of the concerns was that the Prime Minister had not responded to detailed questions from the broadcaster.

 

Mr Morrison’s office responded to the ABC on Sunday with a brief statement after weeks of ignoring their requests for comment, with a government source saying the response did not want to give credence to “crazy Twitter conspiracy theories”. The statement comes after Mr Morrison publicly criticised Four Corners last week for “poor form” by attempting to explore his connections to QAnon supporter, Tim Stewart, who has been known to the Morrison family for years.

 

Lead investigative reporter on the episode, Louise Milligan, said on Twitter on Saturday the ABC had contacted Mr Morrison’s office “more than 20 times” over the past month seeking answers to questions relating to the story.

 

Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson said she intended to use the estimates hearing to ask Mr Anderson about the planned episode and to raise concerns about the ABC’s social media policy.

 

“I intend to ask Mr Anderson about ABC editorial standards including in relation to reports that a proposed Four Corners story, which made deeply offensive claims and unjustifiably attacked the Prime Minister and his family, had not met the requisite editorial standards,” Senator Henderson said.

 

Mr Anderson, who is also editor-in-chief, informed ABC staff via email last week that the reason he delayed the episode from airing this Monday was because it required more work in order to satisfy a number of claims made, and he had encouraged Milligan’s team to “keep going”.

 

The decision to recall Mr Anderson for further evidence, just days after his last appearance at Senate estimates, was initiated by Labor and the Greens before the controversy over the Four Corners episode erupted. Instead, the parties sought Mr Anderson’s return to extract details over the settlement deal struck between the ABC and Industry Minister Christian Porter after he discontinued his defamation action against the broadcaster last week.

 

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Mr Porter’s defamation action had cost ABC resources, and the public had a right to know what had happened.

 

“It is important to understand exactly what this bluff has cost taxpayers and correct the record on some of the outlandish statements made by Porter, which go to the ABC’s integrity,” Mr Dreyfus said.

 

Mr Porter sought to claim victory over the ABC after he dropped his lawsuit, which he launched in March over Milligan’s reporting of a historical rape allegation against him in an online article in February. He continues to strenuously deny the allegation. But the parties continued to dispute the details of the settlement in the hours after it was announced.

 

The ABC has maintained it did not pay Mr Porter any damages, only his mediation costs, and has appended an editorial note to the article, which remains online. Mr Anderson is expected to disclose the cost of the settlement to the ABC when asked on Monday.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/four-corners-pushes-to-air-qanon-episode-in-weeks-20210606-p57yiw.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:14 a.m. No.13848083   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13818968

ABC Four Corners episode linking Scott Morrison to QAnon ‘may very well air’

 

FINN MCHUGH - JUNE 7, 2021

 

A Four Corners episode delving into Scott Morrison’s alleged links to a far-right conspiracy group “may very well go to air”, and his office did not attempt to nix the program, the ABC’s managing director has confirmed.

 

The program, which was slated to run on Monday, explored Mr Morrison’s alleged relationship with a man who professed to follow the far-right QAnon conspiracy.

 

The QAnon cult claims a cabal of elite pedophiles in Washington and Hollywood secretly run the world and attempted to bring down former US president Donald Trump.

 

The episode was delayed after being referred last week to ABC managing director David Andersen, who wrote to the Four Corners team on Thursday suggesting there was “concern over some areas” and elements “to be strengthened within the story”.

 

But appearing before senate estimates on Monday, Mr Anderson reiterated his support for the “outstanding, award-winning” team, flatly rejecting reports the story had been nixed.

 

“I didn’t pull the story; the story’s still under way and very well may go to air,” he said.

 

The episode was cleared by the broadcaster’s editorial policies and legal team.

 

Mr Anderson revealed it was not referred to him “with concern”, arguing it was “quite reasonable” for him to question aspects of a story to ensure it met “the highest editorial standard”.

 

“I’m either looking to satisfy myself that we’ve done all that we can to corroborate what was in the story, or I’m looking for other elements to it,” he said.

 

“It is our process (and) I think it only strengthens us and what we do.”

 

Four Corners on Saturday tweeted it received no response from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to 20 follow-ups, having first reached out a month ago.

 

Mr Anderson confirmed the PMO spoke to ABC news director Gaven Morris in “direct relation” to written questions put to Mr Morrison.

 

But he denied the Prime Minister, his office, or any Liberal figure had pressured the ABC not to run the episode.

 

“I would know about that if it (had happened) … I believe there’s been no intervention by anyone of the government, or anyone else, to suggest that that program should not go to air,” he said.

 

He was yet to review the Four Corners team’s response to his queries but believed “it’s in my inbox”.

 

Four Corners executive producer Sally Neighbour on Monday tweeted that employees “fully respected” Mr Anderson’s role in deciding whether and when to publish, confirming work on the QAnon program is ongoing.

 

Mr Morrison on Friday denied “deeply offensive” claims linking him to QAnon, describing attempts to embroil his family as “poor form”.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not,” he said.

 

“It is also disappointing that Four Corners in their inquiries would seek to cast this aspersion, not just against me but members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form.”

 

The support level for QAnon was unclear, though Facebook “uncovered thousands of groups and pages, with millions of members and followers” linked to the cult, NBC News reported.

 

The group was linked to insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol building in January.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/abc-four-corners-episode-linking-scott-morrison-to-qanon-may-very-well-air/news-story/f8bb117fe421dbd8251afbb105b12004

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:16 a.m. No.13848087   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13818968

A Cancelled ‘Four Corners’ Episode Linking Scott Morrison To QAnon Will Now Be Aired

 

The ABC has said it will air an episode of Four Corners that investigates whether Scott Morrison has ties to far-right conspiracy group QAnon, despite initially delaying it amid controversy.

 

CLAIRE KEENAN - 7 JUNE 2021

 

It’s not often an episode of Four Corners causes a stir before it’s even aired.

 

Last Thursday, it was reported that the ABC’s managing director David Anderson had cancelled a scheduled episode of the show, which supposedly explores the relationship between QAnon and Australian politics.

 

The episode was scheduled to broadcast tonight, but ABC staff who worked on it, including investigative journalist Louise Milligan, were reportedly told late last week that the program was going to be pulled.

 

The decision was made just days after Industry Minister Christian Porter discontinued his defamation case against the ABC, and Milligan herself, which has led people to call out the timing of the ABC’s decision to pull the Four Corners episode as a bit suss.

 

Four Corners has since confirmed that it has been given the green light to continue working on the episode, which is now expected to air within the next fortnight.

 

But why has the episode caused such a commotion?

 

What Is Four Corners Investigating Exactly?

 

The episode under scrutiny supposedly links Prime Minister Scott Morrison to a supporter of the far-right conspiracy group, QAnon.

 

QAnon is one of the biggest conspiracy movements in recent history, which has gained thousands of Australian followers in the last year, particularly since the emergence of the COVID pandemic.

 

It has been reported in the past that a QAnon figure is supposedly a family friend of ScoMo, and that the figure’s wife is actually on the PM’s staff.

 

Just last year, The Guardian reported that one of the more significant QAnon figures, who tweets under the handle @BurnedSpy34, is a long-life friend of ScoMo’s.

 

Why Was The Episode Blocked In The First Place?

 

Apparently, the episode was “upwardly referred” for review by the ABC’s news director, Gaven Morris, to Managing Director David Anderson.

 

Usually this happens in the instance of sensitive content, or if there are any concerns, which is a pretty standard practice for the broadcaster.

 

But Anderson has strongly denied that the decision to stop the episode was purely to dampen tensions with the federal government.

 

In an email to ABC staff last week, Anderson wrote that the reason he delayed the episode was because it needed more work, and he encouraged Milligan’s team to “keep going”.

 

Scott Morrison’s Response To The Episode

 

Four Corners maintains that it reached out to Morrison on multiple occasions to ask him about the nature of his relationship with the QAnon figure, but had failed to get a response by the time production on the episode had finished.

 

ScoMo had stayed silent on the issue, until the news broke that the episode had been blocked. Then, he had some pretty strong feelings about it.

 

Speaking at a press meeting last week, the PM said that he found the Four Corners program “deeply offensive” and in “poor form”, and he publicly criticised the ABC for suggesting that he had any “involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation”.

 

“I clearly do not,” he continued.

 

Four Corners vs ABC Management

 

While the controversial episode is now set to be aired, this has all played out amidst rumours of rising tensions between the Four Corners team and ABC’s management, which the staff are totally denying.

 

A new airing date for the episode is yet to be announced.

 

https://junkee.com/four-corners-scott-morrison-qanon/297302

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:32 a.m. No.13848125   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8127 >>8138 >>5419 >>9304 >>9327 >>7222 >>7636 >>7649 >>5189 >>2371 >>9610 >>9643 >>6569 >>9295 >>5973 >>9274 >>9328 >>4690 >>3827 >>3854 >>2226 >>9853

‘Corrosive jealousy and lies’ behind Ben Roberts-Smith war crime claims, court told

 

Michaela Whitbourn - June 7, 2021

 

1/2

 

Former special forces soldier Ben Roberts-Smith’s reputation was destroyed by a campaign fuelled by bitter and jealous soldiers who made allegations of war crimes to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, his barrister has alleged on the first day of his high-stakes defamation trial.

 

Sydney defamation barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, acting for Mr Roberts-Smith, told the Federal Court on Monday that the case was about “courage, devotion to duty [and] self-sacrifice”, on the one hand, and “dishonest journalism, corrosive jealousy, cowardice and lies”, on the other.

 

An allegation that Mr Roberts-Smith had killed an Afghan teenager and then boasted to another soldier about it in 2012 was “far fetched” because it was the kind of thing only an “ostentatious psychopath” would say.

 

Mr McClintock said Mr Roberts-Smith’s reputation had been destroyed by a campaign led by “bitter people” in the Special Air Services who were “aided by credulous journalists”.

 

He alleged “a number of soldiers had developed enormous jealousy towards my client”, and “some might call it tall poppy syndrome”. Some soldiers expected to give evidence for the media outlets might be “confused, mistaken or have false memories because of the trauma”, Mr McClintock added.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, launched the defamation lawsuit in 2018 over reports that he says accused him of murder during his 2009 to 2012 tour of Afghanistan and committing an act of domestic violence against a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair. Along with the two media outlets now owned by Nine, he is suing three journalists and The Canberra Times, which is now under separate ownership.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith denies all wrongdoing. The media outlets are relying chiefly on a defence of truth. The trial is expected to run for up to 10 weeks.

 

In a lengthy opening address that is expected to continue into Tuesday, Mr McClintock rejected as “ridiculous” an allegation that Mr Roberts-Smith shot an Afghan teenager in the head in 2012 and told a fellow soldier “I shot that c— in the head” … It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”.

 

“It’s like [actor] Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now; it’s sort of thing that would be said by an ostentatious psychopath,” Mr McClintock said. “He’s not that.”

 

He said Mr Roberts-Smith was an exceptional soldier; competent in battle and effective at engaging in killing. Some in the community might “blush” at the characterisation of killing as a virtue, he said, but, if so, their quarrel was with the government who sent young people to war.

 

He quoted former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who is said to have remarked: “We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith killed many insurgents, he said, as did other Australian soldiers.

 

“War is violent,” Mr McClintock said, and “the simple fact is that some who have reported on matters concerning my client have forgotten that fact … in their rush to tear him down.”

 

He said the soldiers had “no way of knowing” whether a person was an insurgent or an ordinary villager in Afghanistan because “they didn’t wear uniforms; they didn’t carry a sign saying ‘insurgent’.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:33 a.m. No.13848127   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13848125

 

2/2

 

The trial is expected to hear about the killing of a suspected Afghan militant with a prosthetic leg in April 2009. The leg was allegedly used as a beer drinking vessel at the SAS base in Afghanistan.

 

Mr McClintock told the court in 2019 that Mr Roberts-Smith “never drank from that thing … because he thought it was disgusting to souvenir a body part, albeit an artificial one”.

 

But he said on Monday this was “my mistake” and Mr Roberts-Smith did not drink from the leg because it was “closely associated” with a soldier to whom he didn’t want to lend “approval or credence”.

 

He added that drinking from the prosthetic leg of a dead enemy might appear to be in “bad taste” but “in the scheme of human wickedness it does not … rate terribly high”. Allowances must be made for men who had engaged in the extremity of armed combat who needed to decompress, he said.

 

He said the allegation that Mr Roberts-Smith punched a woman with whom he was in a relationship between late 2017 and early 2018 was false and the former soldier “absolutely abhors” violence against women.

 

The allegation caused his client “terrible damage”, Mr McClintock said. It justified an award of aggravated damages on top of the usual compensatory damages because “if anything” it was this allegation that caused him to lose his public speaking business.

 

In late May the media outlets withdrew one element of their truth defence, related to the alleged killing of an unarmed Afghan. They had initially described the killing as murder. The newspapers are still seeking to prove that Mr Roberts-Smith killed that unarmed man, and committed six murders.

 

Mr McClintock said it was “absolutely outrageous” to withdraw the murder allegation with “no apology”, and it also warranted aggravated damages.

 

Part of Mr McClintock’s opening address is expected to be held behind closed doors to preserve the secrecy of national security information. Mr McClintock foreshadowed this would take “the better part” of Tuesday.

 

The hearing continues.

 

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/corrosive-jealousy-and-lies-behind-ben-roberts-smith-war-crime-claims-court-told-20210607-p57yq9.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:42 a.m. No.13848138   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8139 >>9853

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial told soldiers drank beer from dead Afghan man's prosthetic leg

 

Jamie McKinnell - 7 June 2021

 

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Drinking beer from the prosthetic leg of an Afghan man allegedly shot dead by decorated veteran Ben Roberts-Smith was a way for soldiers to "decompress", a defamation trial has heard.

 

Bruce McClintock SC today opened the Victoria Cross recipient's case in the Federal Court in Sydney against Nine Entertainment Co over a series of articles published in 2018.

 

Mr McClintock said the reports, which contained allegations including involvement in the unlawful killing of Afghans and bullying of Special Air Services Regiment (SAS) colleagues, "destroyed" Mr Roberts-Smith's reputation as an "exceptional soldier".

 

"This is a case about courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice," Mr McClintock told the court.

 

He said the case also involved "dishonest", "corrosive" journalism and jealousy from Mr Roberts-Smith's colleagues after he was awarded for his bravery.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, is suing the publisher of The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times newspapers, along with three journalists.

 

He said he was defamed by imputations including that he "broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement" while on deployment in Afghanistan and is "therefore a criminal".

 

Mr Roberts-Smith alleges the inferences included that he unlawfully killed up to six Afghan men, or procured soldiers under his control to do so and also committed an act of domestic violence against a woman in a Canberra hotel.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith denies the allegations and the media company is relying on a truth defence.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith claims some inferences arise out of a specific incident in 2009, where he was alleged to have shot dead, at close range, a man with a prosthetic leg after clearing a compound.

 

Mr McClintock said the media company's legal team had attempted to paint the man as "a defenceless, disabled man because he had a prosthesis" when evidence pointed to him being a member of the enemy.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is alleged to have shot the man 10 to 15 times after carrying him over his shoulder, but Mr McClintock said he would show the court a photograph of the dead man's body suggesting there were as little as two bullet wounds, consistent with his client's account.

 

Mr McClintock said the man's leg was "souvenired" by another SAS officer — an enemy of Mr Roberts-Smith — who took it back to base and had it mounted.

 

The leg was later used as a "novelty beer-drinking vessel" and many photographs of the prosthetic being used for this purpose have emerged.

 

"It might appear bad taste to drink from a souvenir prosthetic leg taken from a dead enemy," Mr McClintock told the court.

 

"In the scheme of human wickedness, it does not, in my submission, rate terribly high.

 

"And allowances should be made — my client will say something along these lines — for the necessity for men who've engaged in armed combat to decompress afterwards."

 

Mr McClintock said his client did not drink from the leg.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:43 a.m. No.13848139   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13848138

 

2/2

 

Mr McClintock said Mr Roberts-Smith and his colleagues in Afghanistan "did what was required of them", including killing insurgents and anti-coalition militia.

 

Having successful armed forces meant not only having soldiers who were fit, well-trained and resourceful, but soldiers who were able to perform in combat, Mr McClintock said.

 

"That means someone who's able to kill the enemy before the enemy kills him," he told the court.

 

"War is violent.

 

"The simple fact is that some who've reported on matters concerning my client have forgotten that fact, the violence of war, in their rush to tear him down."

 

The barrister outlined the difficulty of specific missions performed by the SAS, saying by 2014 his client's colleagues had developed corrosive jealousy after Mr Roberts-Smith was handed multiple awards — including the highest honour for gallantry.

 

"They resented those awards and above all the Victoria Cross."

 

Mr McClintock criticised Nine for dropping a previous allegation about the murder of another Afghan man in 2012, which was contained in defence documents until last month.

 

He said it was "absolutely outrageous" for the "powerful" media company to back away from such a serious allegation "with a blithe wave of their hand a month before the trial", despite having been previously alerted to there being no basis for it.

 

Mr McClintock said he would use that development to argue for record aggravated damages.

 

Woman 'fell down stairs'

 

Mr McClintock dismissed as “entirely false” a reported allegation Mr Roberts-Smith had punched a woman, with whom he was having an affair, in the face after an event at Parliament House in 2018.

 

Nine’s articles alleged the woman was punched in a hotel room after she became drunk at the function and risked exposing the affair, angering Mr Roberts-Smith.

 

But Mr McClintock said the woman — referred to as “Person 17” due to a suppression order — fell down some stairs while very drunk and leaving the event, suffering a “severe impact” which caused her black eye.

 

He said the injuries were observed at the function, where the woman was given assistance.

 

“My client will give evidence that he absolutely abhors violence towards women and has never, and will never, engage in it,” Mr McClintock said.

 

“She didn't mention any allegation to anyone that this had occurred until she spoke to [journalist Nick McKenzie] … three months later.”

 

Mr McClintock said this allegation had caused Mr Roberts-Smith to lose public speaking invitations and had affected him in a distinctly different way to the allegations of war crimes, warranting further aggravated damages.

 

He also foreshadowed evidence which would challenge the woman’s credibility and “mental stability”.

 

Mr McClintock's opening address is expected to run for two to three days before Mr Roberts-Smith takes the stand as the first witness.

 

The trial, before Justice Anthony Besanko, will last for up to 10 weeks.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-07/ben-roberts-smith-reputation-destroyed-defamation-trial-told/100194790

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:53 a.m. No.13848153   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8157 >>9838

Qantas infiltrated by organised criminals, says intelligence report

 

Nick McKenzie, Joel Tozer and Fergus Hunter - June 6, 2021

 

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Crime agencies believe Qantas has been infiltrated by bikies and other organised crime groups to facilitate drug importation and other activities that pose a risk to national security.

 

A classified federal law enforcement intelligence operation code-named Project Brunello has determined that a “significant” number of Qantas staff – up to 150 – are linked to criminality. The operation describes suspected wrongdoing that is “serious and represents a very high threat to the Australian border”.

 

Official sources briefed on the findings but unable to speak publicly due to confidentiality requirements said among the most concerning of the suspected “trusted insiders” within Qantas is a Comanchero motorcycle gang affiliate who is linked to international drug cartel boss Hakan Ayik. This person is working in a mid-level managerial position at Qantas’ Sydney airport operations and the intelligence suggests he has recruited criminals into the airline to help import narcotics.

 

The revelations raise serious questions for both the airline and the federal government, and come after historical inquiries have warned of evolving gaps in port and airport security. They also raise questions for federal Labor, which is opposing transport security laws proposed by the Coalition and backed by police that would enable criminal intelligence to be used to stop workers receiving aviation and maritime government security clearances.

 

Qantas Group chief security officer Luke Bramah told The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes that “given we follow all of the government’s vetting procedures, we find these claims disturbing. We have not been advised of any current investigations of Qantas Group employees involved in organised crime. If concerns are raised regarding any of our employees, we will actively support their investigation and take appropriate action.”

 

He said Qantas was the only commercial airline that holds a Trusted Trader accreditation with Australian Border Force, “which means every single employee connected to international air freight must pass a fit and proper test. We’ve not been advised by Border Force of any of our employees failing this test.”

 

But Project Brunello found in its July 2020 report that “trusted insiders” at Australia’s biggest airline have links to organised crime and were able to “cause significant harm” to the Australian community by facilitating smuggling across borders.

 

The official sources briefed on the report said the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission inquiry had found some Qantas staff were creating “vulnerabilities in the security of supply chains and critical infrastructure” that risked eroding the public’s faith in border security and in the reputation of the airline.

 

Individuals identified include a Hells Angels-linked figure in the Northern Territory who is working as a Qantas contractor. He is the subject of intelligence indicating he previously infiltrated Defence Department flights that were subcontracted to Qantas. A Qantas freight contractor in Perth was also found by Brunello to have been repeatedly “using his trusted insider status” to make large drug deliveries.

 

Brunello assessed that former Qantas baggage handler turned wealthy Sydney racing identity Damion Flower, who pleaded guilty in May to importing $68.5 million worth of cocaine, had actually imported $1 billion worth of cocaine via Qantas and a corrupt Qantas baggage handler, who has also since been jailed. The full extent of Flower’s trafficking through Qantas, along with Project Brunello’s other findings, has never previously been publicly revealed.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 12:54 a.m. No.13848157   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13848153

 

2/2

 

The operation by the nation’s peak law enforcement intelligence agency also uncovered five Qantas staff who had links to alleged “national security” criminality involving Islamic extremism, but said there were no immediate risks.

 

The Qantas departments at the highest risk were its air freight division and ground crew and baggage handling divisions. Almost 60 Qantas staff were linked to “serious drug offences” or “organised crime groups”. Twenty-three Qantas employees have “used employment in the aviation environment to facilitate various criminal activities”.

 

Seven Qantas staff have been linked to child exploitation, including an employee charged last year with possessing and manufacturing child pornography outside of Australia, with the report warning of a possible small network of sex offenders at Brisbane international airport.

 

Multiple sources aware of Project Brunello’s findings said they were based on a deep dive by the commission, which looked into years of intelligence holdings, as well as an extensive examination of Qantas’ employee and contractor records. Intelligence is typically gathered by state and federal detectives in the field, phone taps, data analysis and human informants, and is used to form strategic assessments by the commission if considered reliable.

 

The reports of the infiltration of Qantas come in addition to revelations by the head of the commission, Michael Phelan, that Australia’s most dangerous and wanted crime bosses have organised themselves into a cartel earning an estimated $1.5 billion a year by smuggling drugs past the nation’s borders.

 

The commission says nine men drawn mostly from Australian bikie gangs and middle-eastern crime syndicates make up what the agency has named the “Aussie Cartel”. The cartel’s key Comanchero-linked members have connections to some of the suspected Qantas “trusted insiders” identified by Brunello.

 

Mr Phelan said if the stalled proposed airport and port security laws “aren’t passed today, there’ll be 225 people … who are not convicted of any offences, but have very close links to serious and organised crime”.

 

The report also warns that the COVID-19 pandemic may create further opportunities for crime groups to target Qantas and its staff. Even with declining overseas passenger travel, “the threat of trusted insiders in Qantas will continue to be very high”.

 

The findings raise serious questions about border security controls and legislative gaps, given repeated warnings dating back to 2003, when whistleblower Alan Kessing made allegations of serious compromises on Australia’s borders, supported by the 2005 Wheeler review.

 

Brunello also raises questions for Qantas, alleging gaps in “business processes at Qantas that if tightened might help to complicate insider placement options for OCGs [organised crime groups]. These include drug testing, recruitment and criminal history checking practices.”

 

Crime intelligence commission head Mr Phelan declined to confirm if Qantas had been infiltrated, but said his agency “works very closely with Qantas” and that several private sector companies were vulnerable.

 

Mr Phelan is backing proposed laws, supported by the government, that would enable criminal intelligence, rather than just existing criminal convictions, to be used when assessing if a person can work at sensitive airport and maritime sites.

 

Labor and some unions have previously expressed concern that the proposed port and airport security identification card laws are flawed and may unfairly target some workers based on unverified allegations. But Mr Phelan said the proposals, now before Parliament, relied only on highly reliable intelligence, and would be applied sparingly and be subject to appeal.

 

Late Sunday, federal Labor called for an urgent review of security at Australia’s airports, describing the allegations as highly disturbing.

 

Qantas security chief Mr Bramah said the airline had been “strong supporters of introducing intelligence checks” for all security cards and was pleased the federal government was working to get this through Parliament.

 

“In addition to the criminal checks that happen every two years, we’d like to see real-time background checks, which means airlines and airports know immediately if an employee has been convicted of an offence, because it’s another safeguard,” he said. “We have had positive conversations with the government about this over a number of years.”

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/qantas-infiltrated-by-organised-criminals-says-intelligence-report-20210603-p57xp2.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 1:18 a.m. No.13848187   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

>>13833648

US Navy christens only warship named for a foreign capital

 

Brad Lendon - June 7, 2021

 

(CNN) A bottle of wine was broken across a mass of gray steel in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday, as the United States Navy unveiled the only ship in its fleet to be named after a foreign capital.

 

The USS Canberra - named for Australia's seat of power - is a brand new littoral combat ship, one of the US Navy's newest platforms.

 

"It says much to the strength of the friendship between our two nations that Australia is the only allied country whose capital the US Navy has used to name a ship," Commodore Matthew Hudson, Australia's military attache at its embassy in Washington, said at the christening ceremony Saturday.

 

The ship is the second US Navy vessel to bear the Canberra name. The first was during World War II, when the then-USS Pittsburgh, a cruiser, was renamed Canberra after an Australian ship of the same name was sunk by Japanese forces in the Battle of Savo Island, part of the Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands.

 

The cruiser Canberra would go on the serve until 1970, with roles in the Cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam War.

 

"I am proud to join Australian partners in continuing the legacy of this name," Vice Adm. Ricky Williamson, US deputy chief of naval operations, said at Saturday's ceremony.

 

The first Canberra was also in the US fleet when the ANZUS Treaty, a non-binding security agreement among the United States, Australia and New Zealand, was struck in 1951.

 

Hudson noted that milestone on Saturday.

 

"As we mark the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance, the friendship between our two countries is stronger than ever," he said.

 

"The alliance between our two countries makes the world a safer place," said Todd Schafer, an acting assistant secretary of the Navy.

 

The newest USS Canberra is a 421-foot- (128-meter-) long, 3,200-metric-ton ship that can accommodate a crew of up to 75 sailors.

 

With a top speed of around 50 mph (80 kph), it will be one of the fastest ships in the US Navy. It will also be armed with the Naval Strike Missile, a sea-skimming cruise missile that is difficult to spot on radar, and can maneuver to avoid enemy defenses.

 

Littoral combat ships come in two variants, the single-hull Freedom class and the Independence class catamarans, of which Canberra is the 15th.

 

The symbolism of tight US-Australia security ties extends beyond the ship's name. It was built at the shipyard of Austal USA, part of the Australia-based global defense giant Austal.

 

"Just 16 years after Austal USA joined the US defense industrial base, the company is hosting its 15th littoral combat ship christening - LCS 30, a ship proudly named after the capital of Australia and yet another symbol of the great ties between our two countries," Austal USA interim president Rusty Murdaugh said.

 

The Canberra's christening marks the ship's evolution from construction to testing its systems at sea. It will be commissioned when that testing is complete and then join the fleet for deployment.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/07/australia/uss-canberra-us-navy-new-warship-intl-hnk-scli-ml/index.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 1:21 a.m. No.13848191   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

>>13833648

USS Canberra a shiny new symbol of US-Australia relations

 

Matthew Cranston - Jun 6, 2021

 

Washington | A new $US500 million ($645 million) warship christened at the weekend will serve as a symbol for the Australia-US alliance as they celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty.

 

The USS Canberra – which is the only US Navy ship to be named after a capital city outside the US – was first announced by then-president Donald Trump in 2018 when then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull visited the US.

 

It was built by Australian-owned Austal.

 

Mr Trump also presented a model of the USS Canberra to Prime Minister Scott Morrison during his trip to the White House.

 

It is the second US Navy warship named in honour of the original HMAS Canberra, which was sunk in August 1942 while defending US marines desperately fighting to defend the island of Guadalcanal.

 

In 2001, then-president George W Bush presented John Howard with the bell from the original USS Canberra.

 

On Saturday, Australian Ship Commodore Matthew Hudson had to step in for Australian ambassador Arthur Sinodinos and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne at the official christening ceremony in Alabama.

 

“It is apt that in choosing a name for one of its warships the US chose Canberra. It says a lot of the friendship between our two nations that Australia is the only allied country whose capital has been used to name a ship,” Commodore Hudson said.

 

“As Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken said recently, the US and Australia strive for a region that is unconstrained by coercion and anchored by democratic values.”

 

US Navy Rear Admiral Casey Moton said the ship was a symbol of the relationship between the two countries.

 

“A month after the attack on Pearl Harbour the first contingent of US Navy planners arrived in Darwin to establish planning operations for the south-west Pacific campaign, initiating the island-hopping strategy with which we as allies secured eventual victory,” he said.

 

He quotes then-prime minister John Curtin, saying: “Without any inhibitions of any kind I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America.

 

“Those words uttered in the dark early days of WWII helped forge the strong bonds that bind Australia together to this day,” Rear Admiral Moton said.

 

The USS Canberra is the 15th of 19 small surface combatants Austal USA is building for the US Navy. Five are under construction at Austal’s Mobile ship-building facility in Alabama.

 

The high-speed, shallow-draft multi-mission ship, known as a littoral combat ship, is capable of operating independently or in a group. As the name suggests, they are designed to defeat growing littoral (close to shore) threats and provide access and dominance along coastal waters. They offer flexibility to execute focused missions such as anti-submarine warfare.

 

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said Austal was “a great example of the business-friendly climate here in Alabama and the ability we have to partner with businesses from Australia or anywhere in the world”.

 

“We pride ourselves on providing an environment where companies like Austal can thrive, and that’s exactly what they’re doing,” Ms Ivey said, “We’re proud of Austal, and we’re proud of our continued relationship with Australia.”

 

https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/uss-canberra-a-shiny-new-symbol-of-us-australia-relations-20210606-p57yga

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 1:22 a.m. No.13848196   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9838

>>13833648

Austal USA hosts christening ceremony for the future USS Canberra

 

fox10tv.com - JUN 5, 2021

 

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal USA hosted the christening ceremony for the future USS Canberra (LCS 30) Independence-variant littoral combat ship here today.

 

Canberra is the 15th LCS designed and constructed by Austal USA and the second U.S. Navy ship to be named after the Australian capital.

 

Alison Petchell, the Australian Government’s Minister Counsellor Defence Materiel, christened the future USS Canberra (LCS 30).

 

Canberra (LCS 30) is the 15th of 19 small surface combatants Austal USA is building for the U.S. Navy.

 

Five are under various stages of construction and a sixth is on contract waiting to start construction. Austal USA is also constructing two Expeditionary Fast Transport ships (EPF) for the U.S. Navy with one more on contract awaiting start of construction.

 

The company recently broke ground on its new steel manufacturing line to expand its shipbuilding capability to service the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard’s rising demand for steel ships.

 

https://www.fox10tv.com/news/mobile_county/austal-usa-hosts-christening-ceremony-for-the-future-uss-canberra/article_7a88ff20-c63d-11eb-8cd4-537de9d97b29.html

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8i4COf-lz4

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 1:36 a.m. No.13848219   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

Sandy Bay eBay vendor pleads guilty to importing child sex doll parts from China

 

A UTAS student and eBay vendor has pleaded guilty to importing 26 sex doll body parts with a “childlike appearance” into Tasmania.

 

Amber Wilson - June 7, 2021

 

A SANDY Bay resident and eBay vendor has pleaded guilty to importing 26 child sex doll body parts into Tasmania.

 

The silicone parts first arrived in Melbourne in September last year, in a shipping container that also contained a range of legal masturbation aids like adult sex doll parts, lubricant and vibrators, the Supreme Court of Tasmania heard on Monday.

 

Chinese national Xinzhe Lin, 29, appeared before Justice Gregory Geason and pleaded guilty to importing tier two goods — namely child abuse material.

 

It was accepted by the Crown that Lin did not have a personal interest in the child body parts, but had rather imported them for personal financial gain.

 

Crown prosecutor Rose Bollard said the shipment from Shenzhen, China, was intercepted by Australian Border Force, with officers finding silicone body parts with a “childlike appearance” that “appeared to be designed for sexual gratification”.

 

The consignment was delivered to Lin’s address — then at South Hobart — and he signed for it, with his home later searched by Tasmania Police and Australian Federal Police.

 

Lin, who ran an eBay store selling surfboards and surfboard pieces, admitted that he’d imported the consignment, with a worker in China who helped purchase items from large distributors.

 

Ms Bollard said Lin, who is on a temporary visa and currently finishing his studies at the University of Tasmania, should be immediately imprisoned.

 

“We know the defendant was importing these child sex doll parts for a financial purpose, for personal financial gain,” she said.

 

“As the defendant admitted, he intended to sell them on eBay … that didn’t happen because they were seized.”

 

She said Lin’s actions potentially contributed to the normalisation of child abuse.

 

“This kind of material has the capacity to normalise the sexualising of children but also grow demand for the material,” she said.

 

“They are purchased to be sold to people that have an interest in this kind of material … obviously these dolls are designed for and intended to simulate sexual contact with children.”

 

Ms Bollard said it wasn’t the first time Lin had imported the body parts — having arrived in Melbourne from Hong Kong in 2019 and being issued with a warning and a seizure notice.

 

Defence barrister Greg Barns said Lin’s conduct was “reckless, it was foolish” and that he was “ashamed and embarrassed of his conduct” but emphasised he had no “attraction to these items or use for these items, other than to sell them.

 

“He pursued the sale of these childlike dolls because they were cheaper to import,” he said.

 

He agreed with the suggestion Lin’s behaviour had been “wilful blindness”.

 

Justice Geason ordered a pre-sentence report with an assessment of Lin’s suitability for home detention.

 

Lin, who is on bail, will return to court on July 28 for sentence.

 

https://www.themercury.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts/sandy-bay-ebay-vendor-pleads-guilty-to-importing-child-sex-doll-parts-from-china/news-story/112a10a40b0e5153a998b30089a57d84

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 1:45 a.m. No.13848229   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8231 >>5350 >>9877

The disgraced priest, the children’s shelter and a fight for justice in East Timor

 

Chris Barrett - June 7, 2021

 

1/2

 

Singapore: The road up to the village of Kutet in East Timor’s western enclave of Oecusse is so rough that most highlanders walk the jungle trail when they need to visit the coast.

 

Often hauling bags of rice on their backs, the steep and rocky journey takes them up to three hours if they’re fit.

 

It’s a path that has also been often taken by outsiders, who have emerged over the crest of the mountainous terrain to find a remote, poor settlement with a deep history of inter-tribal politics and where the locals believed in various spirits.

 

At Kutet’s centre is a shelter for girls and boys that for many years was run by American Catholic priest and Timorese independence hero Richard Daschbach. There, visitors would witness a serene setting with children playing marbles, with jump ropes and running around apparently as happy as can be.

 

Daschbach, who established the Topu Honis shelter there in 1991 and another for older children at coastal Mahata, was revered to the extent the children and the villagers believed he had magical powers.

 

“Everyone we spoke to thought he was the male equivalent of Mother Teresa,” said Tony Hamilton, a family business owner in Brisbane who was one of the shelter’s biggest financial supporters.

 

But it was all an illusion.

 

Daschbach, 84, is due to learn his fate this week after being charged with systematic sexual abuse of girls under the age of 14 at the shelter. He would tape a list of their names to his door outlining which one of them he would abuse each night after evening prayer.

 

The mother of two of the girls told Portuguese news agency Lusa she “passed out” when she learnt her daughters had been abused. “My girls said it happened to everyone. But nobody said anything,” she said.

 

A scandal of enormous proportions in a country that is almost universally Catholic, observers believe it could be the tipping point for other victims of abuse to come forward in East Timor.

 

But the road to the five-day hearing in Oecusse, due to start on Monday, has been plagued by concerns of political interference and about mudslinging and counterclaims by the church itself in East Timor. Prosecutors have also twice been replaced.

 

On top of that, there have been three delays to the trial – the latest last month when Daschbach, under house arrest in Dili, failed to show up, citing the COVID-19 outbreak – which have exacerbated the psychological trauma of victims, according to the human rights law firm representing them.

 

Hamilton, who flew to Dili with fellow Australian donor Jan McColl when they were first alerted to allegations of abuse in March 2018, has been seeking justice for the 15 complainants and the many more he believes are out there for more than three years now.

 

It is a journey that has taken him to Rome, the headquarters of the Society of the Divine Word, or SVD, the church’s largest missionary order. It defrocked Daschbach three years ago after the priest confessed to the abuse.

 

In a note he wrote to the order, contained as part of a letter sent by Hamilton to Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge on September 15 last year, Daschbach said “the victims could be anyone from about 2012 back to 1991, which is a long time”.

 

Hundreds of girls lived at the shelter during those years and before its opening Daschbach had been in East Timor since the 1960s.

 

“It is impossible for me to remember even the faces of many of them, let alone the names – who the victims are I haven’t the faintest idea,” the priest wrote in the letter, which was dated March 15, 2018.

 

“I will fully comply with any measure [penalties] that will be imposed.”

 

Hamilton and McColl said Daschbach owned up to the abuse when they confronted him in Dili that month.

 

“He just admitted everything … [he said] ‘this is who I am, I’ve always been this way’,” Hamilton said.

 

“He went into great detail about how he slept with the girls, he masturbated them, he had oral sex with them but there was never sexual penetration. That [last part] proved to be a lie. I was physically ill, I just left,” said Hamilton, whose firm Logix Engineering began supporting the shelter financially in 2014.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 1:47 a.m. No.13848231   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13848229

 

2/2

 

While Daschbach was swiftly removed by the Society of the Divine Word, who picked him up on a helicopter and then laicised him, his criminal prosecution has been more complicated, with influential forces at play.

 

Among them has been the Catholic Church. The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dili’s Justice and Peace Commission filed a report last year that rubbished the claims against Daschbach. It also named the victims and alleged that NGOs and supporters that had helped the girls had been involved in organised crime, human trafficking, and exploitation of children by having them medically examined and said they were guilty of the “crime of justice mafia”.

 

Lawyers for the victims sued the church for defamation while the priest who signed the report was sacked by Dili Archbishop Virgilio do Carmo da Silva as director of the Justice and Peace Commission.

 

Hamilton, however, says the church and the order have not supported victims, who have been the targets of intimidation, largely online.

 

Attempts to speak to Archbishop da Silva in Dili were not successful but Father William Burt of the SVB said the order had been offering financial support to victims but had been thwarted by a lack of co-operation from those now running the shelter.

 

“Daschbach was kicked out of our order as soon as the child abuse came to light. He has no support from us at all … we want the man to be brought to justice,” Father Burt said.

 

The SVB’s representatives in Dili have also discussed helping the victims with East Timor’s Deputy Minister of Social Solidarity Signi Verdial, according to a memo sent to the order’s global chief in Rome in March. But the memo said that the case had been politicised so much that “the children at Topu Honis are not ready to accept anyone there”.

 

The role of former president Xanana Gusmao in backing Daschbach has been the subject of great intrigue. The national icon appeared as a witness for the church in the defamation hearing, was pictured feeding birthday cake to the disgraced priest in January and in February took the twice-weekly 13-hour ferry from Dili to Oecusse with Daschbach and his entourage.

 

The discredited Justice and Peace Commission report also said Gusmao had made a courtesy visit to the Topu Honis shelter on August 29 last year that has been questioned by lawyers from JUS Juridico Social, the firm representing the victims.

 

The Herald and The Age could not contact Gusmao, with his close adviser Tomas Cabral and the media officer for his party, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction, not returning calls or messages.

 

The court clerk in Oecusse, Julio Nunes, said Daschbach was supposed to travel there from Dili on Saturday, two days before the hearing was due to resume, after failing to appear last month. However, on Friday Nunes said he did think that would be the case now “because there is no plane” and he was unsure whether Daschbach was coming by ferry or whether he could appear by videoconference. Daschbach’s lead counsel, Pedro Aparicio, also did not return a call and text.

 

If and when the trial does go ahead before a three-judge panel, it will be before a closed court and Hamilton is eagerly awaiting the outcome from Australia.

 

He hopes to see Daschbach convicted and sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in prison, but that is just the start.

 

“I want the church and state to take responsibility for the children,” he said.

 

“To provide them with what Daschbach promised and never delivered on – a safe refuge. I want them to receive the psychological care they desperately need and I want them to receive a good education.

 

“Daschbach failed them and the church and state continue to fail them.”

 

https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/the-disgraced-priest-the-children-s-shelter-and-a-fight-for-justice-in-east-timor-20210604-p57y2o.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 2:27 a.m. No.13848320   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

New Zealand Court Clears Way for Murder Suspect’s Extradition to China

 

The Supreme Court insisted on assurances from Beijing that the man, accused of killing a Chinese woman in 2009, would not be tortured and would get a fair trial.

 

Natasha Frost - June 4, 2021

 

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a murder suspect could be extradited to China, but only if the government received sufficient assurances from Beijing that he would not be subject to torture and would receive a fair trial.

 

The decision, with three judges in favor and two against, came after 15 months of deliberation. It overturned a Court of Appeal ruling that the defendant, Kyung Yup Kim, a legal resident of New Zealand who is in his mid-40s, could not be safely extradited because of China’s human rights record.

 

Mr. Kim is accused of killing a Chinese woman, Peiyun Chen, 20, while on vacation in Shanghai in 2009. The Chinese authorities said that before he could be questioned, Mr. Kim left for South Korea, where he was born.

 

It was the first time that China had asked New Zealand to extradite a citizen or resident. Like most Western countries, New Zealand does not have an extradition treaty with China. Mr. Kim has been fighting the extradition request for the past 10 years. He spent five years in jail before being released on bail in Auckland.

 

New Zealand’s previous, center-right government, which was in power from 2008 to 2017, twice ordered Mr. Kim’s extradition. Both times, courts ordered the justice minister to reconsider the case.

 

Mr. Kim and his lawyer, Tony Ellis, have argued that “no reasonable minister” could make the case to extradite him, given China’s record on human rights. In a statement after the ruling on Friday, Mr. Ellis condemned the decision and reiterated the belief that his client could not be safely extradited.

 

“Under the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Republic of China is a rogue state,” Mr. Ellis said. “It engages in endemic use of torture, does not guarantee fair trials and, more widely, rejects the basic premise that it must respect international human rights law. The New Zealand government has repeatedly called out China for breaking its international obligations, in particular in respect of human rights.”

 

Foreigners charged in China have undergone closed-door hearings of only a few hours, and some have reported being tortured during interrogation. Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-born Australian citizen charged with espionage, said he was tortured over a period of months, while the Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who also faced charges of espionage, have been held in jail since 2018 and went on trial. No verdicts have yet been announced.

 

Concern over China’s rights record has played a part in extradition issues elsewhere in the region. In 2017, Australia backed away from a proposed extradition treaty with China over wariness about its repressive legal system.

 

In its ruling on Friday, which filled 150 pages, the Supreme Court said that the cabinet minister responsible for approving China’s request could sign off on Mr. Kim’s extradition if the minister received evidence from the Chinese government “that there were no substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Kim would be in danger of being subjected to an act of torture were he to be surrendered.”

 

The court laid out circumstances under which it might be possible to rely on such assurances, as well as specific guidance the New Zealand government would have to receive in order to permit the extradition, including being allowed to monitor the suspect every 48 hours.

 

The Supreme Court gave the New Zealand government until the end of July to get the assurances from China and report back.

 

New Zealand’s relationship with China has come under scrutiny recently, particularly as tensions have increased between China and Australia. After meeting in New Zealand this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia raised concerns about China’s activities in a number of areas, including Hong Kong and the South China Sea. A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry dismissed their comments as “irresponsible” and “groundless.”

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/world/asia/new-zealand-extradition-china.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 3:12 a.m. No.13848404   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8408 >>9884

Scott Morrison and QAnon: What we already know about the prime minister’s connection to a conspiracy theorist

 

The ABC’s Four Corners has delayed airing a program about the prime minister’s connection to a QAnon figure, but much of the detail is already on the public record.

 

Christopher Knaus - 7 Jun 2021

 

It has been two years since the public first learned of the prime minister, Scott Morrison’s, connection to a prominent Australian proponent of the fringe QAnon conspiracy theory.

 

Last week, the story made an unexpected comeback, courtesy of the ABC’s crack investigative team at Four Corners and a controversial decision to delay a program about it.

 

So far, it is unclear what more Four Corners has uncovered since Guardian Australia first broke the story in 2019.

 

A lot of detail is already in the public domain, thanks largely to the initial stories by Guardian Australia and later reporting by Crikey.

 

What do we know so far?

 

Let’s start with the basics. What on earth is this story all about?

 

The story, at its core, is simple.

 

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has a family friend named Tim Stewart, who also happens to a prominent figure in the Australian QAnon scene.

 

For the uninitiated, QAnon is a bizarre and convoluted conspiracy theory that posits that Donald Trump is waging war against a secret deep state, which is intent on covering up satanic paedophile rings.

 

The theory’s protagonist, an anonymous internet forum user named “Q”, leaves clues on internet message boards like 8Chan for his followers to decipher.

 

It would be easy to dismiss QAnon as harmless idiocy. But that would be a dangerous misstep.

 

The FBI has previously warned that QAnon could act as a potential motivator for “domestic extremists”.

 

Experts say it can risk leaving followers polarised and shut off from the outside world, making them unpredictable and struggling to separate reality from fiction.

 

QAnon proponents were a visible presence during the storming of Capitol Hill in January.

 

One of those proponents, Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon Shaman, is currently before court, where his lawyer has likened his immersion in QAnon to brainwashing or becoming trapped in a cult. His lawyer argued repeated exposure to falsehood and incendiary rhetoric had made it hard for his client to discern reality.

 

Who is Tim Stewart?

 

Before Twitter deleted the account last year, Stewart tweeted under the handle of @BurnedSpy34, amassing 21,000 Twitter followers in his first active year.

 

He was regularly praised by QAnon followers and achieved some fame among local adherents.

 

BurnedSpy34’s tweets contained bizarre and disturbing content, sometimes targeted at Morrison’s colleagues or former colleagues.

 

At one point, BurnedSpy attempted to connect Julie Bishop to the conspiracy due to her wearing of red shoes, which he believed were a “shout out” to paedophiles.

 

Needless to say, such theories are baseless and wrong.

 

Guardian Australia revealed last year that Twitter had deleted the @BurnedSpy34 account for “engaging in coordinated harmful activity”. It had also taken action against other linked accounts.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 3:14 a.m. No.13848408   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13848404

 

2/2

 

What is Stewart’s connection to Scott Morrison?

 

The connection between Stewart and Morrison is driven by the close friendship between Stewart’s wife and the prime minister’s wife, Jenny Morrison.

 

Stewart’s wife works at Kirribilli House, but Guardian Australia understands this is not in any policy or advisory capacity. There is no evidence she shares her husband’s views.

 

Morrison and Stewart have been pictured together, beers in hand.

 

In 2019, Stewart confirmed the nature of his friendship directly to Guardian Australia.

 

“I’m not going to diminish the relationship, that’s not appropriate either. Yeah we’re friends. That’s good. People have friends.”

 

What evidence is there that Stewart has influenced, or attempted to influence, the prime minister?

 

Last week, Morrison reacted angrily to any suggestion that QAnon had influenced him in any way.

 

“I find it deeply offensive there would be any suggestion I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not,” he said.

 

There are claims online about the ways that Stewart may have influenced Morrison, but Guardian Australia has been unable to independently verify or corroborate those accounts.

 

For his part, Stewart denied ever having had influence on Morrison. Last year, he said he had not attempted to influence Morrison or had conversations with him about any QAnon content.

 

“I have never spoken to Scott about anything of a political nature,” Stewart said. “I’m not an adviser. The idea of me talking to him about this…it’s just not true.”

 

Why is this story important?

 

The public interest demanded this story be told for a number of reasons.

 

Labor’s Penny Wong articulated the chief reason during Senate estimates in October.

 

She said she was pursuing questions about the matter to ensure there was no “vector of influence” with Morrison given the “dangerous” elements of QAnon and the concerns of the FBI.

 

“We do have on the public record now reports that the prime minister has an association or a friendship with someone who is associated with a dangerous fringe conspiracy movement,” she said. “I’d suggest there is a public interest in responding to that.”

 

There is public interest in understanding the nature and closeness of the association between Stewart and Morrison and understanding the process that underpinned Stewart’s wife’s employment at Kirribilli House.

 

The prime minister’s department assured it took “all proper measures to make sure that that person was suitable for that employment including, the relevant police checks”.

 

What do we know about the Four Corners program?

 

So what is there left to tell?

 

Award-winning journalist Margaret Simons reported on Sunday that she understood the episode to be “interesting, rather than revelatory”.

 

But there are unresolved questions in this story that Four Corners, with all of its resources, is well placed to shed new light on.

 

That is, of course, if its story gets to air.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/07/scott-morrison-and-qanon-what-we-already-know-about-the-prime-ministers-connection-to-a-conspiracy-theorist

 

 

Q Post #3310

 

Mar 29 2019 16:57:28 (EST)

 

Threat to Controlled Narrative.

Other than POTUS, can you name a group more attacked than ‘Q’ by the FAKE NEWS media.

Multiple tactics deployed including framing for crimes (think bridge, mob boss, etc etc).

DESPERATION.

Reconcile using logic.

THINK FOR YOURSELF.

DIVIDERS will FAIL.

Q

 

https://qanon.pub/#3310

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 3:45 a.m. No.13848460   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8465 >>5312 >>5572 >>9884

>>13788675

Victorian opposition accused of spreading conspiracies about Dan Andrews’ injury

 

Liberal MP Louise Staley says ‘if there is no cover up’, the premier should answer questions about the circumstances of his fall

 

Calla Wahlquist - 7 Jun 2021

 

Victorian government MPs have accused the state opposition of “vile and disgusting gutter politics” and “spreading conspiracies” after it issued a press release with a list of questions about how the premier, Daniel Andrews, broke his back.

 

The Labor premier has been on extended leave since 9 March, when he slipped and fell on wet stairs at a holiday home on the Mornington Peninsula, breaking several ribs and his T7 vertebra.

 

He is expected to return to work this month, but is awaiting final medical clearance.

 

On Monday, the Liberal opposition issued a statement saying Andrews should not continue to receive his full salary while on sick leave.

 

“Enough is enough, Daniel Andrews can’t continue to get paid for a job he’s not doing,” the opposition treasury spokesperson, Louise Staley, said. “He should only be getting the basic MP’s pay while he’s off work.”

 

She also claimed Victorians needed “honesty and transparency” from Andrews about how he sustained his injury, and called on him to answer a list of 12 questions about the circumstances of the fall before he returns to work.

 

Her questions included where the ambulance was dispatched from, what time it was called and whether police were called.

 

“Everyone is entitled to privacy about their health, but these questions are not about the nature of his injuries, only how he got those injuries,” she said. “If there is no coverup, then there is no reason not to provide answers to these simple questions.”

 

There is no evidence that Andrews has hidden any information about his injury. He has issued several statements about it since March.

 

The Labor MP for Mordialloc, Tim Richardson, said the Liberal party statement was “the most vile and disgusting gutter politics we’re seeing in Victoria”.

 

“Instead of working to support the efforts of Victorians to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic, the Victorian Liberals are spreading conspiracies about premier,” he said.

 

The Bentleigh Labor MP, Nick Staikos, said the Liberal party was worse than rats.

 

Sonja Terpstra, the Labor MLC for Eastern Metro, called the Liberals’ statement “puerile”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 7, 2021, 3:47 a.m. No.13848465   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9249

>>13848460

 

2/2

 

The Labor MP for Eastern Victoria, Harriet Shing, said it was a “cheap, utterly puerile release”.

 

The federal Labor MP for Gellibrand, Tim Watts, and the state MP for Bayswater, Jackson Taylor, compared the release to QAnon conspiracy theories.

 

“This goes beyond the pale of politics,” said Taylor. “So extremely disappointing.”

 

The state’s local government minister, Shaun Leane, invoked more longstanding conspiracies, asking: “If you play a Beatles record backwards, will we get the answers?”

 

Earlier, the opposition leader, Michael O’Brien, told reporters he wished the premier well, “but clearly I think there are some questions that are in the public interest to be cleared up at some point”.

 

Guardian Australia has asked O’Brien’s office for comment.

 

Staley has reportedly turned down a request from Sky News.

 

The premier’s office has declined to comment on any speculation about Andrews’ injuries.

 

Andrews issued a statement about how the fall happened within hours of it occurring, and has since provided updates about his recovery.

 

He said he was staying in a holiday house with his family for the Labour Day long weekend and thanked the paramedics who attended and took him to hospital. He spent six days at the Alfred hospital, four in intensive care, and has since been recovering at home and working regularly with a physiotherapist.

 

On Saturday his wife, Catharine Andrews, posted a photo of the premier getting a haircut.

 

Despite these updates, his absence has been the subject of online conspiracy theories.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/07/victorian-opposition-accused-of-spreading-conspiracies-about-dan-andrews-injury

 

 

PREMIER OWES VICTORIANS SOME SIMPLE ANSWERS

 

https://vic.liberal.org.au/media-releases/2021-06-07-staley-premier-owes-victorians-some-simple-answers

Jon James Pratt (999) aka the storm ID: f1e126 Oh look, I found some 17’s June 7, 2021, 4:06 a.m. No.13848489   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Do I get a prize or is that only in clown world on twitter?

 

Don’t forget to trust the plan*

 

*there isn’t one

 

It's trump, Biden and clinton's dual loyalties to Israel that have destroyed the USA from within.

 

Thanks primarily to infiltration by about 20 or so high profile (pushed by twitter) Qanon accounts who were all Israel 1st, USA 2nd.

 

Our little four man team was banned from twitter about 10 months ago too.

 

Take it personally, like your politicians did, and keep up the pretense on twitter, and see how fast you can annihilate your amazing country.

 

You are in this position, both individually and collectively, due to initially, your politicians and twitter, but by compounding the lie on twitter and not challenging it, it will be a one way ticket to hell for every human being on this planet.

 

Because one man chose to put his faith in the protection of a monopoly on twitter, biblical quotes and Jews more than a higher power.

 

The demented push by Americans and twitter to push a billionaire property developer as a prophet, within the confines of a Jewish safe (((space))).

 

327M thick as fuck Americans.

 

(Great awakening BTFO)

 

62M thick as fuck Brits

 

(Team Satan/totally oblivious to what is happening)

 

14,6M sneaky Jews

 

(Skull caps, wailing wall and jew card in the ass)

 

And 13 vile and irredeemable kikes

 

Put themselves above 7,7bn

 

(Bloodlines wiped off the planet)

 

Disdainful and disrespectful.

 

It’s because none of our leaders have ever had permission to kill, not In the name of God Almighty or religion. Ever.

 

Despite what our politicians say.

 

Always someone else’s fault, isn’t it?

 

FOLDER 📁 OF DOOM aka

 

Victory of the light.

 

For those that have betrayed, blocked, argued, threatened or knowingly concealed (done nothing, in other words)

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1-0QMb_G3N4NSCvIROpsNW_fjsZRLmRTU

 

First illuminated polymath in thousands of years (context)

 

Totally detached from my knowledge too. Argue with that until the cows come home.

 

Thick, disrespectful and vile Americans, Jews and Brits.

 

KNOWLEDGE

 

Direct link to source document in pdf format. 2,238 pages

 

17 year long beam of light from the absolute.

 

130mb

 

https://view.publitas.com/72234/880115/pdfs/d4f86d8e8c2117fd530ef381c5b3b016936f5ad1.pdf

 

Scrolling google drive version

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18ZEHlCwP1DYUoG1hA4TNCyA3uukJ2zty/view?usp=drivesdk

 

One size fits all

 

Fits jews and non jews alike

 

50 year old illuminated polymath from Warwickshire

 

Aka 'the storm ☔️'

 

Aka ‘cosmic lol 😂’

 

Humbly blessed as the world’s top intellectual and philosopher

 

Never lies and is never violent

 

#allpointsarereconciled

 

BREADCRUMBS

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?as_st=y&tbm=isch&as_q=%23allpointsarereconciled+&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&imgsz=&imgar=&imgc=&imgcolor=&imgtype=&cr=&as_sitesearch=&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=

 

Emergency backup drive

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1du6pXkl_ZQ-87t51FH5aPEmpmchfGNYC?sort=13&direction=a

 

RESEARCH AND MEMES

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/mobile/folders/1qhE2UWiZJO9FId4Kq67oaQhnLKBuHJbSSBcCj-Cz/1U6Kfa7f0O5e_9JumXg_e8jJlduNitKEfUNszAU9U7w?sort=13&direction=a

 

See how and why your individual and collective actions and subsequent non actions have had consequences?

 

Sealed indictments and Corona virus in your fucking asses.

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 7, 2021, 6:33 p.m. No.13853435   🗄️.is 🔗kun

War Intensifies As Cabal Takes Aim At Returning Trump

 

Benjamin Fulford 6/7/21

 

The Khazarian Mafia tried on the Satanic day of June 6th (66) to overturn a grassroots movement to remove the fraudulently installed Joe Biden presidency. Following Donald Trump’s live GOP speech in North Carolina the day before where he claimed the fraudulent election was “the crime of the century,” the MSM tried to portray him as broken and incapacitated. By infuriating Trump supporters, it has had the opposite effect. This means the war to hunt down and kill all members of this cabal has intensified, MI6, CIA, and Pentagon sources agree.

 

The Trump on display was the real one, and not his loose jowled body double, NSA sources confirm. The democratically elected president of the United States may be considering military action against the illegal Biden regime as the only option left.

 

Trump tried to assuage supporters by hinting at running in 2024. He had also raised attention with comments about returning to the White House sooner than people expect and responded to interview questions about the “interesting” idea of joining the 2022 house race to become the speaker and impeach Biden. The cabal seems to be hoping any delay will give them time to permanently cement their satanic grip on the U.S. A growing body of evidence shows they intend to accomplish this by murdering most Americans with toxic vaccines.

 

This has been confirmed by a whistleblower from Pfizer who contacted 5 eyes intelligence last week and described the detailed manner in which their vaccine is designed to kill people.

 

According to MI6:

 

“A peer reviewed clinical study from inside Pfizer raises serious concerns about the distribution throughout the body and the accumulation in multiple organs and the brain of the spike proteins created by the mRNA inoculations. The inoculation goes to the deltoid [arm] muscle to then be expelled by the local lymphatic system.

The lymphatic system then spreads the residual (the so-called spike protein) to the lungs, liver, heart and brain. It is very highly toxic and is expected to cause widespread causality and death.The paper is expansive and highly detailed and technical. It would require an expert eye, which may well challenge everything we know to date.”

 

“This is actionable military shoot to kill intelligence,” said an MI6 source, “Already seven death warrants have been signed and this is only the beginning.”

 

“We have been watching you for years, at first we dismissed you as a conspiracy theorist but now we have the forensics to back your claim there is an element [in the ruling class] who is genocidal,” MI6 told this writer.

 

The forensic evidence points to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, as is the enforcement arm of this genocide. Remember these logos of the murderous umbrella corporation, the Rothschild front company in Shanghai, and their resemblance to the Maltese cross? Breakaway members of the Knights of Malta confirm the SMOM is committing mass murder. In other words, the following individuals need to be hunted down and killed or taken in for interrogation if possible: https://www.orderofmalta.int/government/sovereign-council/

 

Remember these are the people who replaced Pope Francis with a mask-wearing impostor who is calling for every human on Earth to be vaccinated. This call is going out despite multiple whistleblowers coming forth and warning that mRNA vaccines are dangerous. They are also pushing these vaccines even though freedom of information requests sent to 60 relevant government and international agencies, including the CDC, the WHO, and Health Canada reveals none of them has proof that COVID 19, the reason for the vaccines, even exists.

 

Military authorities have concluded, “The various civilian governments are showing astonishing naivety in this entire affair and we strongly suspect many are under compromise and control duress or the recipients of inducements.” In other words, they are being bribed, blackmailed, or threatened.

 

“It is like pulling teeth trying to get rid of these governments. They initially do not care they are committing high treason. The people running the world’s civilian governments need to be dragged into the streets and shot,” the sources add.

 

Nonetheless, the military and information campaign against the pandemic vaccine pushers is being won. The revelations about Anthony Fauci financing the creation of pandemic-causing viruses are now being repeated throughout the information ecosphere.

 

Fauci, Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, and many other criminals behind this scheme have already been arrested and or executed, CIA, Mossad, MI6, and Pentagon sources all say.

 

Sauce: https://benjaminfulford.net/2021/06/07/war-intensifies-as-cabal-takes-aim-at-returning-trump/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 12:03 a.m. No.13855012   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5016 >>5034 >>5171 >>5659 >>2138 >>9841

Organised crime dealt ‘heavy blow’, says PM, after global police sting cracks open ‘encrypted’ app

 

Fergus Hunter - June 8, 2021

 

1/2

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says organised crime has been dealt a heavy blow after a global law enforcement operation yielded mass raids and arrests using intelligence from a compromised encrypted communications app relied on by senior underworld figures.

 

The ambitious operation used An0m – an encrypted service developed as an alternative to the Ciphr network and others favoured by criminals worldwide – to covertly monitor a vast trove of communications about the global drug trade and other illegal activities.

 

Overall, the operation led to more than 220 people being arrested on 526 charges across Australia, while 3.7 tonnes of drugs, 104 weapons and $45 million in cash were allegedly seized in the operation involving more than 4000 police officers.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the operation, codenamed Ironside, was a “heavy blow” against organised crime, which has used encrypted communications to hamper authorities since the rise of the technology in recent years.

 

“The operation puts Australia at the forefront of the fight against criminals who peddle in misery and, ultimately, it will keep our communities and Australians safe,” Mr Morrison said.

 

From 2018, the FBI was covertly in control of An0m and Australian police introduced the technical ability to decrypt communications on the platform and monitor them for years. The surveillance yielded enormously valuable intelligence for years before the platform was completely shut down on Tuesday.

 

The app, which was installed on a specially modified Google Pixel phone, was introduced to key organised crime figures by undercover police operatives. Those figures were then used to promote and distribute the platform to the underworld and helped grow its user base significantly.

 

Police say there were about 12,500 users globally on the platform and about 1100 active users in Australia.

 

The users, who police say were exclusively using it for criminal activity, trusted the platform and did not use code in their communications. They were brazen and detailed about their activities, even sharing photos with drug shipments.

 

From 2019 onwards, the Australian Federal Police discreetly used intelligence from the surveillance of millions of messages to help disrupt criminal activities and make about 100 arrests. State and territory police often carried out the arrests and raids, acting on the federal police tips, even if they did not know its origins in the higly sensitive An0m operation.

 

State police officers provided significant and long-term support to federal authorities during the operation and much of the activity on Monday and Tuesday, as the initiative came to a head, was in NSW.

 

Australia’s contribution to the operation was enabled by the powerful TOLA Act introduced by the government in 2018, which targeted encrypted communications.

 

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews called it “the most significant policing operation in Australian history”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 12:05 a.m. No.13855016   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13855012

 

2/2

 

Federal police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said it was an unprecedented operation that had netted some of Australia’s most dangerous criminals.

 

“We allege they are members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Australian Mafia, Asian crime syndicates and serious and organised crime groups. We allege they’ve been trafficking illicit drugs into Australia at an industrial scale,” he said.

 

Worldwide, 9000 law enforcement officials were involved in co-ordinated operations linked to the penetration of An0m.

 

Orchestrated by the FBI, An0m launched a few years ago and recently grew in popularity as an alternative to the Ciphr encrypted network, which has reportedly lost users because of fears among criminals it has also been compromised by authorities.

 

Encrypted communications have become a pillar of organised crime activity and hampered investigations.

 

“You take that away, they can’t do their business,” a senior law enforcement officer told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

 

Anthony Russo, the FBI’s representative at the US embassy in Australia, said global co-operation was necessary to tackle modern organised crime.

 

“In today’s world, crime continues to transverse international borders. The threats we face are too diverse and too complex for any one organisation to tackle alone,” he said.

 

Australian fugitive Hakan Ayik, who has been living in Turkey and is suspected by authorities of being a major facilitator of drug imports into Australia, was viewed as one of the two most influential backers of An0m.

 

Commissioner Kershaw publicly advised Ayik on Tuesday to turn himself in because he had inadvertently helped set up a vast number of criminal peers and was now in danger.

 

“He’s essentially set up his own colleagues,” Commissioner Kershaw said.

 

The Herald and Age revealed Ayik’s location and new identity in Istanbul in recent days and exposed his suspected role as the founder of the “Aussie Cartel” of organised crime figures wielding major influence over drug importation into Australia.

 

Rumours about the takedown of one of encrypted communication platforms were spreading in underworld circles on Monday, one source said.

 

In recent days, An0m’s Facebook, YouTube and Reddit accounts were deleted and key material on its website became unavailable. A chat feature allowing contact with the company had disappeared by Monday evening.

 

The site previously boasted that An0m was “hardened” against surveillance and intrusion with “military-grade” encryption. People could send messages and share files contained entirely within the app.

 

It also offered the ability to “sanitise” or wipe data if a device was seized by authorities.

 

“Deleted data cannot be recovered through forensic examination,” the site said.

 

The organisation said it was based in Panama and would only respond to law enforcement inquiries in that jurisdiction.

 

But the network was being monitored by law enforcement the whole time even as it became more popular.

 

An0m and Ciphr followed Phantom Secure, a pioneering network that used specially modified phones and was used enthusiastically by organised crime. It was shut down in 2018.

 

European media also reported in March that another secure platform used by criminals, Sky ECC, had been compromised by law enforcement.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/mass-raids-arrests-across-australia-after-police-sting-dismantles-encrypted-app-used-by-criminals-20210607-p57yya.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 12:10 a.m. No.13855034   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5041 >>9841

>>13855012

Operation Ironside: AFP, FBI take down mafia, bikie members in ‘sting of the century’

 

Dramatic footage has shown the arrests of hundreds of Australians in what’s been dubbed the “sting of the century”.

 

Natalie Wolfe and Natalie Brown - JUNE 8, 2021

 

1/2

 

Police have revealed new details of what’s been dubbed the “sting of the century”, including dramatic footage and images of the exact moment they nabbed dozens of suspects as part of a global operation to bring down terrorist groups, mafia organisations and outlaw motorcycle gangs.

 

Operation Ironside was formed three years ago as a collaboration between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to bring down underworld figures.

 

Victoria Police carried out warrants in 52 suburbs. In a statement, officers said the murders of Muhamed Yucel in Keysborough in 2017; Zabi Ezedeyer in Narre Warren in 2017 and Ikenasio Tuivasa in Ravenhall earlier this year had also been potentially linked to persons or information in the operation.

 

‘Significant quantities’ of drugs found in NSW

 

In NSW, investigators executed 33 search warrants, arrested 35 people and seized 27 firearms, more than $800,000 in cash, luxury vehicles worth $1.5 million and “significant quantities” of prohibited drugs – including MDMA, cocaine, ice and cannabis – during the state-based arm of Operation Ironside, police said in a statement.

 

Officers sized 27 firearms – including two Glock pistols and a 50-calibre sniper rifle – as well as luxury vehicles including a Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren and Bentley.

 

Sting ‘a heavy blow against organised crime’

 

Earlier today, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Australian Government “has struck a heavy blow against organised crime — not just in this country, but one that will echo around organised crime around the world”.

 

“This is a watershed moment in Australian law enforcement history … Everything we’ve been doing has been to keep Australians safe,” he told reporters.

 

Hundreds of alleged offenders were tricked into communicating via AN0M, an encrypted app designed by police.

 

The app also helped police stop a mass shooting of a family of five, orchestrated by organised crime.

 

“That particular case will come out later on where they planned on using a machine gun and potentially at a cafe where people would have been no doubt harmed,” AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said.

 

“We were able to, with the co-operation of that particular state police force, take out that individual before they were able to do that.”

 

Mr Kershaw said the person planning the mass shooting had been arrested some time ago, however other people allegedly involved were still being investigated.

 

More than 220 members of Australia’s underworld were arrested as part of the nation’s largest ever crime sting after they were allegedly caught using the app to plan executions, drug imports and launder money.

 

Hundreds more were nabbed by police in Europe and the US as authorities conducted sweeping raids across the globe.

 

The AFP said it had busted 21 murder plots, stopped more than 3000kg of drugs from hitting the streets and seized $35 million in cash.

 

Mr Kershaw said the organisation had inflicted “maximum damage to serious organised crime”.

 

“With devastating consequences to those who seek to do harm to Australians and Australia’s interests, and today, Australia is a safer country because of this unprecedented AFP-led operation,” Mr Kershaw added.

 

More than 4000 law enforcement officers were involved in executing 525 search warrants across Australia.

 

“Ironside has arrested and charged who we allege are some of the most dangerous criminals to Australia,” Mr Kershaw said.

 

“We allege they are members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Australian Mafia, Asian crime syndicates and serious and organised crime groups.

 

“We allege they’ve been trafficking illicit drugs into Australia at an industrial scale.

 

“Sadly, criminal gangs are targeting Australia because it is one of the most profitable countries in the world to sell drugs, and for three years, this operation has been covert.

 

“Australian law enforcement has been arresting and charging alleged offenders and we have prevented tonnes of drugs from coming onshore.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 12:11 a.m. No.13855041   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13855034

 

2/2

 

Mr Kershaw said the sting had resulted in the arrest of dozens of alleged “kingmakers”.

 

“We have prevented mass shootings in suburbs and frustrated serious and organised crime by seizing their ill-gotten wealth.

 

“As of today, we have charged 224 alleged offenders, including 525 charges laid.

 

“Shut down six clandestine laboratories and acted on 21 threats to kill, including saving a family of five … seized 104 firearms and weapons and almost $45 million in cash.

 

“These figures are likely to increase over the coming days.

 

“Collectively, these alleged offenders are facing jail terms that could run into hundreds of years and some of the charges they are facing carry life imprisonment.”

 

Mr Kershaw said while the FBI had the lead on the investigation, the AFP provided the “technical capability to be able to decrypt the messages”.

 

Despite the investigation running for years, and arrests being made intermittently, Mr Kershaw said the alleged criminals had no idea they were being targeted.

 

“Let me be clear. When you get access and it will come out in court, you’ll see that all they talk about is drugs, violence, hits on each other, innocent people who are going to be murdered,” he said.

 

“(The texts) would be like, ‘I need 1000 kilos at this price.’ Very brazen. No attempt to hide behind any kind of codified kind of conversation … including ‘we’ll have a speed boat to meet you at this place …’”

 

As AFP officers continue its sweeping raids across the nation today, Mr Kershaw said criminals were in a state of panic.

 

“They all turn on each other,” Mr Kershaw said.

 

“The other thing that we learnt is that they actually do a lot of business behind each other’s backs, including the presidents of various groups and organisations for personal wealth.

 

“So there’s going to be a whole lot of disruption there, and our state police colleagues are on alert for that because there’s no doubt going to be some tension within the whole system about who owes what drug debt and so on.

 

“So that was pretty brazen to see that they were actually disloyal to their own groups.”

 

Despite the massive sting, the Prime Minister said authorities still had a long way to go.

 

“This isn’t over. This is a long way from over. Others will seek to rise up where others have fallen,” Mr Morrison said.

 

“And as they seek to take it out on each other, as criminals inevitably do, there will be others seeking to take advantage.

 

“And that’s why the resource will continue to flow. The support will continue to be there.

 

“And the authorities that they need to do what they do every day and to ensure that Australia can keep winning this fight against organised crime — that will be provided by our government.”

 

Suburbs where warrants were carried out

 

In Victoria, police carried out warrants in : Keysborough, Aspendale Gardens, Elwood, Port Melbourne, Footscray, Point Cook, Sunshine West, Sydenham, Seabrook, Westmeadows, Keilor East, St Kilda East, Werribee, Taylors Lakes, Dandenong North, Keilor Park, Taylors Hill, Keilor Park, Southbank, Laverton North, Thornhill Park, Cairnlea, Glenroy, Greenvale, Tottenham, Mickleham, Thomastown, Narre Warren, Cranbourne West, Hampton Park, Meadow Heights, Dallas, Niddrie, Sunshine North, Craigieburn, Tarneit, Collingwood, Bulleen, Blackburn, Thornbury, Essendon, Doncaster, Airport West, Coburg North, Williams Landing, Brooklyn, Balwyn North, Gisborne, Buninyong, Templestowe Lower, Moolap and Lalor.

 

In NSW, warrants were carried out over two days at locations including Alexandria, Barangaroo, Breakfast Point, Brighton Le Sands, Denham Court, Enfield, Erskine Park, Glebe, Kareela, Lidcombe, Lindfield, Macquarie Park, Malabar, Marsden Park, Middleton Grange, Monterey, Mortdale, Mudgee, Randwick, Redfern, Ropes Crossing, Punchbowl, Pyrmont and Vaucluse.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/afp-fbi-pull-off-sting-of-the-century-and-arrest-mafia-bikie-members/news-story/1f53fe682d2ce054cd445539022a863a

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:09 a.m. No.13855171   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5175 >>5187 >>5206 >>9841

>>13855012

Part 1: How Australian Federal Police and the FBI busted organised criminals on AN0M app

 

This is how the AFP and FBI toppled Mafia, bikies and ethnic gangs from Asia to Albania by executing raids across Australia.

 

Ellen Whinnett - June 8, 2021

 

1/3

 

Plotting the world’s most audacious take-down of organised crime required three essential skills: The ability to think like the most devious crook, the smarts to act like the savviest Silicon Valley tech wizard and the good nature to enjoy a beer after a long day at work.

 

When top-secret Operation Ironside erupted like a volcano into the underworld on Monday the untouchables of crime – Mafia, bikies and a host of ethnic gangs with masters from Asia to Albania – had a police squad the size of a country town burst through their doors across Australia.

 

They might have been arrested by tooled-up special operations officers brandishing military-style weapons. But they’d been outsmarted by the work of unassuming Australian Federal Police agents armed with an app and a big idea.

 

Ironside was a genius mix of imagination, nous and patience which started with a savvy AFP digital tech specialist known as The Operative and a relentless and energetic organised crime detective dubbed The Investigator.

 

Their police work was so devastatingly effective it will be written into crimefighting folklore – but without their real names.

 

Making prisoners – and fools – of the underworld brings with it enemies who are unlikely to forgive or forget.

 

THE OPERATIVE AND THE INVESTIGATOR

 

The clock started ticking on organised crime in Australia in May 2018.

 

The Operative, a clean cut everyman with world-class tech skills, and The Investigator, whose energy levels are matched only by his encyclopaedic knowledge of organised crime, were working side-by-side with the FBI to kill off Phantom Secure, a Canadian encrypted messaging app which criminals used to communicate safe from the eyes of police.

 

For Luddites, encryption simply means messages sent from one phone to another are turned into computer code for the journey and can’t be unscrambled by police taps. Encryption is the invisibility cloak which has allowed criminals to “go dark” and easily communicate out of reach of police since about 2010.

 

Just as the technological disruption of Uber brought the taxi industry to its knees by ruining its business model, encryption was a hammer blow to the way crime fighters did their business: The bad guys were now so much harder to catch.

 

But as The Operative and The Investigator downed a few beers with FBI agents at a bar thousands of kilometres from home, an idea started to take shape.

 

The two Aussies and their FBI counterparts were entitled to enjoy a few coldies – destroying Phantom Secure was a significant victory and had removed a vital tool used by organised crime.

 

But as the enormity of what they’d achieved in undermining some of the world’s biggest criminal networks sunk in, so did the realisation they could go much further.

 

“There was a gap in the market,’’ The Operative says now.

 

Criminals had grown to implicitly trust encrypted apps and after the take-down of Phantom Secure wanted an alternative.

 

What if a new encrypted device could be surreptitiously placed into the hands of criminals desperate for a new way to conduct their drug-trafficking and related nefarious business, the cops wondered?

 

And what if it wasn’t as secure as the crooks thought?

 

What if the encrypted messages could be decrypted and read in real time?

 

What if it gave crooks the security of distorting their voices on voice messages – but those voices could be unscrambled and identified?

 

And, most audaciously, what if law enforcement ran the platform and copied the messages as they were sent?

 

The Operative and The Investigator’s work meetings talking over these possibilities with FBI agents rolled seamlessly into drinks and dinner.

 

“That’s where this conversation started to snowball,’’ The Investigator says.

 

“We said, ‘we really think we can make this work’.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:10 a.m. No.13855175   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5179

>>13855171

 

2/3

 

The FBI already had a suitable device in the final stages of development and testing, known as AN0M.

 

But it was the Aussies who believed they could give it the magic – the technological ability to, in real time read, hear, and copy the messages as they were sent.

 

The pair returned to Australia and embarked on a plan so wildly ambitious and unorthodox it read like the makings of a movie script.

 

They were going to work with the FBI on a platform that looked just like any other encrypted device, but better. The FBI would set up a legitimate business to run it. Together, they would plant handsets fitted with a hidden encrypted message app, provide the website which ran it, and the servers to host it.

 

Their customers would be international drug traffickers, bikies, Mafia figures, Asian crime gangs and South American drug cartels. Then they would use the messages to bring them to justice.

 

The Operative has worked in accessing and monitoring criminal communications for law enforcement for 16 years, including five with the AFP. Being able to see behind the iron curtain of encrypted communications was the Holy Grail.

 

“It was a dream of all of us in law enforcement for the past decade,’’ the Operative says.

 

The Investigator believed the stranger-than-fiction plan could work.

 

“It was highly exciting but I knew that it was going to be a difficult journey,” he said.

 

“We had the best opportunity and no one else in the world had had it. So we were very keen to come back to Australia and sell that idea.’’

 

Neil Gaughan, then the AFP’s Assistant Commissioner of Organised Crime, enjoyed walking the floor of the force’s Canberra headquarters – it was often when his officers would pitch “ripping” innovations to try to win his backing.

 

One day the now-Deputy Commissioner Gaughan was buttonholed by The Investigator. “We have got this idea,’’ The Investigator said.

 

THE OBSTACLE BECOMES THE WAY

 

Ironside became so big and has resulted in so many arrests the AFP needed to call in reinforcements from as far afield as New Zealand to help out the more than 4,000 Aussie officers involved in its busts.

 

It will dominate courtrooms across Australia for years as a dizzying array of charges ranging from attempted murder to mass drug importations and money-laundering are prosecuted.

 

But in its early days it lived in a windowless bunker at the AFP headquarters, with The Operative, The Investigator, a superintendent named Rob Nelson who runs the force’s digital surveillance collection unit, and an inspirational quote.

 

The digital surveillance collection unit might sound like a mouthful – but it’s the left field, offbeat, no-holds barred ideas factory.

 

Supt Nelson describes his highly secretive unit as “the AFP’s answer to James Bond’s Q Branch” and says the team of 60 “happily wear the terms geek and nerd like a badge of honour”.

 

When The Investigator first pitched the idea Gaughan was intrigued, excited – and wary.

 

“I don’t mind taking calculated risks,’’ he says.

 

But he wanted time to think and to get some advice.

 

This was new territory: police would ostensibly be providing assistance to the criminals by giving them access to AN0M.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:11 a.m. No.13855179   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13855175

 

3/3

 

The Investigator and The Operative were keen for the green light and not afraid to push their case with the boss.

 

“The Investigator was bugging me from day one,’’ Gaughan says.

 

“He’s a pretty excitable young fella, I’ve known him since … before he joined the cops. He was very enthusiastic about the fact that there was this opportunity.

 

“I think for them it was pretty clear cut that we needed to take it.”

 

Gaughan wanted more information about the plan and told the pair to “cool your heels a bit, let’s think about it”.

 

“I asked them to go to do a fair bit of homework. This one was a good idea I thought, but I just needed to make sure.’’

 

Police were worried that clues to serious impending crimes such as murders could be picked up on AN0M, but be missed in the blizzard of communications.

 

“I was concerned … to ensure when the text messages started flying around that we had the ability to actually deal with ones that were threats to life, deal with the ones that were involved in drugs,’’ Gaughan says.

 

Artificial intelligence would need to be developed “to ensure that we actually didn’t miss opportunities” and “people didn’t die.’’

 

Police would later intercept and foil what they allege were least 20 threats to life, including five separate execution plots on two organised crime families, as well as a bikie planning the drive-by shooting of a rival.

 

While Gaughan was mulling the formal advice on the proposal, The Investigator and The Operative commandeered a large, windowless office at the bottom of the Edmund Barton Building – AFP Headquarters – in Canberra.

 

They called it the bunker, and along with their computers, brought in something a bit less hi-tech – a whiteboard.

 

To remind them of their mission, The Investigator wrote across the top a quote from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, whose ancient diaries had become a basis for modern-day stoic philosophy.

 

“The obstacle becomes the way,’’ it said.

 

The pair would treat encrypted communications not as a hurdle to their investigation of organised crime, but as an opportunity.

 

Police had been involved in a technical arms race with the underworld for years.

 

Encrypted platforms like Phantom Secure had given criminals the upper hand and left law enforcement “blind”.

 

“The competitive advantage we had with telecommunications intercepts, that was literally just taken away from us,’’ The Investigator says.

 

“That really tilted the field massively back in their favour.

 

“What we wanted to achieve was killing Phantom Secure and turning their ability to securely communicate in that way off overnight. An advanced objective which we didn’t achieve was – could there be a way for us to get to content?

 

“We used to say, ‘that’s the dream’. If you can see what they are communicating about then that wrestles that advantage back to law enforcement.’’

 

Just a few weeks later came the breakthrough they’d been waiting for.

 

https://www.couriermail.com.au//news/national/part-1-how-australian-federal-police-and-the-fbi-busted-organised-criminals-on-an0m-app/news-story/bca13688529774462c5f450ca5662d78

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:13 a.m. No.13855187   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5193 >>9841

>>13855171

Part 2: 96 seconds that saw the Australian criminal underworld implode under Operation Ironside

 

This is the moment Australian Federal Police created the AN0M app — a Trojan horse that could expose criminals and their networks.

 

Ellen Whinnett - June 8, 2021

 

1/3

 

96 SECONDS THAT SMASHED THE UNDERWORLD

 

The Operative was sitting on the couch in the loungeroom of his Canberra home, doing what he did most nights – working on AN0M.

 

He had two mobile phones and a laptop propped up on his knees and he was sending encrypted messages backwards and forwards between the two phones via the app.

 

Then, on the laptop in front of him, appeared the words of the messages he’d been sending himself.

 

The Operative dryly recalls that “one of the most exciting times for me was when we proved the concept that we could collect encrypted messages and decrypt them from the platform’’.

 

“Phone here, phone there, my laptop here. I sent a message to that phone and I could see the encrypted messages come up on the computer,’’ he said.

 

He videoed the moment with yet another phone, showing the messages pinging backwards and forwards between the two phones and scrolling down, unencrypted, on the laptop.

 

The Operative sent it off to all his colleagues.

 

The 96-second clip, which would later be shown to the AFP top brass, inadvertently also captured The Operative’s bare feet.

 

“I had to sell this to the executive – like, this is possible, we can do this,’’ The Operative says, defending his feet cameo on the basis “it was like 10pm at night’’.

 

His colleagues were thrilled with the development – and grateful that at least he had his pants on.

 

“And he sent us the video and it’s like, ‘yeah, we like your bare feet, it’s a nice touch’,’’ Nelson says.

 

To an untrained eye, it’s hard to square off how the decryption works – the video shows some of the messages are identical on each phone, but other words on the laptop screen.

 

But The Operative and The Investigator knew what they’d done, as did Nelson.

 

Access, decrypt, and collect.

 

Despite his technical wizardry, The Operative is not a formally trained computer engineer.

 

“My whole law enforcement agency career has been around legally accessing criminal communications. I would not call myself a tech compared to the people I work with in Digital Surveillance, but … to the operational members of the AFP, I am a tech,’’ he says.

 

However, he worked closely with the tech experts and specialists within in the AFP’s digital surveillance collection unit on the plan.

 

“The real magic of Ironside was the work that three members from the Digital Surveillance Collection area did in rebuilding a server that collected and decrypted the communications,’’ The Operative says.

 

The Investigator too was no tech expert, with “nil qualifications’’ in technical design but decades of experience investigating organised crime, and working out how the criminal networks operated.

 

“I relied heavily on The Operative and Rob Nelson and the wider Digital Surveillance Collection (unit) – they are the experts. In fact they are world leaders,’’ he said.

 

“There is no one on this planet with the expertise and knowledge that The Operative has. His technical expertise, especially in how these devices operated and the market they operated within, coupled with his experience working in and understanding of the organised crime environment, placed him in a unique and highly specialised position. Without him we wouldn’t have got to first base.’’

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:15 a.m. No.13855193   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5198

>>13855187

 

2/3

 

The plan came off because of a group of like-minded and passionate people from the FBI and AFP worked together and stuck at it, The Operative says.

 

“We each took a little bit of the problem away and worked on whether the idea could work. There was a technical piece: Accessing and decoding the messages. There was a legal piece, and a management piece.

 

“The AFP took responsibility for the technical piece, the FBI took the management piece and both agencies worked on the legal piece.”

 

In the early days, Nelson, The Investigator and The Operative mostly worked the operation alone, often at night and after hours, backed up by the AFP’s tech and digital experts.

 

They had to convince the AFP hierarchy that it would work, that they could manage the volume of messages that would come in if it was successful, and that they’d be able to pick up any immediate threats to life caught in the communications.

 

They also had to make sure the platform couldn’t be hacked by commercial competitors and looked authentic enough to trick criminals into embracing it.

 

And they had to work out how to get it into their hands.

 

Gaughan signed the Major Controlled Operation authorisation on September 25, 2018, which lay the groundwork for police to covertly infiltrate crime networks.

 

He remained anxious about the potential for a threat to life to be made on a device, but be buried under the mountain of messages, and not picked up by police until it was too late.

 

That was his “red line”.

 

“Ultimately, if someone got killed and we had a device and we later found out, I would have pulled the plug on it,’’ he recalls.

 

“A red line for me would have been, ‘Boss, we’ve found this text message, it relates to this hit that’s occurred in blah, we missed it’. I would have said, ‘we’re done’, because that’s just too high risk.

 

But for now, it was all systems go.

 

The AFP’s National Operations State Service Centre generated a list of possible names for the operation.

 

One was Operation Ironside.

 

The Investigator grabbed it, seeing the linkage to the Viking Bjorn Ironside.

 

“The Vikings were determined and ruthless in fighting whatever they went up against,’’ he says.

 

They had the approvals. Now they had to make it work.

 

HUNTERS AND COLLECTORS

 

To catch crooks, the Ironside team had to think like crooks – but act like a dotcom start-up.

 

Police couldn’t just start planting devices fitted with AN0M and expect an immediate front pocket ride with the underworld.

 

New and some struggling platforms were emerging after Phantom Secure offering better devices with better encryption and privacy features, including EncroChat out of Europe, and Sky ECC, out of North America.

 

To win customers, AN0M had to be a cutting-edge product that offered users everything they wanted in a device and more.

 

But to make sure nobody ended up dead, it had to be able to read its customers minds and interpret whether their messages were harmless or heinous.

 

The handsets were a mobile phone stripped of its normal functions. They could not send emails, make calls, find maps or do Google searches.

 

The app was pre-loaded and hidden behind a seemingly-innocent calculator icon.

 

Once the user typed a secret access code into the calculator, the app would open.

 

As well as end-to-end encryption of messages, it distorted voice messages as a further layer of anonymity.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:16 a.m. No.13855198   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13855193

 

3/3

 

One of AN0M’s special features was a remote access kill switch – a promise that all data would be remotely wiped if police got hold of one of the devices and cracked into the app.

 

Subscribers paid a monthly fee for the privilege of a remote wipe, with no idea their cash was going straight back into the FBI’s pockets

 

Handset and subscription packages each cost between $1500 and $2500.

 

It is not illegal to have encrypted apps on your phone.

 

Millions of law-abiding Aussies use mainstream apps such as WhatsApp or Signal every day.

 

But those Aussies usually have a mainstream telco provider and provide identification to purchase their handsets and phone plans.

 

AN0M buyers and those using other shady encrypted platforms through custom-stripped handsets did not provide identification, operated only under false names or handles, often used SIM cards routed through other countries, and generally tried to remain anonymous.

 

That is where resellers – grey marketeers hiding behind flashy aliases who were the same people who had been selling Phantom Secure handsets – came in.

 

Police wanted the device to appear completely authentic, so they plugged into the reseller market, which they already knew from criminal investigations.

 

“Criminals generally purchased the encrypted device from underground resellers … They would usually have to know someone that was already using a device to place an order,’’ The Operative says.

 

Once one crook in a network had a device, he would often order more for his associates so they could communicate.

 

Sometimes devices were paid for in cash while other preferred to pay in cryptocurrency, mainly Bitcoin.

 

The app would be activated, usually by the reseller, after access codes requested from the AN0M administrators, were entered.

 

If The Operative and his offsiders had ventured into the private sector, they could have made a fortune in Silicon Valley.

 

But bringing down organised crime meant far more to them than making a motza for someone else’s start-up.

 

“If you talk to the guys, they’re all invested in the actual mission,’’ the AFP’s Commander of Covert and Technical Operations, Doug Boudry says.

 

“In private industry they would be earning someone else a lot of money – here in the AFP what they’re doing is actually having a tangible effect. Not only for themselves but for their families and the community.

 

“The other things is they’re hunters by nature. They like going after the bad guys. There is something fun in that. There is a sense of belonging to something when you’re going after the criminals.’’

 

https://www.couriermail.com.au//news/national/part-2-96-seconds-that-saw-the-australian-criminal-underworld-implode-under-operation-ironside/news-story/c33c4b3658e135cc607eefa605a0eaa2

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:18 a.m. No.13855206   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5210 >>9841

>>13855171

Part 3: Criminal ‘influencers’ who took the AFP and FBI bait by using the AN0M app

 

Aussie cops convinced “influencers” who could get others to use the AN0M app where their secret networks were finally exposed.

 

Ellen Whinnett - June 8, 2021

 

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INFLUENCERS AND EMOJIS

 

Some mainstream products have the Kardashians. Others are promoted by impossibly gorgeous models or the biggest names in world sport.

 

Like any decent 21st century product, AN0M needed one hell of a marketing strategy – complete with celebrity endorsement.

 

These influencers, though, were unlikely to be on a red carpet any time soon.

 

With their Silicon Valley hats on, the international team realised organic growth and spreading the devices through the underworld via word of mouth from authentic criminal sources, was crucial to success.

 

They identified “influencers’’ – prominent members of the underworld – who they believed would be influential in getting other crooks to switch to AN0M.

 

One of those influencers was on Australian shores – let’s call him Mafia Man.

 

Police allege he was a senior member of the feared ‘Ndrangheta. Others were selected as they had strong links to a who’s who of global mayhem – Comanchero, Hells Angels and Lone Wolf bikies, South American drug cartels and Albanian organised crime.

 

Another influencer was Hakan Ayik, the former Sydney bikie who had fled to Turkey a decade ago, and who police believed was directing and organising drug imports worth hundreds of millions of dollars into Australia and other countries.

 

In the words of Gaughan, AN0M was “being sponsored by a couple of really good crooks who are basically saying that it’s impregnable’’.

 

Or, as AFP Superintendent Jared Taggart said: “It’s like having the Rock sponsoring your gym.”

 

Police haven’t explained how they got the first devices to Ayik and Mafia Man.

 

It was slow at first – just five devices were placed into the market to test the waters – but police allowed their business to grow organically.

 

“We weren’t actively out there pushing these, we were simply meeting a demand,’’ Nelson says.

 

On October 31, 2018, the first messages between criminals came in.

 

The Operative was sitting at his desk in the bunker when he saw them.

 

“It was very exciting and extremely satisfying,’’ he said.

 

“Messages from that first day indicated significant domestic criminality. This to me, was success.

 

“Little did I know how little sleep for the next three years I was about to have.’’

 

WHAT AFP, FBI FOUND IN CRIMS’ ENCRYPTED NETWORK

 

By infiltrating encrypted messages, the Ironside team had pulled off the impossible.

 

Now they faced the hard part.

 

First they had to collect the messages, work out which ones were about serious crime.

 

Then they had to operationalise it – turn mountain of messages and leads into evidence that could be used to prosecute hundreds of people in Australia and thousands globally.

 

As months went by, the number of devices grew – by operation’s end there would be more than 1000 in Australia and 10,000 worldwide – and the messages being decrypted by the police piled up.

 

In the last two weeks of April, 2020, there were 42,000 messages decoded.

 

Two months later EncroChat went down after European police located its servers and managed to hack into it.

 

SKY ECC was taken down in March this year after also being compromised by law enforcement.

 

In the final two weeks of April 2021, 2.67 million messages were intercepted.

 

The criminality they revealed was eye-popping – drug-trafficking on an enormous scale, money-laundering, extortion, violence, assaults, fraud and corruption.

 

Mafia. Bikies. Asian and European organised crime gangs.

 

The devices were in the hands of foreign hardened crooks in up to 20 countries, from New Zealand to the Netherlands.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:19 a.m. No.13855210   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5213

>>13855206

 

2/3

 

Australian investigators were able to draw links between people and groups who they’d previously thought were enemies.

 

They got the first ever unfiltered look at which gangs and individuals were secretly working together.

 

They discovered underworld heavyweights who had never been on their radar.

 

And they finally got evidence on long-term targets they’d never quite been able to pin.

 

But the pressure was intense. Over nearly three years Ironside captured 25 million messages.

 

They intervened only when an imminent threat to life was identified: Gaughan’s “red line” was ever present – Ironside could not allow someone to die.

 

The AFP immediately tipped off the relevant state or territory police force about any apparent threat and local officers swung into action but never knew where the information had come from.

 

The digital surveillance collections unit developed artificial intelligence system to read, prioritise and alert investigators to the criminality and threats occurring in the millions of messages.

 

Training the police computers to identify the threats to life wasn’t straightforward.

 

Artificial intelligence can easily pick out the word “kill.’’

 

But while humans would recognise a misspelling such as “kll,’’, a machine might not.

 

Then there was slang, swearing, and foreign languages.

 

And the curious language of “criminalise” – the shorthand that crooks use between themselves.

 

And it wasn’t just what they said in messages, but the tone.

 

“We were doing things like sentiment analysis. Is this (message) positive, is this negative, is there an imminent threat there, what are the criminal themes?’’ Supt Nelson said.

 

“There was not only the technical challenge on how do we facilitate access, collection, decryption of this data but then how do we deal with the sheer volume of criminality that’s occurring on here?’’

 

One ace up the sleeves of investigators was the trust users had in the platform.

 

It meant they had abandoned their usual code and were speaking directly, naming names and placing orders for drugs in specific amounts and dollar values.

 

“They speak openly on them but I think they naturally have their own coded language,’’ Supt Nelson says.

 

“This is this concept of criminalise. And they’re probably not even conscious they’re doing it half the time.

 

“They could talk with their mates about multi-ton imports and things like that, but at the same time they use a language which is not conducive to, say, picking up Google translate or Google talk and using those big data analytics platforms that have been built around smart speakers.”

 

Apart from trust, police had something else working in their favour.

 

Their targets were “all very arrogant blokes” who were certain they were one step ahead of law enforcement.

 

“They think they are bulletproof and it won’t happen to them,’’ Gaughan said.

 

And just as Apple refined its iPhone, AN0M evolved to give the users what they wanted.

 

And that included smaller, and newer phones.

 

“AN0M succeeded because we understood our market and had a better product than our competitors,” Inspector Matt Walls, manager of day to day operations of digital collections, said.

 

“We knew from the start we had features that would appeal to the crooks. But the real trick was that we had the ability to really “listen” to our customers in a way our competitors couldn’t, so we were able to evolve the product to maintain our advantage,” he said.

 

“The users spoke about wanting smaller, newer phones and like magic AN0M pivoted to newer, smaller phones almost overnight,” he said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:21 a.m. No.13855213   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13855210

 

3/3

 

By April 2021, Ironside – the humble investigation which started out with just three AFP agents officers – had become a monster in size, as thousands of investigators and specialists joined its ranks and police from every mainland state, along with New Zealand, were brought in to bring it to a close.

 

Ironside’s senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Des Appleby, says the AFP had been witnessing plots to import drugs, murder other criminals or harm their families over drug debts, and extensive money-laundering and drug manufacturing and shared intelligence with other agencies more than 1000 times.

 

“We have helped other police forces solve a number of murders and other serious crimes along the way,’’ he says.

 

Appleby says the impact on organised crime in Australia would be profound.

 

“I personally think particularly with the Comanchero motorcycle gang it will hopefully wipe them out. The Lone Wolfs the same thing. Other organised crime figures,’’ he says.

 

“It will shatter their confidence in encrypted devices.’’

 

He said those who had been using AN0M and didn’t get rounded up by police this week would know it was just a matter of time until they did.

 

By May, the operation had become so large that for the first time in the AFP’s history, almost the entire force was dedicated to the operation. Detectives were ready to pounce and unmask the underworld’s biggest players as the FBI prepared to shutdown AN0M on June 7.

 

“For a long time we were like a minnow in the whole market – but when you look at the opportunities – the minnows could catch the big fish,’’ Commander Boudry says.

 

The sheer size of the take-down is expected to put significant pressure on Australia’s judicial system, clogging up the courts and making a number of lawyers rich.

 

Officials from the Australian Border Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian Taxation Office, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and state and territory police will also be hard-pressed to keep up with the caseload.

 

Kirsty Schofield, the Commander of Investigations in New South Wales, said an enormous amount of work was needed to examine what was found during the searches and to compile briefs of evidence in court.

 

“I really think this is going to see us working for the next few years,’’ she says.

 

Boudry had the final word for those caught out by Operation Ironside.

 

“Well, we got you on this one,’’ he says.

 

“The (AFP) Commissioner (Reece Kershaw) talks about outsmarting criminals – and we’ve done that here.

 

“We … have people who are capable of extraordinary things. Technically capable and who understand the environment in which they work. These people were able to put those two things together and truly outsmart the criminals.’’

 

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/part-3-criminal-influencers-who-took-the-afp-and-fbi-bait-by-using-the-an0m-app/news-story/71b52a8d766dd157de4f211423a61b77

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 1:57 a.m. No.13855312   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5572 >>9884

>>13788675

>>13848460

Daniel Andrews moves to quash fall rumours with ambulance details

 

Premier Daniel Andrews has released his ambulance call-out information in a bid to quell false rumours about his fall.

 

Shannon Deery and MITCH CLARKE - June 8, 2021

 

Daniel Andrews has moved to quash malicious rumours about the fall that has left him off work for months, by granting Ambulance Victoria permission to release details of the incident.

 

The state opposition on Monday demanded the Premier answer a list of questions about the fall after rumours flared at the weekend about the true nature of the incident.

 

Labor MPs reacted furiously to any suggestion of a cover-up.

 

The Premier’s office has consistently maintained the Premier slipped and fell at a Mornington Peninsula property while getting ready for work on March 9.

 

In a statement released on Tuesday Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were called to a house in Sorrento on March 9 at 6.36am.

 

“Ambulance Victoria received a triple-0 call for an ambulance at 6.36am on Tuesday 9 March 2021 for a patient who had fallen on steps at a house in Sorrento,” the statement read.

 

“Based on information provided during the call, the case did not require an immediate lights and sirens (life-threatening emergency response) and the call underwent secondary triage.

 

“This triage determined that the case was appropriate for ambulance response, and an ambulance was dispatched from the nearest ambulance brain in Sorrento.

 

“The ambulance arrived at 7.01am”.

 

The statement said the patient requested to be taken to a local hospital “in order for the attending crew to remain within the area once cleared from the case”.

 

Ambulance Victoria had previously refused to release any details of the call out.

 

Victoria’s opposition on Monday issued a list of questions regarding Mr Andrews’ fall.

 

In a statement, Shadow Treasurer Louise Staley detailed 12 questions for Mr Andrews, including the time of the incident, who was there, whether an ambulance was called and if police were contacted.

 

Labor MPs reacted furiously to any suggestion of a cover up, slamming the opposition for promoting conspiracy theories.

 

“This is the most vile and disgusting gutter politics we’re seeing in Victoria,” Mordialloc MP Tim Richardson said.

 

Tim Pallas labelled it a “disgrace” and called on the party to reflect on their approach to politics.

 

“I don’t think Dan Andrews drove the sub that took Harold Holt to China … he didn’t organise the fake moon landing,” Mr Pallas said.

 

“This is nonsense. We know it’s nonsense. It’s the sort of QAnon craziness that is peddled around the community to create an atmosphere of uncertainty.

 

“What happened to Daniel Andrews was an unfortunate, indeed a very serious spinal injury, that he’s recovering from. There’s nothing more to it.”

 

Andrews government Minister Shaun Leane was scathing.

 

“This is the worst opposition Victoria’s ever seen … this is a new low (but) they’re driven by hate,” he said.

 

Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said the Liberal Nationals are “not fit for office” and should focus on holding the government to account rather than “peddling conspiracy theories”.

 

But Ms Staley maintains she wasn’t playing at any “conspiracy theories”.

 

“The easiest way to stop any of these conspiracy theories, which I am not playing into, is for these questions to be answered,” Ms Staley said.

 

“They’re very simple questions … It’s just time that all this got cleared up.

 

“Daniel Andrews is a public figure. We all give up certain things when we become public figures and one of the things we give up is the right to absolute privacy. None of us have that anymore.”

 

She added that the Premier’s health was a private matter.

 

Opposition leader Michael O’Brien said it was “legitimate” to ask questions to establish facts.

 

“It’s simply a case of we don’t necessarily know the whole truth,” he said.

 

“I’m not suggesting for a second that anything the Premier’s office have said about the Premier’s accident or his condition is untrue. No one is suggesting that.”

 

Nationals MP Tim Bull said the questions should be relatively easily answered.

 

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/daniel-andrews-moves-to-quash-fall-rumours-with-ambulance-details/news-story/00179a80f06820a112fa572fc0bc78c7

 

https://twitter.com/bridgerollo/status/1402057859852996633

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 2:13 a.m. No.13855340   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13818968

ABC Media Watch

 

ABC QAnon

 

ABC Managing Director David Anderson explains why he’s reviewing a Four Corner’s story about QAnon and the Prime Minister.

 

Broadcast: Mon 7 Jun 2021, 8:50pm

 

Transcript

 

And potentially adding to Coalition pressure on the ABC is another story that Four Corners has lined up, which was due to run tonight until management intervened:

 

JODIE SPEERS: ABC management has reportedly knocked back an upcoming Four Corners episode by journalist Louise Milligan about the relationship between the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

 

- Seven Early News, 4 June, 2021

 

The Sydney Morning Herald broke that news on Thursday and revealed it was MD David Anderson who pulled the plug, suggesting that perhaps he is in control after all.

 

Social media immediately lit up with cries of censorship. And on Friday morning Sunrise crossed live to ABC HQ every hour for the latest:

 

AMBER LAIDLER: The ABC says the story has not been pulled from air and any information to the contrary is misleading …

 

- Sunrise, Seven Network, 4 June, 2021

 

That is indeed what the ABC said, first in a public tweet and then in a longer email to ABC staff from David Anderson on Friday, in which Anderson said he had merely delayed the program until his concerns have been answered:

 

Any suggestion that I “pulled” or “blocked” the program is simply not true. I reviewed the material and made an editorial decision it was not yet ready for broadcast, as any responsible Editor-in-Chief would.

 

- Email, David Anderson, Managing Director, to ABC staff, 4 June, 2021

 

So, what do we know?

 

Well, at the start of the year, Four Corners and reporter Louise Milligan began exploring the relationship between Scott Morrison and a leading Australian supporter of QAnon, the far-right conspiracy cult that believes a cabal of Satanic paedophiles operates at the highest levels of government.

 

In doing so, the ABC was following up a story that first broke in The Guardian in 2019 which revealed that one of the PM’s friends was a QAnon conspiracy theorist whose wife worked on the PM’s staff.

 

Later, Crikey named the man as Tim Stewart and characterised him as a “long-time friend” of Scott Morrison whose wife was “best friends” with the PM’s wife Jenny.

 

And the smoking gun? Crikey noted the PM used the phrase “ritual sexual abuse” in a speech on child abuse, which was cheered by Tim Stewart on Twitter as a reference to the QAnon cause.

 

Now, as proof of influence over the PM, you may think that is not super strong. And while Milligan is no doubt aiming to firm up any evidence, some in ABC editorial management still regard it as thin.

 

David Anderson says he watched a rough cut of the program on Thursday after upward referral from news boss Gaven Morris and told Four Corners he had concerns:

 

DAVID ANDERSON: As Editor-in-Chief I independently just reviewed that story and wrote a note back suggesting that I felt there was concern about a couple of areas and was looking for other things to be strengthened within the story but otherwise to proceed on …

 

Senator, if I may, I’ll also see reported today that there is, you know, there seems to be some consternation that there is clash between myself and the Four Corners team. That is incorrect.

 

- Senate Environment & Communications Legislation Committee, 7 June, 2021

 

The program is now back on the shelf while work continues.

 

But in the meanwhile, the genie is out of the bottle.

 

On Friday, after failing for four weeks to respond to repeated Four Corners inquiries, and after his media chief had rung the ABC’s head of news to inquire about the QAnon program, Scott Morrison got this loaded question at a press conference:

 

JOURNALIST: Are you concerned the ABC’s involved in so-called vigilante journalism? Were the allegations put to you and what is your connection to the man at the centre of that story?

 

- ABC News Channel, 4 June, 2021

 

And the response? Offense that anyone would connect him to QAnon. And this barb aimed at the ABC:

 

SCOTT MORRISON: It’s also just very disappointing that Four Corners in their inquiries would seek to cast this aspersion not just against me but by members of my own family. I just think that’s really poor form. Thank you very much.

 

- ABC News Channel, 4 June, 2021

 

Clearly, another war with the government — and the PM in particular — is the last thing the ABC needs.

 

But ABC management is saying the program will go to air. What it ends up saying, however, is another matter.

 

Stand by for fierce debate inside the ABC and a chorus of criticism — perhaps from both sides — when it does see the light of day.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/4c/13377096

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 2:34 a.m. No.13855419   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5427 >>9853

>>13848125

Court told Ben Roberts-Smith to seek huge payout after reputation ‘smashed and destroyed’

 

Ben Roberts-Smith will seek huge damages to compensate for his reputation being “smashed and destroyed”, a court has heard.

 

Candace Sutton - JUNE 8, 2021

 

1/2

 

War hero Ben Roberts-Smith will seek a huge “uncapped” sum in damages to compensate for his reputation being “smashed and destroyed”, a court has heard.

 

Day two of the highly-decorated war hero’s blockbuster defamation trial was told that his earning capacity had dwindled to “none” after media claims of war crimes and an assault on a woman.

 

“There could not be a soldier better-known or more highly-regarded than (Ben Roberts-Smith)” prior to news reports claiming he was a war criminal and assaulted a woman the Federal Court in Sydney heard.

 

Bruce McClintock SC said the effect of those reports had been to “smash and destroy … that reputation”.

 

He told the court that invitations to speak publicly had dried up and that Mr Roberts-Smith had to withdraw from a lucrative job offer.

 

His annual income after leaving the SAS had been $325,000 in the 2018 financial year.

 

Mr McClintock said that an expert accountant would estimate his client’s public speaking engagement losses as up to $475,000.

 

He said the primary income for Mr Roberts-Smith since he left the army was to be “engaged in a profitable career in public speaking for which he was paid”.

 

He said the former soldier would be seeking “damages enough to restore (his) reputation so he can say … the attacks on him are false.

 

“The more serious the attack, the greater the amount of money necessary to vindicate (him).

 

“These are not trivial attacks, these are allegations of murder and war crimes and there really can be nothing more serious than that.

 

“Equally, the allegation of domestic violence is extremely serious … (and) inordinately damaging to my client.”

 

Mr McClintock said the reports by media outlets publishing these claims had continued to be republished.

 

Mr McClintock then requested the court be closed so that “sensitive documents” could be tendered.

 

Roberts-Smith is suing three journalists and three one-time Fairfax newspapers, two of which are now owned by Nine.

 

The Afghanistan war hero claims he has been defamed by false allegations in news reports he committed war crimes in Afghanistan and punched a former girlfriend in the face.

 

The 203cm tall SAS veteran is suing over reports he says wrongly accused him of murder during his tours of Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

 

His lawyer, Bruce McClintock, SC, told the court on Monday the allegations were fuelled by “corrosive jealousy, cowardice and lies” by soldiers, some of whom were incompetent.

 

Mr McClintock said it had been Mr Roberts-Smith job to kill Taliban enemy insurgents in Afghanistan and he had been successful in doing so

 

Around 60 witnesses including Mr Roberts-Smith’s former wife Emma, soldiers he fought with and Afghan villagers are expected to give evidence over the next few months.

 

Costs in the landmark defamation trial held inside 18D of the Federal Court in Sydney’s Queens Square are expected to exceed $10m.

 

The 42-year-old denies all wrongdoing and the newspapers will seek to prove the truth of their allegations as their defence.

 

On the trial’s opening day on Monday, Mr McClintock described as “ludicrous” and “unbelievable” allegations printed in the media that his client had boasted about killing a teenage boy and another that he had punched a woman.

 

Mr McClintock said the false allegation about the boy in Afghanistan had been made after a “visibly and extremely nervous” boy aged between 14 and 16 had been intercepted by Australian soldiers on November 5, 2012.

 

He was intercepted in a Toyota HiLux by a patrol led by Ben Roberts-Smith.

 

Mr McClintock said a witness had later asked Mr Roberts “what happened to the young bloke who was shaking like a leaf”.

 

He said the witness’s account was that Mr Roberts-Smith then said: “I shot that c*nt in the head. I pulled out my nine millimetre and shot him in the head.

 

“It was the most beautiful thing.”

 

Mr McClintock said the false allegations made his client sound like “an ostentatious psychopath”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 2:35 a.m. No.13855427   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13855419

 

2/2

 

The court heard that in another newspaper report, it had been claimed Ben Roberts-Smith punched a woman who was a supporter of anti-violence campaigner Rosie Batty, and with whom the ex-soldier had been having an affair.

 

The incident with the woman occurred on May 28, 2018, after a dinner attended by the-then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in Canberra.

 

The woman had attended the dinner with Mr Roberts-Smith, become “very, very drunk” and Mr Roberts-Smith had feared his affair with her would be exposed.

 

On leaving the dinner, Mr McClintock said it was caught on CCTV that the woman took to the stairs and “lost her footing … hit her head and sustained … a very severe impact to her left temple and eye”.

 

He said that the woman had then told her doctor and others, including Mr Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife Emma, that she had fallen down stairs.

 

But Mr McClintock said media had then falsely alleged that she had been struck by his client and that allegation had been even more damaging to Mr Roberts-Smith than claims of war crimes.

 

He told the court that should allegations against Mr Roberts-Smith that he was a murderer and had assaulted the woman be proved false he would be due the highest aggravated damages ever in Australia.

 

During the trial, Afghani witnesses will testify from a link in the Afghanistan capital, Kabul, via interpreters for the Afghani language, Pashto.

 

Mr McClintock said that although former Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, would not be testifying, she still supported Mr Roberts-Smith.

 

“Ms Quentin Bryce … won’t be appearing for personal reasons,” Mr McClintock said, but he said that did not mean she was withdrawing her support of his client.

 

Earlier last week in the Federal Court in Sydney, Justice Wendy Abraham ordered a witness in the forthcoming trial to hand over documents about a military inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

 

Justice Abraham ruled an SAS soldier known as “Person 35”, who will give evidence at the trial, must hand over documents linked to an inquiry by the Inspector-General of Defence into the conduct of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

 

“Person 35” is one of several witnesses who have asked for their evidence to the Inspector-General of Defence inquiry to not be made public.

 

Justice Abraham said “Person 35” has not been able to successfully argue the need for “public interest immunity”.

 

The newspapers have withdrawn one allegation of unlawful killing from their defence, which involved Roberts-Smith swimming across a river and allegedly shooting an Afghan man.

 

Nine will contend the killing took place but will no longer contend it was unlawful. Four paragraphs of its defence have been withdrawn.

 

That killing took place on the same day as Roberts-Smith is alleged to have been involved in the murder of Afghan farmer Ali Jan, who was kicked off a cliff and then shot.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith has denied those events ever took place.

 

Last Friday, Mr Roberts-Smith launched a court action against his ex-wife ahead of the start of the start of this week’s proceedings.

 

The action alleged Emma Roberts-Smith had deleted emails and attachments from his account which allegedly may have contained sensitive material of national security significance.

 

Len Roberts-Smith, a former judge Advocate General of the Australian Defence Force and his wife Sue flew in to Sydney last weekend to “support their son” at the trial after he had been under attack for several years.

 

“We are very proud of him for the father and son that he is,” they said in a statement prior to the commencement of the trial.

 

“We love and care for him like every parent love and cares for their child.”

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/court-told-ben-robertssmith-to-seek-huge-payout-after-reputation-smashed-and-destroyed/news-story/9615a4e6443656b6a70492ad8984d366

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 2:43 a.m. No.13855451   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5358 >>2572 >>2479 >>9955 >>9841

Japanese troops join US, Aust forces in Darwin for military exercises

 

GARY SHIPWAY - June 7, 2021

 

JAPANESE troops have arrived in Darwin ahead of the trilateral Exercise Southern Jackaroo 2021, joining US Marines already undertaking training in the region.

 

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) soldiers will join their counterparts from Australia and the United States for the exercise in the Northern Territory June 15-25.

 

Chief of Army Lieutenant General Rick Burr said the annual activity reinforces the co-operation between Australian, Japanese and US forces across a range of military disciplines including infantry, aviation, artillery, and combat engineer training.

 

“The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and the Marine Rotational Force – Darwin will bring more equipment this year, allowing for a more complex exercise to advance our ability to work together,” Lieutenant General Burr said.

 

“During the exercise, the three forces will conduct complex activities co-ordinating artillery, Unmanned Aircraft Systems and rotary wing assets.

 

“There is a lot to learn from our partners and this trilateral format allows us to better understand our respective capabilities.

 

“It also enables us to continue to work together and be ready to contribute to national and collective responses.”

 

https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/japanese-troops-join-us-aust-forces-in-darwin-for-military-exercises/news-story/d32309159a623abbe8c1d5b147eda8e3?amp=

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 2:48 a.m. No.13855472   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5474 >>4615 >>4625 >>9455 >>9853

Afghan translators for Australian diggers now targets of Taliban threats

 

Andrew Greene - 8 June 2021

 

1/2

 

Afghan translators employed by Australian troops have been placed on a Taliban kill list for working alongside "infidel enemies" over the past 20 years.

 

The shock development has re-ignited calls for the Australian government to fast-track protection visas for about 300 interpreters who now fear for their lives.

 

In one instance, an Afghan father who worked with Australian Defence Force soldiers from 2010 was tracked to his home by a Taliban operative.

 

Earlier this month, a threatening letter signed by a Taliban "guerilla operations" commander named Spin Talib, was taped to the front door of the translator's home after his address was identified by the "Mujahedeen", or jihadist fighters.

 

The letter amounts to a Taliban death sentence on the translator who has already been an assassination target.

 

"We are honest in our words and we will get you, be it day or night, and you will be punished, and we will reach our goal," the letter reads.

 

"Await your death very soon."

 

The letter reveals that the Taliban has received reports of the translator's work "for a long time with infidel enemies of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as an interpreter and a slave".

 

"We have tried to kill you by hitting you with a vehicle, but unfortunately you did not die, only your leg was broken," it says.

 

The attempted murder is in reference to a November 2016 incident when a Taliban insurgent drove a car into the man as he was shopping.

 

"My leg is broken [in] three places, when I open my eyes, I was in hospital," the interpreter said in a video recorded from his hospital bed at the time.

 

A copy of the June letter, obtained by the ABC, said the Taliban's Department of Intelligence and Military Council ordered Commander Spin Talib to kill the translator.

 

"We have reports that you and other interpreters are in contact with infidel friends, to get you out of Afghanistan and get you a visa," the letter signed by Spin Talib reads.

 

"Therefore you will not be forgiven by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, neither will we accept any other excuse."

 

University of Western Australia adjunct Professor Amin Saikal, who has written extensively on Afghanistan, said the letter appears legitimate.

 

"I think it appears quite authentic to me, and of course the Taliban have issued these sort of letters before, it's not totally unusual," he said.

 

The ABC has chosen not to reveal the translator's identity, or where he was living, but retired Australian Army officer Jason Scanes who worked with him said his former colleague was now in hiding.

 

"He's extremely concerned about this situation, obviously he's had to move himself and his young family out of his house – they are moving around trying to find secure locations," the Afghanistan veteran and former Queensland state Labor candidate said.

 

"He's concerned for himself, but he's also very concerned for his young family."

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 2:49 a.m. No.13855474   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13855472

 

2/2

 

'Unconscionable' to leave translators in Afghanistan

 

Retired admiral Chris Barrie said Australia had a "very serious" obligation to take care of vulnerable translators when military forces were withdrawn later this year.

 

"It would be unconscionable to leave these people to the mercy of the Taliban," he said.

 

"We must do something to help them."

 

The Prime Minister said the government was working urgently to provide protection to Afghan translators, like the man, who fear for their safety.

 

Scott Morrison said it was a sensitive matter but recognised the government had to move "swiftly".

 

"We are very aware of it and we are working urgently and steadfastly and patiently to ensure that we do this in the appropriate way as we have done on earlier occasions," he said.

 

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said she spoke about the matter on a recent visit to Kabul, and the government was "keen" to support all eligible translators.

 

Translator awaiting fresh decision on visa application

 

In 2013 the translator applied for an Australian humanitarian visa, which was rejected almost five years later on character grounds by then-Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

 

That decision was overturned in May last year by the full bench of the Federal Court which found Mr Dutton had not sufficiently weighed up the translator's claim that his wife and child would be killed by the Taliban.

 

"Had the Minister concluded that the risk that the wife and child would be murdered by jihadists was outweighed by the risk that the appellant might cause harm to the Australian community because of sympathetic links to the same jihadists, the Minister could reasonably be expected to have said so," the justices concluded.

 

"It is apparent that there was no meaningful engagement given to the assertions made by the declarants concerning the appellant's family.

 

"[Minister Dutton's decision] neither acknowledges nor grapples with the extraordinary circumstance that the work the appellant had undertaken with the ADF in Afghanistan was said to have placed his family members at risk of being murdered."

 

Lawyers for the Afghan father resubmitted another visa application in September, seven years after his first attempt, but a decision is yet to be made.

 

Now-Defence Minister, Peter Dutton said through a spokeswoman "the Australian government recognises the important service of Afghan employees, including interpreters, to our contribution in Afghanistan".

 

"We are committed to the safety of all personnel working for the Australian government in Afghanistan."

 

The spokeswoman added that locally engaged Afghan employees who are at risk of harm due to their employment were eligible for resettlement.

 

"They can apply for humanitarian visas to Australia and are given the highest visa processing priority."

 

A group of lawyers and other migration experts led by veteran Glenn Kolomeitz is now offering to help the government process paperwork for the former interpreters once they are safely evacuated from Afghanistan.

 

"If they can get them to possibly Kabul but more likely the United Arab Emirates, we can have a team over there to start acting, representing these people, processing their paperwork," he said.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-08/australian-soldiers-afghan-translators-threatened-taliban/100196610

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 2:59 a.m. No.13855510   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5515 >>2203 >>2252 >>9861

Cardinal Pell Represents the Life of the Church in Our Age

 

COMMENTARY: The cardinal, who turns 80 June 8, is a welcome presence in Rome these days.

 

Father Raymond J. de Souza - June 7, 2021

 

1/2

 

Cardinal George Pell turns 80 on June 8. He has, to an extraordinary degree, represented in his person the life of the Church in our age.

 

Ordained a priest in 1966, he would live the first 20 years of his priesthood in the post-Vatican II turmoil that afflicted the Church in Australia. A priest in Ballarat, he served in the 1970s under Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, later discovered to be greatly negligent in one of Australia’s most notorious cases of clerical sexual abuse.

 

Pell’s brilliance was evident in those early years. After his ecclesiastical degrees in Rome, he got a doctorate in Church history from Oxford. He returned to his native Ballarat, clearly one of the more capable leaders. The question was whether the increasingly unmoored Church in Australia was looking for his kind of leadership.

 

A New Kind of Bishop — 1980s

 

Father Pell was appointed in 1987 as the auxiliary bishop of Melbourne. At the relatively young age of 45, he was an example of the Pope John Paul II turn in episcopal appointments. Melbourne was led by Archbishop Frank Little, a man not particularly suited to turning Australia’s largest diocese in a more affirmatively orthodox direction. Archbishop Little was not altogether different from the other Australian bishops at the time; the appointment of the young Bishop Pell was an attempt to change that.

 

Clear Teaching — 1990s

 

A sign that Bishop Pell was not just another auxiliary bishop was his appointment as one of the bishop members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). He served from 1990 to 2000 in that role, customarily reserved for much more senior bishops and cardinals.

 

Given the evident esteem in Rome from St. John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, it followed that Bishop Pell was named archbishop of Melbourne, succeeding Archbishop Little in 1996.

 

Archbishop Pell was engaged in the CDF during one of the most consequential teaching decades in the entire papal magisterium, when the John Paul II/Ratzinger partnership reached the apex of productivity and fruitfulness. The 1990s saw the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) and major encyclicals on social doctrine (Centesimus Annus, 1991), the missionary nature of the Church (Redemptoris Missio, 1990) and the dignity of life (Evangelium Vitae, 1995). The compatibility of faith and reason was affirmed (Fides et Ratio, 1998), and the rejection of relativism in the moral life (Veritatis Splendor, 1993) was declared.

 

As a bishop member of the CDF, Archbishop Pell would not have been involved in the details of such documents, but he was at the center of teaching activity in a most consequential decade.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 3:01 a.m. No.13855515   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13855510

 

2/2

 

Clear Liturgy — 2000s

 

In 2001, Archbishop Pell was transferred from Melbourne to Sydney, the first man to be head of both archdioceses. The transfer was to facilitate his creation as a cardinal, which took place in 2003.

 

Cardinal Pell would emerge as a prominent voice throughout the decade, including as host of the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney. He was reported to have played a key role in the 2005 conclave that elected Benedict XVI.

 

Yet it was his 2002 appointment as head of the Vox Clara commission that was his most influential post for the universal Church. In 2001, the Vatican adopted new rules for more faithful liturgical translations and decided that there would be one English translation for the entire world. Given the decades-long liturgical translation battles, whether it would be possible to achieve that was very much in doubt.

 

The Vox Clara commission was an advisory body within the Congregation for Divine Worship, but it took the leading role in coordinating the mammoth project, involving hundreds of bishops in countries as different as India and Ireland, the Philippines and the Bahamas, to say nothing of the United Kingdom and the United States.

 

Cardinal Pell steered the project through, resulting in the adoption of the new English translation in Advent 2011, reshaping how every single Holy Mass offered in English is said.

 

It was the most significant step in improving the quality of the liturgy in English since the early post-conciliar reforms.

 

Curial Service — 2010s

 

In 2010, after nearly 10 years in Sydney and a frequent presence in Rome due to Vox Clara’s work, Cardinal Pell was rumored to be in line to take over the Congregation for Bishops. Cardinal Pell, by then well established as a formidable force not shy about speaking his mind, was thought to be a welcome presence in Rome by some — and opposed by others. In the end, the cardinal remained in Sydney.

 

For a time. After the election of Pope Francis in 2013, Cardinal Pell was named to the inner circle of advisers, the “council of cardinals” known as the C-8. Then, in the first major reforms of the Francis pontificate, Cardinal Pell was named prefect of the new Secretariat for the Economy. The new dicastery was to bring accountability, transparency, honesty and professionalism to troubled Vatican finances.

 

Cardinal Pell made some early advances, including important structural reforms in budgeting, auditing and authority. His fierce opponents in the Curia, led by then-Archbishop Angelo Becciu, managed to roll those reforms back.

 

By the summer of 2017, when Cardinal Pell returned to Australia to face the false accusations of sexual abuse made against him, the economic reforms were on the back foot. During his time in Australia, his term as prefect lapsed, and he was not reappointed.

 

In 2020 and 2021, Cardinal Pell’s reforms have been vindicated, the now-Cardinal Becciu was sacked, and the structural reforms put in place originally under Cardinal Pell have been reinstated. At age 80, he is now a welcome and celebrated presence in Rome — his character, his vision and his legacy all secure.

 

The 2020s will be spent in retirement for Cardinal Pell — but not without influence, as his health appears good and his voice is strong. The new decade was marked by the publication of two volumes of his prison journal, a new contribution from Cardinal Pell touching on spirituality, a subject on which he had not published before.

 

The third volume is still forthcoming — and one expects much more from Cardinal Pell besides.

 

Father Raymond J. de Souza is the founding editor of Convivium magazine.

 

https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/cardinal-pell-represents-the-life-of-the-church-in-our-age

 

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

 

https://qanon.pub/?q=cardinal-george-pell

 

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

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 3:18 a.m. No.13855572   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9946 >>9884

>>13788675

>>13848460

>>13855312

‘These questions need answering’: Victorian Liberal frontbencher probes Andrews’ absence

 

Sky News Australia

 

Jun 8, 2021

 

Victorian Shadow Treasurer Louise Staley says it is “extraordinary” Premier Daniel Andrews has retained his position in the top job given he has not been present for over 90 days.

 

Ambulance Victoria has released a detailed statement in response to recent questions raised about the leave of Premier Andrews.

 

Ms Staley had demanded Andrews provide more information about his injuries after taking over 90 days of paid sick leave.

 

The Victorian Premier is expected to return to work later this month.

 

“Everybody gets paid really well as a politician,” Ms Staley told Sky News host Peta Credlin.

 

“All I’m saying is that I think he (Andrews) should fall back to the normal MP salary and James Merlino should be getting the premier’s salary.”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytBRw1G3Sk

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 8, 2021, 3:48 a.m. No.13855659   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

>>13855012

Operation Ironside: Inside the operation that busted the Anom criminal network wide open.

 

Terry Goldsworthy

 

Jun 8, 2021

 

AFP officers talk about Operation Ironside which targeted global criminal organisations using the Anom device to conduct criminal enterprises.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kq5VeHRvV0

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 12:52 a.m. No.13862138   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2146 >>9841

>>13855012

FBI, Europol, AFP react to global take down of mafia, bikie members in ‘sting of the century’

 

The FBI and Europol have revealed more details of the massive crime bust that has gripped the world and dealt a blow to organised crime.

 

Matt Young - JUNE 9, 2021

 

1/2

 

The FBI and Europol have revealed more details of the massive crime bust that dealt a significant blow to organised crime gangs in just 24 hours.

 

In a press conference overnight, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that along with the Australian Federal Police (AFP), authorities had had “turned the tables” on criminals and criminal organisations after fooling them to use a covert encrypted app.

 

Across 16 countries, more than 800 suspects have been nabbed, eight tons of cocaine caught and more than $48 million recovered, officials confirmed.

 

Europol, including members of the Dutch National Police (Politie) and the Swedish Police Authority (Polisen), bragged they had carried out “one of the largest and most sophisticated law enforcement operations to date in the fight against encrypted criminal activities”.

 

They warned that “serious criminals wrongly believe that they can operate anonymously and out of sight of the police and that they cannot be caught”.

 

Operation Ironside was formed three years ago as a collaboration between the AFP and the FBI to bring down underworld figures.

 

Internationally, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom (including Scotland), and the United States joined Australia.

 

Nationally, the AFP said in a statement the intelligence led to the arrest of 224 suspects on more than 526 charges.

 

Also seized in Australia were 3.7 tonnes of drugs, 104 weapons, $44,934,457 million in cash, and assets expected to run into the millions of dollars.

 

“More arrests are expected domestically and offshore under a co-ordinated global response connected to Operation Ironside,” the statement warned.

 

Calvin Shivers, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division, said the sting, dubbed Operation Trojan Shield by the FBI and Europol, involved more than 9000 police officer across 16 countries.

 

Of those, more than 4000 members from the AFP and state and territory police were involved in the Australian operation.

 

“Criminals and criminal organisations often use encrypted platforms to shield their illicit activity from law enforcement,” Mr Shivers said.

 

“These platforms help criminals facilitate and co-ordinate drug trafficking, violent assaults, murders, public corruption, money laundering, many other crimes that are committed throughout the world.

 

“Through Operation Trojan Shield the FBI and our international law enforcement partners from across the globe were able to turn the tables on criminal organisations and gain access to their communications in order to disrupt their criminal activity.”

 

Hundreds of alleged offenders were tricked into communicating via AN0M, an encrypted app designed by police which grew to service more than 1000 encrypted devices in over 300 criminal syndicates operating in more than 100 countries, including Italian organised crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and international drug trafficking organisations.

 

Users communicated in 45 languages on the app, according to officials, conversing about contract killings, drugs, and much more.

 

“Over the last 18 months, the FBI provided criminal organisations in over 100 countries encrypted devices that allowed us to monitor their communications,” Mr Shivers said.

 

“There were a number of things that resulted from this. Not only have we heard about the number of arrests and number of seizures but there were over 100 threats to life that were mitigated.

 

“To give you an idea of the magnitude of our penetration, we were actually able to see photographs of hundreds of tonnes of cocaine that were concealed in shipments of food, we were able to see hundreds of kilos of cocaine that were concealed in canned goods.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 12:55 a.m. No.13862146   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13862138

 

2/2

 

Europol reacts

 

“This operation is an exceptional success by the authorities in the United States, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the other European members of the Operational Task Force,” Europol’s Deputy Executive Director Jean-Philippe Lecouffe said.

 

“Europol co-ordinated the international law enforcement community, enriched the information picture and brought criminal intelligence into ongoing operations to target organised crime and drug trafficking organisations, wherever they are and however they choose to communicate.

 

“I am very satisfied to see Europol supporting this operation and strengthen law enforcement partnerships by emphasising the multi-agency aspect of the case.”

 

FBI

 

“Encrypted criminal communications platforms have traditionally been a tool to evade law enforcement and facilitate transnational organised crime,” Mr Shivers said.

 

“The FBI and our international partners continue to push the envelope and develop innovative ways to overcome these challenges and bring criminals to justice.

 

“We are grateful to Europol for their commitment to fighting transnational organised crime and their partnership with the FBI.”

 

Swedish Police

 

“This operation, with an extensive strike yesterday, is one of the largest intelligence-led police operations against violent crime and drug networks ever in Sweden,” said Linda H Staaf, Police Commissioner and Head of Intelligence of the Swedish Police.

 

“From the Swedish police’s point of view there were no doubt to be the leading part in Europe together with the Netherlands and Europol.

 

“We highly appreciate this type of co-operation between law enforcement agencies. The criminality spreads across borders and international co-operation is crucial to fight serious crime.”

 

Netherlands Police

 

“Operation Trojan Shield is a fine example of innovative and daring police work that is unparalleled,” said Jannine van den Berg, Chief Constable of the Netherlands Police’s Central Unit.

 

“Each partner provided its own unique expertise and together we delivered a fantastic international performance.

 

“Thanks to the excellent technical skills of the Dutch police, the millions of messages could be analysed and interpreted.

 

“Just like the investigations into EncroChat and Sky, Operation Trojan Shield also shows that serious criminals wrongly believe that they can operate anonymously and out of sight of the police and that they cannot be caught.

 

“Nothing turns out to be less true. My compliments and thanks go to all participants of Operation Trojan Shield.”

 

Australian Federal Police

 

“The AFP and FBI have been working together on a world-first operation to bring to justice the organised crime gangs flooding our communities with drugs, guns and violence,” said Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw.

 

“Europol has been a trusted and committed partner during this time.

 

“Very few matters unite law enforcement like bringing to justice those who seek to do our citizens harm.

 

“The FBI provided an encrypted communications platform while the AFP deployed the technical capability that helped unmask some of the biggest criminals in the world.

 

“The intelligence shared by Europol has helped to ensure this is one of the most significant global task forces for law enforcement.

 

“This week the AFP will execute hundreds of warrants and is expected to arrest hundreds of offenders who were linked to the platform.

 

“This is the culmination of hard work, perseverance and an invaluable, trusted relationship with Europol.

 

“We thank Europol for their long and integral partnership with the AFP.

 

“Crime is local but when we work together our reach is global.”

 

https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/fbi-europol-afp-react-to-global-take-down-of-mafia-bikie-members-in-sting-of-the-century/news-story/99edefcb1acbc2e6ead103db554e8758

 

https://twitter.com/Europol/status/1402200741125758983

 

https://twitter.com/Polisen_Sverige/status/1402180891372314624

 

https://twitter.com/AusFedPolice/status/1402149858857820162

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 1:08 a.m. No.13862167   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

Beijing’s Pressure Drives Alliance Push by Australia at G-7

 

Jason Scott - 8 June 2021

 

As worsening geopolitical tensions with China spill into trade reprisals, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is heading to the U.K. to meet global leaders this week with a message: There’s strength in numbers.

 

“Patterns of cooperation within the liberal rules-based order that has benefited us for so long are under renewed strain,” Morrison said in a speech in Perth on Wednesday, before he heads overseas to attend the Group of Seven leaders’ summit.

 

In order to support a “world order that favours freedom over autocracy and authoritarianism,” he urged “active cooperation among like-minded countries and liberal democracies not seen for 30 years.”

 

Since Australia-China relations went into a tailspin after Morrison’s government last year called for Beijing to allow independent investigators to probe the origins of the pandemic, he’s become a vocal proponent of bolstering partnerships between what he calls “like-minded democracies.”

 

Australia has pushed the Quad security relationship, which includes key ally the U.S. as well as Japan and India, to act as a counter against what it sees as China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. At the same time, the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network has increasingly issued joint statements against Beijing’s alleged human rights abuses.

 

Indo-Pacific Focus

 

Morrison, who will be an invited guest of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson along with leaders of India, South Africa and South Korea, will be aiming for his message to resonate with the other attendees of the G-7, many of whom have had their own clashes with China in recent years.

 

The trip will include Morrison’s first face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden. Morrison is set to welcome Biden’s focus on the Indo-Pacific region and offer strong support for his recent call to bolster and accelerate efforts to identify the origins of the pandemic.

 

“Having led calls for an independent inquiry, it remains Australia’s firm view that understanding the cause of this pandemic has nothing to do with politics - it’s essential for preventing the next one,” Morrison said on Wednesday.

 

Such language has repeatedly incensed China, which says it backs the World Health Organization’s efforts to find the virus origin. Since Morrison became leader almost three years ago, Australia’s ties with its biggest trading partner have plummeted to the point where Beijing ministers refuse to answer phone calls from their counterparts in Canberra.

 

Crippling tariffs have been placed on barley and wine, and coal imports have been blocked in China’s ports. Australian exporters are increasingly concerned that Morrison’s government is making public statements that seem to be stoking tensions with China.

 

In Wednesday’s speech he omitted several statements from extracts sent earlier by his office. Those statements touched on how Australia wouldn’t be driven to unacceptable compromises, that its network vital global relationships continued to accelerate, and that it wouldn’t set “false deadlines” for phasing out fossil fuels.

 

‘Risk of Miscalculation’

 

“The Indo-Pacific region - Australia’s region - is the epicenter of renewed strategic competition,” he said. “The risks of miscalculation and conflict are very present and growing. The technological edge enjoyed historically by Australia and our allies is under challenge.”

 

He’s also calling for reform of the World Trade Organization by reinstalling its appellate body, saying the binding dispute system is needed because “where there are no consequences for coercive behavior, there is little incentive for restraint.”

 

Before attending the G-7 in Cornwall, Morrison will meet with his counterpart in Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, on Thursday for economic and security discussions. After his visit to the U.K., where he’s seeking to reach an initial agreement on a free-trade deal with Johnson’s government, his itinerary includes a visit to France for talks with President Emmanuel Macron.

 

Still, Morrison has one important policy stance that he knows won’t be popular with most of his counterparts in Cornwall: He’s a strong supporter of Australia’s position as one of the world’s biggest fossil-fuel exporters.

 

While Australia’s dry continent makes it particularly exposed to the ravages of climate change, Morrison is refusing to commit to a date to reach net-zero emissions, instead saying it’s the nation’s ambition to get there by 2050. That’s even as Biden and some of Australia’s biggest fossil-fuel export markets - China, Japan and South Korea - commit to doing more to combat climate change.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-08/australia-to-rally-democratic-partners-as-china-pressure-mounts

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 1:21 a.m. No.13862203   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2210 >>9861

>>13855510

Cardinal Pell: in prison I forgave my accusers, faith kept me alive

 

In an interview with Vatican News, the Australian Cardinal who turns 80 today relives the experience he had during thirteen months of detention recounted in his book "Prison Journal". "It helped me to live my sufferings by associating them with those of Jesus. I have always believed that God was behind everything that was happening to me".

 

Fabio Colagrande - 08 June 2021

 

1/2

 

Cardinal George Pell, Prefect Emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy, has been a free man for fourteen months. Today, 8 June 2021, he was able to celebrate his eightieth birthday in his home country, Australia. We reached him by phone at a time in which he is in self-isolation for health reasons related to Covid. The conversation took place as the Cantagalli Publishing House releases his "Prison Journal” - Volume I in Italian. The 400-page book collects the notes that make up the Cardinal’s daily diary between 27 February and 13 July 2019, while he was in prison in Melbourne on charges of sexual abuse of minors, charges from which he was completely acquitted by a High Court ruling in April 2020. Pell had been sentenced to six years in prison in March 2019 and his lawyers' appeal to the Supreme Court of Victoria had been rejected by two out of three judges in August that year. Subsequently the appeal to the High Court of Australia overturned the conviction. The Cardinal has always declared himself innocent, calling the crime he was accused of a horrible and intolerable crime. The sentence of acquittal was greeted with satisfaction by the Holy See, which - in a statement - said it had always trusted the Australian judicial authorities. Then, on 12 October last, the meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican during which the Holy Father thanked him for his testimony.

 

Would you ever have imagined that your life was to include the experience of prison?

 

No, of course not! I would never have thought that. I fought hard not to, but unfortunately without success. It was a combination of circumstances, lies and deceit, but then my release finally came, thanks to the Supreme Court.

 

Why did you keep a diary of your 13 months of imprisonment?

 

For many reasons. I thought it might be helpful for those who are in difficulty, for those who are going through a time of suffering, like I was. Then I thought that keeping a diary would be of some interest from a historical point of view, because there weren't many cardinals who had the experience of prison. But then also because I had discovered that many prisoners had dedicated themselves to writing, starting - in the Catholic sphere - with St Paul. Writing when you are in prison is good therapy.

 

How much has prayer helped you to cope with the humiliation and discomfort of imprisonment?

 

I have to say that faith and prayer were fundamental; they helped me to completely change the perspective during those days of detention. Today I tell everyone, using an English expression, that in prison I have had confirmation that “the Christian package works.” My experience shows how much the Church's teachings help us, how much praying and seeking God's grace helps. Especially when we understand that we can live our personal suffering for the greater good, that we can associate our suffering with that of Jesus. As Christians, we know that we have been redeemed by the passion and death of the Son of God. Living this teaching on the value of suffering really changes everything when you find yourself in a situation like mine.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 1:22 a.m. No.13862210   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13862203

 

2/2

 

During the days of your imprisonment, what was your relationship with the other prisoners? You write that you “felt” their suffering…

 

I was in solitary confinement to ensure my personal protection. I never saw the other eleven prisoners who were with me in the same section. Only during the last four months of my imprisonment was I able to meet three other prisoners and talk to them. But most of the time I could only hear the anger, the anguish, of my fellow prisoners, without having any personal relationship.

 

In your diary, you say that you often listened to the prayers of Muslim detainees from your cell. What did it feel like to pray while listening to those prayers?

 

For me there is only one God, we are monotheists. The theological conceptions of Christians and Muslims are obviously different, but we all pray in different ways to the same God. There is no God of Muslims, Christians or other religions, there is only one God.

 

In your diary you write that every day in prison you forgave, blessed and prayed for your accusers… Was it difficult to forgive them?

 

I must admit that sometimes it was difficult. But once I made the decision to forgive, everything else followed. For me, it was not so difficult to forgive the person who accused me. I knew that he was a person who had suffered and was in great confusion and who knows what else….

 

While you were in prison you received thousands of letters of support, what affect did they have on you?

 

They helped me enormously. Many were obviously from Australia, but also from the United States and the rest of the world. Also from Italy, Germany, England, Ireland. They were a great help and encouragement to me. Sometimes families wrote to me. Often they were full of spirituality, sometimes of theology, sometimes of historical culture. They were really letters that dealt with a wide variety of topics and that helped me a lot.

 

Did you continue to believe in providence while in prison?

 

Yes, even if sometimes I did not understand what God's providence was doing. But I always believed that God was behind everything that was happening to me.

 

What have these thirteen months taught you as a man of the Church?

 

The importance of perseverance. The importance of simple things, like faith, forgiveness, the redemption of suffering. Usually, when you live in prison you are forced to confront the fundamental issues of life, the simple and fundamental things. This also happened to me, and I must say that thanks be to God I survived.

 

Can the sex abuse scandal be an opportunity for the renewal of the Church?

 

It must be. We cannot continue in the same vein. It is a kind of spiritual and moral cancer. It seems to me that here in Australia we have worked seriously to eradicate it, but it is a duty for all priests and all bishops in the world to ensure that these scandals do not happen again. Too much suffering, too much pain. The phenomenon of abuse in the Church shows once again that we have often not followed the teachings of Jesus. If we had followed the commandments of the Decalogue, none of this would have happened.

 

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2021-06/cardinal-pell-interview-prison-journal-80th-birthday.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 1:31 a.m. No.13862252   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2255 >>9861

>>13855510

CARDINAL PELL’S LEGACY

 

Raymond J. de Souza - 6 . 8 . 21

 

1/2

 

In March 2019, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, emeritus archbishop of Caracas, entered my office and saw above my desk a portrait of Cardinal George Pell. (It hangs beside one of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.) Pell had been incarcerated a few weeks previously after a wrongful conviction on sexual misconduct charges.

 

He stopped short, as if surprised to see the portrait hanging there after the subject had been convicted in one of the Church’s most notorious sex abuse cases. He looked at it impassively for a long time in silence. It became a bit uncomfortable in the room as I waited for him to say something.

 

Cardinal Urosa slowly turned, fixed his eyes upon me, pointed his finger, and said in a grave voice, “Do not remove that picture—no matter who tells you!”

 

I had no intention of removing it. And no one has told me to do so. I would not have removed it in that case anyway. It was a gift from my 2007 visit to Sydney in preparation for World Youth Day. It had become a portrait of a white martyr.

 

I took the portrait down so that Cardinal Urosa could see the inscription more clearly: “Raymond, Be not afraid! Every blessing to you and your flock. +George Cardinal Pell, Feast of St. John Fisher, 22/06/07.”

 

When he saw the name of St. John Fisher, Cardinal Urosa smiled with understanding and agreement. He was visiting Kingston, Ontario, as our guest at the annual St. John Fisher Dinner. The first guest to address the dinner was Cardinal Pell in 2008, who spoke with admiration and erudition about the cardinal that Henry VIII unjustly imprisoned. Now the cardinal in the portrait was giving us both inspiration from his own solitary confinement.

 

Cardinal Urosa recognized what I knew from over twenty years of conversation with Cardinal Pell. Far from a criminal, Pell was a courageous pastor who was falsely accused precisely because of his unwillingness to compromise on the truths of the Catholic faith. He was, in his person, a “sign of the times,” to quote the dominical phrase employed by St. John XXIII regarding Vatican II.

 

Cardinal Pell turns eighty today. It means the formal end of all his official duties, including that of voting in the next conclave. His five years as prefect of the Vatican’s economic oversight department expired while he was facing trial in Australia. Nearly seventy-eight at the time, he was not reappointed.

 

Now Pell’s voice is resounding through the publication of his Prison Journal, the first two volumes of which have been released. The third is forthcoming. It offers insight into how he prays, where he finds spiritual enrichment—he watched Joel Osteen’s television ministry in prison and found it of benefit—and what it means to offer up one’s sufferings for the good of souls.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 1:33 a.m. No.13862255   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13862252

 

2/2

 

Pell’s prison meditations on St. John Fisher and, inter alia, the Prophet Elijah, show that he knows well that defense of religious truth can be a solitary path. It was not a solitary path for Cardinal Pell, as he had widespread support the world over, as any fair-minded person could see that Pell was the victim of unscrupulous prosecution and police misconduct. Pell received over four thousand letters in a 404-day prison stay.

 

Cardinal Pell was not alone, despite being kept in solitary confinement—for his own safety—for more than a year, denied the opportunity to offer the Holy Mass entirely. Yet his witness, the unexpected crown of a distinguished life of ecclesial service, will prepare others who will be unjustly deprived for their fidelity to what he calls “Gospel Christianity”—the faith delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).

 

Long before Cardinal Pell faced his accusers with equanimity and grace—both natural and supernatural—he was an inspiration to many like me. He was one of the great lieutenants of the John Paul/Ratzinger years, a rough equivalent Down Under of Cardinal John O’Connor.

 

Pell kept a picture of O’Connor in his office and had invited the New York cardinal to Melbourne to dedicate a new altar in the cathedral—also called St. Patrick’s. (He would outdo himself in Sydney, where he had Pope Benedict XVI consecrate the new altar.)

 

At eighty, Pell’s legacy is vast. He reinvigorated the two leading archdioceses of Australia, Melbourne and Sydney, hosted a massively successful World Youth Day in 2008, led the commission that produced a more faithful and elegant translation of the Roman Missal in English, and spearheaded the Vatican’s financial reforms.

 

That impact will be magnified by those whom he personally influenced, whether through friendship at close quarters or inspiring them from a distance. Likely the most consequential Australian Catholic since Dr. Daniel Mannix, archbishop of Melbourne for forty-six years, and the intellectual and political actor B. A. Santamaria, Cardinal Pell became one of the most important churchmen anywhere in the early years of the third millennium.

 

His portrait is hanging proudly in my office. And it is a blessing for me to explain to my students who he is and why they should admire him, as I do.

 

Be not afraid, indeed. Ad multos annos, Cardinal Pell!

 

Raymond J. de Souza is a priest in the archdiocese of Kingston, Ontario.

 

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/06/cardinal-pells-legacy

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 1:40 a.m. No.13862278   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

‘Q’ Hasn’t Posted In Six Months—But Some QAnon Followers Still Keep The Faith

 

Jack Brewster - Jun 8, 2021

 

TOPLINE

 

Six months have passed since “Q”—the anonymous user behind the QAnon conspiracy theory—last posted online, though some followers continue to believe their so-called leader will return.

 

KEY FACTS

 

• QAnon followers have anxiously awaited clues from Q—known as “Q drops”—since the self-described “government insider” first began posting on 4chan in 2017.

 

• Between 2017 and 2020, Q posted nearly 5,000 cryptic messages.

 

• Q’s last post came on December 8, about one month before the Capitol riot, which consisted of a link to a pro-Trump YouTube video (since deleted).

 

• Previously, the longest Q was silent was about three months in 2019—when 4chan’s successor, 8chan, went offline—leading researchers to believe that December 8 was the final Q post.

 

• Some Q adherents have kept the theory alive by continuing to scour old posts for new “clues,” and creating new spin-offs of the conspiracy theory.

 

• Others believe Q will come back online, and continue to propose new dates for the coming of the “storm,” the so-called day when former President Donald Trump is supposed to take down a global Satanic child-sex trafficking ring run by Democrats and Hollywood actors.

 

CRUCIAL QUOTE

 

Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us, a book about QAnon, told Forbes he believes Q won’t post again. “I think the December 8 drop will be the last one, since the Q movement has outgrown the need for new drops,” Rothschild said. “The core prophecy of the Q movement is now Trump being restored to office, and Q offered up a picture of Trump as being incapable of losing—which doesn't square well with the current situation.” However, Rothschild added it’s “entirely possible” that Q will come back if “the community really needed new drops to keep it moving forward.”

 

KEY BACKGROUND

 

Many QAnon believers lost faith after January 20, when President Joe Biden was inaugurated and their big day, predictably, never came. Since then, some have proposed new dates for when Trump will be reinstated, a conspiracy the former president reportedly has embraced. At a QAnon conference in Dallas last month, Mike Flynn—Trump’s former national security advisor who has expressed support for QAnon in the past—called for a Myanmar-style coup in the U.S. Flynn later walked back those comments. Many QAnon believers have expressed support for the so-called “Domino theory,” which is the idea that Arizona’s controversial election audit will prove there was fraud, handing the state to Trump, before a similar phenomenon will occur in other states, thereby vaulting the former president back into power.

 

SURPRISING FACT

 

It’s still not entirely clear who Q is. However, Ron Watkins, the administrator of 8kun, appeared to suggest he was the person behind the conspiracy theory after he mistakenly seemed to tip his hand during an HBO interview for a QAnon documentary that aired in April. Watkins later denied he was Q in a post on his Telegram channel.

 

TANGENT

 

Most Q activity has moved underground after social media companies cracked down on the conspiracy in January following the Capitol riot. A report published by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics Lab last month concluded that QAnon content is “evaporating” from the mainstream Web.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2021/06/08/q-hasnt-posted-in-6-months-but-some-qanon-followers-still-keep-the-faith

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 2:09 a.m. No.13862367   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

>>13748832

Catholic priest's evidence in abuse trial

 

Greta Stonehouse - 9 June 2021

 

A Catholic priest writing of his unwanted "sexual problem" left something crucial out of the passage, a jury has heard.

 

"In my dreams," Anthony William Peter Caruana told Sydney's District Court.

 

"When you talk about fondling young boys, is this referring to your dreams or real life?" the 79-year-old's barrister Bernard Brassil said on Wednesday.

 

"My dreams," Caruana said.

 

He further explained another passage in which he writes he would change "this feeling I have towards young boys," if by magic he could, was also in reference to his "dreams".

 

The former high school teacher has pleaded not guilty to 29 historical charges, including four counts of homosexual sex.

 

He is accused of sexually abusing boys in band practice, at rugby training, in dorm rooms, and other parts of Chevalier College in NSW Southern Highlands, in the 1980s.

 

He departed in 1989 following complaints about his conduct and filled out a questionnaire which the Crown argues shows his sexual interest in prepubescent boys.

 

But the former boarding master says his written responses were actually about his ongoing dreams he had for 30 years but which stopped after therapy.

 

To another priest's note in 1993 stating "Tony acknowledges he is a pedophile and there is little likelihood of change," Caruana said at the time his dreams made him feel like he was one.

 

As bandmaster, he denies sexually touching a 13-year-old boy saying words to the effect he was "pleasing a man of God," in the music storage room after practice one day.

 

The musicians were ushered out following afternoon practice "very quickly," as Caruana had to supervise boarding house study, and no boy ever stayed back late, he said.

 

He repeatedly disputed the now-50-year-old's accusations and denied statements from the other 11 alleged victims, including one boy who could not read his mother's handwriting.

 

Caruana read her monthly letters to the boy in his private room, upstairs and not in the public dormitory because that's where he showed them to him, he said.

 

As the teacher often walked through the children's dormitory, the boys would "jump on me," he said.

 

"(They would) tackle me on the bed, I'd try to push them off. They just wanted to play. I didn't like it."

 

Mr Brassil said his client did not have to prove anything, and relevant people at the time of the alleged incidents have since passed away.

 

The trial continues.

 

https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/catholic-priests-evidence-in-abuse-trial-c-3059491

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 2:30 a.m. No.13862427   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2431 >>9877

Buff Point: Vile paedophile Alex Chak Lau finally pleads guilty to offences against eight children

 

Nearly 18 months after being charged a vile paedophile has pleaded guilty to preying on children as young as seven including breaking into one boy’s home to sexually assault him.

 

Richard Noone - June 9, 2021

 

1/2

 

When Alex Chak Lau, 50, of Buff Point, was first arrested by detectives from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad in November 2019, he was charged with 17 offences against three victims — two girls and a boy.

 

But when he faced Wyong Local Court via video link on Tuesday he pleaded guilty to 21 offences against eight victims including two girls and six boys.

 

A lengthy set of signed, agreed facts, states Lau would prey on children who visited his house for sleep overs or to play video games.

 

The facts state in December 2008 Lau was staying with some family friends at their home near Canberra when he went into their two daughter’s room and aggravatedly sexually assaulted one of them.

 

She was aged seven at the time.

 

“(The victim) saw the accused had his camera in his hand and she saw a flash on the camera and heard the shutter noise,” the facts state.

 

“After one or two flashes (the victim) moved her head away from the offender and pretended to roll over in her sleep so that she was facing the wall.”

 

Between March and May 2009 the girls’ parents travelled to Hong Kong for six weeks and they were left with their grandparents at Eastlakes.

 

Lau and his wife were living in a unit at Eastwood at the time and the girls came over for a sleep over.

 

After their shower Lau offered to dry one of them and in doing so indecently assaulted her.

 

He indecently assaulted her again twice in May after her parents returned to Australia.

 

“The victim laid awake for the rest of the night, scared, confused and not wanting to go to sleep in case anything else happened,” the facts state.

 

Years later on May 26, 2018 when the girls heard Lau’s wife was coming over they asked their mother if she could not bring Lau.

 

When their mother asked why, they disclosed the earlier incidents.

 

In about September 2010 Lau and his wife moved to Scenic Drive, Buff Point, where he met a boy who was in Year 6.

 

After the boy had a swim in Lau’s pool the victim took a shower where Lau indecently assaulted him.

 

About a week later the boy returned to Lau’s house to play video games where Lau again indecently assaulted him.

 

“The victim did not tell (anyone) as he was too embarrassed and felt it was his fault because he could not stop it,” the facts state.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 2:31 a.m. No.13862431   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13862427

 

2/2

 

In 2011 when the boy was in Year 7 he got detention for skipping class. That afternoon Lau was at the school for an unrelated matter and offered to drive him home.

 

Lau took him to his house first to play video games and then offered to drive him home but stopped in the Jelly beans Preschool car park and turned the headlights off.

 

The victim said “What are we doing here?” but Lau didn’t reply and locked the car and pushed the child lock button before indecently assaulting him and detaining him with intent to commit a serious offence.

 

Eventually he took him home.

 

He did this on two other occasions, the facts state.

 

One afternoon in 2011, when the victim was in Year 7, his mother worked and he was often alone at home.

 

He was playing video games at home when he saw Lau in the loungeroom.

 

He said “What the f. k? What are you doing in my house? You didn’t knock!”

 

Lau replied “That’s no way to greet a friend”.

 

The victim told Lau to get out and pushed him but Lau overpowered him and sexually assaulted him.

 

Two days later Lau again broke into the boy’s house but the victim went into the kitchen and got a knife and picked up a phone and threatened to call police.

 

The following week the victim was home alone again after school and fell asleep playing a video game only to wake to find Lau sitting beside him on the floor with his hand down his pants.

 

The facts state the victim remembered multiple times sexual conduct occurred until February 24, 2012 when he and his mother moved house.

 

After the victim finished school he disclosed Lau’s abuse to friends in 2019.

 

Lau indecently and aggravatedly assaulted five other boys between 2011 and 2016 who had stayed at Lau’s house for a sleep over or gone with him on a holiday.

 

During a sleep over in 2012 one victim, aged about 13, woke at 2am to find Lau sexually assaulting him.

 

In 2016 Lau was watching movie with a boy at his house when he touched him.

 

The boy never visited Lau’s home again.

 

On July 23, 2018 the mother of Lau’s first two victims participated in a recorded phone call with Lau where she put the allegations to him.

 

The facts state he admitted it was only three separate occasions but could not remember exactly what he did.

 

On November 6, 2019, Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad detectives attended Lau’s Buff Point home where they seized a number of electronic devices.

 

He admitted to knowing all the victims and told police he gave lifts home to some of them and may have accidentally touched a couple of them when he was tucking them in at night.

 

Lau, who has been remanded in custody since his arrest, will face Gosford District Court on July 8 to set a date for his sentence.

 

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/buff-point-vile-paedophile-alex-chak-lau-finally-pleads-guilty-to-offences-against-eight-children/news-story/87ad4a6278a58d665918fc6cc3723a77

 

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

 

https://www.lifeline.org.au

 

https://kidshelpline.com.au

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 2:39 a.m. No.13862445   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

Ben Roberts-Smith's case against ex-wife complicated after judge raises 'relationship' with lawyer

 

Jamie McKinnell - 9 June 2021

 

Legal action launched by Ben Roberts-Smith against his ex-wife has been complicated after a judge raised the potentially "embarrassing" situation of media reports that he spent time socially with a lawyer.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith took Emma Roberts to court last week, on the eve of his high-stakes defamation trial against Nine Entertainment Co, over allegations she was accessing an email account he used for confidential legal correspondence.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times in a separate case over allegations of war crimes, bullying and domestic violence.

 

The veteran's legal team told the court it had questioned whether Ms Roberts passed the information, which is alleged to have included privileged material about the defamation case and the Afghanistan inquiry, on to other parties including Nine Entertainment Co.

 

But during a hearing in the Federal Court this morning, Justice Robert Bromwich raised a media report about Mr Roberts-Smith's connection to solicitor Monica Allen, who has been working on the defamation case.

 

Last August, News Corp published photographs of Mr Roberts-Smith riding scooters and holding hands with Ms Allen in Brisbane.

 

Ms Allen was the deponent of an affidavit filed in the case against Emma Roberts.

 

"I'm trying not to put the deponent of the affidavit in an awkward position," Justice Bromwich said.

 

"It's an embarrassing potential situation, it may be false. I have to deal with the reality that I have become aware of info that may or may not be correct."

 

The judge requested Mr Roberts-Smith's barrister, Arthur Moses SC, seek instructions about any "purported or alleged" relationship.

 

"It's potentially a personally delicate thing, but if the relationship between the deponent of the affidavit and the applicant is anything other than a purely professional relationship, I want to know what that wasn't disclosed," he said.

 

The judge said he was "surprised" it was left to him to raise the matter.

 

Mr Moses said he was conscious not to turn the separate case into "a satellite hearing to distract from the substantive [defamation] hearing".

 

"Female lawyers have enough to deal with in this profession without having those kinds of aspersions being put against them," he said.

 

Justice Bromwich said he raised the matter "with some anxiety".

 

"It's not something I find appealing at all, but I have to deal with the cards that are served on me."

 

Justice Bromwich said the problem was he had exercised power and made orders last week based on "an affidavit where there is at least a basis for a concern there has not been compliance with the duty of utmost good faith and disclosure".

 

Mr Moses agreed to provide further material to back up the orders.

 

Ms Allen did not comment as she left the court, but Seven West Media executive Bruce McWilliam denied there was any relationship and said any suggestion in the media to the contrary was a "deplorable slur".

 

"There's absolutely no truth attached to any of it and it's a very bad way to treat a very talented solicitor who's very good at what she does," he said.

 

In another hearing in the afternoon, Mr Moses produced a "gossip column" that linked Mr Roberts-Smith and Ms Allen published by the Australian Financial Review, now owned by Nine, this week.

 

"The applicant and the deponent are not in a relationship, full stop," Mr Moses said.

 

Mr Moses said the extensive media reports about today's development had "understandably caused embarrassment and concern to an officer of this court".

 

Mr Moses said there were "serious issues" about the respondents in the defamation matter conducting an attack on lawyers acting for Mr Roberts-Smith, saying it may constitute contempt of court by seeking to intimidate.

 

He said it could not be expected that every time a media party writes an article the lawyer concerned needs to attach it to an affidavit.

 

"That would constitute the potential harassment and belittling of a female practitioner."

 

Justice Bromwich also raised a separate matter regarding Mr Roberts-Smith's father, former judge Len Roberts-Smith QC, saying he had recognised him from an ABC News report on Monday night.

 

The judge said seven or eight years ago, he met Len Roberts-Smith as the head of the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, and while a meeting between the pair was sought it never eventuated.

 

Justice Bromwich said he saw no reason to justify recusing himself from the proceedings, but Mr Moses told him he will seek instruction on the matter.

 

The case returns to court next Tuesday.

 

The defamation trial has been adjourned until Thursday morning.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-09/ben-roberts-smith-sues-ex-wife-emma-roberts/100200862

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 9, 2021, 3:05 a.m. No.13862557   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9877

‘A moral responsibility to act’: NSW to create anti-slavery commissioner

 

Tom Rabe - June 9, 2021

 

The NSW government will create an anti-slavery commissioner more than three years after landmark legislation was first introduced to parliament requiring that the role be established.

 

However, the NSW opposition and advocacy groups fear the laws are about to be watered down, with the government signalling it will make several changes to the act this week.

 

Amendments to the Modern Slavery Act, which has been stalled for years due to legal and constitutional concerns within government, will likely be introduced to parliament on Thursday.

 

While it will still include the recommended creation of an anti-slavery commissioner with advisory and advocacy functions, the government will make some changes to the act to “harmonise” it with Commonwealth laws.

 

The original act, which was said to be stronger than similar Commonwealth legislation, required companies with an annual turnover of more than $50 million to report on the risk of slavery in their supply chains. The Commonwealth cap is $100 million.

 

International Justice Mission chief executive Steve Baird said government inaction on the laws needed to end, and the reforms were overdue.

 

“From Australians online exploiting children held overseas, to Australian businesses profiting from the use of slave labour overseas, modern slavery is in our backyard and we have a moral responsibility to act,” Mr Baird said.

 

“There is a unique chance here for NSW to follow through on the will of Parliament and take a leadership role in issues that have become even more urgent due to COVID-19.”

 

Mr Baird is concerned the government amendments will weaken the original act that passed in mid-2018, but was never put into effect.

 

“The NSW government has an undeniable moral imperative to the women and children of our region not to water down this legislation,” he said.

 

The IJM estimates 18 per cent of referrals regarding the online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines comes from Australia – many of whom are residents of NSW.

 

A parliamentary inquiry was established to review the act in 2019 and later recommended the government make several amendments and bring the laws into effect by the beginning of this year.

 

Despite missing that deadline, the government is expected to adhere to a number of the committee recommendations, including ensuring that all NSW agencies were not procuring goods and services produced by modern slavery.

 

Special Minister of State Don Harwin on Tuesday told the Legislative Council that the government would introduce an act to amend the laws.

 

Labor MP Adam Searle said he was concerned the government could increase the original threshold for mandatory reporting requirements on commercial organisations aimed at slavery-proofing supply chain.

 

“That would let a lot of businesses off the hook,” he said.

 

“While we welcome the government taking some action we are worried it will weaken the legislation and would take a dim view of that.”

 

Greens MP David Shoebridge, who was part of the parliamentary inquiry into the laws, said he was disappointed the government had taken years to implement the laws.

 

“This is three years too late and there are very real concerns that the Coalition has used that delay to water the bill down,” Mr Shoebridge said.

 

A 2019 Australian Institute of Criminology report estimated that the number of human trafficking and slavery victims in Australia between 2015/16 and 2016/17 was up to 1,900.

 

Former Christian Democrat MP Paul Green, who introduced the Modern Slavery Bill during his time in parliament, said in 2018 he feared the historic legislation would be amended by the government.

 

Mr Harwin was contacted for comment.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-moral-responsibility-to-act-nsw-to-create-anti-slavery-commissioner-20210608-p57z8h.html

Anonymous ID: a8cbbd June 9, 2021, 3:13 p.m. No.13866293   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Ok, So ….

 

Unemployment benefits, what's it for, and who gains?

 

Why does the Govt pay dropkicks to sit round doing nothing all day?

 

To keep them from starving? So they can have shelter? Or is it something else?

 

How come these dropkicks get housing subsidies, "essential items" like TV and cell phone subsides etc. Why not make them pay for it themselves from the benefit?

 

Is it to ensure that the unproductive can enjoy a relatively high "disposable income"?

 

So what is the purpose of this "disposable income"?

 

Maybe they can use this money to buy, gee I don't know….maybe drugs?

 

What are you on about Anon, the Govt doesn't pay it's own citizenry to buy drugs!

 

H'mmmmmm

 

If they did, then what are the drugs that they would buy, and where would those drugs come from?

 

Meth maybe? Meth that's made in giant labs in China?

 

Oh, now I see……

Anonymous ID: 97f6dc June 9, 2021, 9:15 p.m. No.13868394   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8618

just found this - be good to get it to Alan Jones for example

https://exopolitics.blogs.com/files/australia-order-to-cease-desist—covid-vaccination-genetic-biowarfare.pdf

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, midnight No.13869043   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9046 >>9047 >>9865

Japan and Australia affirm importance of peace across Taiwan Strait

 

japantimes.co.jp - Jun 9, 2021

 

Japan and Australia affirmed Wednesday the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait while agreeing to deepen bilateral security cooperation amid China’s rising assertiveness in regional waters.

 

The move followed similar calls for peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues during Japan’s recent summit talks with the United States and the European Union. Tokyo and Canberra also confirmed at the virtual security talks that the Self-Defense Forces will protect Australian military assets in noncombat situations, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said.

 

At the outset of the “two-plus-two” online meeting, Kishi stressed the significance of Japan-Australia security cooperation, saying, “For peace and stability of the region, unity of like-minded countries will be required more than ever.”

 

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also noted the importance of cooperation over China’s growing assertiveness.

 

“The international order faces a great challenge from unilateral attempts to change the status quo,” he said.

 

China regards Taiwan, a democratic, self-ruled island, as a renegade province to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary.

 

The Japanese foreign and defense ministers also shared with their Australian counterparts — Marise Payne and Peter Dutton — concerns over a recently enacted Chinese law that enables its coast guard ships to fire on foreign vessels in waters that Beijing deems its territory, Japanese officials said.

 

As for the SDF protection of Australian military assets, Canberra became the second country, after the United States, whose assets Tokyo is allowed to protect under Japanese security legislation that came into force in 2016.

 

The two countries had been coordinating the addition of Australia following an accord during their defense ministers’ talks last October as part of efforts to strengthen vigilance and surveillance activities amid China’s rise.

 

The SDF’s overseas activities are strictly limited under the country’s war-renouncing Constitution.

 

At the talks, the four ministers also discussed a bilateral pact aimed at facilitating joint exercises between their troops and cooperation to maintain supply chains of crucial materials, the officials said.

 

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/09/national/politics-diplomacy/japan-australia-taiwan/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 12:01 a.m. No.13869046   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13869043

Japan, Australia raise concerns about reported abuses in China

 

reuters.com - June 9, 2021

 

Japan and Australia voiced "serious concerns" on Wednesday over reports of human rights abuses against Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in China's far western region of Xinjiang, but Beijing dismissed the remarks as a malicious smear.

 

Calls have grown from some Western nations to investigate if China's actions in Xinjiang amount to genocide, as the United States and parliaments in nations such as Britain and Canada have described China's policies there.

 

"We share serious concerns about reported human rights abuses against Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang," Japan and Australia said in a joint statement after a meeting of the defence and foreign ministers of both countries.

 

"We call on China to grant urgent, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent international observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights."

 

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi met their Australian counterparts, Marise Payne and Peter Dutton, via video conferencing.

 

In Beijing, the foreign ministry said it strongly objected to the two nations playing up the "China threat" and smearing the country maliciously.

 

China urged all sides to stop interfering in its internal affairs, and to stop sabotaging regional peace and stability, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing.

 

The ministers also expressed concern about recent moves they said had weakened Hong Kong's democratic institutions, urged peace and stability in the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and voiced grave concern about the crisis in Myanmar.

 

"We firmly condemn the violence being perpetrated against the people of Myanmar and call on the military regime to immediately cease the violence and measures to curtail freedom of expression, as well as to release all those arbitrarily detained," they added.

 

Myanmar has been in turmoil since a Feb.1 military coup, with daily protests and fighting in borderlands between the military and ethnic minority militias.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-australia-raise-concerns-about-reported-abuses-china-2021-06-09/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 12:03 a.m. No.13869047   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13869043

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on June 9, 2021

 

Reuters: Japan and Australia issued a joint statement to express objections to China's maritime claims and activities. They also expressed concerns about human right abuses against Xinjiang Uyghurs and the weakening of Hong Kong democratic institutions. Do you have any comment on this?

 

Wang Wenbin: Our position on relevant issues is consistent and clear. China has sovereignty over islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters, the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands. Issues relating to Xinjiang and Hong Kong are China's internal affairs that brook no foreign interference. Japan and Australia are hyping up the so-called "China threat" theory, maliciously slandering and attacking China and wantonly meddling in China's domestic affairs. China firmly rejects this. We are firmly determined to safeguard our sovereignty, security and development interests. We urge Japan and Australia to abide by international law and basic norms of international relations including respect for other countries' sovereignty and non-interference, stop meddling in China's internal affairs and stop undermining regional peace and stability.

 

…..

 

Bloomberg: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated he will seek tighter ties with G7 countries at a summit next week. Does the ministry have any comments on the possibility of greater cooperation among what Morrison calls like-minded democracies? The second question is that, the White House's top official for Asia, Kurt Campbell, has said that China has itself to blame for a global backlash against its policies. He said "the country that has done the most to create problems for China is not the US but China". Does the foreign ministry have any comment?

 

Wang Wenbin: On your first question, G7 and relevant developed countries are the first to reap the benefit from global development, and should thus do more to advance international anti-epidemic cooperation, promote world economic recovery and help developing countries achieved faster growth, instead of stoking differences and disputes in the international community and disrupting global recovery and solidarity against the coronavirus.

 

On your second question, we noted that Mr. Campbell said that China has only itself to blame for a global backlash against its policies. We believe this argument suits the realities in the US best. A recent poll surveying over 50,000 respondents in 53 countries and regions suggests that the US is seen as the biggest threat to global democracy and 44% of the respondents consider the US to be a threat to their democracy.

 

The results of the largest opinion poll in the Arab world shows that around 58% of the respondents held negative views of US foreign policy towards Arab countries and 81% believed that the US poses a major threat to the Arab world security. Some in the US habitually consider the US as a spokesperson for the international community. However, the fact is, the US can not speak for the international community; it can only speak for itself.

 

The observation that "the country that has done the most to create problems for China is not the US but China" confuses right with wrong and misleads public opinion. In the past several years, guided by the wrong perception on China, the US went all out to suppress China, interfere in China's internal affairs and severely undermined China's interests. In the face of US power politics, bullying and hegemonic practice, China is left with no choice but to make justified and necessary reactions to uphold its legitimate rights and interests. The current US administration should reflect on itself, redress its mistakes, rather than smear China or defend the former administration's wrong policies on China.

 

I would like to reiterate that China's foreign policy is clear and consistent. We will stay committed to an independent foreign policy of peace and a peaceful development path. Also, we will safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests with a stronger resolve. We hope the US can follow the trend of the times, view China in an objective and rational light, abandon the obsolete Cold War and zero-sum mentality, stop hyping up "China threat", and do more to promote China-US mutual trust and cooperation and improve bilateral ties, instead of the opposite.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1882549.shtml

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 12:23 a.m. No.13869104   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9105 >>9861

EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Pell calls for better fiscal accountability at the Vatican

 

Matt Hadro - Jun 9, 2021

 

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Cardinal George Pell – the former prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy – called for stronger fiscal accountability procedures at the Vatican, in a recent interview with CNA.

 

Referring to questionable investments and transactions by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State – including controversial investments in a London property which lost an estimated $100 million – Cardinal Pell, 80, expressed gratitude that those transactions have been made known to the public by reporters.

 

“Now to what extent it is gross incompetence, to what extent it is their willing connivance, to what extent criminal activity is involved – I simply don’t know, but it’s good that it’s come to light,” he said. “What is much more important is that the investment procedures are standardized, and that disastrous investments like this just don’t happen again.”

 

Cardinal Pell spoke with CNA on May 21, following the release of the second volume of his prison journal, “The State Court Rejects the Appeal.” In the journal – which covers the period of July 14-Nov. 30, 2019 – Pell discussed a variety of matters such as his time in prison, his reflections on the faith, and current events including financial scandals at the Vatican.

 

Pell, the former prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy tasked with overseeing the Vatican’s financial and administrative matters, in 2017 was charged with having sexually abused choir boys in his former cathedral in Melbourne, Australia, in 1996 and 1997.

 

He left Rome to stand trial in Australia. While Pell’s first trial ended with a hung jury, he was found guilty by a unanimous jury in a retrial, and sentenced to six years in prison on five counts of child sex abuse. A 2-1 decision of the Court of Appeal in Victoria upheld his conviction in August 2019.

 

Pell spent 404 days in solitary confinement in Melbourne Assessment Prison and HM Prison Barwon, a maximum-security prison southwest of Melbourne. His appeal was ultimately heard and his charges were unanimously overturned by the Australian High Court on April 7, 2020.

 

Cardinal Pell’s prison journal, written during his incarceration, is now being released in three volumes by Ignatius Press. The second volume was published on May 3.

 

Pell told CNA that, in publishing his journal, “I hope people will listen to my claim that the Christian package works,” including “the teachings of Christ about faith, and forgiveness, and especially about redemptive suffering.”

 

In his journal entries during the fall of 2019, Pell mentioned hearing of financial scandals at the Vatican. He stated his concern that the Vatican’s annual deficits could bring serious financial problems for future popes.

 

In October 2019, the Financial Times first reported that Vatican authorities were investigating a 2014 $200 million investment by the Secretariat of State through the fund Athena Capital. The investment financed a stake in the development of a London luxury apartment project. In 2018, the Vatican Secretariat of State made a $50 million investment in the same property.

 

The Vatican ultimately lost an estimated $100 million in the investment.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 12:24 a.m. No.13869105   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9107

>>13869104

 

2/3

 

Italian businessman Gianluigi Torzi helped broker the original deal. He was eventually arrested in London on May 11, after an Italian judge issued a warrant in his name for money laundering and fraud offenses. The Vatican is investigating his role in brokering the London deal.

 

Pell mentioned the controversial property deal in his journal, calling it “only one such disaster and a major part of a much wider crisis” at the Vatican.

 

“I fear for the financial future,” he continued in his journal entry for Oct. 24, 2019. “Chickens come home to roost, and a poorer bankrupt Church can do nothing material to help the poor.”

 

In his interview with CNA, Cardinal Pell said that at the time the controversial London deal was reported by the press, “I wasn’t quite sure where it was going.”

 

“But I’m not a bit sad that news of it has come out, because the Vatican has just lost such an enormous amount of money. The pope said to me he thought it was $150 million. I’m not sure. And the judge in the Torzi case in England wasn’t able to quantify just what the losses were,” he said.

 

Pell also called on the Vatican to improve its prosecution of financial crimes.

 

The Vatican had previously arrested Torzi in 2020 on charges of two counts of embezzlement, two counts of fraud, extortion, and money laundering, alleging he was part of a conspiracy to defraud the Secretariat of millions of euros.

 

In March, a British Judge reversed the Vatican’s seizure of Torzi’s accounts, stating that the “non-disclosures and misrepresentations” provided by the Vatican “are so appalling that the ultimate sanction” was to reverse the seizure of assets. He added that there was not “reasonable cause” to believe Torzi “benefitted” from criminal acts in the case.

 

Cardinal Pell cited the matter to call for better prosecutors at the Vatican.

 

“I think the single word I remember from it was ‘appalling’,” Pell said of the judge’s words. “So, I said to one or two senior people here in the Vatican, for goodness’ sake, get good lawyers, so that you can prosecute your case competently and justly.”

 

In his journal, Pell warned of the Vatican’s annual financial deficits as one of two “major challenges” facing the Holy See, noting that future popes “will face huge financial challenges” if the annual deficits are not addressed.

 

“The Vatican has only got assets of three or four billion [euros]. But whatever it is, they can’t afford to keep losing €50 [million] or even €20 million a year forever,” he told CNA, noting that expenses from the pension fund could also balloon to hundreds of millions of euros in a decade.

 

“So, these things have to be faced up to, and dealt with. Because, as I often say, we don’t know how many people go to heaven and hell, but we do know when we’re losing money,” he said.

 

In March, the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy released a budget for the 2021 year, showing a projected deficit of nearly $60 million.

 

Regarding the future of Peter’s Pence – the Vatican’s annual collection for the pope’s charitable causes and the Roman Curia – Pell expressed hope in his successor’s oversight of the fund.

 

“I know my successor Fr. [Juan A.] Guerrero is a competent man, and an honest man. And I think the particular challenges of Peter’s Pence are clearly visible, not least the decline in donations. And, please God, this will be faced up to and dealt with,” he said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 12:25 a.m. No.13869107   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13869105

 

3/3

 

Elsewhere in his journal, the cardinal talked about the value of redemptive suffering, figures from Scripture and Church history he grew close to in prison, and his thoughts on the future of the Church.

 

Regarding redemptive suffering, “I’ve taken to quoting Karl Marx, who had a terrible attack of boils,” Pell said. “And he [Marx] lamented the fact that he had no god to whom he might offer his suffering. He knew what he was missing. If there’s no God, there’s no meaning to suffering whatsoever.”

 

“But if you follow a religion where you believe that redemption was affected, was brought about by the suffering and death of a young man, God, 2,000 years ago, and that we can join our suffering with His – that’s a radical, radical difference,” he added.

 

He said he grew close to several Catholic and biblical historical figures during his time in prison, including the prophet Elijah – “he saved monotheism at a time when it was in desperate trouble, and as a symbol and a patrol for our age and the Western world, his role is very, very obvious.”

 

Cardinal Pell also mentioned Vietnamese Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan as a role model for him. Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan had spent 13 years in prison, including nine years in solitary confinement, under the communist regime in North Vietnam. Pell also cited Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More as figures he grew close to, as well as American priest Fr. Walter Ciszek, who spent 23 years in Soviet prisons and labor camps.

 

Pell was not able to offer Mass while in solitary confinement. “It was painful. And I felt it particularly at some times more than others, at the times of the great feasts, Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas,” he told CNA.

 

“I also knew that God hadn’t abandoned me because I wasn’t able to celebrate Mass,” he added, noting that he was allowed to keep his breviary with him and watched Sunday morning Masses and services from jail.

 

His experience without the Mass was an “exact parallel” to the plight of many Catholics during the coronavirus pandemic when churches closed, he said.

 

In his journal, Cardinal Pell also addressed a decline in Church attendance and warned of a spread in replacing Catholic doctrine with “pagan teachings.”

 

“We haven’t been explicitly godly enough,” he told CNA. “We haven’t spoken about God’s love, about the importance of that, God as creator, God as judge,” he said, adding that “the vertical dimension has weakened.”

 

The cardinal added that Eucharistic adoration is an antidote to this problem.

 

“I think that’s one reason why adoration before the Blessed Sacrament is so important, and I think one reason why it is so popular amongst younger Catholics, is precisely to open them to transcendence, to take them in the direction of godliness when so much of the society around them keeps them distracted and keeps them at a horizontal level,” he said.

 

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247940/exclusive-cardinal-pell-calls-for-better-fiscal-accountability-at-the-vatican

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 12:45 a.m. No.13869159   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9164 >>9222 >>9865

‘Not complicated’: Dutton says China will never share deep military ties with Australia

 

Anthony Galloway - June 10, 2021

 

Defence Minister Peter Dutton says Australia will never have the military ties with China it shares with traditional allies such as the United States as a result of its position and history.

 

Mr Dutton also warned the military build-up in the Indo-Pacific region meant the prospect of war was less remote than in the past and Australia must be prepared for any contingency.

 

Diplomatic relations between Australia and China have deteriorated to their worst level in decades, with Beijing last year imposing more than $20 billion of tariffs after Canberra pushed for an independent global inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

 

Appearing at an Australian Strategic Policy Institute conference in Canberra on Thursday, Mr Dutton said the question of how Australia should navigate its relationship with China was not complicated.

 

“We have a respectful relationship with China from our own perspective. We are a peaceful nation, we seek to support our neighbours particularly in a time of need, and we have a need for that in response,” he said.

 

“It’s not more complicated than that in my mind. We aren’t going to have the military ties with China that we do historical partners like the United States. That is no doubt an issue for China, but that is the reality of our position and our history.

 

“We seek to have a productive relationship with China, but we don’t accept breaking of the law, we don’t accept interference in our electoral processes, we don’t accept interference in the processes of democracy or otherwise and we crave a peaceful region and that’s what we will continue to work with.”

 

He flagged the possibility of increasing the number of US marines in the Northern Territory from 2500 and basing US Navy vessels at HMAS Stirling near Perth.

 

“I think that is in our own security interest and I think it is in the interest of the US as well,” he said.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison called on Wednesday for a new commitment from Australia’s allies to defend a world order that favours freedom over autocracy, warning of a strategic competition with China that parallels the uncertainties of the 1930s. Japan this week backed Australia’s campaign against China’s economic coercion, warning the superpower’s strikes had undermined the international order.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 12:47 a.m. No.13869164   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13869159

 

2/2

 

Asked whether the world was heading towards a battle between democracies and authoritarian regimes, Mr Dutton said: “I think that’s right.” He said European countries, NATO, Japan, India and Canada all had a “sharpened focus” on the Indo-Pacific region and there had been an “awakening”.

 

He said Australia’s intent to stand up for the “virtues of democracy, freedom of speech and the other values that we adhere to” would never change.

 

In his speech, Mr Dutton said the region was more complex and less predictable than at any time since World War II due to factors including intensified strategic competition between China and the US, the emergence of new disruptive technologies and the increased prevalence of so-called grey-zone activities “designed to irritate, intimidate and injure other countries, including our own”.

 

“It should go without saying that the Australian government’s first priority is to maintain peace in our region – that’s always our first priority,” he said.

 

“All countries in the Indo-Pacific have a shared interest in ensuring continued stability and prosperity. The unfortunate fact, of course, is that not all nations are acting in a manner consistent with these goals.

 

“As a consequence, the prospect of military conflict is less remote than in the past – especially through miscalculation or misunderstanding.”

 

Labor has in recent weeks accused the government of deliberately encouraging anxiety about a conflict with Beijing to secure a domestic political advantage.

 

Mr Dutton also said he believed Australia’s $90 billion program to build 12 new attack-class submarines, which has been plagued by cost blowouts, delays and disagreements over local content, was “back on track” after French builder Naval Group made some personnel changes.

 

Naval Group recently hired one of Mr Morrison’s closest confidants, David Gazard, to lobby for the company in Canberra.

 

“I think the personnel changes, the appointment of quality people … shows a genuine effort to get the project back on track,” Mr Dutton said.

 

In his speech to the ASPI conference, Opposition defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor said after six Defence Ministers in eight years, Labor had “significant concerns about the way major contracts have been managed and the effect this will have on our defence capability”.

 

“On our very large defence asset contracts, the attack class submarines and hunter class frigates, we have seen huge blowouts on timelines and expenditure,” he said.

 

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/not-complicated-dutton-says-china-will-never-share-deep-military-ties-with-australia-20210610-p57zzc.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 1:11 a.m. No.13869222   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3447 >>9865

>>13869159

Mark McGowan canes PM’s ‘mad’ rhetoric on China

 

PAUL GARVEY - JUNE 10, 2021

 

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan says he is concerned about the Morrison government’s rhetoric towards China, describing talk of war with the superpower as “madness”.

 

Mr McGowan met with Scott Morrison on Wednesday night ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to the upcoming G7 meeting in Cornwall. He told reporters on Thursday morning that the pair had had a lengthy discussion about the relationship with China and had ultimately “agreed to disagree”.

 

In his most impassioned comments on the China situation to date, Mr McGowan said comments in recent months from senior politicians and officials about a potential conflict with China was “off the planet”.

 

“All this language I see coming out of the Commonwealth government about us going to war with China, I have never heard something so insane in my life,” he said.

 

“The idea that somehow we should be promoting the idea of armed conflict with a superpower is madness and I don’t get why there are the senior Commonwealth government officials, why there are defence force officers, why there are senior politicians in the Liberal Party talking about this. It’s absolute madness.”

 

He noted that Australia had endured tariffs and trade disputes with many other nations, including the United States and the European Union, without having to resort to talk of war.

 

The value of goods exported to China was twenty times the value of the goods imported from China, Mr McGowan said.

 

“The reason we have a trade surplus is because we sell products to China,” he said. “Why should we as a beneficiary of the trading relationship, one of the only countries in the whole world that is, want to attack them on trade?”

 

The consequences of losing our trade relationship with China would be “absolutely catastrophic” for Australia.

 

“The countries that have massive trade deficits with China, if they want to take up the trade issues they should. We have a massive trade surplus with China that employs hundreds of thousands of Australians, particularly here in Western Australia,” he said.

 

“I don’t understand why we would be the tip of the spear in taking up trade issues when we are the beneficiaries of the trade relationship.”

 

He said Australia owed its post-Covid economic strength to China and its demand for Australian exports, in particular iron ore.

 

The price of the steelmaking ingredient has soared through $US200 a tonne over the past year, delivering a multibillion-dollar bonanza in royalties and corporate taxes for Australia.

 

“I’m the premier of the state that actually carries the nation’s economy,” Mr McGowan said.

 

“I saw the Federal treasurer Mr Frydenberg saying how great it is that Australia is doing so well economically, why does he think that is? It’s because Western Australia continues to trade through Covid with countries who buy our products, particularly when iron ore is over $200 a tonne. That’s what is supporting the national economy, and yet we have politicians who want to destroy that.”

 

The WA premier’s comments came as Mr Morrison told Perth radio station 6PR that while the government was willing to engage with China, the superpower had raised issues that Australia was not prepared to concede on.

 

“You never trade away your values and who you are in your own sovereignty, integrity, ever. And nor would any other country in the world,” Mr Morrison said.

 

But Mr McGowan said Australia could still keep its values without having to talk about war with China.

 

“We are not trading our values. We will continue to be a democracy, we will continue to be a free independent country that believes in equality, fairness and democracy. We will continue to exercise our right of free passage in the South China Sea. We will continue to take on espionage or whatever it might be from wherever it comes from. That will continue,” he said.

 

“But we don’t have to speculate about going to war with a superpower, and we don’t have to act against our own interest when it comes to trade.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/mark-mcgowan-canes-pms-mad-rhetoric-on-china/news-story/17eafec5a6b778d8d493d1208940c115

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 1:24 a.m. No.13869260   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

>>13780408

Scott Morrison set to go to Washington later this year for Quad talks with US, India & Japan

 

GEOFF CHAMBERS - JUNE 10, 2021

 

Scott Morrison’s first face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden at the weekend’s G7 summit in Cornwall is looming as a precursor to the Prime Minister travelling to Washington DC late this year.

 

With NATO and G7 leaders set to refocus their strategic approach on China, Russia, cyber threats and the Indo-Pacific region, US ­officials are moving to lock in the first in-person leaders’ summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.

 

Mr Morrison, Mr Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshi­hide Suga had pledged to meet in person at the G7 summit in Cornwall after holding an inaugural Quad leaders’ meeting virtually in March.

 

Mr Modi, who along with Mr Morrison was invited by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to attend the G7 as a plus-member, has been forced to appear at the summit virtually following the ­extensive Covid-19 outbreak in India.

 

Mr Biden’s Indo-Pacific adviser Kurt Campbell on Tuesday flagged the first in-person leaders’ summit of the Quad could happen late this year.

 

“Our goal is to hold an in-person Quad meeting … here in Washington in the fall (autumn) with all leaders in attendance,” he said.

 

Mr Morrison, whose previous trip to the US involved a series of events with Donald Trump, including a gala function at the White House, last year invited Mr Biden to travel to Australia to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance.

 

Pending an early election, the next major events for Mr Morrison and Mr Biden are likely to be the Rome G20 leaders’ summit in late October and the Glasgow UN Climate Change conference in early November.

 

Quad, NATO and G7 nations have collectively turned their attention to ASEAN, the bloc of Southeast Asian nations driving unprecedented economic growth in the Indo-Pacific straddled between China and Western powers.

 

Mr Morrison spoke at the Perth USAsia Centre before he flew out to Singapore on Wednesday, and told attendees ASEAN was “the most important meeting within our region” and Mr Biden understood its significance.

 

“It brings together so many economies from so many different perspectives. We take that very, very seriously,” he said.

 

“And I greatly appreciate it, from the President, his understanding of that and the importance of ASEAN and how it’s about enabling the nations, their capability, their self-sufficiency, their sovereignty, their independence.”

 

On the first stop of an eight-day overseas trip, Mr Morrison will meet Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a central figure inside ASEAN, at The Istana on Thursday night.

 

ASEAN, of which Singapore is a founding member, is hotly prized by both China and the West, with renewed efforts from Britain, France and the US to join Australia in ramping-up ties with the Southeast Asian nations.

 

A key focus of the Quad following the March meeting has been countering China’s vaccine diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, with Beijing establishing a foothold in delivering millions of jabs to developing nations.

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week co-chaired the special ASEAN-China foreign ministers’ meeting in celebration of 30 years of relations. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said over the past 30 years, “China and ASEAN have pressed ahead hand in hand”.

 

Mr Morrison has been invited to deliver a major address to the G7 summit at the weekend during a key session focused on “open societies and economies”.

 

The Prime Minister is expected to speak to Australia’s experience, and how democratic market economies must be ready to push back and respond to different models being promoted by authoritarian states.

 

Mr Morrison, who is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Mr Suga, South Korea President Moon Jae-in and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the G7 sidelines, will travel to London and Paris to hold one-on-one meetings with Mr Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron.

 

With Britain and France experiencing deteriorating relations with Beijing and both countries having historic roots in the Indo-Pacific, the leaders are expected to discuss how to bolster defence, security and strategic partnerships in the region, with both Mr Johnson and Mr Macron already committing military hardware.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/scott-morrison-set-to-go-to-washington-later-this-year-for-quad-talks-with-us-india-japan/news-story/10d48e7187854c3c509d43a2fa4f9f24

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 1:41 a.m. No.13869304   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9307 >>9853

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith’s claims ‘inherently implausible’ media’s barrister tells court

 

Michaela Whitbourn - June 10, 2021

 

1/2

 

The barrister acting for media companies being sued for defamation by Ben Roberts-Smith has described as “inherently implausible” the former soldier’s claim that 21 current or former comrades who will give evidence against him are motivated by jealousy or have memories tainted by trauma.

 

Barrister Nicholas Owens, SC, who is representing The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in the landmark case, alleged Mr Roberts-Smith had committed or been involved in six murders as a Special Air Service soldier in Afghanistan.

 

The killings were unlawful under the Geneva conventions, Mr Owens told the Federal Court in Sydney, and could not be explained as being in the “heat of battle” or “fog of war”.

 

But Mr Roberts-Smith, who began what is expected to be several days of evidence on Thursday, said the allegations were “devastating” and based on “rumour and innuendo”. One made him “really angry”.

 

At the end of the day’s proceedings, the two-metre-tall former soldier appeared to wipe tears from his eyes as he spoke about the events for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

 

The defamation trial, which started on Monday and is expected to run for up to 10 weeks, centres on articles published in 2018 that Mr Roberts-Smith alleges portrayed him as a war criminal and a perpetrator of domestic violence.

 

The media outlets outlined their truth defence on Thursday, before Mr Roberts-Smith entered the witness box.

 

Mr Owens said none of the six alleged murders involved “the difficulty of distinguishing between a civilian and a non-uniformed insurgent, or making a split-second assessment of whether the way that a person was moving indicated hostile intent”.

 

Instead, all of the alleged victims were so-called PUCs – persons safely and securely under the control of Australian forces, he said.

 

Mr Owens said the rules of engagement under which Australian troops operated in Afghanistan were consistent with the Geneva Conventions. Once a person had been brought under the control of Australian troops, no matter whether they were “the most brutal, vile member of the Taliban imaginable”, they could not be killed. To kill in these circumstances “is murder”.

 

The media outlets’ case did not “shy away” from the fact that most, but not all, of the six people killed were almost certainly insurgents, Mr Owens said.

 

He alleged Mr Roberts-Smith had constructed a “false narrative” that five of the six killings occurred during combat. Mr Roberts-Smith said the sixth killing did not occur and the person, an Afghan teenager, was released.

 

Justice Anthony Besanko was “presented with a stark choice”, Mr Owens said, and ultimately must decide “who is lying”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 1:42 a.m. No.13869307   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13869304

 

2/2

 

Mr Owens said the suggestion by Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Bruce McClintock, SC, that 21 current and former SAS soldiers giving evidence for the media outlets were motivated by jealousy or were misremembering incidents owing to trauma was “inherently implausible”.

 

He alleged Mr Roberts-Smith had “engaged in a pattern of behaviour over many years calculated to undermine the integrity of the evidence relevant to allegations made against him”, including by arranging for threatening letters to be sent to one person.

 

Mr Owens said four Afghan villagers would also give evidence for the media outlets, and there could be no explanation for their recollections aligning with the soldiers’ accounts “other than that they are all telling the truth”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith launched defamation proceedings in 2018 over reports in The Age and the Herald, now owned by Nine. He says the articles accused him of murder during his 2009 to 2012 tours of Afghanistan and committing an act of domestic violence against a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

 

He is also suing three journalists and The Canberra Times, now under separate ownership.

 

Mr Owens said the domestic violence allegation was “powerfully supported by significant documentary evidence”, including text messages the day after he allegedly punched the woman in the face in Canberra in 2018.

 

After speaking to her husband, the woman texted to Mr Roberts-Smith: “He didn’t believe that I had fallen down stairs”. She said other bruises would “hopefully make the falling story more believable”.

 

“Well, hopefully, he believes you,” Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith rejected Mr Owens’ opening address emphatically and described domestic violence as “deplorable”.

 

“I spent my life fighting for my country and I did everything I possibly could to ensure I did it with honour,” he said. “I really cannot comprehend how people, on the basis of rumour and innuendo, can maintain that in a public forum. It breaks my heart, actually.”

 

He dismissed as “ridiculous” an allegation that he carried an Afghan man with a prosthetic leg outside a compound in 2009, threw him to the ground and shot him 10 to 15 times. It would not be possible to carry his gun and a person who was resisting, he said.

 

“It makes me really angry,” Mr Roberts-Smith said. He said he fired two rounds as an insurgent moved towards him. The allegation the man was under his control and posed no imminent threat was “so far from the truth it’s not funny”.

 

He said another soldier took the man’s prosthetic leg and he had seen it used as a drinking vessel by other soldiers. He did not drink from it himself, he said, but he didn’t object to the “gallows humour” of others doing so.

 

“We were out there doing a job you cannot explain to people,” Mr Roberts-Smith said.

 

The hearing continues.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-involved-in-six-murders-in-afghanistan-court-hears-20210610-p57zs2.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 1:49 a.m. No.13869327   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9330 >>9853

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith: veteran launches attack on ex-colleagues

 

KIERAN GAIR - 10 June 2021

 

1/2

 

Ben Roberts-Smith has launched a pre-emptive attack against former army colleagues who are expected to give evidence for Nine newspapers at his defamation trial, with the war hero describing one soldier that was more “worried” about eating “noodles” than he was about helping his comrades escape a Taliban attack.

 

On the fourth day of the decorated veteran’s high-stakes defamation trial against Nine newspapers, he told the court he had “spent my life fighting for my country” and was left “devastated” after a series of allegedly defamatory stories were published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in June and August 2018.

 

In an opening address on Thursday, the barrister acting for Nine newspapers, Nicholas Owens, SC, said the newspapers would be calling 21 current and former members of the SAS, including one soldier “who would himself confess to murder”, as they try and prove that six alleged murders did not occur in the “heat of battle”.

 

“The suggestion that the testimony of 21 men is a fabrication of the result of jealousy or a product of trauma is not plausible and we submit will not survive the telling of their stories,” Mr Owens said.

 

Appearing in the witness box on Thursday, Mr Roberts said the allegations that he committed war crimes during deployments in Afghanistan and was complicit in six unlawful murders had broken “my heart”.

 

“I spent my life fighting for my country and I did everything I possibly could to ensure I did it with honour,” Mr Roberts-Smith said. “I listened to that, and I really cannot comprehend how people on the basis of rumour and innuendo can maintain that (war crimes allegations) in a public forum. It breaks my heart, actually.”

 

The court heard a soldier who had accused Mr Roberts-Smith of bullying, and is expected to give evidence for Nine, was “removed” from the SAS by a patrol commander.

 

Among a litany of mistakes allegedly linked to “person 1”, was the “noodle” incident, Mr Roberts-Smith said. While the soldier was “cooking his lunch” the troops were attacked by insurgents who had fired “mortar rounds” at their vehicles.

 

“Person 1 was more concerned about throwing his noodles away than jumping in the vehicle,” Mr Roberts-Smith said. “When you have ordinance in the air, you don’t really want to stuff around worrying about whether your lunch is ready.”

 

In a separate incident involving another SAS soldier, Mr Roberts-Smith told the court the special forces member crashed their vehicle during a patrol in Afghanistan because he wanted to “shoot” a “stray dog.”

 

“Person 2 saw a stray dog walking down the road and he pulled his pistol out and started trying to engage the dog,” Mr Roberts-Smith said. “He then crashed the vehicle into the side wall of the road, which is effectively a cliff … there was no need to shoot that dog, it wasn’t aggressive.”

 

He also rejected suggestions that he showed the soldier a picture of a “dead insurgent”, saying the pair didn’t “really get on” and that the court would likely “find out” why when the soldier gives evidence.

 

“We didn’t really get on and we’ve made no secret about that,” he said. “He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him, and I’m sure we’ll find out his reasons.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 1:50 a.m. No.13869330   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13869327

 

2/2

 

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Owens told the court that some of the men who would give evidence had their “lives destroyed over acts” that Mr Roberts-Smith had forced them to carry out during deployments to Afghanistan. Other men, he said, were “simply honourable” soldiers who could “remain silent no longer”.

 

He said Mr Roberts-Smith had “threatened” a witness, procured “two burner phones” after he was interviewed by military officers investigating war crimes, and had “irretrievably tainted the evidence” he “seeks to rely on.”

 

Not a “single one” of the six murders Mr Roberts-Smith has been accused of committing was “made in the heat of battle” or under “what is called the fog of war”, Mr Owens said.

 

According to the “rules of engagement” and the Geneva Convention, Mr Owens said, Australian soldiers cannot murder a person “under” their control, even if the person is “the most brutal, vile member of the Taliban.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, is suing the newspapers and The Canberra Times, which is now under separate ownership, for defamation over reports published in 2018 that alleged he committed murder during deployments to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. He is also suing Nine over allegations that he punched a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith denies the allegations, saying the reports are defamatory because they portray him as a murderous war criminal who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement”.

 

As part of its truth defence, the newspapers allege that Mr Roberts-Smith “disgraced his country” and the Australian Army, is a bully and a hypocrite who is “not deserving of the good reputation he enjoyed publicly”.

 

In opening submissions on Monday, the barrister acting for Mr Roberts-Smith, Bruce McClintock, SC, said the war hero had been targeted by bitter and jealous soldiers who implicated him in war crimes as part of a “poisonous campaign” that was “aided by credulous journalists” at Nine newspapers.

 

Asked by his barrister Mr McClintock about his attitude to some of his former Special Air Services colleagues on Thursday, Mr Roberts-Smith said: “The SAS, like many organisations, doesn’t have an infallible process.”

 

“There are people, in the end, who shouldn’t be in the unit and should move on.”

 

The trial continues.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/ben-robertssmith-takes-witness-stand-veteran-heartbroken-after-war-crimes-allegations/news-story/d67b8e2d44c2b14fee7c181706622fad

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 1:54 a.m. No.13869348   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

Push for Hezbollah terrorism listing gains boost from ASIO

 

Nick Bonyhady June 10, 2021

 

Australia’s domestic spy agency has no opposition to the country listing Lebanese militant group and political party Hezbollah as a terrorist entity, in a major development that could lead to the entire organisation being blacklisted.

 

While other defence and foreign affairs bureaucrats appearing before a Senate committee said it could affect their operations, the ASIO position will prove key to any change as it is the main agency involved in recommending whether groups should be placed on the proscribed list.

 

Parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security is examining whether Australia should keep its policy of branding only one component of Hezbollah – its External Security Organisation responsible for attacks abroad – as a terrorist organisation, or broaden that designation.

 

If Hezbollah, which is often termed a “state within a state”, were designated a terrorist entity, joining it and providing funding or other resources would become a crime in Australia.

 

While the government decides whether to list an organisation as a terrorist entity, the committee is looking at whether to recommend either Hezbollah’s broader military wing or the entire organisation be listed.

 

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess declined to make public his assessment of any threat posed by Hezbollah but said ASIO’s work would not be hampered by a listing.

 

“A key point I can make … is that, for me, our ability to do our job is not impacted if the listing was broadened and that’s ASIO’s input into a conversation,” Mr Burgess said.

 

He said ASIO, which is an intelligence organisation rather than a law enforcement body like the police, could also do its job equally well without the listing but that the position was different for other organisations.

 

“I agree that the mere fact of a group being listed does give law enforcement another lawful means by which they can deal with problems that we’re seeing in our society,” Mr Burgess said.

 

Senior bureaucrats representing the Australian Federal Police, Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Defence gave guarded evidence before the committee because of its diplomatic and security sensitivity. In general terms they said their work in Lebanon would be affected if the government listed Hezbollah but said those risks could be managed.

 

Three major Australian Jewish organisations and an international terrorism expert appearing at the proceedings argued that Hezbollah had a centralised command structure that made security distinctions between its terrorist components and other sections foolish.

 

They suggested it would make it easier for police to track and prosecute cases involving Hezbollah’s alleged drug trafficking, money laundering and monitoring of opponents abroad, including, they said, in Australia.

 

No Lebanese organisation, either in Australia or abroad, made a submission to the inquiry. Hezbollah’s political wing has a history of getting MPs elected to Parliament, and the current Lebanese government has Hezbollah ministers in the Industry and Health portfolios.

 

Committee chair James Paterson and other Coalition MPs on the committee asked questions probing why Australia has not yet already listed Hezbollah in its entirety, as did shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. Other Labor MPs, including counter-terrorism expert Anne Aly, asked more sceptical questions about how the listing could affect Australia’s Lebanese community.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/push-for-hezbollah-terrorism-listing-gains-boost-from-asio-20210610-p57zs9.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 2:08 a.m. No.13869394   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9397 >>9900 >>9872 >>9884

Covid-19: when governments started lying to us

 

Adam Creighton - JUNE 10, 2021

 

1/2

 

When the New Zealand Prime Minister back in March scolded a 21-year-old for going to the gym after his Covid-19 test and ignoring “a full two-week period of sustained propaganda” — yes, she said that — she was right about one thing. Not since World War II have we endured so much propaganda. But it’s been a lot longer than two weeks.

 

Jacinda Ardern’s Freudian slip illustrates how democratic governments have been as guilty of “misinformation” or “disinformation” as any critics of lockdowns, masks and border restrictions. For 15 months they have trotted out fear-mongering slogans about “saving lives”, “staying alert” or (in Britain) “clapping for carers” on Thursday night.

 

Governments have avoided context and facts that would have put people at ease, amid the cacophony of hysterical reporting of a disease that remains a negligible threat to the vast bulk of people. The Victorian government’s “Staying Apart Keeps Us Together” could have been written by the government of Oceania in George Orwell’s 1984.

 

It’s been a 24/7 doom deluge for more than a year, and it’s all been extraordinarily successful. The British public thought 6 per cent of the country had died from Covid-19 (4 million people) according to an August 2020 poll. In the US, two-fifths of Democrat voters and a quarter of Republican voters thought the chance of hospitalisation from contracting Covid was more than 50 per cent, when it is between 1 and 5 per cent.

 

Only propaganda can explain how in Washington DC, weeks after requirements for masks were removed, the majority of people are still wearing them outside.

 

And it is worse in Australia, where few have first-hand experience of Covid, and most support rolling lockdowns and even the construction of special-purpose quarantine facilities – unthinkable in 2019.

 

Tedros Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, in August said “the mask has come to represent solidarity”. They are as much about keeping people scared as “safe”. As recently as December the WHO conceded “at present there is only limited and inconsistent scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of masking of healthy people in the community”.

 

Friends ask what it’s like to be in a Covid-ravaged country. Well, in two months I’m yet to see evidence of a great pandemic – no sirens, no one dropping dead in the street as the Chinese Communist Party’s fake videos from early last year would have had us expect.

 

An extra 800,000 deaths of despair caused by the hysteria and lockdown-induced spike in unemployment are in the pipeline over the next 15 years, though, according to 2020 research from Duke and Harvard universities, which will attract next to zero media coverage.

 

“The Covid-19 epidemic may prove to be the biggest campaign of fear the UK, and the world, has ever seen,” writes English journalist Laura Dodsworth in her excellent new book A State of Fear. In almost 300 pages she lays out the extent to which the British government — armed with a popular new field of economics, “nudge theory”, which argues governments must “nudge” inherently irrational citizens to avoid making “poor choices” — sought to scare citizens into compliance.

 

“The use of fear to create compliance is ethically dubious and, at the very least, warrants public debate,” she concludes, revealing how the “weaponisation of fear” saw many of the most vulnerable die alone, terrified, in nursing facilities kept away from their loved ones.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 10, 2021, 2:09 a.m. No.13869397   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13869394

 

2/2

 

A British government expert committee advised in late March that “a substantial number of people still do not feel sufficiently personally threatened; it could be that they are reassured by the low death rate in their demographic group, although levels of concern may be rising”.

 

A few days later Covid-19 became the “invisible killer” in a speech by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that set the tone globally. Fifteen months on, the virus is an “absolute beast” according to Victoria’s chief medical officer, doing his best to scare people into compliance with the state’s ridiculous series of lockdowns.

 

The German government “collaborated to bring images of people choking to death at home, and to inflict fear and guilt on children, in order to make the population follow rules for an epidemic which had been deliberately exaggerated”, Dodsworth reveals.

 

It didn’t have to be like this. In March last year the British government stressed Covid-19 was a “very mild illness for the vast majority of people”, based on the information available from Italy. If governments had stuck with that information, confirmed by all that ensued, we could have avoided a doom loop of fear-induced draconian policies, where politicians, whatever their private thoughts, felt compelled to stick with “emergency orders” and health diktats. It was more shove than nudge.

 

If the media can be excused for sensationalising Covid-19 in the interest of clicks and profit, democratic governments can’t, especially in an age of social media where alternative viewpoints have been censored.

 

Harvard professor of medicine Martin Kuldorff was suspended from Twitter for saying children didn’t need to be vaccinated against Covid, and was later banned for suggesting “public-health officials/scientists must always be honest with the public”.

 

“As fear finally melts away we will be able to confront our frailties and strengths, as citizens, scientists, journalists and politicians,” Dodsworth writes.

 

It’s doubtful Covid-19 justified propaganda on the scale and duration we’ve seen. If it has helped governments implement their policies in the short run, in the long run it will erode trust in public institutions.

 

Are they trying to nudge you, or telling you the truth? Democratic government is meant to be built on the idea that individuals make their own choices.

 

The coming years will highlight the yawning gaps between reality and propaganda, as researchers gradually feel more confident to criticise the manufactured narrative of plague.

 

It’s sobering that more of us didn’t do our own research. Abraham Lincoln allegedly once said you can’t fool all the people all the time. It seems you can certainly fool most of them for a long time.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/covid19-when-governments-started-lying-to-us/news-story/e23de04884ae82d03c314a3c352cb13b

 

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/03/it-s-easy-to-blame-a-21-year-old-judith-collins-david-seymour-say-government-also-at-fault-for-covid-19-outbreak.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 12:27 a.m. No.13876941   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6948 >>6952 >>3702 >>9884

CONTROVERSIAL FOUR CORNERS EPISODE ON QANON TO FINALLY AIR AFTER BEING DELAYED

 

Media Release - 11 June 2021

 

The extreme political movement QAnon has mobilised a committed band of believers dedicated to fighting what they claim is a war against corrupt, child abusing elites. There are vocal devotees here in Australia.

 

In this dramatic episode of Four Corners, family members detail their growing awakening to the powerful hold this extremist movement now has.

 

What emerges is a portrait of a family in distress, divided by politics and extremist beliefs and a growing sense of alarm.

 

''“QAnon is …first and foremost a conspiracy theory…(about) a global satanic paedophile cult, who have infiltrated the highest levels of government, the media, Hollywood.”''

 

One QAnon adherent has attracted attention because of his long friendship with the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison. According to their father,

 

''“I would imagine that they would be among their closest friends. I think that’s a reasonable thing to say.”''

 

The Prime Minister’s old friend is an enthusiastic exponent of QAnon’s bizarre conspiracy theory. Now his family are speaking out on Four Corners about his descent into this extreme world view and their fears for him.

 

This episode of Four Corners has already sparked a political furore and an angry rebuke from the Prime Minister.

 

''“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation.”''

 

Those with experience of QAnon at the highest levels say the conspiracy theory movement needs to be watched very carefully.

 

The Great Awakening, reported by Louise Milligan, goes to air on Monday 14th June at 8.30pm

 

https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2021/06/11/controversial-four-corners-episode-on-qanon-to-finally-air-after-being-delayed/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 12:30 a.m. No.13876948   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13876941

ABC FOUR CORNERS

 

The Great Awakening: a family divided by QAnon

 

11 Jun 2021

 

“QAnon is …first and foremost a conspiracy theory…(about) a global satanic paedophile cult, who have infiltrated the highest levels of government, the media, Hollywood.”

 

The extreme political movement QAnon has mobilised a committed band of believers dedicated to fighting what they claim is a war against corrupt, child abusing elites. There are vocal devotees here in Australia.

 

“Tim believes that the world has really been taken over by… Luciferian paedophiles and that is represented by the left, the radical left.” Sister of QAnon follower

 

One QAnon adherent has attracted attention because of his long friendship with the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison.

 

The Prime Minister’s old friend is an enthusiastic exponent of QAnon’s bizarre conspiracy theory.

 

Now his family are speaking out on Four Corners about his descent into this extreme world view and their fears for him.

 

“I’m his mum…we’ve watched the change over these last years be quite dramatic.” Mother

 

What emerges is a portrait of a family in distress, divided by politics and extremist beliefs and a growing sense of alarm.

 

“I think almost all of us have broken down on the phone trying to explain…grieving the loss of someone who’s still alive and it’s a very confusing emotion.” Sister

 

In this dramatic episode of Four Corners, family members detail their growing awakening to the powerful hold this extremist movement now has.

 

“At that point we recognised, there’s a level of radicalisation that is very different to even a year prior to that.”

 

Those with experience of QAnon at the highest levels say the conspiracy theory movement needs to be watched very carefully.

 

This episode of Four Corners has already sparked a political furore and an angry rebuke from the Prime Minister.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation.” Prime Minister Scott Morrison

 

The Great Awakening, reported by Louise Milligan, goes to air on Monday 14th June at 8.30pm. It is replayed on Tuesday 15th June at 1.00pm and Wednesday 16th at 11.20pm. It can also be seen on ABC NEWS channel on Saturday at 8.10pm AEST, ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/the-great-awakening:-a-family-divided-by-qanon/13384176

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 12:32 a.m. No.13876952   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9884

>>13876941

FOUR CORNERS: THE GREAT AWAKENING - Monday 14 June at 8pm

 

ABC TV

 

Jun 11, 2021

 

The Great Awakening, reported by Louise Milligan, goes to air on Monday 14th June at 8.30pm. It is replayed on Tuesday 15th June at 1.00pm and Wednesday 16th at 11.20pm. It can also be seen on ABC NEWS channel on Saturday at 8.10pm AEST, ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p09g7TYsqKM

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 1:09 a.m. No.13877040   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7043 >>3811

>>13788675

Dan Andrews’ injury: inside the conspiracy theory around the premier’s fall

 

Unfounded claims about the Victorian premier’s hospitalisation were first aired by an obscure blog which pushes conspiracy theories

 

Michael McGowan - 11 Jun 2021

 

It started with an anonymous post on an encrypted messaging app favoured by far-right activists and conspiracy theorists and moved to a fringe website promoting QAnon and Port Arthur massacre misinformation.

 

Quite how a conspiracy theory about Victorian premier Dan Andrews’ March fall at a Mornington Peninsula holiday home made its way from social media’s backwaters to the mainstream has been the subject of intense speculation this week.

 

On Monday the Victorian opposition treasury spokeswoman, Louise Staley, gave new impetus to a complicated web of conspiracy theories about Andrews’ fall by releasing a list of questions about the accident.

 

Staley has continued to insist she had simply been urging Andrews to “clear up” rumours when she released a list of 12 questions, which included whether Andrews had been interviewed by police after the accident and who had called the ambulance.

 

But her statement, which also called for the premier to answer the questions “if there is no cover-up”, followed a long-running conspiracy narrative which emerged almost immediately after Andrews’ announced his accident on 9 March.

 

In the hours following his statement, the encrypted messaging app Telegram, home to Australia’s largest anti-lockdown, anti-vaccination and far-right groups, was alight with theories about the accident.

 

The timing of the fall – it came on the same day that the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, was hospitalised with cellulitis and shortly after Christian Porter and Linda Reynolds both took indefinite leave from cabinet – fed into a series of conspiracy narratives given oxygen by a string of prominent actors in Australia’s convoluted conspiracy space.

 

A 9 March post by prominent anti-lockdown group Reignite Democracy Australia, run by former reality television contestant Monica Smit, noted a “strange trend” and fuelled a baseless rumour the MPs had all suffered adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccination. So too did a post by the far-right actor Blair Cottrell on the same day.

 

The next day, the first mentions of trucking tycoon Lindsay Fox in relation to the fall were made by a user in an anti-lockdown group known as Melbourne Freedom Rally. The Guardian has previously revealed links between the group’s leader and a number of far-right organisations. The post, which claimed Andrews had been at Fox’s home when he fell, was followed by a series of users advancing QAnon-flavoured claims he had “the shit kicked out of him” and been “taught a lesson”.

 

Since then, conspiracy rumours have centred on trucking magnate Lindsay Fox and a former PricewaterhouseCoopers executive, Luke Sayers. Different iterations of the theories have centred on the false beliefs Andrews was with Fox at the time of the accident or that he was involved in an altercation with Sayers.

 

Andrews is a friend of Lindsay Fox’s son, Andrew Fox, and some of the early posts on Telegram linked to a February article in the Age which examined the links between the premier and the family. The relationship was also subject to questioning by Staley in the Victorian parliament earlier this year.

 

The rumours that Andrews was with Fox at the time of the accident, though, have been roundly discredited. This week the Age reported Fox was considering legal action over the rumours – which he flatly denies – while the Australian Financial Review reported that Sayers was at an entirely different location having dinner with his wife on the night in question.

 

Staley’s questions also prompted Victoria Ambulance to release a statement this week confirming the timeline Andrews had previously given for the accident. The state’s police commissioner, Shane Patton, also confirmed police did not attend the home where Andrews fell, or interview him.

 

Outside of Telegram, however, the unfounded claims that Andrews’ fall was the subject of a cover-up were first aired by an obscure Queensland blog which also pushes Port Arthur massacre conspiracies, QAnon theories and baseless claims that Covid-19 is a “psyop”.

 

On 11 March – the day after the first Telegram posts – the website posted an article under the headline “Who bashed Dan Andrews?”. It claimed, again without basis, that the injuries suffered by the premier were “consistent with having been kicked while prone on the ground”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 1:09 a.m. No.13877043   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13877040

 

2/2

 

The website is home to a dizzying array of conspiracy material. A series of articles on the site claims, for example, that the deadly Port Arthur massacre was a “government-sanctioned terror event”; pushes the QAnon theory that “Hollywood celebrities” have been “rounded up” for “child pornography and ritual, satanic abuse of young children”; or claims that Covid-19 is a “psyop”.

 

The Guardian has been unable to contact the two men listed as editors of the site.

 

The website followed its first Andrews article with a series of similar posts pushing theories that photos of Andrews in hospital had been “doctored”, as well as linking both Fox and Sayers to the incident.

 

These articles – which are wrong – set out the basic infrastructure of the conspiracy theories which have dominated social media since: one pushing the idea Andrews was with Fox at the time of the accident, the other suggesting he had been assaulted.

 

Since their publication, they have been widely circulated on the same conspiratorial Telegram groups which pushed the initial rumours around Andrews’ accident, as well as on a series of Facebook pages associated with anti-lockdown protests and far-right ecosystems in Australia.

 

An analysis of the Facebook posts by Queensland University of Technology lecturer Timothy Graham showed that while they were not widely shared outside of online communities linked to conspiracy content, it appeared the Queensland website was “very much the originating vectors of this narrative and its sub-narratives”.

 

Less clear, though, is how these theories spread from social media’s backwaters, but Graham said it was likely that examining the spread of the articles on social media was showing only “the shadow” of the way the conspiracy had spread.

 

“It’s operating in this weird space in the information ecology where you have these fringe actors mixing with the political elite,” he said.

 

“And it’s really common for this false or misleading information to spread when it hits that middle ground. There’s this connective tissue between the fringe, who are talking about this stuff online, and then someone who has the power to take these ideas and bring them up in a cafe or a bar or a meeting and obviously we then can’t see how it moves at that point.”

 

Despite Staley’s list of questions being widely condemned as “nonsense” and “QAnon craziness”, both she and the Victorian opposition have continued to stand by the list.

 

Earlier this week, she denied she was peddling conspiracy theories.

 

“The easiest way to stop any of these conspiracy theories - which I’m not playing into - is for these questions to be answered,” she said.

 

In response to questions from the Guardian, a spokesman for Staley said the MP was “not alleging any wrongdoing, purely posing some simple questions that many Victorians are asking”.

 

He also said the questions were not in response to “something she read” on the Queensland website, but he did not answer questions about whether the questions were informed by others, including her staff, reading the site.

 

What is clear is that the articles published by the conspiracy site were circulating widely among Victorian media and politics. The Guardian understands that most of the questions asked by Staley had previously been put to Andrews’ staffers, and that at least one outlet pointed directly to claims made by the Queensland website.

 

Graham said the political “weaponisation” of conspiracy theories had been seen to be “insidiously effective”, particularly in cases such as Andrews’ where the relationship with the Fox family provided “seeds of truth” to pursue.

 

“If there are actual, factually verified events pulled into this narrative and are part of the premise of the conspiracy theory, that’s where the damage can be greatest.”

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/11/daniel-andrews-injury-inside-the-conspiracy-theory-around-the-premiers-fall

 

https://cairnsnews.org/2021/03/11/who-bashed-daniel-andrews/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 1:15 a.m. No.13877053   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7057 >>9841

Scott Morrison eyes September trip to US to mark ANZUS anniversary

 

Matthew Knott - June 11, 2021

 

1/2

 

Washington: Planning is under way for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to travel to the United States in September to join US President Joe Biden at major commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the signing of the ANZUS treaty.

 

Australian and US officials are hoping to co-ordinate the ANZUS events with a high-powered joint summit with the Japanese and Indian prime ministers in Washington as well as the United Nations general assembly in New York.

 

Lavish ceremonies marking the anniversary are being planned in New York and Washington for mid-to-late September, with organisers who are not yet cleared to speak on the record hopeful both Biden and Morrison will be in attendance.

 

The two leaders will meet at the G7 summit in the United Kingdom this weekend for their first face-to-face meeting since Biden’s inauguration in January.

 

The summit comes as a new survey by one of America’s most respected polling firms shows Australians are vastly more confident Biden will do the right thing for the world than his predecessor Donald Trump.

 

But Australians feel significantly less positive about America and the state of its democracy than citizens in other advanced economies.

 

The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty, known as ANZUS, was signed in San Francisco in September 1951 and is regarded as the bedrock of the US-Australia alliance.

 

Under the agreement, the allies recognise that an armed attack in the Pacific on any of the three countries would represent a threat to their own peace and safety and vow to “act to meet the common danger”.

 

When Biden was declared the winner of last year’s election, Morrison publicly invited him to travel to Australia to mark the treaty’s 70th anniversary.

 

Sources said the government has not ruled out the possibility that Biden could travel to Australia at the beginning of September for local commemorations if his schedule allowed.

 

Discussions are also under way for Morrison and Biden to hold a face-to-face meeting in Washington with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the September visit.

 

All the events are still in the planning stages and could be affected by any worsening of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Morrison last visited the US in September 2019, when Trump hosted a rare state dinner in his honour at the White House.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 1:16 a.m. No.13877057   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13877053

 

2/2

 

The leaders of the so-called “Quad” nations held their first ever joint meeting earlier this year via teleconference and announced a plan to distribute 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines to developing nations in the Asia-Pacific.

 

The Biden administration sees the Quad - officially known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue - as a crucial component in its bid to counter China’s growing dominance in Asia.

 

Kurt Campbell, Biden’s top Asia official, said during a think tank event on Wednesday that the administration was planning a “very ambitious” in-person meeting between the four leaders in Washington in the northern autumn (which begins in September).

 

Biden’s bid to repair America’s global standing is already paying dividends, according to the study released late Thursday (AEST) by the Pew Research Centre, based on surveys in 16 advanced economies across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific.

 

Seventy-five per cent of respondents in the surveyed countries said they had confidence that Biden would do the right thing for world affairs, up from just 17 per cent who said the same for Trump during the final year of his presidency.

 

The study found 62 per cent of respondents now have a favourable image of the US, up from 36 per cent at the end of Trump’s term.

 

Seventy-five per cent of Australians said they had faith that Biden would do the right thing for the world, up from just 23 per cent who said the same of Trump.

 

But in Australia, Biden’s election victory has not translated into the massive outpouring of goodwill towards the US that has been evident in other countries.

 

Australians and New Zealanders had the least positive perceptions of the US among the 16 countries surveyed.

 

Forty-eight per cent of Australian respondents said they had a favourable view of the US, while 49 per cent said they had an unfavourable view.

 

Citizens in Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Korea had a significantly more positive view of the US.

 

Unlike the French and Germans, Australians still felt significantly less positive about the US than they did in 2016, Barack Obama’s final year as president.

 

Australians’ reservations may be linked to concerns about the health of the American democracy following the storming of the Capitol on January 6 and Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud.

 

Just 34 per cent of Australians and 30 per cent of New Zealanders said they believed America’s political system worked very or somewhat well, significantly below that in other countries.

 

Just one in 10 Australians believe America’s model of democracy is one other countries should follow.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/scott-morrison-eyes-september-trip-to-us-to-mark-anzus-anniversary-20210610-p57zor.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 1:21 a.m. No.13877062   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

Queen to make rare appearance at G7 summit before meeting with Scott Morrison

 

Bevan Shields - June 11, 2021

 

Carbis Bay: The Queen will make a rare public appearance at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, before meeting privately with Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Windsor Castle early next week.

 

The 95-year-old monarch, who on Thursday marked what would have been the 100th birthday of her late husband Prince Philip, will travel to the seaside town of Carbis Bay on Friday to headline a diplomatic offensive with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and European Union.

 

US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson kick-started the summit - the first major in-person meeting of leaders since the coronavirus pandemic - on Thursday afternoon UK time - by signing an updated version of the Atlantic Charter, the pact forged by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 outlining their vision for a post-war world.

 

Marking an end to the turbulent tenure of former president Donald Trump, Johnson described Biden as a “breath of fresh air” and stressed they were both particularly committed to action on climate change.

 

Johnson said the transatlantic relationship was of “massive, massive strategic importance for the prosperity and the security of the world”.

 

In a swipe directed at Russia and China, Biden and Johnson also said they were committed to democracy and the rule of law.

 

“The US and the UK stick up for those two things together, so it’s incredibly important that we should affirm that,” he said.

 

In a message for Britain, US first lady Dr Jill Biden’s black jacket had “LOVE” embroidered on the upper back, a fashion move that recalled her predecessor Melania Trump’s decision to wear a jacket with “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” written on the back during a 2018 trip to a Texas border town.

 

Jill Biden said her garment choice and message aimed to bring “love from America” and hope in a world grappling with the pandemic.

 

Morrison is expected to arrive in Cornwall on Friday morning (Friday evening AEDT) before holding a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

 

He is also expected to meet with Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and German Chancellor Angela Merkel over Saturday and Sunday.

 

He will then dine with Johnson at Downing Street on Monday evening, where the pair will seek to finalise a new free trade deal between both countries.

 

As a guest of the G7, the Australian Prime Minister will not attend a reception to be held on Friday evening in Cornwall hosted by the Queen, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

 

However he is likely to see Australia’s head of state, the Queen, for a one-on-one at Windsor Castle early next week following the G7 summit and before his departure for Paris for meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron.

 

Biden will see the Queen at Friday evening’s event in Cornwall but will also call on her at Windsor Castle on Sunday. The Queen last met the US head of state in 2019, when Trump was in the United Kingdom for a state visit.

 

Morrison will on Saturday join a G7 discussion on COVID-19 vaccines and hear a new pledge by Johnson and the G7 to donate 100 million vaccine doses internationally within a year.

 

“As a result of the success of the UK’s vaccine program we are now in a position to share some of our surplus doses with those who need them. In doing so we will take a massive step towards beating this pandemic for good,” Johnson said ahead of the session.

 

“At the G7 summit I hope my fellow leaders will make similar pledges so that, together, we can vaccinate the world by the end of next year and build back better from coronavirus.”

 

Biden also used his visit to Cornwall to confirm plans to send 500 million doses manufactured by Pfizer to 100 low or middle income countries.

 

“That’s a historic step: the largest single purchase and donation of COVID-19 vaccines by any country, ever,” he told reporters.

 

The G7 summit will take place over Friday, Saturday and Sunday and cover other topics including climate change, global taxation, national security and trade.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/queen-to-make-rare-appearance-at-g7-before-meeting-with-scott-morrison-20210611-p5802u.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 1:32 a.m. No.13877073   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7084 >>7087 >>9841

Australia welcomes more US troops at naval bases

 

9 News Australia

 

Jun 10, 2021

 

The Defense Minister says he would welcome more rotations of US troops as the Prime Minister heads to G7 to builds alliances to balance the rise of a more aggressive China.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxyvLO-lrqM

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 1:39 a.m. No.13877087   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

>>13877073

Push to boost number of US marines in the Top End

 

Natasha Emeck and Ben Packham - June 11, 2021

 

Defence Minister Peter Dutton wants to bolster US marine numbers in the Top End beyond 2500, declaring the nation’s security depends on even closer military ties with our closest ally.

 

Mr Dutton told the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s annual conference in Canberra yesterday Australia was working to take greater responsibility for its own security, but needed to “become an even more reliable alliance partner” to the US.

 

He said there was scope to increase the size of the US marine rotational force in the Top End from its 2500-strong pre-Covid high.

 

Chief Minster Michael Gunner has indicated he’s open to working with the Commonwealth and US governments on the issue.

 

“We’ve had a positive relationship with the Americans for an incredibly long time, also the most recent example that is how we train US Marines here,” he said.

 

“We also got the enhanced air cooperation so it’s not just a marine relationship with Americans at the moment.

 

“I think most Territorians know about the Bombing of Darwin and that young Americans died here that day too, defending this place that we call home.

 

“So we’ve had a longstanding relationship with America and I think that friendship will long endure.

 

“It’s a positive relationship and I look forward to it growing in the future.”

 

https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/push-to-boost-number-of-us-marines-in-the-top-end/news-story/a666e1515dd83d6729feb77395374fba

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3tsBms_L8E

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 2:36 a.m. No.13877222   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7224 >>9853

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith tells defamation trial he did not kick handcuffed man off cliff

 

Jamie McKinnell - 11 June 2021

 

1/2

 

War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has dismissed as a "fanciful story" claims he handcuffed a man, led him to a cliff, kicked him over and conspired with a colleague to execute him.

 

The 42-year-old gave evidence in the witness box at his Federal Court defamation trial against Nine Entertainment Co for the second day in a row.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith this afternoon said no men were taken "under control" during a 2012 mission, and he also denied there was any cliff, kick, dragging over a dry creek bed or agreement to kill.

 

"How does it (the allegation) make you feel?" barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, asked his client.

 

"It makes me feel disappointed," Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

"Because I cannot believe a fanciful story like that could, let alone be believed, could be printed in the paper and maintained for a series of years.

 

"I can't see how it can be believed, because none of it makes sense, none of it adds up."

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said a man he killed in a compound that day was legitimately engaged in combat as a suspected Taliban "spotter", or lookout.

 

He said it made "absolutely perfect sense" the dead man was a spotter, because he was hiding in a cornfield unlike civilians who would stay on the edge, and the patrol had intelligence spotters had previously operated in the area.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said he had never killed an unarmed person who was under the control of the Australian soldiers.

 

"It's terrible," he said of the allegation.

 

"Every time I have to read that or hear it, I can't believe it's been written.

 

"You feel like you're in a bloody nightmare, to be frank."

 

Earlier, he told the court that being awarded the Victoria Cross "put a target on his back" and led to his colleagues belittling him.

 

His evidence came 11 years to the day since Australian troops stormed a Taliban stronghold, killing 76 insurgents during fierce fighting that led to 11 military awards, including Mr Roberts-Smith's Victoria Cross.

 

Mr McClintock asked Mr Roberts-Smith what the award meant to him.

 

"I have such a respect for the institution of the Victoria Cross, but I'm nowhere near as proud of that as I am to be able to count myself amongst the number of men in that battle," he said.

 

"Everybody fought with bravery, everybody fought with gallantry, and everyone at some point was fighting for their lives."

 

But Mr Roberts-Smith said the award led to a change in attitude among his colleagues.

 

"For all of the good that it has brought me and enabled me to do, particularly, it is, unfortunately, the case, in my instance, it has also brought me a lot of misfortune and pain," he told the court.

 

"It put a target on my back."

 

Mr Roberts-Smith referred to becoming a "tall poppy" and the award giving others a chance to "belittle" him and "broaden their attacks" on him.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said he would often find “childish” things written on a noticeboard during 2012, designed to “undermine” him and “stir resentment”, including that he was “just trying to get another medal”.

 

“They would say things like that to try to incite some animosity,” he said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 2:37 a.m. No.13877224   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13877222

 

2/2

 

'You'd think people would be proud'

 

Mr Roberts-Smith also said it was “particularly disgusting” to be accused of murder, in the defence documents, during another 2012 mission in which he swam across a river after spotting a potentially high-value target.

 

At the time, the patrol in Darwan suspected a man they’d seen could be rogue Afghan soldier Hekmatullah, who’d earlier killed three Australians in a surprise attack before fleeing.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith recalled how he killed the insurgent, realising after inspecting the body that the man was carrying “very high-end detonators”, indicating he might be significant.

 

“I find this one particularly disgusting, because if anything you'd think people would be proud of someone who's prepared to do that, in the sense you risk your life to capture someone who's just killed three of our people,” Mr Roberts-Smith told the court.

 

Nine Entertainment Co withdrew this allegation of murder in the defence documents shortly before the trial began.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said the withdrawal was “interesting” because the respondents must have realised their sources of information were “making that up”.

 

He said nobody had ever apologised to him.

 

The veteran is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times, along with three journalists, over a 2018 series of articles that reported allegations against Special Air Services Regiment soldiers in Afghanistan.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith argues he was defamed by several imputations, including that he "broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement", and has denied all wrongdoing.

 

The respondents are relying on a truth defence, and in their court documents have outlined details to six alleged unlawful killings in Afghanistan involving Mr Roberts-Smith.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is also suing over reports he allegedly punched a woman, with whom he was having an affair, in a Canberra hotel room in 2018, and bullied SAS colleagues.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-11/ben-roberts-smith-defamation-trial-continues-in-sydney/100207378

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 2:42 a.m. No.13877238   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876

Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell | Official Trailer

 

Peacock

 

May 26, 2021

 

Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell streaming June 24 on Peacock. https://pck.tv/3wEeyJz

 

In this three-hour documentary, we investigate the powerful, connected, and mysterious Ghislaine Maxwell, who was once the heiress to the Maxwell fortune but whose life takes a sordid downturn when she meets Jeffrey Epstein, the serial sex offender. An investigative series that reveals a complicated story of power, sex, and money and leads to Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest awaiting trial in the fall of 2021.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6jcVR6COKM

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 3:33 a.m. No.13877358   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7365 >>5983 >>9841

Home Affairs boss wants to tackle cybercrime like the British Navy fought pirates

 

Tom Lowrey - 11 June 2021

 

Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo says Australia should take on cybercriminals like the British Navy fought the pirates of the Caribbean in the 17th century.

 

He also warned the threat of cyber attacks will soon reach "global pandemic proportions".

 

Mr Pezzullo used an address to a parliamentary inquiry into new cyber-crime laws to suggest Australia take on a more offensive role in combating the threat.

 

He suggested the counter-terrorism approach taken post-September 11 as one model, or even the British efforts to combat piracy worldwide hundreds of years ago.

 

"Another model that I would suggest … is the campaign that was mounted in the 17th, 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, to clear the world's oceans of pirates," he said.

 

"Including the pirates of the Caribbean, who were defeated by Her Majesty's warships of the Royal Navy, in concert with bringing law to a lawless ocean.

 

"This is a problem with which we can deal, just as Britain overcame piracy, but we need the tools to do so including the requisite legal authorities."

 

The legislation being considered by the committee is aimed at better protecting assets in critical sectors including water, health, energy and transport.

 

The new laws would impose greater cybersecurity obligations on operators responsible for the infrastructure in those sectors.

 

It would also allow the Home Affairs Minister to compel those operators to work with agencies like the Australian Signals Directorate as a last resort, during major incidents.

 

But Mr Pezzullo told the committee Australia can also play an outsized role taking on cyber threats offensively, should it choose.

 

"We have to be prepared to conduct offensive operations in the havens of cybercriminals," he said.

 

"Cyber is not immaterial, it is material, it is reliant on infrastructure, hardware, coding spaces for the coders and physical staging points.

 

"These havens can be mapped and targeted. Nations such as Australia have an asymmetric advantage."

 

He said some such work is already occurring, including using military cyber forces.

 

But he warned many cyber attackers are finding protection within their home countries — and suggesting the counter-terror or piracy models as a way to deal with the issue.

 

"Regrettably some states either turn a blind eye to their activities, or actively enable and sponsor them," he said.

 

"State protection emboldens these malicious actors."

 

Spy boss complains of corporate complacency

 

Australian Signals Directorate boss Rachel Noble told the committee the agency has at times been hamstrung in its capacity to fight off attacks, as major companies refuse to accept help.

 

Ms Noble described an incident where a "nationally-known" company suffered an attack with an Australia-wide impact, but called in lawyers to greet the ASD as it asked to assist.

 

She said after two weeks the company's network was still down, and with the company providing only limited information as to what was going on, the ASD could only provide generic information on how to help.

 

Three months later, the company was attacked again.

 

Ms Noble said the behaviour often comes from organisations underestimating the threat they face.

 

"That's usually before they've actually fully appreciated what they're dealing with," she said.

 

"Some of these criminals, they know what they're doing, they do this all day, every day.

 

"When you're experiencing that for the first time, you know, it can be confronting, you don't really have the experience to understand just what they're capable of, let alone state-based actors."

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-11/cyber-attacks-australia-support-mike-pezzulo/100209662

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 3:35 a.m. No.13877365   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

>>13877358

‘This is what bad looks like’: Major company ignored Australia’s cyber spy agency after hack

 

Anthony Galloway - June 11, 2021

 

A major company in charge of critical infrastructure refused to comply with Australia’s cyber spy agency for weeks after it was hit by a significant cyber attack.

 

Australian Signals Directorate director-general Rachel Noble has revealed her agency found out about the cyber attack through media reports despite the incident having a “national impact on our country”.

 

The extraordinary disclosure comes as the nation’s security agencies push for new obligations on owners and operators of critical infrastructure to provide details about their networks.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year revealed a wave of sophisticated cyber attacks on all levels of government, industry and critical infrastructure including hospitals, local councils and state-owned utilities. Australian security agencies believe China was behind the cyber raids, but the government decided not to publicly name the state actor involved.

 

Federal Parliament’s security and intelligence committee is currently reviewing new laws that would allow the government to declare an emergency to give agencies such as the ASD the power to plug into the networks of critical infrastructure to fend off major attacks.

 

Asked by the chair of the committee, Liberal senator James Paterson, whether all companies cooperated with the ASD when they had been hacked, Ms Noble said “that is not our lived experience”.

 

While she said there were some “wonderful examples of incredible cooperation”, she wanted to tell the parliamentary inquiry what “bad looks like”.

 

“This is a real example but I’m not going to name names, that’s really important: we find out something has happened because there are media reports,” she said.

 

“Then we try to reach out to the company to clarify if the media reports are true, and they don’t want to talk to us.

 

“Five days later, we’re still getting a very sort of sluggish engagement of trying to get them to provide data to us and deploy some of our tools… that goes for 13 days, this incident had a national impact on our country.

 

“Three months later, they get re-infected, and we start again. That is the sort of scenario where this legislation actually gives us the authority through [the Department of] Home Affairs more leverage [to intervene].”

 

Ms Noble said sometimes the ASD was forced to use its “very senior level contacts” in the government who “might know members of boards or chairs of boards to and establish trust and build a willingness to cooperate”.

 

“We have at times then spent nearly a week negotiating with lawyers about us even being allowed to obtain just that basic information [data from network],” she said.

 

The ASD boss said the threat environment in the cyber world was “definitely deteriorating“.

 

“To give you evidence of that, there’s been a 60 per cent increase in ransomware attacks against Australian entities between this year and last year,” she said.

 

“One of my US colleagues recently said that she thought there was a significant risk of catastrophic cyber attack in the United States. My contention is actually if you’re JBS, or if you’re Nine or you’re Toll Group – all very brave companies who have spoken publicly about what’s occurred on their networks – those catastrophes have already happened.”

 

“We see both state-based actors and also criminals operating against Australian entities. They’re motivated by a range of different imperatives. Anything from espionage to generating influence or actual interference to preparing to or actually disrupting degrading or denying services, not to mention just the pure criminal motivation of stealing money.”

 

Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo said cyber attacks would “soon reach global pandemic proportions”.

 

“This has been building for about five years but it has accelerated over the course of the global pandemic,” he said.

 

”Basic cyber security protections will always help, but malicious actors such as cyber criminals, state-sponsored actors and state actors themselves, will defeat the best defences that firms, families and individuals can buy.

 

“Just as we do not rely on home security alarms and door locks to deal with serious and organised crime, we cannot leave firms, families and individuals on the field, on their own.“

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/this-is-what-bad-looks-like-major-company-ignored-australia-s-cyber-spy-agency-after-hack-20210611-p580am.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 5:18 p.m. No.13881984   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1991 >>9865

Warning of Beijing ‘grey zone’ threat in Australian waters

 

STEVE JACKSON - JUNE 11, 2021

 

1/2

 

China is on the verge of launching a “grey zone” war against Australia that would see flotillas of armed, unmarked and unsanctioned militia ships deployed on incursions through Australian waters in a bid to bully the nation into bowing to Beijing’s will.

 

The stark warning comes from Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, as the heads of the world’s leading democracies gather for a G7 summit widely anticipated to address China’s growing hostility and the risk of a global conflict involving the communist regime.

 

Dr Wu said Taiwan had been “in the frontline” against Chinese misinformation, economic coercion and military brinkmanship for decades, and urged “like-minded democracies” to form a united front against Beijing aggression.

 

“China is preparing for war and we all need to be ready for that,” Dr Wu told The Weekend Australian. “The new phenomenon we are seeing is part of what I would describe as China’s ‘grey zone’ operations, where it sends in its maritime militia – large fishing boats armed, operated and following the orders of China’s navy – to harass and intimidate their perceived enemies.

 

“This is something Australia hasn’t experienced yet – but it is coming.”

 

Known as China’s “little blue men”, Dr Wu said the maritime militia allowed Beijing to operate in a “grey zone” outside conventional warfare and deploy “threatening” armed forces to foreign territory without it being considered a formal act of war as the fleet comprised civilian vessels and its operations were not formally sanctioned by the regime.

 

Officially, Beijing denies the “so-called militia” even exists, but Western security analysts believe it forms an integral part of the country’s military strategy and it made headlines in March when more than 220 Chinese fishing vessels converged on Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea.

 

The Philippines, which has control of the reef as part of its Spratly Island chain, complained to Beijing about “the swarming and threatening presence” of the ships in its exclusive economic zone, and demanded they depart.

 

Beijing, which maintains the reef is part of its domain, said the ships posed no threat, were not part of a militia and were simply harbouring from rough seas.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 5:19 p.m. No.13881991   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13881984

 

2/2

 

While the tactic had so far been confined to the South China Sea, Dr Wu said China’s aspirations ultimately extended beyond the hotly contested region and into Australia’s sphere of influence. “We need to be aware of China’s intention and motivation,” he said. “China is trying to expand itself beyond the first island chains, which include Taiwan, into the wider Pacific.

 

“We know that when China re-established diplomatic relations with the Solomon Islands (in 2019), it did so for strategic military purposes – and this is something we need to pay close attention to … this is a situation that is dangerous for all of us.

 

“If you look at the geographic situation of the Solomons Islands, they are right at the doorstop of Australia. China has taken an interest in the Solomon Islands because of that position … as part of its military strategic objectives.”

 

Dr Wu’s comments come in the midst of heightened tensions between Taiwan and China, which claims the democratic island republic of more than 23 million is also part of its sovereign territory. “War is real a possibility but that would be a disaster – not only for Taiwan, but for the rest of the world,” he said. “While we have been pursuing a policy of not provoking China, at the same time we are determined to stand firm and defend our freedom.

 

“It’s at the point where we need the international community and like-minded democracies to provide assistance – even orally – and encourage Taiwan to defend itself and continue to stand against China’s expansionism.

 

“I have visited the War Memorial (in Canberra) and I was moved by the Australian sacrifices made for the cause of freedom and democracy and solidarity with its allies.

 

“This does not mean that I am asking Australia to fight Taiwan’s war … but if Australia ever needs Taiwan, Taiwan will be there.”

 

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings said Dr Wu’s concerns about Chinese “grey zone” incursions into Australian waters posed a real and credible threat.

 

“We’ve known for years now that there’s been a Chinese military interest in seeing if they couldn’t establish some type of base in the Pacific region,” he said.

 

“Given the sort of spread of Chinese interests in the region, that’s definitely going to start to encroach on Australian waters, probably starting around Papua New Guinea.”

 

He said Australia’s leaders needed to prepare to combat any “grey zone” operations in our waters, “including a robust response directly at sea”, as well as through diplomatic channels.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/warning-of-beijing-grey-zone-threat-in-australian-waters/news-story/7f6148b8bb89d40d3e758226ce01cf99

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 5:32 p.m. No.13882053   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2063 >>7700 >>2510 >>9865

CSIRO sinks China study deal over submarine fears

 

BEN PACKHAM - JUNE 11, 2021

 

1/2

 

The CSIRO will terminate an oceans research collaboration with China’s top marine science institute following an ASIO warning that it could help the Chinese navy to hunt down Australian submarines.

 

Staff at the Hobart-based Centre for Southern Hemisphere Oceans Research were told on Friday that a five-year research agreement with the Qingdao National Marine Laboratory – which has strong military links – would not be renewed when it expired in June next year.

 

The move came just over a fortnight after director-general of security Mike Burgess called on research organisations to reconsider ocean temperature modelling partnerships with foreign scientists, warning they could be used to support submarine operations against Australia.

 

CSIRO chief ­research scientist Cai Wenju, who is also a professor at the Qingdao lab, headed the $20m joint centre, which included researchers from the University of Tasmania and the University of NSW.

 

Dr Cai is named in multiple Chinese-language reports as being part of Xi Jinping’s Thousand Talents program, and a similar Chinese government scheme known as Aoshan Talents.

 

The Qingdao National Marine Laboratory leads China’s “Transparent Ocean” initiative, which aims to use satellite-mounted technology to pinpoint submarines at depths up to 500m.

 

According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s China Defence Universities Tracker, the laboratory has worked closely with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Submarine Academy – which is also located in Qingdao – on defence scientific research.

 

The CSIRO told its Chinese partner on Thursday afternoon the collaboration would be cancelled before telling the centre’s staff on Friday morning.

 

“I’m writing to let you know that CSIRO has decided not to continue the Centre for Southern Hemisphere Ocean Research after its first five-year term ends in June 2022,” CSIRO’s climate science director Jaclyn Brown told staff via email.

 

Dr Brown told the centre’s staff they would be redeployed to other climate programs.

 

“While we will no longer be doing joint research from June 2022, we are very grateful to Qingdao National Marine Laboratory for their confidence in and generous collaboration with CSIRO,” she said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 5:34 p.m. No.13882063   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13882053

 

2/2

 

The scientific collaboration was said by the CSIRO to have conducted fundamental research on the role of southern hemisphere oceans in the changing global climate.

 

Mr Burgess told Senate Estimates last month that such research was “also great if you’re a submariner”.

 

He said it could provide adversaries with information on Australia’s territorial waters, as well as “straight-up capability”.

 

“If we’ve got a lead on something, and there are some capability considerations, someone should probably think about that,” Mr Burgess said.

 

Under President Xi’s doctrine of “civil-military fusion”, the Qingdao National Marine Laboratory would have been obliged to make data obtained under the partnership available for Chinese military use.

 

A CSIRO spokeswoman said the decision not to continue the partnership was “informed by science strategy and the need for CSIRO to balance its portfolio of research”.

 

She said CSIRO collaborated extensively with overseas partners “and has processes in place to evaluate these issues before research projects are agreed to”.

 

“CSIRO continues to be highly cognisant of issues regarding foreign interference and has strong security arrangements and systems in place to address the associated risks,” she said.

 

The spokeswoman said Dr Cai was not a Thousand Talents scholar, and his only paid work was as a CSIRO employee.

 

The Australian revealed security concerns about the collaboration in February 2020, highlighting the Qingdao laboratory’s attempts to use satellite-mounted light detection and ranging technology to pinpoint submarines at depths up to 500m.

 

The lab also undertakes ­research with Russia in the Arctic Circle, and is known for its analysis of big data – from satellite sensors, underwater drones and “intelligent buoys” – to enable real-time understanding of the marine environment.

 

ASPI senior analyst Malcolm Davis said ocean current, depth and temperature data was vital information for detecting enemy submarines.

 

“If you can understand the oceanic conditions of a particular area, if you can interpret the way that the temperature in the ocean is behaving, you can develop better anti-submarine warfare capabilities,” Dr Davis told The Australian.

 

“Of course you can do some valuable work on defeating climate change, but really what you are doing is developing better ASW so they can sink Australian submarines.”

 

The Morrison government is cracking down on foreign interference in Australian research institutions, with a new list being developed by the Prime Minister’s department identifying critical technologies and research areas that will be off-limits for foreign collaborations.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/csiro-sinks-china-studydeal-over-submarine-fears/news-story/76b0b8b66741508c3d652b1cda01e301

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 6:09 p.m. No.13882298   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2303 >>9884

Did Trump destroy evangelical Christianity?

 

In a tragic and bitter irony, American Christians are deeply divided in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidency.

 

GREG SHERIDAN - June 12, 2021

 

1/4

 

“The last decade saw a particularly significant decline within one subgroup: white evangelicals. While the ranks of white mainline Protestants and white Catholics have been shrinking for decades, white evangelical Protestants had seemed immune from the forces eroding membership among other white Christian groups. But since 2010, the number of white evangelical Protestants has dropped from 21 per cent of the population to 15 per cent.”

 

– Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long

 

Have the tumultuous years of Donald Trump’s presidency destroyed or undermined the coher­ence and religious authority of American evangelical Christians?

 

This would be a tragic and bitter irony. It should never be necessary to categorise a Christian group by race. Christianity is universal and blind to race, or it is not Christianity. But in the US, while white evangelicals and black evangelicals share many religious beliefs, their politics are radically different. White evangelicals, in the wake of the Trump experience, are now deeply divided and in something approaching disarray.

 

Consider two startling statis­tics. According to the Pew Research Centre, white evangelical Christians are the single religious group most resistant to Covid-19 vaccination. Some 45 per cent of white evangelicals say they definitely or probably will not get vaccinated. This is astonishing, for the modern, commonsense, responsible America was in significant measure made by evangelicals.

 

Northern evangelicals powered temperance and anti-slavery movements. Across the US evangelicals are the most generous givers to charity. They have sent missionaries and aid workers across Africa and Asia. They have been generous, steady, sober. Opposing vaccination lies in the realm of nuttiness.

 

But there’s much worse. According to conservative Christian writer Peter Wehner in a long survey piece in The Atlantic, 31 per cent of white evangelical Christian Republicans believe: “Donald Trump has been secretly fighting a group of child sex traffickers that include prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites.”

 

No doubt some Hollywood types engage in every depravity, but the idea that there is a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping child abusers at the top of the Democratic Party and Hollywood is a lunatic conspiracy theory promoted by QAnon. This crazy outfit grew up online. Its precursor claimed that Hillary Clinton was part of this satanic network, with a group of children enslaved in the basement of a Washington DC pizza restaurant, which turned out not even to have a basement.

 

How did such insanity ever penetrate into the consciousness of a sizeable number of white evangelicals when the tradition was famous for sober good sense? Its most characteristic modern figure was Billy Graham, a towering and almost universally loved figure in modern American history.

 

Graham was a social, political and religious conservative, but he was an intelligent, mainstream conservative whose religious convictions always came before his political ideology. He upset some southern churches by his insistence, right from the start of his ministry, that his audiences would never be racially segregated.

 

The QAnon insanity has a good deal of overlap with even more preposterous conspiracy theories around the Lizard Illuminati, the idea that alien lizards take the shape of humans and exert malign control.

 

From the start of his presidential campaign, Trump took the view that he would never denounce or even seriously criticise any group that strongly supported him. He never exerted an ounce of moral leadership against extremists who supported him. QAnon, whose multiple insanities led to significant real-world violence as the poor souls it duped took direct action against designated enemies, stridently supports Trump.

 

Trump never formally endorsed QAnon, but he wouldn’t denounce it and described QAnon’s adherents as “people who love America”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 6:10 p.m. No.13882303   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2309

>>13882298

 

2/4

 

Four years of this kind of wink-and-nod approval for extreme right-wing and conspiracy madness from Trump effectively authorised this stuff and helped it enter the bloodstream of evangelicals. Trump himself is neither racist nor anti-Semitic, but he authorised groups that did hold such repugnant views.

 

Conservative Christians were right to be sceptical of much news interpretation in The New York Times or on CNN. So they turned to internet sources. They had embraced Trump as their leader and the lack of any word of opposition to the extremist nuts from Trump greatly enhanced the fraudulent legitimacy of this madness.

 

The worst moment, at which many evangelical Christian leaders turned decisively against Trump, was the January 6 invasion of Capitol Hill. There were signs that read “Jesus saves” next to signs calling for the hanging of vice-president Mike Pence, who had refused Trump’s unconstitutional demand that he not certify electoral college votes that ratified the election win of Joe Biden. Some demonstrators who stormed the Capitol stopped to say a prayer of thanks for the opportunity to smash their opponents.

 

Jeremiah Johnson, an extremely conservative evangelical who believed in the gift of prophecy, apologised for prophesying that Trump would be re-elected and denounced the Capitol Hill invasion. He was overwhelmed by swarms of abuse and online threats from Trump supporters.

 

A more substantial theological voice, Russell Moore, a thoroughgoing conservative who had been president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, wrote: “This week we watched an insurrection of domestic terrorists, incited and fomented by the President of the United States. If you can defend this, you can defend anything.”

 

Moore spoke of the trauma of the Trump years for evangelicals. He accepted the legitimacy of voting for Trump but rejected many of Trump’s specific actions and words. As a result he suffered “psychological terrorism”.

 

Trump did some good things for the Christian constituency, things that were very good in themselves. He tasked the State Department to campaign for religious freedom, he established a White House office to make sure religious groups were not excluded from government social-policy formation and implementation. He appointed Supreme Court judges who would not restrict religious freedom. He supported the pro-life movement. But he lied relentlessly, he never displayed any grace in public life. He was never kind to a critic. He wouldn’t de-authorise extremists, unlike previous Republican leaders. Wehner argues that Trump embodies a “Nietzschean morality rather than a Christian morality”.

 

This is evident in the truculent, verbal abuse Trump directed at all his critics and even former close colleagues he fell out with. So Rex Tillerson, whom Trump appointed as secretary of state but later sacked, went from being brilliant and great, in Trump’s words, to “dumb as a brick and lazy as hell”. Christianity teaches its followers to love their enemies. But in glorying in Trump’s defiance of the left, some evangelicals imbibed some of Trump’s sneering, contemptuous, destructive manner. Moore reported that he did not know a single evangelical family that had not been divided by Trump.

 

It is important to recognise that madness begets madness. The madness of some of the right is a long-delayed response to the growing madness on the left. Evangelicals first decided to support Trump in 2016 because they saw their society and its politics going crazy and they wanted to oppose this. One of Trump’s attractions was that he was a fighter. But being a no-holds-barred fighter is not sufficient to be an effective political leader, much less an effective agent of cultural change, still less the kind of cultural rebuilding most Christians think is necessary.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 6:11 p.m. No.13882309   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2314

>>13882303

 

3/4

 

I have often written on the growing madness on the left. The thing is you expect madness and extremism on the progressive left, increasingly unmoored from reality and common sense. You don’t expect it from Christians.

 

Let me offer you two examples of left madness. A psychiatrist, Aruna Khilanani, lectured recently at Yale. Her speech was a racist diatribe of hatred of white people. She said in part: “I had fantasies of unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way, burying their body, and wiping my bloody hands as I walked away relatively guiltless with a bounce in my step. Like I did the world a f…ing favour.” And: “White people are out of their minds …” Whites are, she said, “demented violent predators”. Talking to white people was a waste of time because that “assumes that white people can see and process what we are talking about”.

 

It took a lot of conservative agitation for institutions even to distance themselves from these remarks. Naturally their author suffered no sanction. Similarly, last year a Cambridge academic tweeted that “white lives don’t matter”. She said she was making a point about race rather than urging murder. Nor is it likely that whites will be systematically persecuted in the US or Britain.

 

But this kind of talk from the left, which is extremely common though seldom to such an acute degree, is hateful, foul and vile. It is designed to cause racial hostility. Even if white evangelicals do not, as frequently alleged, feel racially threatened, they certainly think the indulgence of such statements indicates a culture and a polity going mad and bad. The problem is, the best response to madness is not madness; you can’t beat madness with more and angrier madness.

 

The evangelicals are one of the most important buttresses of Christianity in the West. They are important even geo-strategically because they have been a force for stability and regeneration in US politics. They were the decisive vote for Ronald Reagan. Reagan didn’t stop the leftward drift of culture. But with Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II, he won the Cold War and liberated tens of millions of people from communism. He restored American self-confidence. His courtesy, geniality and civility in all circumstances were a byword of presidential behaviour.

 

American evangelicals have a distinctive history. You can trace their roots through American Protestantism from the earliest days. They believe in the absolute authority of the Bible, the need to be born again or experience personal conversion, the need to be an active Christian, both socially active and active in proclaiming Christianity, and at the centre of their theology is the crucified Christ.

 

Protestant America was divided in the early part of the 20th century by modernism in theology and biblical studies and the fundamentalist reaction it provoked. Evangelicals offered a middle way, which came together in the years after World War II. They believed in the inerrancy of the Bible, but they did not need to interpret the creation story of Genesis literally.

 

Indeed, in recent decades much of the most important and academically impressive scholarship reclaiming the historicity of the New Testament especially, has been carried out by sophisticated evangelical scholars.

 

Graham popularised the term evangelical. As well as being an early opponent of segregation, Graham was an early promoter of Christian unity. Northern Ireland’s fundamentalist leader Ian Paisley wrote a book denouncing Graham for his friendship with Catholic popes.

 

In the 1970s and ‘80s, American evangelicals became overtly political. Under Jerry Falwell, the Moral Majority, animated particularly by social issues, swung solidly into the Republican camp. But it may be that they did too much politics for the good of their core religious purposes.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 6:11 p.m. No.13882314   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13882309

 

4/4

 

Steve McAlpine, a Perth pastor who has written an absorbing book, Being the Bad Guys, on how popular culture has turned against Christians, argues that evangelicals fell for a characteristic falsehood of modern America – they put too much faith in politics: “Politics is the mechanism in which everything must occur, even transcendence.”

 

Over-interpreting politics can lead to theological problems. A minority of evangelicals go in for prophecy and the highly risky business of interpreting biblical prophecies as evident in current events. It’s presumptuous, to say the least, for any Christian to think they are so gifted that they can interpret the troubles of today, the troubles of Trump, to prove that we are in the last stages of “End Times”.

 

Christian historian John Dickson, author of Bullies and Saints, an examination of Christianity’s moral triumphs and moral failures, tells Inquirer: “I despise the tradition in America where pastors declare their support for one party or one candidate. It’s lovely we’ve avoided that in Australia.”

 

American evangelicals confront a lot of troubles at the moment, though it would be folly to count them out. A disturbing number of evangelical leaders have been recently caught up in sex scandals. Evangelicals, though they voted for Trump, are now bitterly divided over this. Young evangelicals, turned off by the style of Trump-era politics, are dropping out.

 

But evangelicals are inherently a reform movement. The most likely thing is that they will dust themselves off, sort themselves out, come back to a more sustainable balance between politics and spirituality, and emerge stronger.

 

But that prediction is based on the longest historical experience. Right now, the auguries are immensely troubling. Tim Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York and one of the most brilliant and important Christian writers, observed in 2017: “Evangelical used to denote people who claimed the moral high ground. Now, in popular usage, the word is nearly synonymous with hypocrite.”

 

Christians, in the US and the West generally, are confronted with a culture going mad and becoming more hostile to them. But they must answer the madness with calm conviction and even kindness. They need to fight some of the culture wars but should choose their battles carefully. They should be happy warriors, even kindly warriors.

 

There are three wrong ways for Christians to respond to a culture going mad: go to total war with it; surrender to it totally, thereby offering no ethical challenge; or retreat from it into a tight ghetto. The right path is different: continued engagement with the culture, insistence on proclaiming the truth, but taking victory and defeat both with good cheer. Politics is downstream of culture. Politics is important, but it can’t fix culture. Human example, creative institutions, sustained formation – these can change culture.

 

In all the circumstances, and given the available choices, voting for Trump was not unreasonable. Idealising him, seeing him as a cultural saviour, learning to hate all his enemies, letting something of his abusive, spiteful spirit seep into your being, that was a terrible mistake.

 

The world cannot afford to lose everything evangelicals contribute. The Acts of the Apostles describes how a Christian church should look: “… they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people”.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/evangelicals-faith-misplaced-in-trump/news-story/a6a13f97b7b5587bb3c8f31c29e30af0

 

https://qanon.pub/#4396

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 7:34 p.m. No.13883003   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9861

Julian Assange case: UK lawmakers ask Biden to drop charges against WikiLeaks founder

 

Katie Collins - June 11, 2021

 

A cross-party group of 24 British members of Parliament wrote to President Joe Biden on Friday asking him to drop all charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Dropping the charges would be "an act that would be a clarion call for freedom that would echo around the globe," they said.

 

Together, the lawmakers pointed out that while Biden was vice president, he played an important role in choosing not to prosecute Assange over WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents relating to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the conditions in Guantanamo Bay. In spite of this, they added, Biden - who is in the UK attending the G7 summit - has not chosen to drop the charges brought against Assange during Donald Trump's presidency.

 

"The case against Mr. Assange also undermines public confidence in our legal systems," the lawmakers wrote in the open letter. "Our countries are also increasingly confronted with the contradiction of advocating for press freedom abroad while holding Mr. Assange for years in the UK's most notorious prison at the request of the US government."

 

Representatives for the White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative from the Department of Justice declined to comment.

 

Assange is wanted in the US on espionage charges and faces an 18-count indictment accusing him of conspiring to hack military databases to publish classified information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If convicted, he could be handed a 175-year jail sentence, although the US government has said he would likely face a sentence of between four and six years.

 

In January, a judge in the UK blocked the US attempt to extradite Assange on the basis of his mental health. The judge was worried that Assange would be likely to try to kill himself if subjected to the US prison system.

 

As a result, Assange, who left the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in April 2019 after living there for seven years, is now facing a third consecutive year in Belmarsh High-Security Prison. For 50 weeks, he was serving a sentence for skipping bail, but ever since he's been awaiting news of whether the US will drop charges against him. Assange's lawyers are fighting to have him released.

 

"It's a continuing stain on the reputation of this country that Julian Assange remains in Belmarsh prison," said one of the signatories, John McDonnell MP, during a parliamentary debate on Thursday. "There are no justifiable grounds for keeping imprisoned a journalist who had the courage to expose war crimes and abuse of human rights."

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/julian-assange-uk-lawmakers-ask-biden-to-drop-charges-against-wikileaks-founder/

 

https://dontextraditeassange.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Assange-Biden-2021.pdf

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 9:16 p.m. No.13883702   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3708 >>9889

>>13818968

>>13876941

The QAnon conspiracy

 

An American conspiracy theory about a Satanic child sexual abuse ring has gained a foothold in Australia. Tim Stewart is one of the believers, and also a long-time friend of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

 

Richard Cooke - June 12 2021

 

1/3

 

Absent the fog of culture war, it is hard to understand how a single episode of Four Corners could furnish a week-long national news cycle, before it was even broadcast. It’s more perplexing still that the story behind the story had no real bombshells: the program was only delayed, rather than cancelled, and David Anderson, the managing director of the ABC, assured staff that it “may very well go to air”. The “allegations” in the yet-to-be-aired episode centre on a relationship that is noteworthy, rather than improper, and security concerns that are speculative, not imminent.

 

But one of the parties in the story is Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and the other is Tim Stewart, one of Australia’s most prominent adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory. And the story came at a time of historic tensions between the government and the public broadcaster – in the same week the ABC and a minister of the crown settled a defamation suit – and galloping conspiracism in the polities of the developed world.

 

Media, in particular the news sites Crikey and Guardian Australia, have already reported on the Morrison–Stewart relationship in some detail. The two men have been family friends for 30 years. They met through their wives, Jenny Morrison and Lynelle Stewart, who have been friends since they attended high school together. Both women were bridesmaids at each other’s wedding. Since Scott Morrison won high office, the old friends have introduced a professional component to their relationship, with Lynelle Stewart employed at Kirribilli House, which means she requires a security clearance.

 

Perhaps, while reminiscing, they marvel at their husbands’ respective fates: one becoming the prime minister of Australia, the other a leading proponent of a conspiracy theory that purports the world is controlled by Satanic paedophiles who have their base of operations in Hollywood and the Democratic Party, and that Donald Trump is leading a global effort to defeat these demons, leading the forces of light in a Manichean struggle for the soul of humanity.

 

QAnon began as an American conspiracy, and its roots run deepest there. According to recent research conducted by the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute, as many as 15 per cent of Americans subscribe to some version of the QAnon world view. The report described a “nontrivial” cohort who affirm the statement that “the government, media and financial worlds in the US are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation”. Among Republican voters, this number rises to nearly 25 per cent.

 

The methodology of this and similar polls has been contested, because QAnon offers an unparalleled opportunity to troll pollsters. In late 2020, Pew Research numbers suggested about half of Americans had never heard of the movement. But this does not account for large numbers who hold beliefs that originated with QAnon without recognising their origin. In Britain, for example, the research body Hope Not Hate found that 25 per cent of respondents agreed that “secret satanic cults exist and include influential elites”. Among 18- to 24-year-olds the proportion was 35 per cent.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 9:17 p.m. No.13883708   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3719

>>13883702

 

2/3

 

As yet, similar polling has not been conducted in Australia, but it is one of many countries where QAnon beliefs have been franchised. Time magazine declared Australia and New Zealand especially prone to QAnon, which had proved “remarkably malleable for export”, quoting Joshua Roose of Deakin University on the “emergence of transnational, amorphous conspiracy-theory based movements”.

 

The shared community of English-language social media posts and groups provided traction, although Germany, Japan, Spain and France also have active QAnon movements; so too did stringent lockdowns in the Antipodes, which helped hothouse existing anti-governmental feelings. Anecdotally, Q paraphernalia has become a familiar sight at anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protests, and rough headcounts of local Facebook groups, many now banned, suggested memberships, or viewerships, in the tens of thousands.

 

In 2019, the United States was worried enough they declared QAnon a domestic terror threat, along with a suite of other “anti-government, identity based, and fringe political theories … [that] very likely encourage the targeting of specific people, places and organizations, thereby increasing the risk of extremist violence against such targets”. The QAnon example given by the US government was mild in comparison with planned bombings and shootings: a man had blockaded the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge with an armoured truck, demanding that a Justice Department report into child-trafficking be released. The report did not exist.

 

In the US, perhaps 10 crimes have been linked definitively to QAnon, or its precursor ideology, Pizzagate. The most serious of these, a murder, is also the strangest: in 2019, a 25-year-old Staten Island man named Anthony Comello shot dead Francesco Cali, an underboss of the Gambino crime family, then told police he had done so to help then president Trump. In court, he flashed a Q-sign scrawled in pen on his hand, and addressed the court in what the New York Post called “a bizarre rant”. “I just want to say there is a lot on my phone and a lot of data about drug smuggling, human sex trafficking all over the country,” Comello said. “I have everything from Australia to Ukraine to Italy to … Russia.” He was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.

 

Locally, there are no prominent examples of crimes linked to QAnon, so fears are more nebulous. In an online piece, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute declared the local branch an “international conspiracy theory posing a threat to Australia’s vaccination rollout against Covid-19”. Morrison, in a statement made after the Four Corners imbroglio, called QAnon a “dangerous organisation”. For this reason, he said, the “aspersion” that he had any involvement or support for the organisation was “deeply offensive”. Four Corners’ inquiries had targeted not only him but also members of his family, which he said was “really poor form”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 9:18 p.m. No.13883719   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13883708

 

3/3

 

In the past, Tim Stewart has claimed to have influence with Morrison. In 2018, during a formal apology to victims of institutional abuse, Morrison used the phrase “ritual sexual abuse”, which was not terminology used by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Stewart, tweeting under the handle @BurnedSpy34, was elated. He told his tens of thousands of followers he had influenced Morrison to use the phrase, and before the speech took place, he texted a colleague, exclaiming, “I think Scott is going to do it!!” The Prime Minister’s Office said the phrase came instead from survivors but did not comment on QAnon.

 

Stewart has also suggested former Foreign minister Julie Bishop was connected to the child abusing “cabal” because she wore red shoes. “If you want to do your research into the US context, the red shoes are purported to be very much a paedophilia shout out,” he told The Guardian. The outlet added: “There is no evidence that Bishop is connected to any such conspiracy.” Stewart’s freelance theorising has also ensnared Alexander Downer during his time as British high commissioner, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and other prominent Australians.

 

A benign view is that Stewart has no influence over Morrison, that their relationship has no real political component, and that he is not the only person close to the corridors of power with eccentric views. One Nation’s policy platform, for example, borrows from the Agenda 21 conspiracy theory, which contends a 23-year-old United Nations resolution is actually a plan to entrench eco-totalitarianism. Decades of polling in many countries have found surprising support for all kinds of outlandish propositions, so much so that political commentators sometimes refer to the “crazification factor”, the purported 26 per cent of the population who might support anything.

 

What distinguishes QAnon is its ambition, and its reach. Two Republican members of the most recent freshmen class of the US congress – Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert – were both avowed QAnon adherents who only distanced themselves from the movement after taking office. Trump broadcast QAnon-linked accounts on dozens of occasions, and in his dying days in office he was surrounded by increasingly Q-adjacent figures. His former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, addressed a QAnon conference in Dallas and appeared to endorse a coup, similar in nature to the coup that had taken place in Myanmar.

 

Some studies of QAnon supporters are sympathetic. Supporters are very likely to suffer from mental illness – one paper found that up to 68 per cent had received a formal diagnosis. Their rage is said to be justified but misplaced. There is a child abuse crisis. Powerful forces are working in concert to undermine democracy. But, increasingly, QAnon itself appears to be one of those forces.

 

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2021/06/12/the-qanon-conspiracy/162342000011851

 

https://qanon.pub/#3409

 

https://qanon.pub/#3312

 

https://qanon.pub/#3127

 

>All For A LARP?

>[ATTACKS WILL ONLY INTENSIFY]

>Ask yourself, WHY?

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 9:38 p.m. No.13883811   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3814

>>13788675

>>13877040

Dan Andrews broke his back – why is there such a frenzy of conspiracy around it?

 

Mainstream validation of the conspiratorial thinking about the Victorian premier undermines public trust, even if it serves a political purpose

 

Ariel Bogle - 12 Jun 2021

 

1/2

 

When Liberal MP Louise Staley issued a list of questions on Monday about a potential “cover up” of how Daniel Andrews hurt his back, the reaction was largely predictable – and a warning about the risks when politics and conspiracies combine.

 

Labor figures called it “gutter politics” on Twitter, accusing Staley of turning an accident into something sinister. Federal ministers weighed in, denying the list was a nod to “grassy-knoll conspiracy theories”, and the media gave it days of coverage. But in other corners of the internet, Staley’s list was mainstream recognition at last.

 

In Facebook groups and pages – some with a following of more than 73,000 – conspiracies about Andrews’ injury have been fomenting for months. On anti-lockdown Telegram channels with thousands of members, theories veered wildly from the moment his injury was announced on 9 March – from accusing the premier of not being injured at all to more sinister coverups. Each new photo issued of Andrews was rigorously dissected for evidence.

 

A conspiracy theory website heavily focused on Australia seems to have played a significant role in this milieu, publishing a steady flow of conjecture about Andrews’ fall. Seemingly helping to spread some of the more colourful allegations across Facebook, the site crossed over to Twitter this week, pushed by those eager to speculate about Andrews’ fall as well as pro-Labor figures who shared a link only to denounce it.

 

The increasingly florid information ecosystem around Andrews cannot be easily diagnosed. Once a constant daily presence, his sudden absence from public life arguably left a gap conspiracies could fill, especially among communities predisposed to doubt both the severity of Covid-19 and the state’s restrictions to manage it. The unsatisfying randomness of a fall could come with other bits and pieces of information – a vaccine rollout, other politicians getting sick the same week – to create something altogether malevolent.

 

Certainly, conspiracies can be a compelling way to make sense of the world during a moment of profound disruption. As the QAnon conspiracy theory drew adherents last year, it seemed part of the appeal was that active participation in creating theories about evil cabals provided a sense of agency and community, even as it caused other social relationships to fracture.

 

We might also look at the highly partisan tenor of conversation around Andrews throughout the pandemic as a potential breeding ground for the swirls of speculation: the emotional language that saw him being deemed a “liar” in the press as well as diehard Twitter fans helped send duelling hashtags #DanLiedPeopleDied and #IStandWithDan trending in 2020. Thanks in part, according to Queensland University of Technology (QUT) research, to a collection of highly active hyper-partisan opinion leaders and their followers on social media.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 9:39 p.m. No.13883814   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13883811

 

2/2

 

There are significant social risks to feedback loops of conspiracy. Dr Kate Starbird, an academic at the University of Washington, has closely tracked how a cycle of participatory disinformation fueled what’s been dubbed the “Big Lie”: that the 2020 election was stolen from president Donald Trump by election fraud. According to her analysis, a pro-Trump political class repeated the message of a rigged election, which helped anchor expectations of a stolen election for receptive audiences.

 

“Evidence” of voter fraud was then proactively generated by audiences on the ground – both intentionally and due to sincere misunderstandings of the voting process – and spread on social media. Recall Sharpiegate, when a claim that ballots filled out with felt-tipped pens could not be read by vote-scanning machines travelled from a local Arizona Facebook group across the country, egged on by public figures including Trump’s own children.

 

Into this mix, according to Starbird, came “grassroots” activists and social media influencers who helped amplify these stories, ensuring they reached political elites who then echoed them back out. In her view, this dynamic helped build the groundwork for the 6 January riot at the Capitol. “[From] initial feelings of grievance to calls to action,” she said. “It kept being fed.”

 

Of course, Starbird’s “Big Lie” model of participatory disinformation does not map perfectly onto the Australian ecosystem, which has its own particularities.

 

Tim Graham, a QUT researcher, suggested we could also call the recent Andrews episode “participatory ‘flooding the zone’”. In other words, “throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks” because it provokes a strong partisan reaction, distracts journalists and creates a cloud of suspicion.

 

Cycles of participatory disinformation might ultimately be “stickier” than misleading claims that come solely from politicians or partisan media. As Starbird said, Trump supporters were given a “reward structure for continuing to share more” when their election-fraud theories were repeated by the media and politicians.

 

That’s why providing conspiratorial thinking with mainstream validation – like a list of rather ominous questions about a premier’s injury, as Labor has characterised it – can be damaging even as it may serve a political purpose. For those disposed to believe in Andrews conspiracies, the questions can never be answered satisfactorily. New evidence will always be interpreted as supporting the conspiracy.

 

No politician, let alone the leader of a state that has endured some of the most severe pandemic restrictions in Australia, is beyond scrutiny.

 

But as Australia prepares for another election, and amid the pressure of bringing the country out of a pandemic, we must be vigilant against feedback loops that can undermine public trust and bring conspiracies into public life – and most especially, undermine accountability grounded in reality for those holding public office.

 

Ariel Bogle is a journalist and analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute who researches online disinformation

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2021/jun/12/dan-andrews-broke-his-back-why-is-there-such-a-frenzy-of-conspiracy-around-it

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 10:30 p.m. No.13884054   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4058

How PM’s pal put ‘Satanic paedophile’ conspiracy in the public eye

 

Kate McClymont - June 12, 2021

 

1/3

 

With a history of bankruptcy, bannings and bizarre conspiracy beliefs, it’s little wonder that Tim Stewart, the nation’s most prominent follower of QAnon, chose the nom-de-plume “Burn Notice” for his Twitter posts.

 

This is a term intelligence agencies use when an agent or a source is officially scrapped or “burned” for providing fabricated or unreliable information.

 

Citing “co-ordinated harmful activity,” Twitter banned Mr Stewart’s account “Burn Notice” with its handle @BurnedSpy34 last year for posting unverified and dangerous material linked to the far-right American group QAnon.

 

Earlier this month, the Herald broke the news that ABC management had asked current affairs program Four Corners to delay a program on the supposed connection between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Mr Stewart. This revelation has put the 52-year-old town planner firmly back in the public eye.

 

Now the Herald can reveal that Mr Stewart was bankrupted from 2012 to 2015, following the collapse of his business which ran a string of caravan parks in Queensland. His name has also recently featured in a corruption inquiry and his business dealings include links to a trio of one-time bankrupt Liberal powerbrokers in the Sutherland Shire.

 

The Prime Minister has never espoused any QAnon-style conspiracy theories and, for his part, Mr Morrison has angrily rejected any links to QAnon.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not,” he said last week. “It is also disappointing that Four Corners, with their inquiries, would seek to cast this aspersion not just against me, but by members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form.”

 

Before his Twitter banning, Mr Stewart’s accounts show his fierce support of QAnon, a loose group of conspiracy theorists who believe there is a secret “deep state” plot acting against then-president Donald Trump as well as a cabal of Satan-worshiping paedophiles who rule the world and control politicians and the media.

 

Mr Stewart’s Twitter posts promoting the conspiracy group may have gone unnoticed in ordinary circumstances. However, his wife Lynelle has a long-standing friendship with the Prime Minister and his wife Jenny. Mrs Stewart, who has known the Morrisons through their church activities since they were all children, was employed up until recently as Mrs Morrison’s personal assistant. These relationships were first reported in The Guardian in October 2019.

 

Mr Stewart’s estranged sister Karen, who ran for the Greens in Camden, has previously said it was “absolute rubbish” to claim her brother and Mr Morrison were just associates. She told News Corp last year that the two couples were close family friends.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 10:31 p.m. No.13884058   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4064

>>13884054

 

2/3

 

Meanwhile, it’s Mr Stewart’s networking with other colourful Liberal figures, who have questionable business track records, that have raised eyebrows. The town planner has been working closely on development applications with Matt Daniel, also a former bankrupt, whose name has cropped up in his capacity as a planner at two corruption inquiries. Property developer Rene Licata is also one of Mr Stewart and Mr Daniel’s politically well-connected clients.

 

Mr Licata, also a previous bankrupt, operates property development group Manta Group. In 2014 his wife Marie Simone, also a former bankrupt, received a good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to four charges of obtaining money by deception. Ms Simone, a councillor on Sutherland Shire, is a key Liberal party fundraiser. She is also the president of the Caringbah Liberal Party branch, where her friend Mr Daniel, himself a former Sutherland Shire councillor, is also a paid up branch member, as is her developer husband.

 

In 2017 Mr Licata and Mr Daniel established the Commercial and Economic Planning Association which claims to represent the interests of smaller developers. According to CEPA’s website, in September 2019 they charged $350 per head for members and guests to dine with the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.

 

Like Mr Stewart, Mr Daniel has had some setbacks in his business dealings. His accountant Sam Cassaniti was jailed for tax fraud and the former mortician’s development company collapsed owing creditors $5 million. Mr Daniel has featured in back-to-back corruption inquiries. In April it was revealed that Mr Daniel’s planning company was lobbying Canada Bay councillors for favourable rezonings on behalf of then Liberal MP John Sidoti.

 

Mr Daniel and Mr Stewart also featured in ICAC’s investigations into questionable planning decisions made by Canterbury Council. Documents tendered at the inquiry show the pair were on the payroll of controversial property developer Charbel “Charlie” Demian who was lobbying the council and its planners for major expansions to his development sites.

 

The ICAC inquiry also showed that Mr Daniel was using the services of the now-disgraced former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire to help lobby planning officials and other ministers on behalf of Mr Daniel’s clients.

 

The kickbacks Mr Maguire sought for advancing the business interests of Mr Demian eventually proved to be Mr Maguire’s undoing. ICAC has since referred both Mr Maguire and Mr Demian to the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider whether they should face perjury charges. No adverse findings were made about Mr Daniel or Mr Stewart, who did not respond to the Herald’s inquiries.

 

The FBI first identified QAnon and its army of supporters as a “dangerous extremist group” in August 2019. Just how dangerous the group has become is evident from the number of QAnon adherents who have been criminally charged over the storming of the US Capitol building on January 6. Followers believe that “Q,” supposedly a secret intelligence official, has been leaving clues urging them to mount an insurrection against the evil forces of the “deep state”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 10:32 p.m. No.13884064   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5690

>>13884058

 

3/3

 

One of the apparent clues that the QAnon supporters have latched onto is the phrase “ritual abuse”. On October 22, 2018 Mr Stewart’s Burn Notice account tweeted: “A new conversation began today in Australia.” Mentioning that it was a “stepping stone,” he also said the Prime Minister “took control of the narrative powerfully and commenced phase 1 of our restoration.”

 

A prominent QAnon figure from the US was pumped. “Do my ears deceive me?,” asked Joe M. “The new Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison must be a rider in #TheStorm.”

 

What they were referring to was that earlier that day the Prime Minister used the words “ritual abuse” in his national apology to survivors of institutional sex abuse.

 

Private messages on the encrypted app Signal, which have been released by Eliahi Priest, a former close associate of Mr Stewart, show that in the days prior to the speech Mr Stewart had been urging his wife to tell Mr Morrison it was essential that he use the term “ritual abuse” in his apology.

 

According to screen images of their private conversations Mr Priest has posted on his Facebook page, Mr Stewart and others believed that this phrase was a secret code for sexual abuse victims to make contact.

 

“Well said Scott,” tweeted Mr Stewart’s son Jesse that same day. Jesse also included the hashtags #RitualAbuse. #StopChildTrafficking and #WWG1WGA. The latter is a rallying cry for QAnon members which stands for “Where We Go One, We Go All.”

 

There is no indication that Mr Morrison was influenced to shape his speech to include those words or that his choice of words was in any way related to QAnon.

 

Mr Stewart’s son has previously accused former foreign minister Alexander Downer of being a “traitor” over the latter’s role in passing on information to US authorities in 2016 about the Trump campaign’s alleged connections to Russia.

 

Apart from retweeting bizarre comments made by his son, Mr Stewart regularly retweeted comments from another prominent Australian QAnon supporter, @KillAuDeepState. Before he, too, was banned by Twitter, this account was operated by a struck-off psychiatrist from Dee Why, on Sydney’s northern beaches. Dr Russell McGregor was found guilty of professional misconduct and was banned from practising as a doctor in 2020. The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal held his publishing of his “bizarre beliefs about global conspiracies and other disturbing matters” had the potential to place “vulnerable psychiatric patients of the practice at risk.”

 

In July 2019 Dr McGregor posted a tweet which included three images featuring blue and white stripes. One was Julia Gillard, in a striped jacket, greeting Hillary Clinton. Another was a property with a striped wall belonging convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and, lastly, a striped backdrop on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

 

“Nothing to see here,” tweeted Dr McGregor.

 

Mr Stewart, who retweeted Dr McGregor’s post, also tweeted that the arrest of Epstein exposed a satanic cabal involving many world leaders and celebrities.

 

The unwelcome attention on Mr Stewart and his incendiary beliefs will ensure “The Storm” will not disappear any time soon with news that the ABC’s Four Corners program will now air on Monday.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/how-pm-s-pal-put-satanic-paedophile-conspiracy-in-the-public-eye-20210611-p580bx.html

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1gDv5bGiHw

 

>ALL ASSETS DEPLOYED

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 11:38 p.m. No.13884300   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4305 >>9882

Monk admits abuse after victim's fight for justice

 

Mark Daly - 12 June 2021

 

1/4

 

A former monk at a Catholic boarding school has pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse, bringing to an end one victim's eight-year fight for justice.

 

Fr Denis "Chrysostom" Alexander, who is now 85, admitted two charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices against two boys between 1973 and 1976.

 

The offences took place at the Fort Augustus Abbey school in the Highlands.

 

Alexander, an Australian national, was first named as a paedophile by a BBC Scotland documentary in 2013.

 

One of his victims was Hugh Kennedy, now aged 58. He was in court and afterwards said his nightmare was "now finally over."

 

Alexander has been in custody in Australia and then Scotland since 2017. He will be sentenced next month.

 

Fort Augustus Abbey, at the southern end of Loch Ness, had been monastery for more than 100 years. The austere Benedictine monks who lived there operated a prestigious fee-paying Catholic boarding school, thought of as one of the best in the country.

 

The imposing abbey and school buildings were neatly tucked away behind the trees on the outskirts of the town.

 

The monks were rarely seen by locals, and were thought of as an amusing peculiarity. At its peak, about 300 pupils would board at the school.

 

Hugh Kennedy enrolled in 1974; a wide-eyed, blonde-haired boy of 11 who loved sport.

 

He was exactly the type of boy expected to excel within this environment.

 

But the strict and regularly brutal regime at Fort Augustus, alongside a hierarchical culture of bullying by his peers, would soon have him living in fear.

 

One teacher in particular had started to single him out for special punishment.

 

Fr Denis Alexander, also known as Fr Chrysostom, was an Australian priest who had arrived at Fort Augustus in the 1950s, around the same time as his fellow Australians, Frs Aidan and Fabian Duggan.

 

Each of this trio could be sadistically violent and would be eventually be exposed by the BBC as child sex abusers.

 

Hugh Kennedy says Alexander would call him to his room, where he would be told to take his pants down and he would cane his bare backside.

 

"He was softening me up, I now understand," Hugh says.

 

"I used to ask him why he was doing this but he just told me to shut up.

 

"I was receiving inexplicable beatings. He once made me kneel against the wall for six hours - he was terrorising me.

 

"Then suddenly it turned around on a sixpence. The beatings stopped; I was put back on his social list, which meant special treats like toast in his office, and yoga lessons. I was even made head altar boy.

 

"But this was all part of the grooming process, just to get me used to saying yes to everything."

 

Soon after, the sexual abuse started.

 

One night, in the dormitory Hugh shared with more than a dozen other boys, he awoke with a start to the smell of whisky close to his face. Alexander had crept into Hugh's dorm and abused him on his top bunk while the boy below him slept.

 

"By the next day, I'd convinced myself it hadn't happened," Hugh says.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 11:39 p.m. No.13884305   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4318

>>13884300

 

2/4

 

But the abuse escalated, and during a yoga class, Alexander carried out a serious sexual attack on Hugh.

 

"He told me it was a special thing between the two of us and no-one needed to know about it, and that no-one would believe me in any case," Hugh says.

 

The abuse by Alexander stopped, but later he was abused by another man at the school - an art teacher called Bill Owen, who is now dead - fuelling fears that abusive staff had shared victims.

 

Hugh says the abuse by Owen was serious and lasted several years.

 

"I believe it was organised, that there was a bit of 'pass the parcel' going on," Hugh says.

 

Hugh decided to tell someone about the abuse by Alexander.

 

He told his step-mother and the headmaster at the time, Fr Francis Davidson.

 

However, Davidson took Alexander's side and allowed the monk to visit Hugh's step-mother at home, to persuade her that her son was lying.

 

It worked, and Hugh was returned to the school. The police were never called.

 

Fr Chrysostom, who was known as the "piping monk" because of his love of the bagpipes, was free to carry on abusing.

 

And he did.

 

Nearly a decade ago, alongside producer Murdoch Rodgers, I started investigating allegations of abuse at Fort Augustus.

 

We met former Fort Augustus pupil Brendan, not his real name, who told us he had been repeatedly abused by Alexander when aged 13.

 

He had struggled with his mental health throughout his life, a condition rooted in, he believes, the abuse he suffered at the hands of the monk he knew as Fr Chrysostom

 

It was Brendan's story which started us on our path of investigating Alexander, who we knew had abruptly returned to his native Australia in 1977.

 

Brendan had raised the alarm about Alexander's abuse, and his parents complained to the school. The matter was once more dealt with internally by Fr Francis Davidson. There would be no police involvement, but this time Alexander was sent home to Australia.

 

I had wanted to find and confront Alexander in Australia but needed more evidence.

 

Then Brendan told us about a letter he'd been written by Alexander. It had been an apology - a confession - written to him and his parents on his return to Australia.

 

Brendan told us he'd been so angry he'd ripped it into pieces and threw it in the bin. Crucial evidence, apparently destroyed 35 years previously in the heat of the moment

 

But unknown to Brendan, his father had taped it back together and kept it.

 

The letter reads: "I am writing this letter with some consideration to apologise for the events of last term. I ask forgiveness not only for the incidents themselves but for the considerable distress it must have caused…

 

"All I can say is that I was under severe strain for the past 18 months…"

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 11:41 p.m. No.13884318   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4323

>>13884305

 

3/4

 

Back to Australia

 

It was all the evidence I needed. I tracked Alexander down to a quiet suburb of Sydney.

 

He'd been allowed to take up the priesthood in Australia without any prior warnings about his offending being given by the Benedictines.

 

In fact, he'd been sent a cheque for £50,000 in 2000 by the Benedictines, after the Fort Augustus Abbey had been closed and its affairs wound up. This was despite his confession about abusing children.

 

Unfettered by allegations about his past, he worked as a supply priest in Sydney for more than 20 years, attending holy communions and baptisms up until his retirement in the 2000s.

 

Cameraman Alan Harcus and I watched his home for eight days, waiting for the opportunity to put Brendan's allegations to him. Finally, just hours before we were due to fly home, he emerged from his front door.

 

The former monk refused to engage with my questions, told me to "go to blazes" and get off his property, then rammed his car into mine.

 

He'd been defiant, but this was a watershed moment in the investigation. The clock was now running.

 

The confrontation featured our 2013 documentary Sins of Our Fathers, which sparked a chain of events which ultimately would lead to the setting up of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and a major police investigation into Alexander and others.

 

The programme and subsequent follow-ups named more than a dozen Fort Augustus monks as abusers and several headmasters, including Fr Davidson, of covering up the abuse. Davidson, who is now dead, resigned from a religious post at Oxford university in the wake of the scandal.

 

Face the consequences

 

In 2013, Hugh Kennedy had just gone to the police about his abuse, and after watching the film, decided to speak publicly.

 

Hugh had struggled with his mental health throughout his life and believes his experiences at Fort Augustus contributed to a breakdown of his marriage and put pressure on other relationships.

 

He told me then that he wanted to apologise to his family "for what I put them through".

 

He said that Alexander had to face the consequences for his actions, saying, "I will face Chrysostom if needs be… because this is a bogeyman that's been on my shoulder my whole life."

 

Today, he says that had he known what the experience of going through the criminal justice system would be for a survivor of child sexual abuse, he would never have come forward.

 

"It has been eight years of pain," Hugh said.

 

What followed for Hugh Kennedy was a rollercoaster eight years of not knowing whether his abuser would ever face justice.

 

It was more than two years before the Crown Office sought Alexander's extradition from Australia, then another two years before he was arrested. In the meantime, the BBC continued to report on Hugh's case and ask questions about the delays.

 

Alexander had claimed he was too ill to be extradited and lodged several appeals. He had told the BBC before his arrest that he was being supported by the Catholic Church in Sydney, although this was denied by the church.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 11:42 p.m. No.13884323   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13884318

 

4/4

 

Eventually, having expended all legal means of defiance, he was flown to Scotland in January last year.

 

"I was told the matter would be dealt with swiftly and expected a trial within a few months," said Hugh.

 

But then the pandemic struck, and justice ground to halt. Even once trials resumed, Hugh felt the case had been put on the back burner.

 

"It was almost as if it would have been easier for them if he just passed away in his cell.

 

"To survive the abuse is one thing, but to survive going through the criminal justice system is another thing altogether. The journey is horrific.

 

"I was continually kept in the dark.

 

"There's so much that could have been done differently. There seems to be no insight into the mental trauma involved for victims.

 

"Initially I put my trust in these people, but then found myself being let down continually. There's a lack of compassion, you're treated dismissively and there seems to be total lack training for staff dealing with these sorts of situations

 

"I would have crumbled if it wasn't for the support I was getting. I've got a fairly strong constitution but I've not been particularly well during this process, and people with lesser capacity would have sunk and gone away.

 

"If the BBC hadn't been continually covering this case, I doubt I had the ability to get it this far. What about all the other people who haven't journalists keeping the story in the public eye? They've got no chance of getting a case like this to court.

 

"Something has to change to make it easier for people to go through this process."

 

'It's finally over'

 

Until three days ago, Hugh had been living in fear that the case would be abandoned because of Alexander's failing health, or that he would die before going to trial.

 

On Wednesday morning, he was told of Alexander's intention to plead guilty.

 

In a voice racked with emotion, Hugh had struggled to get the words out when he called.

 

"All I've ever wanted was for him to admit what he's done to me and the others," he said.

 

"It's finally over."

 

He travelled up from the south of England overnight to see his "bogeyman" one final time.

 

Dressed in a green prison jumper, Alexander listened to the court proceedings in his wheelchair.

 

His defence counsel said the man sitting in court was very different to the one who carried out the offences.

 

Hugh says he is now ready to get on with his life. The ghosts of Fort Augustus are fading, and despite the struggle, he knows he has achieved something that for years had hung in the balance. He'd survived, and he'd won justice.

 

He said: "There are others who didn't feel able to go through with this. So even if it has been a living nightmare for eight years, I feel I did something right, for Brendan, for me, and for the others who didn't make it this far."

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-57428987

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 11:50 p.m. No.13884340   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9882

Former Christian Brother Ted Bales admits to abusing another 19 children

 

Adam Cooper - June 11, 2021

 

Convicted paedophile and former Christian Brother Ted Bales has pleaded guilty to abusing 19 children in the 1970s and 1980s, bringing to 50 his total number of confirmed victims.

 

Bales on Friday entered a plea of guilty through his lawyer to 33 charges of indecent assault in Melbourne Magistrates Court, related to 19 victims. The charges represent a series of offences against his victims as prosecutors withdrew dozens of other individual charges.

 

Bales, 71, who was formerly known as Edward Dowlan until he changed his surname by deed poll, was a teacher and dormitory supervisor at schools in Melbourne, Ballarat, Geelong and Warrnambool in the 1970s and 1980s, where the attacks took place. He was a Christian Brother until he left the order in 2008.

 

The charges he pleaded guilty to on Friday relate to offending in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, in Ballarat and in and around Geelong.

 

Bales was in 1996 jailed for abusing children and then went into prison again – where he remains – after being sentenced in 2015 for abusing a further 20 children, some as young as eight.

 

His latest admissions will probably mean his jail term will be increased after he fronts a plea hearing in the County Court in January.

 

He was jailed for five years in 1996 and in 2015 jailed for six years, with a non-parole period of three years. However the Court of Appeal increased his maximum jail term to eight years and five months after prosecutors successfully argued that the original jail term was manifestly inadequate.

 

Bales did not appear before the court on Friday and is still in prison serving his current sentence. Defence lawyer Andrew Croxford said Bales had provided instructions to enter a guilty plea on the latest charges.

 

Bales changed his surname after his first conviction in an attempt to escape publicity. Among the schools he taught at was St Alipius Primary School in Ballarat, where he worked alongside two of Victoria’s other most notorious paedophiles, Gerald Ridsdale and Robert Best.

 

Ridsdale, Australia’s most prolific paedophile priest, last year had his jail time extended until at least 2025. Ridsdale has been in jail since the late 1990s and has at least 69 confirmed victims though the true number might never be known.

 

Best was in 2017 ordered to serve at least another decade in prison for abusing 20 children at Victorian schools and cannot be released from prison until 2027 at the earliest.

 

The judges who last sentenced Ridsdale and Best acknowledged it was likely both men would die in custody given their old age and poor health.

 

Magistrate Pauline Spencer remanded Bales in custody to face the County Court for a two-day plea hearing starting on January 27.

 

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

 

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

 

https://www.lifeline.org.au

 

https://www.beyondblue.org.au

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/former-christian-brother-ted-bales-admits-to-abusing-another-19-children-20210611-p5809k.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 11, 2021, 11:56 p.m. No.13884365   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9882

Sydney child rapist baby attack detailed

 

Carla Hildebrandt - June 11, 2021

 

The nightmarish details of a Sydney paedophile’s “brazen” child sex attacks on other parents’ children have come to light in court.

 

Marayong tradie Bryan Michael Grange, 38, filmed himself molesting a two-month-old baby and two other children under five in assaults between 2014 and 2018.

 

The voyeur pleaded guilty to a string of State and Commonwealth offences including having sexual intercourse with a child under 10, using a child to produce child abuse material and transmitting child abuse material.

 

Grange sat still and looked at Judge Kara Shead SC throughout his sentence hearing in the District Court on Friday, as the parents of a child victim and his wife separately watched on from the public gallery.

 

The Daily Telegraph has obtained the agreed facts which outline his sickening, “opportunistic” attacks, including when he filmed himself rubbing his penis on a baby’s mouth and ejaculating — in a 10-minute window he was left alone with the child.

 

But not all his attacks were unplanned.

 

Grange repeatedly molested a preschool-aged girl and filmed his “depraved” actions, such as using her feet to masturbate himself.

 

He molested her while she slept, when she was in the bath and in public toilets.

 

In one video he directs her to “turn around” and “bend over” and says, “Let me see … mmm, that’s a young one,” court documents show.

 

Australian Federal Police raided Grange’s home in November 2019 after they were tipped off by a US agency to a Sydney user of a dark web group.

 

Police found videos titled Family Contest and Junior Miss Pageant 1999 depicting pre-pubescent children in a pageant setting.

 

He had thousands of items of child abuse material, including bestiality, urination and bondage videos and pictures.

 

Grange admitted to a psychologist he was attracted to voyeurism and developed a sexual attraction to children in his late 20s.

 

Crown Prosecutor Alex Morris told the court Grange had a “real capacity” to mask and conceal his sexual attraction to children.

 

“He was completely able to fool his loving wife … in fact, she remains supportive and says she will be there upon his release,” Mr Morris told the court.

 

Mr Morris told the court Grange had a “lack of insight” into the seriousness of his offences.

 

Grange told a psychologist the attack on the baby was unplanned and he had taken Viagra that morning.

 

He penned a letter to the court about his “terrifying” experience behind bars during COVID-19.

 

“After I was arrested and put in prison, word got around about my charges and for my safety I had to go into the protection area,” he wrote.

 

“I have been housed in this area this whole time in prison. This means needing an officer escort to move around the prison such as court AVL, visits, medical and recreation areas such as the oval.”

 

Grange wrote how he suffered not being able to see his wife when face-to-face visits stopped.

 

“The outbreak here in prison was isolating and terrifying. The threat of an outbreak in prison still feels real to me and a very real threat and possibility,” he wrote.

 

Parklea Prison governor Peter Paul Baker appeared via AVL telling the court Grange was treated no different to other inmates during that time.

 

Grange told a psychologist he wished he got help earlier and was sorry to the victims and their families.

 

Judge Kara Shead SC will sentence Grange — who faces life in prison — in July.

 

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-nsw/sydney-child-rapist-baby-attack-detailed/news-story/ea6b459c793021315b001de210310884

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 1:03 a.m. No.13884615   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

>>13855472

Australia owes Afghani interpreters for their combat bravery

 

HARRY MOFFITT - JUNE 11, 2021

 

From my first mission in 2002, mostly spent on foot on the ­Afghan/Pakistan border regions hunting Osama bin Laden, the interpreters were there with us.

 

Side by side and always armed only with their body armour, a bottle of water, and a smile.

 

Right through to working on the streets of Kabul, a city I grew to know better than Melbourne, our interpreters were critical on a daily and hourly basis. They not only assisted us in translating the nuance of up to four or five different dialects, gaining intelligence, and at times providing close protection, they became our friends.

 

From 2001 through to 2012, I completed 11 operational deployments as part of the Special Air Service Regiment, and Australian Defence Force. Of those, seven were to Afghanistan.

 

I am in regular contact with our interpreter friends both here and overseas. I consider them not only lifelong friends but brothers in arms in many cases.

 

Many were foreign nationals, who were recruited from the US or Australia; however, many more were Afghani nationals and locals, who returned to their villages and towns either daily or on regular leave to see their families.

 

The perilous nature of these interpreters’ existence is obvious, as is that of their families.

 

Many worked in diplomatic roles and from the relative safety of HQs, far behind the lines. But many more served in the front lines, on the battlefield.

 

Likely missed by the layperson watching footage of combat in Afghanistan on nightly TV, I regularly see the interpreters scrambling for cover in the background, as the gun fight erupts around them.

 

Unarmed, I can see them picking their way around the battlefield with relative calm, anticipating where they will next best be used. Many of our interpreters have seen more combat time on operations, in acquitting our national mission, than the majority of our Defence Force and, dare I say, many of our SAS operators.

 

Many have paid the ultimate price — beheaded and left on the sides of the remote tracks of the dasht. In one incident I experienced, having just been wounded in an improvised explosive device ambush, I found myself sobbing while holding the hands of our interpreter “Sammy” who had lost his legs in the explosion. These were not isolated incidents.

 

However, many of our former interpreters are certainly isolated in their homeland.

 

With an increasingly united and emboldened Taliban-al-Qaida regaining control in the Graveyard of Empires, the situation for our interpreter friends is increasingly dire and urgent.

 

Recent stories of death notices posted on front doors of Afghan interpreters’ houses are real. Our intelligence briefs regularly cited interpreters as of the highest interest to the enemy forces and an unimaginable fate would await any interpreter caught by them.

 

As the TB-AQ alliance continues to grow in Afghanistan, so does this serious threat to the safety of our comrades and their families.

 

This is to say nothing of the apparent rise of ISIS across the region highlighting that as coalition forces leave and local care and diplomatic agencies harden their compounds and local engagement, there will be nowhere for these friends to hide.

 

Certainly, the closure of the Australian Embassy in Kabul, and the apparent loss of somewhere to make their resettlement claims, will raise anxieties in the interpreter community both there and in Australia.

 

It was therefore of great comfort to hear the announcement from Defence Minister Peter Dutton that Afghan interpreters will be given “the highest visas processing priority” in resettlement application. They deserve nothing less.

 

I, like all of our ADF soldiers, sailors, airmen and women, remain ready to go anywhere, anytime to protect the most vulnerable people against the most despicable. And we do so knowing full well that we have great support behind us and ultimately can return to one of the luckiest countries in history.

 

I think this privilege should be immediately extended to those who have stood beside us in those most dangerous of circumstances, circumstances many of them continue to endure. Our Afghan interpreters, and their families, have acquitted themselves with excellence. I have no doubt they will continue to do so here where they can be appropriately recognised for their service.

 

Harry Moffitt is a former SAS team commander, now psychologist and author of Eleven Bats.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/australia-owes-afghani-interpreters-for-their-combat-bravery/news-story/a7b4f234ccade714548ed7c26d344312

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 1:05 a.m. No.13884625   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

>>13855472

Scott Morrison gives strongest indication yet that Afghan interpreters will be offered protection

 

The Prime Minister acknowledged time was of the essence, with some of the interpreters placed on Taliban kill lists.

 

sbs.com.au - 10 June 2021

 

Scott Morrison has all but confirmed Afghan interpreters who helped Australian troops will be evacuated and offered protection.

 

But the prime minister has been careful in commenting on how long the process would take, fearful it could put the interpreters at risk of persecution.

 

"We're working on that right now and I can't go into too much detail because I don't want to put anyone who is the subject of what we're doing there in any position of risk or danger," he told 6PR radio on Thursday.

 

Mr Morrison said he and the government were well versed on the protection visa process.

 

"This is a program we know well. We have done it before and we will work through this steadily. Our form and our record is being able to use our special humanitarian visa processes to do the right thing."

 

At least 300 interpreters are seeking protection in Australia as allied troops depart Afghanistan.

 

Mr Morrison acknowledged time was of the essence, with some of the interpreters placed on Taliban kill lists.

 

"We know what we need to do here and we're getting it done," he said.

 

The last Australian troops will depart Afghanistan by September, following America's decision to end the war before the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

 

A former major for the Australian Defence Force has told SBS News every effort must be made to help the Afghan interpreters who put their lives at risk to help Australian soldiers.

 

"To fail at this stage to evacuate them, or at least make the best possible effort that we can as a country - that will just be a catastrophic moral failure on our country's behalf," he told SBS News a fortnight ago.

 

Retired admiral Chris Barrie said a precedent was set following the Vietnam War, when military supporters brought refugees to Australia before the government officially endorsed the arrivals.

 

"We have a very serious obligation," he told ABC radio on Tuesday. "It would be unconscionable to leave these people to the mercy of the Taliban. We must do something to help them."

 

The United Kingdom and the United States have both agreed to fast-track the resettlement of thousands of Afghan interpreters and their families.

 

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has indicated the current process for assessing humanitarian visas for Afghan employees remains in place.

 

"We are keen to support all those who are eligible to come to Australia and that is an absolute priority," she told reporters.

 

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/scott-morrison-gives-strongest-indication-yet-that-afghan-interpreters-will-be-offered-protection?cid=news:socialshare:twitter

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 1:19 a.m. No.13884673   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4674 >>9865

Wolves in the weeds as Beijing’s harsh diplomacy backfires

 

Looking tired and anxious, Beijing’s ambassador Cheng Jingye has almost entirely retreated from Canberra’s diplomatic social scene. It turns out enemies are everywhere.

 

WILL GLASGOW - June 12, 2021

 

1/3

 

Beijing’s man in Canberra, ambassador Cheng Jingye, looked tired and anxious.

 

There is a lot to worry about in the paranoid Xi Jinping era, especially for a cosmopolitan United Nations specialist like Cheng. For China’s diplomats, potential enemies are everywhere, inside and outside their walled compounds. Every encounter is a test of loyalty – and all recorded on their ­embassy’s or consulate’s Hik­vision surveillance equipment.

 

“There’s a second Cultural Revolution going on,” says one senior Canberra-based diplomatic source, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.

 

Once-common motions within the Canberra diplomatic community – such as a new ambassador paying a courtesy visit to their counterpart at the Chinese ­ambassador’s residence in Yarralumla – have now become fraught with risk.

 

In one such recent exchange, a new ambassador found that a ­junior Chinese diplomat sat by the worried-looking Chinese ­ambassador for the whole meeting, taking notes.

 

A subsequent invitation for a relaxed dinner was rejected. Cheng’s secretary cited “Covid” despite Canberra not having had a single domestic case for months.

 

One fellow ambassador says Cheng, 61, has almost entirely retreated from Canberra’s diplomatic social scene.

 

“In a situation like this, they need to be communicating. But ­instead they are isolated,” the ­ambassador tells Inquirer, saying the situation was similar at posts around the world.

 

“When things get difficult, they don’t answer. They close communication channels.”

 

Outside Canberra, the ambassador’s colleagues in the Chinese Foreign Ministry have called the Prime Minister of Canada, ­Justin Trudeau, a “running dog”, spread a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was imported to Wuhan by the US army and, in Fiji, concussed a diplomatic representative from Taipei.

 

That last act of violence was triggered by a cake decoration: the Taiwanese flag, in miniature.

 

“A lot of this behaviour comes from insecurity,” says Peter Martin, the author of a new book called China’s Civilian Army, a sometimes disturbing and often hilarious study of PRC diplomacy.

 

“Individual diplomats find themselves in this very strange position where their country is stronger than it has ever been, but their place in the political system is as tenuous as it has been in ­decades,” the Bloomberg reporter tells Inquirer over the phone from Washington DC, his new base after a long stint in Beijing.

 

From ‘silver fox’ to wolf warrior

 

Things could be worse. During the frenzy of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s, Chinese diplomats demonstrated their loyalty to Chairman Mao by beating up German diplomats in the streets. The Czechoslovakian ambassador was detained at an airport.

 

“Most dramatically, the British mission in the Chinese capital was stormed and torched by Red Guards,” Martin writes in his absorbing book.

 

When protests broke out outside the Chinese embassy in London, young Chinese diplomats engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the protesters. “British television news captured an image of a Chinese diplomat waving an axe,” Martin records.

 

Axes haven’t yet reappeared under Xi, but he has overseen a sharp new approach to asserting Chinese interests abroad. Capitals around the world took years to understand the change, which ­occurred in Beijing just months after Xi was anointed China’s President in March 2013.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 1:20 a.m. No.13884674   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4677

>>13884673

 

2/3

 

Julie Bishop encountered the new era on her first visit to Beijing as Australia’s foreign minister in December 2013. Her meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was one of the first examples of what was later dubbed “wolf warrior” diplomacy – named after a 2017 jingoistic action film that was the Chinese movie industry’s answer to Rambo.

 

In front of a media pack, the normally smooth-talking Wang – dubbed the Chinese equivalent of a “silver fox” by state media – erupted over comments Bishop had made before the trip.

 

Australia’s foreign minister had made a mild criticism of Beijing’s declaration of an air defence identification zone in the disputed East China Sea.

 

“It felt like an ambush,” Bishop tells Inquirer. “We certainly had no briefing or warning that it was coming.”

 

With hindsight, it was a seminal moment in China’s new approach to Australia. And it took place years before Canberra’s banning of Huawei from its 5G network, the passage of legislation aimed at China’s brazen interference in Australia’s political system, or the Morrison government’s call for an inquiry into Covid-19.

 

Reliving Wang’s public tirade before a Senate estimates hearing two months later, senior Australian foreign affairs official Peter Rowe said he had “never in 30 years encountered such rudeness”.

 

The profound shift in China’s dealings with the world was little understood by the Australian government. This included Australia’s then ambassador in Beijing, Frances Adamson, who is soon to leave her role as head of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

 

The Mandarin-speaking Adamson’s bafflement was summed up in a note she passed Bishop as she waited for Wang’s lecture to be translated. It read: “This is going terribly badly.”

 

As Martin reveals in his book, the episode derived from the fear Xi had instilled in China’s foreign ministry. They had a reputation in China for being soft – in need of calcium pills to toughen up their spines. Communist Party general secretary Xi wanted that ailment fixed. He demanded a foreign ministry with “fighting spirit”.

 

“Wang’s solution was to double down on the founding values of the ministry,” writes Martin.

 

“After all, it had been set up to help a closed and paranoid political system cope with a more open outside world. Many of these founding principles were perfectly suited to the emerging mood in Beijing.”

 

Wang had made as much clear four months before dressing down Bishop. In a speech given in August 2013, Wang said China’s diplomats needed to embrace the guiding principles of Mao’s suave premier and wily foreign affairs adviser Zhou Enlai.

 

“(Zhou) famously said that diplomats are the People’s Liberation Army in civilian clothing,” Wang told his department of soon-to-be wolf warriors. “A civilian army not only needs to maintain strict discipline and obedience to commands, but also needs to cultivate a strong character and work style … to serve the people like the PLA.”

 

They haven’t stopped fighting since.

 

Some are worried that Xi has taken it too far

 

Eight years on, with the wolf warrior volume turned up to 11, there is grumbling in Beijing about China’s anti-diplomatic diplomacy. Some voices have even sugg­ested that China may have clubbed Australia a bit too hard.

 

Last December, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian caused a diplomatic storm by tweeting a provocative artwork of an Australian soldier murdering an Afghan child.

 

The popular nationalist blogger Ren Yi – who writes under the pen name “Chairman Rabbit” – told his more than two million fans on Chinese social media that Zhao’s approach was not helping China. Ren even suggested the pugnacious Zhao had been unknowingly “Trumpised”, a cutting insult in Xi’s China.

 

“This is very dangerous,” wrote the Beijing-based, Harvard University-educated princeling.

 

While he agreed uppity Australia was a deserving target for a few “pokes”, he argued worsening China-Australia relations would hurt China. It would make the new Biden administration tougher on China.

 

“Regarding this dispute between China and Australia, the ­author believes that China should cool down now. After all, Biden’s primary goal is to repair the relationship with allies, not to repair the relationship with China.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 1:21 a.m. No.13884677   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13884674

 

3/3

 

It was not one of Ren’s better-received posts. Most of China’s ­nationalistic netizens were on Zhao’s side. But the China-heavy agenda at this weekend’s G7 summit in Cornwall suggests Ren had a point, as do the invitations given to Australia, India and South Korea – three countries that have been on the receiving end of Xi’s assertive approach.

 

Scott Morrison is particularly keen to discuss matters with fellow “like-minded” countries after more than 12 months of Chinese trade attacks.

 

Even Xi seems to think it is time for some tinkering.

 

At a politburo study session last week, he told his senior colleagues that China needed to tell its story better and win the struggle to be more “loveable”.

 

“It is necessary to make friends, unite and win over the majority, and constantly expand the circle of friends (when it comes to) inter­national public opinion,” he told the politburo, according to China’s official news agency Xinhua.

 

Diplomacy vs the cult of personality

 

China’s Paramount Leader is clearly frustrated with the country’s image in the developed world. But there is no indication that his anxious diplomats – in Canberra and elsewhere – will be allowed to do their jobs in a less rigid, more flexible manner.

 

Creative diplomacy is the antithesis of a cult of personality or the “self-criticism” sessions that are the hallmarks of the Xi era.

 

Martin says that while people should be open to the possibility that Beijing will change its approach, the cause of tensions between China and the developed world go far beyond diplomatic niceties. There’s Xi’s abolition of term limits. There’s his extra­ordinary crackdown on dissenting voices. And there’s the obsession with Marxist ideology, Leninist control and Xi’s own brilliance – including his hardline and “totally correct” approach to dealing with Uighurs in Xinjiang.

 

“I’m not sure there’s any way even the most skilled Chinese diplomat could sell those policies to a Western audience in a way that would be persuasive,” says Martin.

 

While the big picture is uncertain, the small stuff is much more clear: China’s civilian army is going to keep sweating about it.

 

In recent years, China’s diplomats have busied themselves defending the motherland’s honour against claims by South Korea that it invented fermented cabbage, “so-called kimchi”.

 

Others have demonstrated Beijing’s might by storming out of a meeting when the President of Nauru (population 13,000) let the Prime Minister of Tuvalu (population 12,000) speak before the representative of China (population 1.4 billion).

 

Martin says one of the key ­lessons of his more than four years of research for the book – which draws on scores of never-before-translated autobiographies – is that for Chinese diplomats, there is no such thing as a low-stakes ­encounter.

 

“We have this image that Chinese statesmen think in decades, not years. They are strategic and not caught up in tactics,” he says.

 

“But when you read these memoirs and you listen to accounts of these events, you realise, no, they are deep in the weeds – all the time.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/wolves-in-the-weeds-as-beijings-harsh-diplomacy-backfires/news-story/bfedbc5526195cb3185693d3dcc10c96

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 1:59 a.m. No.13884812   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4815 >>9865

China accuses Australia of ‘abuse’, says world trade rules designed to protect western interests

 

Australia is guilty of ‘abusing state power’ and international trade rules are a protection racket for western powers, China has claimed.

 

Finn McHugh - June 11, 2021

 

Beijing has accused Australia of “abusing state power” by restricting Chinese investment, claiming western countries used world trade rules to maintain their dominance.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday lashed tariffs imposed by Beijing on a range of Australian products as “completely unconscionable”, just a day after urging the international community to bolster trade rules in a bid to kerb economic coercion.

 

En route to the G7 in the UK, Mr Morrison said Australia was eager to reopen dialogue with China, but was “not prepared to concede” on a list of 14 grievances published by Beijing, or “trade away” its values.

 

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin insisted the sanctions protected the rights of Chinese producers and consumers, claiming Beijing opposed the “politicisation” of trade and “all kinds of bullying and political manipulation”.

 

But he framed world trade rules as a closed shop, designed by western powers to maintain control and neuter the growth of emerging countries.

 

“Who has politicised trade and economic issues, stretched the concept of national security, and abused state power to suppress and contain foreign companies? The Australian side has a clear idea,” he told reporters on Thursday.

 

The comments were an apparent reference to new powers, introduced last year, allowing the federal government to veto foreign investment on national security grounds.

 

The power was first used in April to scrap the controversial Belt and Road Initiative signed between China and Victoria, a move that angered China.

 

Japan has pledged to back Australia in its ongoing stoush with Beijing, raising concerns over rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong in a joint statement signed by the two countries on Tuesday.

 

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also drew fire from Beijing by referring to Taiwan, along with Australia and New Zealand, as a “country” during remarks to the country’s parliament.

 

Mr Wang said the “flagrant” intervention had “severely violated” a commitment from Japan to refer to Taiwan as part of China, claiming Beijing had made representations to Tokyo over the comments.

 

“We ask Japan to make prompt clarification, remove the severe damage and ensure that such things won’t happen again,” he said.

 

“There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.

 

“We seriously urge the Japanese side to earnestly honour its commitment, be prudent in words and actions, avoid undermining China‘s sovereignty in any form, and refrain from sending any wrong signal to the Taiwan independence forces.”

 

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/china-accuses-australia-of-abuse-says-world-trade-rules-designed-to-protect-western-interests/news-story/6fc2bc7b017cf1826ae170e56e293a90

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 2 a.m. No.13884815   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13884812

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on June 10, 2021

 

FSN: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison previously said that the WTO should penalize bad behavior when it occurs, and then separately referring to tariffs that China has placed on Australian exports, he said on the radio interview that barley and wine producers in Australia have been targeted with trade sanctions that "we believe are completely unconscionable". What's China's comment?

 

Wang Wenbin: On your first question, as is well known, major Western countries formulate most of the rules of world trade. It is their customary practice to maintain their hegemony and contain the growth of developing countries. Who has long been manipulating, maliciously circumventing WTO rules and paralyzing the DSM by thwarting selection of Appellate Body judges? Who has politicized trade and economic issues, stretched the concept of national security and abused state power to suppress and contain foreign companies? The Australian side has a clear idea.

 

China firmly opposes the politicization of economic and trade issues and all kinds of bullying and political manipulation. We urge relevant countries to stop the wrong practice of wantonly wielding the big stick of sanctions to pressure other countries, and take more concrete actions and play a more positive role in upholding the multilateral trading regime and promoting fair trade.

 

On your second question, the measures China takes on imported products are aimed to protect the rights and interests of domestic industries and consumers. They are in strict compliance with Chinese laws and regulations as well as WTO rules and are completely justified and lawful.

 

…..

 

The Paper: On June 9, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga listed Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan as "nations" that had adopted strong restrictions on private rights in a debate with opposition party leader at the National Diet. Do you have any comment?

 

Wang Wenbin: I noted relevant reports. Japanese leaders flagrantly refer to Taiwan as a "country" on multiple occasions, severely violating principles set out in the four political documents including the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement and its solemn and repeated commitment of not seeing Taiwan as a country. China is strongly dissatisfied with Japan's wrong remarks and has lodged solemn representations to the Japanese side. We ask Japan to make prompt clarification, remove the severe damage and ensure that such things won't happen again.

 

There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The Taiwan question bears on the political foundation of China-Japan relations, the basic trust and good faith between the two countries and the international rule of law and justice. We seriously urge the Japanese side to earnestly honor its commitment, be prudent in words and actions, avoid undermining China's sovereignty in any form and refrain from sending any wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" forces.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1882905.shtml

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 2:09 a.m. No.13884837   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9872

Scott Morrison makes G7 pledge that Australia will provide coronavirus jabs to SE Asia and Pacific region

 

Michael Mehr - June 12, 2021

 

Australia will provide 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to countries in South-East Asia and the Pacific as leaders at the G7-plus summit in Britain make a bid to distribute jabs more equally across the globe.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who arrived in the UK on Friday, thanked G7 host - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson - “for bringing us together to put even more effort into this area because the virus doesn’t know boundaries, the virus goes where it will”.

 

He said Australia’s contribution would feed into an effort led by Mr Johnson to vaccinate the world.

 

“These 20 million doses will go to support doses in our region, to ensure that we continue to exercise our responsibility as part of a broader global responsibility to combat this virus,” Mr Morrison said.

 

World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 44 per cent of all doses had been administered in rich countries but only 0.4 per cent in the poorest.

 

“Sharing vaccines now is essential for ending the acute phase of the pandemic,” Mr Ghebreyesus said, urging G7 countries to do more to battle inequality in accessing coronavirus vaccines.

 

The G7 group of wealthy democracies - Britain, the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - invited the leaders of Australia, South Korea, South Africa and India to take part in the three-day summit in Cornwall in England.

 

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will only attend the G7 virtually because of the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in his country.

 

They were greeted by the Queen and other members of the royal family including Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, and Prince William and Kate.

 

Mr Morrison said Australia was in a strong position to support countries with vaccines because it had “supply contracts many times over what is needed for the Australian population” and that the jabs would make a difference.

 

“These aren’t going in large warehouses which essentially (is) without going anywhere - we want to ensure that we are taking responsibility for our region, our family in our region,” he said.

 

Mr Morrison’s plane arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday after heavy fog cancelled plans for it to land at Cornwall’s Newquay airport, requiring a drive of several hours for the Prime Minister to reach the summit venue in Carbis Bay.

 

“This is the third occasion that we’ve had the privilege to be invited to be part of these discussions and there is a lot on this agenda for Australia,” he said.

 

Mr Morrison was previously invited to the G7-plus 2019 summit in Biarritz, France, while the 2020 event was to be in the US but was cancelled because of the pandemic.

 

“We’ve met on so many occasions over the past 18 months over screens,” Mr Morrison said.

 

“There is no substitute for leaders getting together and doing what we are doing now - and there has never been a more important time to be doing that.”

 

https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/australia-pledges-jabs-for-region-at-g7-c-3087458

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 4:19 p.m. No.13889054   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9065 >>8754 >>9841

Scott Morrison holds historic meeting with US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at G7 summit

 

GEOFF CHAMBERS - JUNE 13, 2021

 

1/2

 

Scott Morrison has held a historic meeting with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, bringing together three wartime allies to discuss escalating instability in the Indo-Pacific and the need to work more closely in response to regional and global threats.

 

The Prime Minister’s most important bilateral meeting of the G7 summit was expanded to include both Mr Biden and Mr Johnson, with Australia, the US and Britain discussing enhanced collaboration in key strategic, defence, infrastructure and critical supply chain initiatives.

 

The Indo-Pacific step-up, Beijing’s economic coercion of countries including Australia and increasing disinformation and cyber campaigns linked to China and Russia has been a key focus at the G7-plus leaders’ summit at the Cornish seaside resort village of Carbis Bay.

 

“Prime Minster Johnson, President Biden and Prime Minister Morrison met in the margins of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay on June 12, 2021,” a joint statement from the three leaders said.

 

“They discussed a number of issues of mutual concern, including the Indo-Pacific region. They agreed that the strategic context in the Indo-Pacific was changing and that there was a strong rationale for deepening cooperation between the three governments.

 

“They welcomed the forthcoming visits and exercises in the Indo-Pacific by the Carrier Strike Group, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth.”

 

The meeting ran for 45 minutes, despite originally being slated for 20 minutes, and afterwards Mr Morrison and Mr Biden walked together to participate in a group photograph with other world leaders.

 

Mr Morrison described the talks as a “unique opportunity for a trilateral meeting”.

 

“That is not a usual opportunity that we’ve had at these events in the past,” Mr Morrison said.

 

“We had an opportunity today to discuss the Indo-Pacific situation more broadly. Australia has no greater friends than the United States and the United Kingdom and we’ve been working together on our respective security issues for a very long time.

 

“We had a good opportunity to talk about those and look to see how we can further co-operate in the future. The situation only reinforces the need for us to have deeper co-operation.”

 

Mr Morrison said the G7 summit was a “great opportunity for liberal democracies and advanced economies alike to be able to align their thinking and their outlooks on how they’re seeing issues around the world”.

 

The Prime Minister said Australia’s handling of the Chinese economic relationship was based on being “consistent”.

 

“We are for a stable and peaceful and open Indo-Pacific. That’s in everybody’s interests. It’s in Australia’s interests, it’s in China’s interests. And for the free trade that can occur throughout the region,” he said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 4:20 p.m. No.13889065   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13889054

 

2/2

 

The Australian understands G7 leaders will support a suggestion raised by Mr Morrison on Saturday for the WHO to be bolstered with powers similar to weapons inspectors.

 

Mr Morrison, who confirmed climate change was not the subject of their discussions, on Saturday night said Australia’s alliance with the US and UK as never being “has never been stronger.

 

“It was a meeting of great friends and allies who share a view on the world. It was a great opportunity for my first meeting of course with the President. I’ve known Boris for many years.

 

“And there was a very easy understanding among the three of us. As liberal democracies with a great history of friendship and partnership and a shared view on the world and its challenges, and strategic challenges at that. We are very conscious of the environment we face but whatever that environment is we’ll always face it together.

 

“Our alliance with the United States, our alliance with the United Kingdom has never been stronger.”

 

Mr Johnson had earlier formally welcomed Mr Morrison to the G7 in a beach ceremony, alongside other G7-plus members South Korea and South Africa.

 

Mr Morrison, who met with South Korean president Moon Jae-in at Tregenna Castle on Saturday morning before speaking at a G7 health and pandemic preparedness session, will meet with Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and German chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday.

 

Mr Morrison’s first in-person meeting with Mr Biden was initially intended to focus on ramping-up land force co-operation, the joint development of critical technologies, as well as climate change, new energy technologies and cyber threats.

 

Mr Johnson, who will hold one-on-one talks at Downing Street with Mr Morrison on Tuesday, has dramatically ramped-up Britain’s military presence in the Indo-Pacific, including sending naval carrier strike group led by aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth on a 28-week maiden voyage including movements through the South China Sea and Philippine Sea.

 

Australia and the US will progress plans to align their strategic approach in the Indo-Pacific later this year when Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne meet with their counterparts Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken at the upcoming AUSMIN meeting.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/scott-morrison-holds-historic-meeting-with-us-president-joe-biden-uk-prime-minister-boris-johnson-at-g7-summit/news-story/7261bf0b48f086f342c073c02f830da5

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 10:23 p.m. No.13890902   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0903 >>9872

Andrews government secretly negotiating permanent pandemic laws to replace state of emergency

 

Michael Fowler - June 13, 2021

 

1/3

 

The Andrews government is secretly negotiating with three crossbenchers to introduce specific pandemic laws that would permanently replace controversial state of emergency powers and significantly change the way the state manages COVID-19 this year.

 

Demands made by the powerful crossbenchers in return for their support include a requirement that police record the racial appearance of people they stop or fine for breaching health directions, and that the government is forced to be more transparent with the information and trigger points behind interventions such as lockdowns. Disadvantaged Victorians would also be exempted or pay reduced fines if found contravening restrictions.

 

The government will be emboldened by the impending return to work of Premier Daniel Andrews, who on Saturday night released a photo showing himself receiving his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at The Alfred hospital on Wednesday, exactly three months after he fractured his spine in a fall at a rental home on the Mornington Peninsula.

 

Mr Andrews, who fractured a vertebra and five ribs and narrowly avoided permanent spinal cord damage, will return to work on Monday, June 28.

 

In a Facebook post on Saturday night, the Premier said: “My vertebra has almost fully healed and my ribs are well on track. The team taking care of me has given me the all clear to get back to work soon.”

 

State of emergency laws have been active in Victoria since last March as the legal instrument that allows authorities to enforce a range of public health commands, including lockdowns, mandatory mask wearing and 14-day quarantine.

 

Human rights lawyers and opposition MPs say the sweeping powers, which are usually reserved for short-term disasters such as fires and floods, do not include enough safeguards to enforce proper government accountability and transparency.

 

The Age can reveal the government is designing the new laws to cover all future pandemics, not just the coronavirus pandemic. It is intended that they will be in place by December, when the current state of emergency provisions expire, and a first draft is expected within the next two months.

 

The pandemic legislation will be permanently shaped by the demands of three upper-house crossbenchers: Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick, Reason Party MP Fiona Patten and Greens leader Samantha Ratnam.

 

They hold significant power because the government relied on their support to pass a nine-month state of emergency extension in March and a six-month extension before that.

 

The three crossbenchers promised their votes on the condition that new, more targeted laws would be drawn up with a particular focus on preventing the recurrence of incidents of the past 16 months that they viewed as government overreach, such as the snap lockdown of nine public housing towers last year.

 

In an unconventional move that has infuriated the Coalition and other crossbenchers, the Health Department is negotiating the new legislation with only Mr Meddick, Ms Patten and the Greens, and has held a series of meetings with them behind closed doors in recent weeks.

 

“If you didn’t vote for it in March, you didn’t get a seat at the table,” said one source familiar with the discussions.

 

Strengthening the crossbenchers’ power is the fact that if one were to pull out of negotiations because their demands were not met, the government would be back to square one in its attempts to pass powers that are integral to managing the coronavirus pandemic.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 10:24 p.m. No.13890903   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0905

>>13890902

 

2/3

 

The Greens outlined a series of demands at a meeting with senior Health Department officials on Tuesday. Most radical was a request for police to report the racial identity of every person they stop during a pandemic.

 

In response to questions from The Age, Greens health spokesman Tim Read said the change would “make transparent any bias or racism among their [police] ranks”, similar to an initiative in the United Kingdom that has consistently proven that police more frequently stopped and searched black and Asian people than white people.

 

Dr Read said his party would like organisations such as Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) to scrutinise policing in a pandemic.

 

“We would also like to protect disadvantaged members of the community from disproportionate impacts of lockdown, including public housing residents, people of colour and young people from low-income families,” Dr Read said.

 

That includes reducing the amount they pay in fines - an agreement the Greens partially secured in March - and preventing immediate lockdowns of public housing towers.

 

Mr Meddick said he agreed on reforming fines and public housing interventions, telling The Age he wanted the new legislation to be a health response first with legal consequences and enforcement as a “support structure only”.

 

“I feel we haven’t had that balance right at times in the last year,” he said.

 

The Animal Justice MP said he wanted the bill to include a provision that any tough restrictions are enacted in stages, with trigger points for the progression to the next phase. It is yet to be decided under what conditions the extreme powers enabled by specific pandemic legislation would be activated and deactivated.

 

“That is all about public transparency and giving the community surety about what would happen next and when,” Mr Meddick said.

 

“I don’t want Victorians to be pitted against each other, arguing whether we should have one rule or not. If there’s better transparency on how we go about dealing with this, I think to a very large degree you’ll find a lot of that confusion and anger evaporates.”

 

In a move that triggered condemnation among opposition MPs and lawyers in September, Labor proposed an addition to the state of emergency powers whereby “authorised officers” would be allowed to pre-emptively detain somebody they suspected of breaking health directions.

 

While the controversial idea was soon retracted, Hugh de Kretser, executive director of Australia’s Human Rights Law Centre, said it was an example of the government misjudging the balance between protection of health and an individual’s rights.

 

Mr de Kretser said strong legal safeguards, which are not built in to the current Public Health and Wellbeing Act, were critical given the potential for major restrictions on the public’s lives and employment.

 

“Restrictions must be no wider than what is strictly necessary to protect public health. They must be time limited. People must be able to test restrictions that affect them through accessible review mechanisms,” he said.

 

“Governments must be transparent in a timely way about the health evidence justifying any restrictions and the impact of those restrictions on people’s lives.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 10:25 p.m. No.13890905   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13890903

 

3/3

 

Confusion surrounded several major decisions during last year’s lockdowns in Victoria, particularly around the imposition of a night-time curfew.

 

Weeks after Premier Daniel Andrews announced the curfew, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton separately spoke on radio to reveal the curfew was not their recommendation. Mr Andrews subsequently refused to confirm whose idea the curfew was.

 

In negotiations with the government, Ms Patten has raised transparency as a key demand, and she told The Sunday Age the Parliament should play a more pronounced role in overseeing government decisions.

 

“The public deserve to know the underlying thinking and scientific information that leads us to things like lockdowns,” the Reason Party MP said.

 

Mr de Kretser also encouraged wide consultation on any new laws to deal with pandemics.

 

“Getting this right is critically important. We’re talking about matters of the utmost public interest.”

 

Liberal MP Georgie Crozier, the opposition’s health spokeswoman who shares the upper house with the three influential crossbenchers, went further, saying the government was being “held to ransom”.

 

“These three are not from major parties, they don’t have a big voter base and yet they are wielding so much power over the government,” she said.

 

“This government is only the government of the day. They are now making enormous decisions based on three crossbenchers who want their narrow agenda accommodated. It’s not good for our democracy and it’s not good for Victorians.”

 

A government spokesman confirmed the Health Department was exploring an addition to the existing Public Health and Wellbeing Act “that will update and streamline key parts of Victoria’s pandemic response”.

 

“A constructive process is under way with key stakeholders to inform the development of this change, to ensure that Victoria’s approach is best practice in comparison with other jurisdictions and complements our own existing and highly effective emergency management frameworks,” he said.

 

Greg Buchhorn, a lawyer and policy committee member of civil rights group Liberty Victoria, said the broad State of Emergency laws have resulted in some extreme intrusions on individual rights, such as forcing new prisoners to do 14 days of quarantine - “effectively solitary confinement” - even with little to no COVID-19 in the community.

 

“Because we don’t have clearly defined laws on what governments or bureaucracies can do, we’re giving away all this power and it has real-life consequences,” he said.

 

“Ultimately there’s no specific way to challenge these decisions under the current legislation and it doesn’t specify: where do we draw the line on the powers we give the government?”

 

Confirmation that Premier Andrews will resume his leadership of the pandemic response comes after a week in which the circumstances around his fall dominated the agenda at Parliament, starting when Liberal MP and shadow treasurer Louise Staley demanded he answer 12 questions about the March 9 injury.

 

The questions included who called the ambulance and whether police interviewed Mr Andrews, leading Labor MPs to accuse Ms Staley and the opposition of peddling “QAnon craziness”.

 

A spokeswoman for the Premier - who wore a North Face shirt, the brand that became synonymous with his 120 consecutive press conferences last year, while receiving his Pfizer shot - said Mr Andrews had been keen to get vaccinated as soon as possible and experienced no adverse reaction to the jab.

 

Acting Premier James Merlino will return to his roles as Deputy Premier, Education Minister and Mental Health Minister when Mr Andrews returns.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/andrews-government-secretly-negotiating-permanent-pandemic-laws-to-replace-state-of-emergency-20210611-p5807t.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 10:39 p.m. No.13890929   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9849

George Papadopoulos Tweet

 

US spy boss James Robert Clapper Jr makes secretive visit to Australia - ABC News

 

(Keep this story in mind. Will make sense shortly)

 

https://twitter.com/GeorgePapa19/status/1403780633139159042

 

US spy boss makes secretive visit to Australia

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-16/us-spy-boss-makes-secretive-visit-to-australia/7251590

 

 

US spy boss James Robert Clapper Jr makes secretive visit to Australia

 

Andrew Greene - 16 Mar 2016

 

America's top spy, the US Director of National Intelligence, is on a secret visit to Australia, the ABC has learnt.

 

James Robert Clapper Jr directs the US National Intelligence Program and reports directly to President Barack Obama.

 

So far the Federal Government is refusing to give any details of his activities and meetings while in Australia, but the United States embassy in Canberra has confirmed Mr Clapper's visit.

 

"As allies, the United States and Australia cooperate closely on a wide range of issues," an embassy spokeswoman told the ABC.

 

"It is not uncommon that senior US Government officials visit Australia and engage in high-level consultations."

 

Before flying to Australia Mr Clapper stopped over in New Zealand where he met with Prime Minister John Key.

 

"I've met General Clapper on a couple of occasions. He's obviously got great insight into intelligence and what's happening around the world," Mr Key said.

 

The US intelligence chief is believed to be travelling onboard a US military C-17 Globemaster.

 

Last week the Australian Federal Police hosted the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James B Comey on a two-day visit to Australia.

 

Mr Comey also met with Attorney-General George Brandis and Justice Minister Michael Keenan.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-16/us-spy-boss-makes-secretive-visit-to-australia/7251590

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 10:56 p.m. No.13890952   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

High Commissioner to the UK George Brandis Tweet

 

Today, the Prime Minister visited St Illogan Cemetery to lay a wreath for the 8 Australians remembered there. You can learn their stories here - http://bit. ly/3gffqPm

 

@ScottMorrisonMP also thanked the @CWGC for their critical work in honouring our fallen.

 

https://twitter.com/AusHCUK/status/1403696693842001922

 

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/search-results/?Cemetery=ILLOGAN+(ST.+ILLOGAN)+CHURCHYARD&CemeteryExact=true&Size=10&WarFilter=2&ServedWithFilter=Australian&CemeteryFilter=illogan+(st.+illogan)+churchyard

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 11 p.m. No.13890958   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9872

G7 leaders discuss Wuhan lab leak theory and back new investigation

 

Bevan Shields - June 13, 2021

 

Carbis Bay: A previously discredited theory that the coronavirus pandemic was triggered by a Wuhan lab leak has been discussed by the world’s most powerful leaders, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison says more work is needed to find out what caused the global “carnage”.

 

The G7 is on Sunday expected to back a fresh independent investigation into the origins of the deadly disease, as well as reforms to the World Health Organisation and a new scheme to force countries into declaring dangerous outbreaks much sooner.

 

US President Joe Biden led the charge at the gathering in Cornwall after recently ordering his own officials to “redouble” their efforts to determine whether the virus came from a laboratory accident or human contact with an infected animal.

 

The majority of the US intelligence community believes those two scenarios are most likely but Mr Biden said there is not yet enough information to assess one as more likely than the other.

 

Asked about whether there should be a new investigation, Mr Morrison framed the inquiry as a chance to prevent future pandemics rather than a tool to target China.

 

“The purpose of these inquiries is to understand,” he said.

 

“It’s got nothing to do with politics or frankly blame or anything else. It is about understanding it so we all on a future occasion, should it occur, can move quickly and can respond and avoid the absolute carnage that we’ve seen from this pandemic to both lives and livelihoods all around the world.

 

“The transparency around these things is incredibly important just for health and safety, if nothing else.”

 

Mr Morrison last year said Australian officials had no information to suggest the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

 

He would not say in Cornwall whether the Australian government now has a view on whether a lab leak or animal transmission is the most likely source of the virus.

 

Australia’s 2020 calls for an independent inquiry sparked a furious backlash from Beijing and led to a series of retaliatory trade sanctions.

 

That World Health Organisation-led inquiry found a lab leak was lab leak “extremely unlikely” but the probe was criticised as insufficient and questions have been raised about how much access the WHO team had to Chinese information.

 

Mr Morrison said that the original team was still working to find out more and backed that extra work.

 

The Wuhan lab leak theory was promoted by former US president Donald Trump over 2020 but widely dismissed by health experts and some foreign intelligence officials.

 

However it has gained new momentum over recent weeks following the latest US intelligence assessment and Biden’s open mind on the subject.

 

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed the G7 leaders discussed the possibility of a lab leak during a session on Saturday afternoon about health.

 

“So far close to 3.75 million people have died,” he said.

 

“This is very tragic and the respect these people deserve is knowing what the origin of this virus is so that we can prevent it happening again.

 

Dr Tedros said he wanted “better co-operation and transparency” from China during the next stage of the investigation.

 

The G7 communique to be released on Sunday will also support the creation of a new early-warning system to detect infectious disease threats sooner.

 

“Having that opportunity to be able to identify these pandemics at their very early onset and to be able to take very quick action relying on very good and reliable information – this is a key lesson I think out of this pandemic,” Mr Morrison said.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/g7-leaders-discuss-wuhan-lab-leak-theory-and-back-new-investigation-20210612-p580km.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 12, 2021, 11:33 p.m. No.13890985   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9875

Chinese Consulate General in Sydney Tweet

 

Proponents of the theory that the virus which causes #COVID_19 was created in and escaped from #China's Wuhan Institute of Virology imply that new evidence has emerged to support it, but in fact none has: Australian Citizens Party.

 

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-06/11/c_1310002762.htm

 

https://twitter.com/ChinaConSydney/status/1403631910367137793

 

 

Still no evidence for COVID-19 leak from Wuhan lab: media

 

xinhuanet.com - 2021-06-11

 

Australian reporter Sharri Markson's "exclusive" report that Chinese military and public health officials had been working on weaponizing coronaviruses since 2015 was quickly debunked, including by some of the very "experts" she cited, according to an article published on the website of Australian Citizens Party.

 

SYDNEY, June 11 (Xinhua) - Proponents of the theory that the virus which causes COVID-19 was created in and escaped from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology imply that new evidence has emerged to support it, but in fact none has, according to an article published on the website of Australian Citizens Party.

 

Media mouthpieces of the Anglo-American empire's "War Party" are doing their utmost to reinvigorate the theory that has been repeatedly hyped up in the West, joined by Sharri Markson, the Australian newspaper's alleged investigative reporter, whose aim is to fuel tensions with China instead of solving scientific problems, according to the article published on June 2.

 

Markson's "exclusive" report that Chinese military and public health officials had been working on weaponizing coronaviruses since 2015 was quickly debunked, including by some of the very "experts" she cited, as being based on a book that has been freely available online for years, said the article by Richard Bardon, researcher for the Australian Alert Service, the weekly publication of the Australian Citizens Party.

 

This COVID-19 origin debate must not be allowed to turn into a repeat performance against China, it said.

 

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-06/11/c_1310002762.htm

 

 

Still no evidence for COVID ‘lab leak’ theory

 

Richard Bardon, Australian Alert Service - 2 June 2021

 

https://citizensparty.org.au/still-no-evidence-covid-lab-leak-theory

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 1:25 a.m. No.13891350   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9889

>>13788675

>>13890900

Dan Andrews Instagram Post

 

I’ve got some good news to share.

 

My vertebra has almost fully healed and my ribs are well on track. The team taking care of me has given me the all clear to get back to work soon.

 

To Cath, the kids and the doctors, nurses, ambos and physios who've taken care of me - I can't thank you enough.

 

While I've been recovering the state has been in great hands. I am so grateful to @JamesMerlinoMP for stepping in to lead the Government and the state — he's done an amazing job.

 

On Monday 28 June I'll be back to work - and back to getting things done. I can't wait.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQBDZ8LFmZ3/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 3:08 p.m. No.13895726   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8710 >>7925 >>9552 >>4301 >>9875

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Footage proves bats were kept in Wuhan lab

 

Sky News Australia

 

Jun 13, 2021

 

The Wuhan Institute of Virology kept live bats in cages, new footage from inside the facility has revealed, disproving denials from World Health Organisation investigators who claimed the suggestion was a “conspiracy”.

 

An official Chinese Academy of Sciences video to mark the launch of the new biosafety level 4 laboratory in May 2017 speaks about the security precautions that are in place if “an accident” occurs and reveals there had been “intense clashes” with the French Government during the construction of the laboratory.

 

The video shows bats being held in a cage at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, along with vision of a scientist feeding a bat with a worm.

 

The 10 minute video is titled “The construction and research team of Wuhan P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences” and features interviews with its leading scientists.

 

The World Health Organisation report investigating the origin of the pandemic failed to mention that any bats had been kept at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and only its annex referred to animals being housed there.

 

“The animal room in the P4 facility can handle a variety of species, including primate work with SARS-CoV-2,” it states.

 

A member of the World Health Organisation team investigating the origin of the pandemic in Wuhan, zoologist Peter Daszak said it was a conspiracy to suggest bats were held at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

 

In one tweet dated December, 2020 he said: “No BATS were sent to Wuhan lab for genetic analysis of viruses collected in the field. That’s now how this science works. We collect bat samples, send them to the lab. We RELEASE bats where we catch them!”

 

In another tweet, dated December 11, 2020, he said: “This is a widely circulated conspiracy theory. This piece describes work I’m the lead on and labs I’ve collaborated with for 15 years. They DO NOT have live or dead bats in them. There is no evidence anywhere that this happened. It’s an error I hope will be corrected.”

 

This month, Daszak appeared to retract his earlier denials and admitted the Wuhan Institute of Virology may have housed bats but admitted he had not asked them.

 

The Chinese Academy of Sciences video was discovered by researchers investigating the origin of the pandemic who call themselves DRASTIC.

 

Digital archivist “Jesse” found the Chinese Academy of Sciences Video while the group's co-ordinator, who goes by a pseudonym of “Billy Bostickson” for safety reasons, has long complained evidence bats were housed in the Wuhan laboratories.

 

The video forms part of the investigation for the book “What Really Happened in Wuhan” which is available for pre-order at Amazon and Booktopia.

 

Mr Daszak has not responded to requests for comment.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANRs4DojOek

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 9:58 p.m. No.13898710   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8720 >>9875

>>13895726

Wuhan live bat video contradicts WHO investigation

 

SHARRI MARKSON - JUNE 14, 2021

 

1/2

 

The Wuhan Institute of Virology kept live bats in cages, new footage from inside the facility has revealed, disproving denials from World Health Organisation investigators who claimed the suggestion was a “conspiracy”.

 

An official Chinese Academy of Sciences video to mark the launch of the new biosafety level 4 laboratory in May 2017 speaks about security precautions in place if “an accident” occurs and reveals there had been “intense clashes” with the French government during the construction of the laboratory.

 

The video shows bats held in a cage at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, along with a scientist feeding a worm to a bat.

 

The 10-minute video – titled “The construction and research team of Wuhan P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences” – also features interviews with the lab’s leading scientists.

 

The WHO report investigating the origin of the pandemic failed to mention that any bats had been kept at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and only its annex referred to animals being housed there.

 

“The animal room in the P4 facility can handle a variety of species, including primate work with SARS-CoV-2,” it states.

 

US government officials investigating the origin of Covid-19 had questioned how a naturally occurring virus from bats in the Yunnan Province in southwestern China could have started a pandemic in Wuhan – a 20-hour drive away – without leaving any clusters or outbreaks along the way.

 

This revelation is crucial because it raises the possibility a lab employee may have become infected from a diseased bat housed in cages at the Wuhan institute.

 

Samples could also have been subject to genetic manipulation and other gain-of-function research which aims to increase the transmissibility and virility of viruses, ostensibly in order to predict which may be able to infect humans and cause a pandemic.

 

World leaders had called for the closure of Chinese wet markets where it had been believed bats were butchered and sold.

 

Bats were not sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market but were kept at the level 2 and 3 laboratories at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

 

A member of the WHO team investigating the origin of the pandemic in Wuhan, zoologist Peter Daszak, said it was a conspiracy to suggest bats were held at the Wuhan institute.

 

In one tweet in December, Dr Daszak said: “No BATS were sent to Wuhan lab for genetic analysis of viruses collected in the field. That’s not how this science works. We collect bat samples, send them to the lab. “We RELEASE bats where we catch them.”

 

In another tweet, he wrote: “This is a widely circulated conspiracy theory. This piece describes work I’m the lead on and labs I’ve collaborated with for 15 years. They DO NOT have live or dead bats in them.

 

“There is no evidence anywhere that this happened. It’s an error I hope will be corrected.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 10 p.m. No.13898720   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13898710

 

2/2

 

This month, Dr Daszak appeared to retract his earlier denials and admitted the Wuhan Institute of Virology may have housed bats.

 

He also admitted the WHO team had not asked them about it.

 

“We didn’t ask them if they had bats. I wouldn’t be surprised if, like many other virology labs, they were trying to set up a bat colony. I know it’s happening in labs here and in other countries,” he wrote on Twitter on June 1. “You’re right, labs in US & around world are trying to keep bats to test viral immune responses etc.

 

“None are successfully doing this at scale like lab mice & animals are always screened virus-free before expts, (sic) so even if WIV were trying this, it’s prob irrelevant for origins.”

 

The Chinese Academy of Sciences video shows bats in cages at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and a researcher feeding a worm to a bat. It was discovered by researchers investigating the origin of the pandemic who call themselves DRASTIC.

 

The group’s digital archivist, “Jesse”, found the video while the group’s co-ordinator, who goes by a pseudonym of “Billy Bostickson” for safety reasons, has long complained about evidence bats were housed in the Wuhan laboratories.

 

Kevin Carrico, a senior lecturer in Chinese studies at Monash University, translated the video for The Australian.

 

It states there were difficulties behind-the-scenes during the construction phase of the level 4 laboratory. The lab was initially meant to be a joint undertaking between the French and Chinese governments.

 

“Our collaboration with France on this project went through more than a decade of intense clashes resulting from our different cultural backgrounds and understandings,” the video says. After it was built, the French scientists and officials were evicted from the laboratory, sparking concerns among French intelligence about the type of biological research China planned to undertake there.

 

In the video, Wuhan Biosafety Level 4 laboratory director Yuan Zhiming discusses the technical support in the central control room in case there are “any accidents”. “Staff in our central control room remain in constant contact with staff in our laboratory,” he said.

 

“Providing necessary technical support for their experiments as well as for any accidents.”

 

The video also shows a bat hanging off a researcher’s hat while the narrator speaks about the work of the lab’s director of emerging infectious diseases, Shi Zhengli. “Over more than a decade, Shi Zhengli’s research team has collected more than 15,000 bat samples in China and many countries of Africa, searching for the origins of SARS, as well as isolating and characterising many new viruses,” the narrator says.

 

The Wuhan Institute of Virology has now collected 19,000 bat samples, with coronaviruses detected in 2481 samples.

 

The SARS-like coronaviruses had only been found in Yunnan, according to information Shi Zhengli gave the WHO.

 

Dr Daszak has not responded to requests for comment.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/wuhan-live-bat-video-contradicts-who-investigation/news-story/3c9445445f7cd1e1ad0229665660b1df

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20201210114149/https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/status/1336998740981403649

 

https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/status/1337047733253836803

 

https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/status/1399568887499350017

 

https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/status/1399783037089599498

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 10:08 p.m. No.13898754   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8758 >>9830 >>9865

>>13889054

Allies rally to Scott Morrison’s call on China

 

GEOFF CHAMBERS - JUNE 14, 2021

 

1/3

 

Scott Morrison has won the support of the world’s biggest democracies and Australia’s wartime allies – the US and Britain – in pushing back against growing Chinese power and influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

 

The Prime Minister raised China’s list of 14 grievances against Australia in his private address to leaders on the final day of the G7 summit, setting-out “very clearly that there are differences in world view”.

 

Mr Morrison said while the Chinese embassy’s list of grievances was not a surprise to G7 leaders given recent tensions with Australia, “there was obviously a lot of interest about the reasons for that”.

 

“And they may never be able to be resolved. But living with China, which is the goal, also requires us to be very clear about what our values are, what our principles are, how our countries are run. And how we will continue to run,” Mr Morrison told The Australian.

 

Speaking before flying into London on Sunday night, Mr Morrison said Australia was not alone in sharing similar experiences with China, “particularly those who are more familiar with the region, who have had greater engagement with the region”.

 

“There are European countries that have been through similar periods as Australia.

 

But the way through that is just to be patient,” he said.

 

“Keep seeking what the ultimate goal is, to be consistent and clear and resolute in the positions that you hold but with the objective of getting to a point where we once again can engage in the dialogue and the partnership that we have in the past.

 

“But not at the cost or the price of any of the issues that were set out on those 14 points being conceded.”

 

The summit has already ­delivered two pointed messages to Beijing, with G7 leaders ­announcing a global infrastructure plan to rival China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative and the World Health Organisation demanding more transparency over the origin of the coronavirus.

 

“There were difficulties in data sharing, especially raw data … (we) hope the next phase there will be better co-operation and transparency,” the WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said.

 

The G7 communique released at the end of the three-day summit in the Cornish seaside resort village of Carbis Bay called out China over poor behaviour including human rights abuses.

 

In brief comments before a bilateral meeting with Mr Morrison on Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said “the only difference in views (at the G7) was the intensity of the message to China”, reflecting hesitation by some European nations in escalating tensions with Beijing.

 

Mr Morrison said some European nations had a “different perspective because of their geography”.

 

“They have a different perspective because of their economies. We have a different perspective because we live in the Indo-Pacific and so our economies are integrated into the Indo Pacific differently to what they are in Europe.”

 

“But that’s changing rapidly. What I detected was an increasing and significant awareness of the impact of tensions in the Indo-Pacific for the broader global system and that in particular relates to Europe.

 

“There was a very high level of awareness and a very strong level of support for what has been a very consistent and clear stand that Australia has taken. Consistent with our democratic values which are shared by all of those who joined in the discussions these past few days.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 10:09 p.m. No.13898758   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8763

>>13898754

 

2/3

 

Responding to comments made by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that a sensible person wouldn’t discount that Covid-19 could have come from a lab, Mr Morrison said the second phase of the World Health Organisation into the origins of the pandemic was “already overdue”.

 

“I can’t tell you how it’s sourced. I don’t know. That’s the point, we don’t know and all the potential sources should be obviously understood. And for another reason so we know how we might be able to handle this better in the future.”

 

Mr Morrison has supported a global early warning system to provide nations early advice at the onset of a pandemic and for the WHO to be handed weapons-inspector style powers.

 

Historic trilateral meeting

 

Mr Morrison’s G7-plus speech came after a historic meeting with Joe Biden and Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the summit in the Cornish resort of Carbis Bay where they spoke of escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific and the need to work closely in ­response to those threats.

 

A planned first in-person meeting between Mr Morrison and Mr Biden, where they were set to discuss defence and strategic partnerships across security, climate change and supply chains, was scaled-up 24 hours before the talks, with Australia, the US and UK coming together for a rare trilateral meeting.

 

That meeting followed a separate catch-up between Mr Morrison and Mr Johnson at the British leaders’ residence.

 

After the talks, Mr Biden and Mr Morrison walked together to the G7-plus leaders’ family photo before a joint US-Britain-Australia statement was released.

 

“They discussed a number of issues of mutual concern, including the Indo-Pacific region. They agreed that the strategic context in the Indo-Pacific was changing and that there was a strong rationale for deepening co-operation between the three governments,” the joint statement said.

 

Mr Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga – another key player in the region – shared breakfast and a beach walk together on the final day of the summit, discussing regional ­security and climate partnerships.

 

The Indo-Pacific step-up, Beijing’s economic coercion of countries including Australia, and increasing disinformation and cyber campaigns linked to China and Russia have been a key focus at the G7-plus leaders’ summit.

 

Mr Morrison said the meeting with Mr Biden and Mr Johnson had allowed them “to discuss the Indo-Pacific situation more broadly”. “Australia has no greater friends than the United States and the United Kingdom and we’ve been working together on our respective security issues for a very long time,” he said of the Australia-US-UK leaders’ meeting.

 

“We had a good ­opportunity to talk about those and look to see how we can further co-operate in the future. The situation only reinforces the need for us to have deeper ­co-operation.” The Prime Minister was due to fly to London on Sunday night, ahead of an ­address to business leaders at an Australian British Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Monday and planned meetings with ­national security agency heads at MI6, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and senior ministers including British Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 10:10 p.m. No.13898763   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13898758

 

3/3

 

Following a NATO summit on Monday – where Mr Biden will agitate for the security alliance to refocus its mission towards new global threats – Mr Johnson will return to London for a dinner with Mr Morrison.

 

The pair will meet at Downing Street on Tuesday morning, where an initial plan for them to sign an in-principle agreement is now unlikely to occur. Mr Morrison is also expected to meet with the Queen at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.

 

Speaking to G7 leaders and guests in an earlier session on health and pandemic preparedness, Mr Morrison backed a global early warning system for pandemics and a 100-day plan proposed at the summit.

 

The Australian understands Mr Morrison won support – which was expected to be reflected in the final G7 communique – in relation to his calls for the World Health Organisation to be bolstered with new powers similar to those of weapons inspectors.

 

Mr Morrison also declared “more work” needed to be done to determine the origins of Covid-19, with global investigations focused on whether it had natural origins or may have leaked from a lab.

 

Australia’s early push to investigate the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic led to a rapid deterioration of economic relations with China, as Beijing imposed significant tariffs on imports of wine, beef, coal and barley.

 

“It’s very important that we understand the origins and there has already been discussion around our preparedness for any future pandemic that the world can move quickly on issues like vaccines,” Mr Morrison said, adding the purpose of the inquiries had nothing to do with “politics or frankly blame”.

 

“It’s about understanding it so we all on a future ­occasion can move quickly and can avoid on a future occasion the absolute carnage that we’ve seen from this pandemic,” he said.

 

“The process we called for is not yet done, it is recommending further work. And recommending that there be further powers for the WHO to be able to identify these things early, and ensure that information is passed on in a timely way.”

 

Mr Morrison, who confirmed climate change was not the subject of his discussions with Mr Biden and Mr Johnson, said Australia’s alliance with the US and UK “has never been stronger”.

 

“It was a meeting of great friends and allies who share a view on the world. It was a great opportunity for my first meeting, of course, with the President. I’ve known Boris for many years.

 

“And there was a very easy understanding amongst the three of us. As liberal democracies with a great history of friendship and partnership and a shared view on the world and its challenges, and strategic challenges at that.

 

“We are very conscious of the environment we face but whatever that environment is we’ll always face it together.”

 

Mr Johnson has dramatically ramped-up Britain’s military presence in the Indo-Pacific, ­including sending a naval carrier strike group led by aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth on a 28-week maiden voyage, including movements through the South China Sea and Philippine Sea.

 

Mr Morrison said Australia’s handling of the Chinese economic relationship was based on being “consistent”.

 

“We are for a stable and peaceful and open Indo-Pacific. That’s in everybody’s interests,” he said.

 

“It’s in Australia’s interests, it’s in China’s interests. And for the free trade that can occur throughout the region.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/allies-rally-to-scott-morrisons-call-on-china/news-story/5d2a8765184819a5d988c0858b7c2e6d

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 11:03 p.m. No.13898968   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8977 >>7315 >>9889

>>13818968

QAnon follower Tim Stewart's an old friend of Scott Morrison. His family reported him to the national security hotline

 

Louise Milligan, Jeanavive McGregor and Lauren Day - 14 June 2021

 

1/3

 

The family of a man who has been friends with Prime Minister Scott Morrison for decades and follows the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon have revealed they are so concerned about his beliefs they have notified the national security hotline several times.

 

The Stewart family have broken their silence to Four Corners because they are worried about the immersion of Tim Stewart in QAnon beliefs.

 

QAnon's followers broadly believe that former US President Donald Trump has waged a secret war against corrupt and satanic elites, including parts of government (dubbed the "deep state") and A-list celebrities.

 

Tim Stewart and his wife Lynelle's friendship with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny began in the early 90s.

 

Tim has been described on social media by Scott Morrison as an "amazing guy". Lynelle Stewart worked for her "forever friend" Jenny Morrison at the official Prime Ministerial residence in Sydney, Kirribilli House, as a household attendant until late last year.

 

During that time, the Stewart family say their concerns about Tim grew as he has become increasingly obsessed with the QAnon conspiracy theory.

 

Tim's sister Karen Stewart says his views are extreme.

 

"Tim believes that the world has really been taken over by satanic paedophiles, or Luciferian paedophiles," Karen says.

 

"I don't understand why the PM would want to be seen to be with someone who has such radical beliefs."

 

Scott Morrison has not responded on the record to questions about whether he and Tim Stewart are still friends.

 

When asked about Four Corners's upcoming story in a recent press conference, the Prime Minister said it was disappointing the program would seek to cast aspersions on him and his family.

 

"I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not," Mr Morrison said.

 

Karen Stewart says, "the experience of watching someone become radicalised is the most unusual thing," but she feels it was her "civic duty to make that phone call" to the national security hotline.

 

"We decided we can make excuses for lots of things but if we're under threat and our safety is a concern, we have to legitimately inform somebody," Karen says.

 

"So, we did make a report to the authorities to ensure that we were doing the right thing as community members."

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 11:05 p.m. No.13898977   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8981

>>13898968

 

2/3

 

Tim Stewart believes 'evil people' are trying to harvest children's blood

 

Tim Stewart's blog, Sideways Step, lays out a central thesis of the QAnon conspiracy theory - that a group of leftist elites are running a paedophile ring designed to harvest children's blood.

 

"The true nature of these crimes shows that humans are being treated as a commodity and human energy is being harvested without permission," Mr Stewart writes.

 

"Furthermore, it is focused on children, who are more innocent and unaware …

 

"Why do evil people wish to rob a young child of their virginity? … Why do they drink blood? Why do they need to sacrifice humans?"

 

Tim's family says he told them he could talk to cockroaches and that both former American first lady Michelle Obama and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were actually men.

 

"They believe there's a spiritual warfare being waged and that they have knowledge of this and so that they're on a crusade to win to make sure that the Satanists are overthrown," Karen says.

 

Four Corners has learned that Australia's top spy chief, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess, has also been made aware of the concerns about Tim Stewart.

 

The internet's 'saddest place'

 

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank that examines extremism, recently reported that Australia was the fourth most active country for QAnon supporters after the US, Canada and the UK.

 

Jitarth Jadeja is a moderator of an online forum for people who've lost family members to QAnon. The Reddit group has about 160,000 members.

 

"Every day I see … stories of families being ripped apart; people's children being kicked out of the house by their parents. People having to call off marriages after decades," Mr Jadeja says.

 

"It is the saddest place on the internet."

 

Mr Jadeja knows the power of the conspiracy theory. He was completely engrossed in it for one and a half years.

 

"The power is the behavioural change that it causes in a believer, it's destructive to the person themselves and their relationships, their family and friends."

 

"It destroyed beyond repair a lot, if not most, of my relationships."

 

Tim Stewart's mother Val has watched her son's dramatic change.

 

"I'm not a psychologist, I'm his mum and I hope that one day, some of this might be in the past, but I know that there are just concerns that we would have in hearing and watching some of what has happened over particularly this last year or so,"Val says.

 

Tim's Twitter account has been permanently suspended for "engaging in coordinated harmful activity".

 

The family has been fractured further by politics.

 

Karen Stewart ran as a candidate for the Greens in the last state election, while Tim has become more and more immersed in QAnon and Trumpist politics.

 

Karen Stewart says her brother has told her that, "if people wear red shoes, then they're wearing red so that when babies are slaughtered and the blood falls on the ground that no-one will see the blood spatter".

 

She says the conspiracy theory is so extreme that anyone who doesn't believe in QAnon is considered a "paedophile enabler".

 

"And so, they've really weaponised that from a political standpoint."

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 13, 2021, 11:06 p.m. No.13898981   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13898977

 

3/3

 

'You have to maintain the public's trust'

 

On social media, Tim Stewart has shared material by Donald Trump saying the US election victory for Joe Biden was "The Big Lie", compared vaccine promotion to Nazism, and reposted comments about overthrowing "the tyrannical ruling class".

 

"The Deep State… have committed open electoral fraud in full view of the world," he wrote of the US election result.

 

"Things are about to get very messy for those who commit treason and for those who aid and abet those committing treason."

 

Chief of staff at the US Department of Homeland Security during the Trump administration Miles Taylor describes the QAnon conspiracy theory as "indiscriminately crazy" and believes Mr Morrison should condemn it.

 

Mr Taylor says he and his colleagues worried that the "vitriolic rhetoric" of conspiracy theories like QAnon "could jump the tracks into violence very, very easily".

 

"It wasn't just a law enforcement concern, we started to view it as a real national security threat," Mr Taylor says.

 

"I think it's important for the Prime Minister and any other national leader to disavow individuals either within their orbit or outside of their orbit who harbour these types of extremist views. That's really important.

 

"We all have friends and family members that have unorthodox views, but when you're put in a position of public trust you have to maintain the public's trust."

 

Tim Stewart told Four Corners he doesn't promote or support any kind of violence.

 

"I am too busy to read questions relating to the nonsense that's been put out there, which are just hit pieces."

 

In response to questions, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister told Four Corners:

 

"This is a politically motivated slur against the Prime Minister and his family by a Four Corners program that is already facing serious questions about the accuracy, bias and credibility of its journalism, that is now giving credence to irrational Twitter conspiracy theorists and raising the profile of what the Prime Minister clearly deems a discredited and dangerous fringe group."

 

Breakdown of family over radical beliefs

 

Apart from their national security concerns, the Stewart family is also confronting the breakdown of a relationship with a son and a brother.

 

They're speaking out as a warning to other families about the dangers of online extremism.

 

"I think almost all of us have broken down on the phone trying to explain the loss of a family member," Karen says.

 

"And I know my mother has viewed it, she's described it as grieving. Grieving the loss of someone who's still alive and that's - it's a very confusing emotion."

 

Watch the full investigation on Four Corners tonight at 8:30pm on ABC TV or livestream on the Four Corners Facebook page.

 

https://www.facebook.com/abc4corners/

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-14/qanon-follower-old-friend-scott-morrison-stewart-family-speaks/100125156

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 14, 2021, 1:22 a.m. No.13899396   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9400 >>9889

>>13818968

Scott Morrison hits out at Four Corners ahead of QAnon report

 

Scott Morrison has accused the ABC’s Four Corners program of a “politically motivated slur” over a highly-anticipated QAnon report tonight.

 

Samantha Maiden - JUNE 14, 2021

 

1/2

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused the ABC’s Four Corners program of a “politically motivated slur” over a report tonight that reveals the sister of a family friend of the Morrisons was so concerned about her brother’s links to a bizarre conspiracy theory QAnon that she notified the national security hotline several times.

 

The Prime Minister has slammed suggestions he has any links to the “dangerous” QAnon conspiracy cult that believes a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles tried to undermine Donald Trump.

 

Mr Morrison and his wife, Jenny, have been family friends with the man’s wife for decades and previously employed her at Kirribilli in a taxpayer-funded job.

 

But the ABC’s Four Corners program will delve into the relationship between the Prime Minister, Mrs Morrison and the man, named as Tim Stewart, tonight in a highly anticipated episode after the program was delayed by the ABC managing director David Anderson earlier this month.

 

Last year, Mr Stewart’s QAnon inspired Twitter account, BurnedSpy34, was permanently suspended for “engaging in co-ordinated harmful activity”.

 

Ahead of the program, the Prime Minister has released the statement he provided to Four Corners on the episode.

 

“This is a politically motivated slur against the Prime Minister and his family by a Four Corners program that is already facing serious questions about the accuracy, bias and credibility of its journalism, that is now giving credence to irrational Twitter conspiracy theorists and raising the profile of what the Prime Minister clearly deems a discredited and dangerous fringe group,” a spokesman said.

 

At a press conference in Canberra last week, the Prime Minister criticised the ABC for pursuing the story and said he wanted to make it clear he had no links with the cult whatsoever.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation,” Mr Morrison said.

 

“I clearly do not.”

 

The ABC reports tonight that Mr Stewart has a blog, Sideways Step, that examines theories that paedophiles are drinking children’s blood.

 

“The true nature of these crimes shows that humans are being treated as a commodity and human energy is being harvested without permission,” Mr Stewart writes.

 

“Why do evil people wish to rob a young child of their virginity? … Why do they drink blood? Why do they need to sacrifice humans?”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 14, 2021, 1:23 a.m. No.13899400   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13899396

 

2/2

 

But Mr Stewart told Four Corners any suggestion he supported violence for example the US Capitol riots were “nonsense”.

 

“I am too busy to read questions relating to the nonsense that’s been put out there, which are just hit pieces,” he said.

 

He has previously told The Guardian newspaper that it was completely wrong to suggest he was influencing the Prime Minister.

 

“I have never spoken to Scott about anything of a political nature. I’m not an adviser. The idea of me talking to him about this … it’s just not true,” he said.

 

Mr Stewart’s estranged sister Karen Stewart, who is a former candidate for the Greens, has been open about her concerns regarding her brothers’ views on social media for years.

 

“Tim believes that the world has really been taken over by satanic paedophiles, or Luciferian paedophiles,” she told Four Corners.

 

She told Four Corners that she ultimately felt it was her “civic duty to make that phone call” to the national security hotline.

 

“We decided we can make excuses for lots of things but if we’re under threat and our safety is a concern, we have to legitimately inform somebody,” Karen says.

 

“So, we did make a report to the authorities to ensure that we were doing the right thing as community members.”

 

The ABC’s managing director, David Anderson has previously rejected reports that he “pulled” the program, prepared by multi-Walkley Award-winning journalist Louise Milligan.

 

It follows Ms Milligan’s high profile defamation battle with former Attorney-General Christian Porter that he has now discontinued and will not pursue further.

 

“Any suggestion that I ‘pulled’ or ‘blocked’ the program is simply not true,” Mr Anderson told staff.

 

The ABC news director, Gaven Morris is understood to have “upwardly referred” the episode to the managing director ahead of his appearance at Senate estimates.

 

It also emerged that the ABC’s political editor, Andrew Probyn, was asked to put a series of questions to Morrison at a press conference by Four Corners but declined to do so.

 

His refusal to assist his Four Corners colleagues and details of the conversations between the ABC’s Canberra bureau and Four Corners was then leaked to newspapers.

 

Probyn declined to comment on the claims.

 

As a result of the ABC Canberra bureau’s refusal to co-operate with Four Corners, another ABC reporter travelled to Canberra at taxpayers’ expense to ask the questions but was unable to ask the question because the Prime Minister did not hold a press conference.

 

News.com.au has contacted both Mr Stewart and his wife Lynelle for comment.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/scott-morrison-hits-out-at-four-corners-ahead-of-qanon-report/news-story/9787efa1317b776be677b803eac2a1c1

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 14, 2021, 2:03 a.m. No.13899550   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9555 >>9865

‘The Last G7’: Satirical cartoon mocking bloc’s attempt to suppress China goes viral

 

Global Times - Jun 13, 2021

 

1/2

 

A Chinese cartoonist’s political satire, which mocked the Group of Seven (G7) members that attempt to suppress China, went viral on Chinese social media on Sunday, when the G7 summit was underway in Cornwall, the UK.

 

Titled The Last G7, the illustration, published by its author “Bantonglaoatang” on Sina Weibo on Saturday, was painted based on the renowned religious mural The Last Supper. This G7 summit is widely seen as an attempt by the US to rally allies against China.

 

Similar to the final meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his crucifixion that The Last Supper depicted, Bantonglaoatang painted a vivid picture of nine animals – respectively representing the US, the UK, Italy, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Australia and India – sitting around a table with a Chinese-map-shaped cake on it. On top of the painting is the words in quote: Through this we can still rule the world.

 

These animals have different facial expressions and gestures, implying that each side of the G7 actually has its own axe to grind on the common conspiracies of suppressing China and upholding the Western hegemony, analyzed some observers and Chinese netizens.

 

Wearing a bowler hat with an American flag on it, a bald eagle sits in the middle like Jesus in The Last Supper, obviously the convenor of the meal. In front of the bald eagle there is a small banknote printing machine and a bill on the table. The machine is printing toilet paper into dollars, and the number on the bill gets bigger and bigger – from $2 trillion to $8 trillion.

 

There is also an iron hook under its feet, and two pieces of cotton with blood near its hands on the table, suggesting “the US’ capital accumulation was built on racial oppression,” a vlogger nicknamed “sharp-tongued pumpkin” said in his latest video analyzing the illustration, which has gained over 700,000 views on video streaming platform Bilibili within a day after he uploaded it on Saturday afternoon.

 

The bald eagle image shows today’s aggressive yet feeble US is trapped in its growing debt crisis and racial conflicts, but still points fingers at China, “sharp-tongued pumpkin” pointed out.

 

Sitting on the left of the bald eagle is a grey wolf, wearing a cap with an Italian flag on it. The wolf waves its hands as the apostle Andrew in The Last Supper, as if saying “No” to the US’ suggestions of jointly cracking down on China. The grey wolf image shows Italy, the first European country that joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is reluctant to collaborate with the US in suppressing China, commented “sharp-tongued pumpkin.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 14, 2021, 2:04 a.m. No.13899555   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13899550

 

2/2

 

Next to the wolf is an Akita dog that represents Japan. Without a seat, it is busy serving the others a “drink” – pouring green radioactive water into the glasses of the other animals. On Weibo some users said the green water is the contaminated water that Japan plans to release to the Pacific from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.

 

Sitting next to the dog is a kangaroo, which is stretching its left hand to the banknotes that the US is printing, while grasping a bag in its right hand. The kangaroo symbolizes the double-faced Australia which actively cooperates with the US in containing China, but is also eager to earn money from China, its largest trading partner, according to “sharp-tongued pumpkin.”

 

On the left corner stands a black hawk, which obviously represents Germany as its pose is almost the same as that of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a widespread photo in the G7 summit in 2018. Germany, similar to the rooster (representing France) sitting in silence on the right side, seems more interested in its own European issues and shows less enthusiasm on the US’ propaganda, netizens found.

 

On the right side of the table also sits a lion and a nutria, respectively representing the UK and Canada, both the US’ close Five Eyes allies. The nutria, wearing a red coat with images of marijuana on it, holds a doll in its hand. Many netizens believe the doll represents Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is still unreasonably detained in Canada.

 

On the right corner of the table sits an elephant (representing India) that is on a drip like a patient.

 

Under the table there is a frog holding banknotes in its hands, trying to jump as high as possible to reach the table and give the money to the US. The little frog symbolizes the separatist authority from the island of Taiwan, which is always subservient to the US, some netizens pointed out.

 

The illustration caused a stir on Weibo on Sunday, with numerous users praising the author for vividly and straightforwardly revealing the evil intentions of the West that tries to lay a siege to China. “But this is perhaps their ‘last supper,’’’ one user mocked. “With different positions, for various interests of their own, these countries and regions can’t form a real league against China.”

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202106/1226050.shtml

 

https://weibo.com/2169767811/KjNAVmgTv

 

https://twitter.com/half_soup/status/1403538339924365313

 

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ah411e7VW

Anonymous ID: 5ad3b4 June 14, 2021, 10:28 a.m. No.13901857   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

Latest chapter in the Friendly Jordies (Jordan Shanks) vs. John 'Bruz' Barilaro legal battle:

 

Kristo Langker, Jordan's producer is forcibly arrested by the NSW secret police on stalking charge.

Very disturbing.

 

Links to full history in description.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXtq4a8829g

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 14, 2021, 11:12 a.m. No.13902165   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2294 >>9889

>>13818968

This family reported their son to national security authorities over QAnon | Four Corners

 

ABC News In-depth

 

Jun 14, 2021

 

The far-right political movement known as QAnon has taken off around the world, mobilising a committed band of believers dedicated to fighting what they claim is an ‘online war’ against corrupt, child abusing elites.

 

In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has declared QAnon a potential domestic terrorism threat.

 

The conspiracy theory is also tearing families apart.

 

The parents and sister of a QAnon follower who has been friends with the Australian Prime Minister have revealed they were so concerned about his beliefs, they notified the national security hotline several times.

 

In an exclusive interview with Four Corners, the family speak out about their growing fears of the powerful hold this extremist movement now has over him.

 

Scott Morrison has not responded on the record to questions about whether he and Tim Stewart are still friends.

 

When asked about Four Corners’ story in a press conference in June 2021, the Prime Minister said it was deeply offensive to suggest that he would support ‘such a dangerous organisation’.

 

Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-14/qanon-follower-old-friend-scott-morrison-stewart-family-speaks/100125156

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ol1aUN_Go

Anonymous ID: 6a099f June 14, 2021, 11:35 a.m. No.13902294   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9889

>>13902165

Here's the yahoo article on that FBI thing, stroy was found greatly amusing by anons as it turns out the Investigators at the mighty Bureau used Snopes. The one submitting the crap to start with was a full bore libtard.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/fbi-documents-conspiracy-theories-terrorism-160000507.html

 

The true domestic terror organisations in the World are Main Stream Media

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 14, 2021, 11:50 a.m. No.13902382   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2399 >>7563 >>9889

>>13818968

ABC accuses Scott Morrison of validating a 'QAnon' conspiracy theory at the behest of his good mate during his apology to the victims of child sexual abuse'

 

LEVI PARSONS and MICHAEL PICKERING - 14 June 2021

 

1/2

 

The ABC has accused Scott Morrison of supporting bizarre 'QAnon' conspiracy theories about satanic paedophiles during a 2018 speech about child abuse.

 

Offering recognition to victims of child sex abuse, the Prime Minister's speech was well received by survivors and the wide nation when he made the apology in Parliament.

 

But according to a controversial Four Corners episode that almost didn't make it to air, he also uttered a phrase some conspiracy theorists claim was a dog whistle to the far-right fringe group QAnon.

 

During the speech, the prime minister described the long history of sexual crimes committed at institutions such as churches and children's homes across Australia as 'ritual sexual abuse'.

 

The Four Corners episode, which aired on Monday, claimed a friend of Mr Morrison, Tim Stewart, who is deeply embedded in the bizarre QAnon movement, lobbied the nation's leader to get those words in the speech.

 

The baseless internet cult gained worldwide prominence during the Trump presidency and assert that 'leftist' politicians, celebrities and elites are satanic paedophiles who operate through a 'deep state'.

 

The group also bizarrely claims, without evidence, that New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and former First Lady of the US Michelle Obama are men in disguise.

 

Elise Thomas, an open source intelligence analyst for the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, said the term 'ritual' for QAnon followers denotes the satanic elements of their beliefs, rather than the ordinary meaning of something occurring regularly.

 

'The use of the phrase "ritual sex abuse" will have been taken as validation of the conspiracy theory by QAnon followers because it's a person in authority using this phrase which appears to directly reference the conspiracy theory,' she told the program.

 

The Prime Minister's office has vehemently denied he used the words as a subtle nod to the QAnon group.

 

'The term "ritual" is one that the Prime Minister heard directly from the abuse survivors and the National Apology victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Reference Group he met with in the lead up to the apology,' an earlier statement said.

 

'It refers not just to the ritualised way or patterns in which so many crimes were committed but also to the frequency and repetition of them.'

 

The man at the centre of the alleged push to get the term included in the apology, Mr Stewart, who had been friends with the prime minister since the 1990s, was recently banned from Twitter for engaging in 'coordinated harmful activity'.

 

He also ran a blog on which he claimed 'elites' in Western nations were running a paedophile ring 'designed to harvest children's blood'.

 

His family have now become so concerned about his spiraling obsession with QAnon that they phoned the the national security hotline several times.

 

Mr Stewart's wife, Lynelle, has been friends with the Prime Minister's wife, Jenny, since they were teenagers, and was given security clearance in mid-2019 to work as an attendant at the Prime Minister's Sydney residence, Kirribilli House.

 

It is not suggested, however, that Mr Stewart's wife posed any security risk. She also did not raise the alarm about his views as his mother and sister did.

 

The airing of the program was previously delayed by senior ABC news figures, with managing director David Anderson telling a Senate estimates hearing last week that he had 'queries and concerns' about the program.

 

Mr Morrison was also asked about the program in a press conference.

 

'I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation,' Mr Morrison said.

 

'It is also disappointing that Four Corners would seek to cast this aspersion not just against me but members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form.'

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 14, 2021, 11:51 a.m. No.13902399   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13902382

 

2/2

 

Mr Stewart's sister Karen told the program that her brother believes the world had been taken over by this supposed group of paedophiles.

 

Among his more radical beliefs, she said, Mr Stewart believed he could talk to cockroaches and that both former American first lady Michelle Obama and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were really men.

 

Ms Stewart claimed her brother told her that if people wore red shoes, it's so they could disguise the splatter of blood from slaughtered babies as it falls to the ground.

 

He also supported online the theory that last year's US election was stolen from Donald Trump via his blog.

 

'Tim believes that the world has really been taken over by satanic paedophiles, or Luciferian paedophiles,' Karen told Four Corners.

 

On Mr Stewart's blog, Sideways Step, he wrote: 'The true nature of these crimes shows that humans are being treated as a commodity and human energy is being harvested without permission.'

 

'Furthermore, it is focused on children, who are more innocent and unaware,' he said.

 

'Why do evil people wish to rob a young child of their virginity?… Why do they drink blood? Why do they need to sacrifice humans?'

 

Ms Stewart said her family felt it was their 'civic duty' to report the radicalisation of her brother by the QAnon conspiracy community.

 

'But I know that there are just concerns that we would have in hearing and watching some of what has happened over particularly this last year or so.'

 

Karen, a candidate for The Greens, said disagreements over her brother's extreme views tore their family apart.

 

'I think almost all of us have broken down on the phone trying to explain the loss of a family member,' she said.

 

'And I know my mother has viewed it, she's described it as grieving. Grieving the loss of someone who's still alive and that's - it's a very confusing emotion.'

 

The program included an interview with Miles Taylor, former chief of staff of the US Department of Homeland Security, who urged Mr Morrison to condemn Qanon.

 

'It wasn't just a law enforcement concern, we started to view it as a real national security threat,' Mr Taylor said of QAnon.

 

'I think it's important for the prime minister and any other national leader to disavow individuals either within their orbit or outside of their orbit who harbour these types of extremist views.'

 

QAnon flags and insignia were seen during the January 6 attack on the US Capitol building earlier this year. The 'QAnon shaman', Jake Angeli, who stormed the building with a US flag and a horned fur hat, became an instant symbol of the movement.

 

There had been speculation over whether Mr Stewart wielded any influence over the prime minister since he claimed Mr Morrison's use of the word 'ritual' in the 2018 parliamentary apology to survivors of institutional sex abuse reflected QAnon beliefs.

 

Tim Stewart responded to questions from Four Corners by describing reports about him as 'hit pieces'.

 

'I am too busy to read questions relating to the nonsense that's been put out there, which are just hit pieces,' he said.

 

In a statement to the program, the Mr Morrison said its focus was 'a politically motivated slur'.

 

'This is a politically motivated slur against the prime minister and his family by a Four Corners program that is already facing serious questions about the accuracy, bias and credibility of its journalism,' a statement from his office said.

 

'[It] is now giving credence to irrational Twitter conspiracy theorists and raising the profile of what the Prime Minister clearly deems a discredited and dangerous fringe group.'

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9684293/ABC-Claim-Scott-Morrison-influenced-QAnon-supporter-mate-three-words.html

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 14, 2021, 8:34 p.m. No.13906276   🗄️.is 🔗kun

The Removal From Power of Benjamin Netanyahu Is A Game Changer

 

Benjamin Fulford 6/14/21

 

The formal removal from power of Israeli Crime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a geopolitical game-changer. Netanyahu’s departure means the messianic Zionist fanatics who want to kill 90% of humanity and rule the survivors from a greater Israel have lost.

 

“This is momentous to counter KM (Khazarian Mafia) geopolitics,” MI6 sources say. Netanyahu is being taken into protective custody so that he can sing about his hidden controllers before he is killed and silenced, they add. Mossad sources insist the real Netanyahu is long gone and what we are seeing is a clone. However, the MI6 version of events is more in line with what most of us understand as reality.

 

In any case, some recent news items show how big a change is coming to the Middle East. Just before Netanyahu was ousted the Mossad linked site DEBKA posted the following:

 

“Iran’s nuclear breakout may soon be a matter of weeks. This assessment by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, June 8th, confronts the incoming Bennett-Lapid government with its first major challenge – indeed the most ominous test that has faced any past Israeli government.” https://www.debka.com/first-test-for-emerging-israeli-government-iran-is-galloping-towards-breakout-says-blinken/

 

Do these idiots actually believe anybody listens to them anymore after repeating this weekly for over 30 years?

 

Now instead we see the Israeli colony of Saudi Arabia trying to make peace with Syria and Iran. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/8/times-have-changed-saudi-syria-in-rapprochement-talks

 

The Russians, for their part, know full well that “Hamas and IS were created by Israeli intel and all their leaders are working for ‘Mossada.’”This is the sort of behavior that prompted a collective decision by the world’s military to tell Israel to “stop or else.”

 

What has now happened is that the people of Israel decided they did not want to go through another Mossada-like collective suicide.

 

In any case, Russian FSB, MI6, Mossad, and CIA sources all agree that humanity faces a common enemy in the form of the Khazarian Mafia (KM). The KM members are now circling their wagons around their G7 slave civilian governments, NATO, and the banksters in Switzerland.

 

When an FSB source asked if the White Dragon Society was going to hit Geneva, Switzerland with a nuclear strike in order to take out the KM’s Octagon politburo, they were told the WDS “have decided that pinpoint surgery is the way to go.” To this,the FSB replied their analysis of the KM was that “the total top management is 2,500 people and at the very top are 200.”These people are now being actively hunted by MI6, the FSB, the CIA, and Asian secret societies.

 

To understand what kind of people we are dealing with we have been given a report by MI6 that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s doctor operated to repair vaginal damage he did to his daughter by repeatedly raping her. Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has been taking children from a certain hospital, raping them, and killing them.

 

That is why death warrants have been issued for these people, they say.

 

However, MI6 sources say that if push comes to shove “better millions dead than billions, that is how the real world we live and work in is… and it’s not for the faint-hearted.”

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 14, 2021, 8:36 p.m. No.13906289   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Benjamin Fulford Part 2

The Removal From Power of Benjamin Netanyahu Is A Game Changer

 

This is no exaggeration. Top-level military and agency personnel have taken action after receiving scientific proof the vaccines being pushed on much of the global population are highly toxic. That is why suddenly the pandemic and vaccines are vanishing from public discourse. In a sign of this, some corporate media have started to refer to Covid-19 by its traditional name “the common cold.” https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/06/08/reemergence-cold/

 

Despite this, the G7 slave governments issued a communiqué last weekend where they promised “starting immediately, to vaccinate the world…providing for one billion doses over the next year.” They added that “ending the pandemic in 2022 will require vaccinating at least 60 percent of the global population.” In other words, they are still bent on genocide. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/50361/carbis-bay-g7-summit-communique.pdf

 

Fortunately, the G7 is increasingly irrelevant. They accounted for 80% of world GDP when they were founded in 1976 but now, on a real purchasing power parity basis they account for more like 20%. This did not stop them from promising $40 trillion, way more than their collective GDP, to “fix global infrastructure.” Needless to say, the $40 trillion is just a giant fiat hallucination.

 

“Few still remember how our societies and economies were threatened by high inflation 50 years ago,” David Folkerts-Landau, Deutsche Bank chief economist and head of research, wrote in a paper co-written by his colleagues Jim Reid and Peter Hooper.”

 

The most basic laws of economics, the ones that have stood the test of time over a millennium, have not been suspended. Explosive growth in debt-financed largely by central banks is likely to lead to higher inflation.” In other words, there is such a thing known as reality and the fiat bankers have bumped into it.

 

There was also weird talk in the G7 communiqué about “action to decarbonize areas such as iron and steel, cement, chemicals, and petrochemicals,” as well as “decarbonized mobility including buses, trains, shipping, and aviation.” With all these weird reports about vaccinated people becoming like magnets, it makes one wonder if, as the Gnostic Illuminati say, the G7 works for a rogue artificial intelligence that also wants to “decarbonize” humans. In other words, it is working towards a shift from carbon-based life (like us) to silicon-based life.

 

In any case, “the Military were all watching the G7 summit and laughing,” MI6 promises. They say the Rothschilds are bankrupt because of lawsuits related to Libor manipulation. Now, this satanic family is “now desperately clinging to power using their poor cousins the Rockefellers.”

 

The fake Biden regime has shown itself to be a Rockefeller proxy by brazenly promoting their business interests. That is why they cut off the Keystone pipeline as the first order of business for their bogus regime. Also, if you look at their so-called “Three Seas Initiative,” you will see it consists of building ports and pipelines, etc., to allow European countries to import expensive Rockefeller LNG, oil, etc.

 

Sauce: benjaminfulford.net

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 14, 2021, 11:49 p.m. No.13907179   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7223 >>7883 >>5288 >>9889

FBI warns lawmakers that QAnon 'digital soldiers' may become more violent

 

Zachary Cohen and Whitney Wild - June 14, 2021

 

Washington (CNN)The FBI has warned lawmakers that online QAnon conspiracy theorists may carry out more acts of violence as they move from serving as "digital soldiers" to taking action in the real world following the January 6 US Capitol attack.

 

The shift is fueled by a belief among some of the conspiracy's more militant followers that they "can no longer 'trust the plan" set forth by its mysterious standard-bearer, known simply as "Q," according to an unclassified FBI threat assessment on QAnon sent to lawmakers last week, which was obtained by CNN.

 

But the report suggests the failure of QAnon predictions to materialize has not led to followers abandoning the conspiracy. Instead, there's a belief that individuals need to take greater control of the direction of the movement than before.

 

This might lead followers to seek to harm "perceived members of the 'cabal' such as Democrats and other political opposition – instead of continually awaiting Q's promised actions which have not occurred," according to the assessment.

 

"Other QAnon adherents likely will disengage from the movement or reduce their involvement in the wake of the administration change," it adds.

 

Frequently described as a virtual cult, QAnon is a sprawling far-right conspiracy theory that promotes the absurd and false claim that former President Donald Trump has been locked in a battle against a shadowy cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles made up of prominent Democratic politicians and liberal celebrities.

 

Members of the violent pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6 had ties to QAnon, and the conspiracy theory has made its way from online message boards into the political mainstream in recent years.

 

Titled "Adherence to QAnon Conspiracy Theory by Some Domestic Violent Extremists," the public FBI threat assessment was provided at the request of Democratic New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, who earlier this year revealed that the FBI had provided lawmakers with version of the document in February that was designated "for official use only."

 

"The participation of some domestic violent extremists (DVE) who are also self-identified QAnon adherents in the violent siege of the US Capitol on 6 January underscores how the current environment likely will continue to act as a catalyst for some to begin accepting the legitimacy of violent action," the unclassified FBI assessment obtained by CNN says.

 

"The FBI has arrested more than 20 self-identified QAnon adherents who participated in the 6 January violent unlawful entry of the Capitol. These individuals were charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct in a restricted building and obstruction of an official proceeding, according to court documents and press reporting based on court documentation, public statements, and social media posts," it reads.

 

Heinrich, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, requested a threat assessment on QAnon in December, one month before the January 6 insurrection. They received a response from the FBI in February Heinrich said during the World Wide Threats hearing earlier this spring before asking FBI Director Christopher Wray why he "cannot or won't tell the American people directly about the threat."

 

In April, Wray pledged to provide an assessment that could be released to the public. He also acknowledged he remained concerned about potential violence incited by QAnon but despite telling lawmakers that the conspiracy theory is something "we look at very seriously" when it is tied to a criminal act, he made clear the bureau is not investigating the online movement itself.

 

It was a distinction Wray was careful to highlight while testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, where he was pressed on whether the FBI is investigating elements of QAnon and asked to explain the threat it poses given its connection to the US Capitol attack earlier this year.

 

But despite characterizing QAnon as an online "movement" that in some instances "may be an inspiration for violent attacks," Wray reiterated that the FBI's investigative efforts regarding the conspiracy theory have been limited to instances where there are links to a federal crime.

 

"We're not investigating the theory in its own right," Wray told the House panel.

 

His comments underscored the complex challenge QAnon and other online conspiracy theories pose for the FBI as it investigates the January 6 attack and works with other federal agencies to address the threat of domestic extremism more broadly.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/14/politics/fbi-qanon-threat-assessment/index.html

 

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20889498/adherence-to-qanon-conspiracy-theory-by-some-domestic-violent-extremists.pdf

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, midnight No.13907223   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7227 >>9889

>>13907179

QAnon conspiracy theorists may become more violent, FBI report warns

 

9News Staff - Jun 15, 2021

 

1/2

 

The FBI has warned lawmakers that online QAnon conspiracy theorists may carry out more acts of violence as they move from serving as "digital soldiers" to taking action in the real world following the January 6 US Capitol attack.

 

The shift is fueled by a belief among some of the conspiracy's more militant followers that they "can no longer trust the plan" set forth by its mysterious standard-bearer, known simply as "Q," according an unclassified FBI threat assessment on QAnon sent to lawmakers last wee

 

The report warns that adherents of QAnon, the conspiracy theory embraced by some in the mob that stormed the US Capitol, could target Democrats and other political opponents for more violence as the movement's false prophecies don’t come true.

 

Many QAnon followers believe former President Donald Trump was fighting enemies within the so-called “deep state” to expose a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals operating a child sex trafficking ring.

 

Mr Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden disillusioned some believers in “The Storm,” a supposed reckoning in which Mr Trump’s enemies would be tried and executed.

 

Some adherents have now pivoted to believing Mr Trump is the “shadow president” or Mr Biden's victory was an illusion.

 

The report was compiled by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security and released overnight by Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat.

 

It predicts that while some QAnon adherents will pull back, others “likely will begin to believe they can no longer ‘trust the plan’ referenced in QAnon posts and that they have an obligation to change from serving as ‘digital soldiers’ towards engaging in real world violence.”

 

As major social media companies suspend or remove QAnon-themed accounts, many followers have moved to less well-known platforms and discussed how to radicalise new users on them, the report says.

 

The report says several factors will contribute to QAnon’s long-term durability, including the COVID-19 pandemic, some social media companies allowing posts about the theories, societal polarisation in the US, and the “frequency and content of pro-QAnon statements by public individuals who feature prominently in core QAnon narratives”.

 

The report does not identify any of those public individuals.

 

But Mr Trump, who while in office praised QAnon followers as “people that love our country," has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the election is over and spoken baselessly of his victory being “stolen,” despite multiple court rulings and a finding by his own Justice Department upholding the integrity of the election.

 

One longtime ally told The Associated Press that Mr Trump has given credence to a conspiracy theory that he could somehow be reinstated into the presidency in August.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 12:02 a.m. No.13907227   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13907223

 

2/2

 

Mr Heinrich pressed FBI Director Chris Wray in April to release an assessment of how the government views QAnon.

 

“The public deserves to know how the government assesses the threat to our country from those who would act violently on such beliefs,” he said then.

 

The movement around QAnon has already been linked to political violence, notably during the January 6 Capitol insurrection in which some rioters believed they would reverse Mr Trump’s defeat.

 

At least 20 QAnon followers have been charged with federal crimes related to January 6, according to an Associated Press review of court records.

 

Some charged in the riot wore attire bearing the telltale letter “Q” when they stormed the Capitol.

 

One of the defendants, Jacob Chansley, calls himself the “QAnon Shaman” and famously wore a furry hat with horns, face paint and no shirt that day.

 

Others had posted about QAnon on social media before the riot.

 

The Justice Department has arrested more than 400 people in the insurrection, where pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol, did about $1.9 million in damage and sent lawmakers running for their lives.

 

Five people died and dozens of police officers were wounded.

 

Defendants have argued that Mr Trump himself spurred them on, or they were just following the crowd, or law enforcement allowed them in, or they were the victims of disinformation stoked by right-wing media.

 

Lawyers for some of the defendants have argued their clients were specifically misguided by QAnon.

 

Defence attorney Christopher Davis argued that his client, Douglas Jensen, is a victim of internet-driven conspiracy promoted by “very clever people, who were uniquely equipped with slight, if any, moral or social consciousness.”

 

Mr Jensen now realises that he “bought into a pack of lies,” his lawyer maintains.

 

“For reasons he does not even understand today, he became a 'true believer' and was convinced he doing a noble service by becoming a digital soldier for 'Q.'

 

Maybe it was mid-life crisis, the pandemic, or perhaps the message just seemed to elevate him from his ordinary life to an exalted status with an honorable goal,” Mr Davis wrote.

 

A witness told the FBI that another defendant, Kevin Strong, expressed a belief that January 6 would usher in "World War 3" and the military would be involved.

 

Mr Strong, who was a Federal Aviation Administration employee in San Bernardino, California, had a flag with a QAnon slogan on his house and has declared that he had “Q clearance," an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.

 

“He had recently purchased a new truck and believed that QAnon would cover the debt,” the agent wrote.

 

https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-intel-report-warns-of-more-violence-by-qanon-followers/fab62edf-ee51-4d42-9d43-23cd089d8b6c

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 12:26 a.m. No.13907315   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7330 >>7799 >>2164 >>9889

>>13818968

>>13898968

Kevin Rudd Tweet

 

Morrison has questions to answer on his personal relationship with a leading activist of the same extremist religious/conspiracy group that stormed the US Capitol. His wife worked for Morrison.His family have reported him to the National Security Hotline

 

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1404418922787446784

 

QAnon follower Tim Stewart's an old friend of Scott Morrison. His family reported him to the national security hotline

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-14/qanon-follower-old-friend-scott-morrison-stewart-family-speaks/100125156

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 12:29 a.m. No.13907330   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9889

>>13818968

>>13907315

ABC News

 

VIDEO: Why do people buy into conspiracy theories like QAnon?

 

15 June 2021

 

Dr Mathew Marques from La Trobe University says QAnon is a good example of a politically-motivated conspiracy theory.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-15/why-do-people-buy-into-conspiracy-theories-like-qanon/13388796

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 12:36 a.m. No.13907352   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7358 >>5824 >>9889

What happened to QAnon, the conspiracy group linked to Scott Morrison?

 

Josh Butler and Samantha Dick - Jun 15, 2021

 

1/2

 

The controversial Four Corners episode detailing links between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and a man who supports the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory aired on Monday night, following weeks of intrigue and interest.

 

The report detailed concerns about the radicalisation of Tim Stewart, who is a close friend of the PM and whose wife Lynelle worked at Kirribili House.

 

Among the revelations from the family was that the Stewarts were due to be on the PM’s controversial Hawaii holiday.

 

“Tim and Lynelle were just sharing that there was a holiday planned in Hawaii, and my impression was that there was a holiday planned in Hawaii, and my impression was it was going to be quite a few families, which would include many who’ve been going to Hawaii for years,’’ Mr Stewart’s mother, Val Stewart, told Four Corners.

 

“Scott and Jenny were going to go as well. That was … that was mentioned. Scott and Jenny were going to go.”

 

The Morrison’s Hawaii holiday was cut short after The New Daily revealed he was holidaying there even while bushfires raged across the east coast of Australia.

 

Four Corners said Mr Morrison had not answered questions on-record. His office has since told News Corp he won’t be addressing the “baseless conspiracy theories”.

 

“The government will not be responding to the baseless conspiracy theories being peddled by Four Corners,” a spokesman told news.com.au

 

The PM has previously slammed the reports and called the conspiracy cult “dangerous”.

 

The amorphous, convoluted world of QAnon includes bizarre claims about Satanic paedophiles, Hollywood and Donald Trump.

 

It has also absorbed numerous other fringe claims including anti-5G, COVID denial and far-right thought, into what Australian conspiracy researcher Dr Kaz Ross calls a “nasty tumbleweed”.

 

But while the conspiracy is heavily US-focused, a 2020 report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found Australia had the fourth-highest number of QAnon devotees in the world.

 

So what is QAnon? And why do a small number of Australians care about a conspiracy theory that is so America-centric?

 

Let’s unravel things.

 

What is QAnon?

 

QAnon is a baseless and discredited conspiracy theory that claims former US president Donald Trump is secretly fighting a ring of Satan-worshipping paedophiles, including politicians and members of the Hollywood elite.

 

The fringe movement was born after an anonymous figure called “Q”, a self-described “government insider”, began posting on message board 4Chan in 2017.

 

Followers are encouraged to decipher the opaque messages, in what has been described by some as like a treasure hunt.

 

Q claimed to have high-level US security clearance, and posted thousands of cryptic messages peppered with pro-Trump themes.

 

That was until December 8, 2020, about a month before the Capitol Hill riot in the US, when Q last posted.

 

Since then, QAnon followers have awaited clues, known as “Q drops”, while others kept the theory alive by trawling through old posts to create new spin-offs.

 

“People see some unexplained phenomena, and try to join the dots and fill it in. You make coincidences into meaningful information,” said Dr Ross, one of Australia’s leading experts on conspiracies and the far right.

 

“People like to make meaning out of stuff. At a time of pandemic, things seem meaningless. Humans are good at making meaning out of nothing. It’s like looking at a cloud and thinking it looks like a dog.”

 

But while the movement appears to have lost some momentum, some believers are adamant Q will return online and have proposed new dates for the so-called coming of the “storm”, when Mr Trump will rise to the rescue.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 12:37 a.m. No.13907358   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13907352

 

2/2

 

Why is it dangerous?

 

There have been numerous instances of QAnon adherents pursuing vigilante justice.

 

Some have searched for paedophiles in the real world, wrongly believing children were being held in homes or businesses.

 

For more notable examples, look no further than the Capitol Hill insurrection, led by QAnon believers, which led to the deaths of five people.

 

In response to concerns about the growing threat of QAnon adherents in 2019, the FBI named the conspiracy theory a domestic terrorist threat.

 

Pages belonging to group members were removed from social media including Facebook and Twitter.

 

But aside from its core tenets, QAnon followers are generally anti-lockdown and anti-mask.

 

Many claim the pandemic is a hoax created by world leaders, with other followers also subscribe to a grab bag of popular conspiracy theories.

 

“It’s not a cult with a concrete set of beliefs and a leader, it’s completely free flowing. Some people are concerned about chemtrails, or 5G, and become folded into the bigger thing called QAnon because it gives them a big community of active people to connect,” Dr Ross said.

 

“It’s gathered up like a nasty tumbleweed.”

 

Why do Australians care about QAnon?

 

The conspiracy is heavily US-centric, but its tendrils snake across the world. QAnon followers are found in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Australia.

 

QAnon’s surprise flourishing is down to its core claims being highly “malleable”, according to La Trobe University’s Mathew Marques, a lecturer in social psychology.

 

Dr Marques said QAnon adapts to each country’s specific situation, merging with existing conspiracy theories or political circumstances.

 

For instance, during Melbourne’s lockdowns, far-right conspiracy groups spread debunked claims about children being trafficked in tunnels below public housing blocks, and sparked rumours of nefarious reasons for Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ injury.

 

“If you think of the basic elements, of Satanic paedophile rings, these conspiracies have been around well before QAnon,” Dr Marques told TND.

 

“QAnon just packaged them in a new way, for a specific time. A lot of the elements are long-standing conspiracies, just weaponised with a political target.”

 

As Dr Ross notes, QAnon groups in Australia and around the world hoover up adherents of other fringe movements into an amorphous clutch of concerns – which means it can evolve to fit any specific country.

 

“QAnon is a cult, but it doesn’t have a leader. People think there’s a structure, but it doesn’t work like that. It’s totally organic so it can adapt to any local nuance,” she said.

 

Dr Ross estimates there are several thousand Australians who follow QAnon through social media channels such as Telegram.

 

Dr Marques said he thought Australians latched onto it, simply because it was making waves in the US. It gained traction as followers found one another in fringe online groups.

 

“Many Australians are fascinated by US politics, whether Obama or whatever, but when you had the largest mouthpiece for conspiracy theories with Trump in power, speaking or retweeting these things, that’s attractive and alluring for people to latch on to,” he said.

 

“One aspect of conspiracy theories is that social aspect, to boost your self-esteem and connect with a group of people. It’s similar to a religious element, affiliating with people who share your ideology and world view is a fundamental need.”

 

Dr Ross had an even blunter assessment of how QAnon had spread to Australia.

 

“We may have closed borders to COVID, but [we have] very porous and open borders to conspiracy theories from overseas,” she said.

 

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2021/06/15/what-happened-to-qanon/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 12:59 a.m. No.13907427   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7436 >>9889

>>13818968

All The Wildest Revelations We Learned From The ABC’s Investigation On QAnon And Scott Morrison

 

MILLIE ROBERTS - 15 JUNE 2021

 

On Monday night, the ABC finally aired an investigation into QAnon and Australia, and how the far-right group has ties to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

 

QAnon is a radical ideology spread online that spews conspiracy theories around a global pedophilia and sex trafficking ring with roots in Satanism.

 

Australia is the fourth largest country for online QAnon-related activity, according to extremism think tank, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

 

The Four Corners episode was nearly pulled after Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the program’s reporting as “deeply offensive” and in “poor form” last week.

 

‘The Great Awakening: A family divided by QAnon’ was centred around the Stewart family in Sydney, and how their lives have been impacted by 51-year-old Tim Stewart’s descent into QAnon’s rabbit hole.

 

At one point, Stewart was the country’s most prominent QAnon stalwart on Twitter, Crikey reported.

 

A lifelong friendship

 

Tim Stewart and Scott Morrison have known each other for decades. Stewart’s wife Lynelle is the decades-long best friend of the Prime Minister’s wife, Jenny.

 

As Stewart got more enthralled with QAnon, his old family friend rose to the highest position of power in Australia back in August 2018. Stewart was even invited to the new Prime Minister’s maiden speech.

 

When the Morrison family moved into Kirribilli house, Lynelle was hired as a household attendant at the residence. The infamous holiday ScoMo took to Hawaii during the disastrous bushfire season in 2019 was also joined by the Stewart family.

 

Senator Penny Wong flagged Lynelle’s employment as an issue given Stewart’s involvement with QAnon during senate estimates over the years, and was told that it shouldn’t be a matter of concern.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 1 a.m. No.13907436   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13907427

 

2/2

 

National apology, or national influence?

 

Stewart reportedly boasted about his access to Morrison so much, that a QAnon crusader was interrogated by counter-terrorism police for saying online that the group had ‘hacked’ the PM’s office.

 

In the 2018 national apology for institutional child sexual abuse survivors, it’s believed the group wanted the phrase ‘ritual sexual abuse’ included in ScoMo’s speech — in QAnon dialect, this is wording synonymous with cannibalism, rituals, and torture they believe world leaders are executing.

 

“I am organising an intimate strategy for PM re [sic] the Ritual phrase,” a message sent by Stewart read.

 

“An army of victims and therapists would specifically love it if Scott’s apology referenced ‘ritual abuse victims’. This exact wording is a key phrase for victims. Think of this like a code that sends a direct and clear message that they have been heard by Scott specifically,” he texted his wife.

 

Given the phrasing wasn’t used in the Royal Commission findings that prompted the apology, people were confused how ‘ritual sexual abuse’ wound up in his speech, while others feared it was intentional validation for QAnon followers coming from the mouth of a person of such authority.

 

A spokesperson for the PM’s office has said in the past that the “term ‘ritual’ is one that the Prime Minister heard directly from the abuse survivors.”

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there’d be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation,” Scott Morrison said on June 4. A spokesperson told Four Corners two days that ScoMo sees QAnon as a “discredited and dangerous fringe group.”

 

Since the investigation was broadcast, the Prime Minister’s office has not released any further statements on the matter.

 

https://junkee.com/scott-morrison-qanon/298187

 

https://twitter.com/ShoebridgeMLC/status/1404389466161045509

 

https://twitter.com/JeromeDoraisamy/status/1404389384820985862

 

https://twitter.com/instanterudite/status/1404403467515428864

 

https://twitter.com/Ben_Davison1/status/1404391716153483265

 

https://twitter.com/WBG1955/status/1404417881379536904

 

https://twitter.com/noplaceforsheep/status/1401286079664164864

 

https://twitter.com/Lisa_Wilkinson/status/1404399561779515394

 

https://twitter.com/WhenTurn/status/1404394584176676868

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 1:13 a.m. No.13907476   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7510 >>9889

>>13818968

>>13907463

Labor accuses Scott Morrison of ‘shocking lack of judgment’ over QAnon claims

 

Scott Morrison has been accused of a ‘shocking lack of judgment’ after a Four Corners episode outlined his links to a far-right conspiracy theorist.

 

Finn McHugh - JUNE 15, 2021

 

Scott Morrison has been accused of a “shocking lack of judgment” after a Four Corners episode claimed a conspiracy theorist influenced his apology to victims of child sexual abuse.

 

The program said Tim Stewart, a friend of Mr Morrison and QAnon conspiracy theorist, regularly visited Kirribilli House during Mr Morrison’s prime ministership, while his wife was employed as a household attendant at Kirribilli until last year.

 

The far-right cult, listed by the FBI as a domestic terror threat, claims a group of elite, left-wing Satanic pedophiles secretly run the world and attempted to undermine former US president Donald Trump.

 

Four Corners included texts from Mr Stewart to an associate correctly predicting Mr Morrison would include the phrase “ritual sexual abuse”, used by QAnon believers to propagate its conspiracy, in his October 2018 apology to victims of child sexual abuse.

 

But the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse final report also made references to sexual abuse as part of “ritualised practices”.

 

Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen said he was “appalled” by the revelations and declared Mr Morrison had “very serious questions” to answer.

 

“I thought and believe that Four Corners has provided a compelling case that the Prime Minister has engaged in a shocking lack of judgment in relation to QAnon,” he said on Tuesday.

 

“The Prime Minister is entitled to personal relationships, and he’s not accountable for the political views of his friends. He is accountable for allowing his friends to have input to important government statements as Prime Minister of Australia.”

 

Mr Bowen said Four Corners had established Mr Stewart impacted the speech, describing the presence of the phrase as an “amazing coincidence”.

 

“They provided text messages, they provided enough evidence to show that the Prime Minister has very serious questions to answer. No politician of any side should have any truck in any dealings with QAnon,” he said.

 

“If the Prime Minister of this country has allowed a discredited conspiracy group … to have input to government statements, then that is a matter of the most serious grievance.”

 

Labor senator Penny Wong has repeatedly grilled government officials over Mr Morrison’s links to Mr Stewart and, by extension, the QAnon conspiracy.

 

Mr Bowen said the government “has failed on every single occasion to provide proper answers” and continued to do so.

 

A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s office told NCA NewsWire the government “will not be responding to the baseless conspiracy theories being peddled by Four Corners”.

 

In a statement before the program aired on Monday, a spokesman for Mr Morrison dismissed the allegations as a “politically motivated slur” against the Prime Minister and his family.

 

“Four Corners … is already facing serious questions about the accuracy, bias and credibility of its journalism, that is now giving credence to irrational Twitter conspiracy theorists and raising the profile of what the Prime Minister clearly deems a discredited and dangerous fringe group,” they said.

 

In his only public comments on the matter, Mr Morrison flatly rejected “deeply offensive” attempts to link him to QAnon.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not,” he said in June.

 

“It is also disappointing that Four Corners in their inquiries would seek to cast this aspersion, not just against me but members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form.”

 

The program was initially slated to run a week earlier but was upwardly referred to ABC managing director David Anderson, who suggested “concern over some areas” and elements “to be strengthened within the story”.

 

Mr Anderson said the program was not referred to him “with concern” and backed the “outstanding” Four Corners team, led by Walkley winners Sally Neighbour and Louise Milligan.

 

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/current-affairs/labor-accuses-scott-morrison-of-shocking-lack-of-judgment-over-qanon-claims/news-story/848b6c6db5da540f4698ba2ef456fbbc

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 1:24 a.m. No.13907510   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7512 >>9889

>>13818968

>>13907476

‘Incredibly creepy’: Labor claims ‘national security’ risk over PM’s QAnon link

 

Josh Butler - Jun 15, 2021

 

1/2

 

Senior Labor politicians say Prime Minister Scott Morrison has “questions to answer” after Four Corners‘ investigation into his friendship with a prominent Australian supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, claiming it raises “national security” risks.

 

But Treasurer Josh Frydenberg shrugged off the criticisms, saying it was “rubbish” to suggest the PM had links to the dangerous conspiracy.

 

“I watched that story last night and I found it to be incredibly creepy,” Labor’s shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said on Tuesday.

 

The ABC’s Four Corners aired a report on Monday night into Mr Morrison’s friendship with a man named Tim Stewart, allegedly a proponent of the discredited and baseless QAnon conspiracy.

 

The report included interviews with Mr Stewart’s family, who raised concerns about his behaviour, and detailed his friendship with Mr Morrison. Four Corners reported that Mr Stewart and his wife Lynelle were good friends with Mr Morrison and his wife Jenny, and that Ms Stewart had been employed at Kirribilli House – the PM’s Sydney residence.

 

Central to Four Corners‘ report were text messages alleged to have been sent by Mr Stewart, claiming he would ask Mr Morrison to alter the text of his 2018 apology to victims of institutional sex abuse, to include the phrase “ritual abuse”.

 

It was not proven whether Mr Stewart actually passed that message on to Mr Morrison, but the PM did use the phrase in his apology speech. The term “ritual abuse” has a specific meaning among QAnon supporters, to denote their bizarre claims about Satanic abuse linked to paedophilia.

 

Mr Morrison has recently rejected claims he had any links to QAnon, calling it “dangerous”. His office has said the government will not respond to “baseless conspiracy theories being peddled by Four Corners“.

 

In Parliament on Tuesday, The New Daily asked numerous politicians about QAnon and whether they were concerned about the ABC’s revelations.

 

Labor politicians said Mr Morrison must explain any connections to Mr Stewart more clearly.

 

“The Prime Minister does have serious questions to answer about this relationship with these characters pushing all kinds of dangerous conspiracy theories … He should answer them as soon as possible,” Mr Chalmers said on Tuesday.

 

Fellow Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen said he was “appalled” by revelations in Four Corners, accusing Mr Morrison of “a shocking lack of judgment”.

 

“In the absence of any proper defence from the Prime Minister, it is in my view the case that Four Corners has established that the Prime Minister allowed a QAnon conspiracy theorist to have input into an important speech,” he said.

 

“No politician of any side should have any truck in any dealings with QAnon.”

 

Mr Bowen said the PM was entitled to personal friendships, and should not be held accountable for friends’ political views, but said the story went deeper.

 

“If the Prime Minister of this country has allowed a discredited conspiracy group, which is dangerous and regarded as a terrorist threat by the FBI, to have input to government statements, then that is a matter of the most serious grievance,” he said.

 

Mr Bowen said he believed the issue had national security implications.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 1:24 a.m. No.13907512   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13907510

 

2/2

 

But Coalition members jumped to the PM’s defence. Mr Frydenberg said he didn’t watch the program, but denied there was any issue.

 

“This notion that the Prime Minister is close to QAnon is absolute rubbish,” he said on Tuesday.

 

Communications minister Paul Fletcher has previously raised concerns with ABC chair Ita Buttrose over some of the broadcaster’s journalism. He was asked at a press conference whether he would do so again over the QAnon story, but didn’t directly answer.

 

“The allegation there’s a connection between the Prime Minister and QAnon is just laughable, ridiculous, and frankly I’m not going to dignify it with a more detailed response,” Mr Fletcher said.

 

“The story was ridiculous.”

 

Liberal senator James Paterson, chair of the powerful Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, also said he hadn’t watched the program but rejected suggestions there was anything inappropriate.

 

“As far as I know, no evidence was put forward in that program which links the Prime Minister to QAnon,” he said in response to TND‘s questions.

 

“I didn’t watch the report. Frankly, I’ve got better things to do, as I suspect most Australians did.”

 

Four Corners executive producer Sally Neighbour tweeted that Monday’s episode was its “highest rating program this year”.

 

Senator Paterson said he had “sought briefings” from Australian intelligence agencies on QAnon, and while it is not currently listed as a terror threat in Australia, “any organisation that presents a credible threat will be listed”.

 

“I’d be concerned if any Australian politician had sympathies for what is a discredited, outrageous conspiracy theory. That would be of great concern, but as far as I’m aware, there’s no evidence any Australian politician, least of all the Prime Minister, has any sympathies for such organisations.” Senator Paterson said.

 

Nationals MP Anne Webster was the target of horrendous, defamatory abuse from QAnon supporters in 2020. She said she had watched Four Corners.

 

“I am concerned about QAnon, very much so. Innocent people are damaged by their claims, as I have through my own court case. I think there’s a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of platforms, in terms of how they are managed, because online predatory behaviour is not going away, so we need to ensure that we can do better than we are.”

 

Asked if she had any specific concerns about Mr Morrison’s links to Mr Stewart, Ms Webster said “we all have associations with people that we don’t agree with”.

 

“That’s something for him to speak about,” she said.

 

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/06/15/morrison-qanon-australia/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 1:33 a.m. No.13907531   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7538 >>9889

>>13818968

OPINION - Skipping the Q: How to handle your conspiracy-loving friends

 

Julie Szego - June 15, 2021

 

1/2

 

The former chief of staff at the US Department of Homeland Security, Miles Taylor, told the ABC’s Four Corners that QAnon conspiracy theories could “jump the tracks into violence very, very easily”.

 

Speaking about Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s friend, Tim Stewart, a QAnon follower, Taylor said: “I think it’s important for the Prime Minister and any other national leader to disavow individuals either within their orbit or outside of their orbit who harbour these types of extremist views … We all have friends and family members that have unorthodox views, but when you’re put in a position of trust you have to maintain the public’s trust.”

 

So we all have that certain friend or relative: you know, the kind with unorthodox views. That friend who has a heart of gold, but also one or two loopy ideas. Like maybe this friend believes a cabal of Satan-worshipping, deep-state elites are running a paedophile ring that harvests children’s blood.

 

Or that Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and the organs of state are covering up the truth about his “accident” on March 9. Or perhaps this friend is just one of those well-intentioned but slightly misguided types who reckon COVID-19 is a “psy-op”, or that someone other than Martin Bryant carried out the Port Arthur massacre, or that Joe Biden is US President because of “The Big Lie” and there should be a Myanmar-style coup to reinstate Donald Trump – which is, admittedly, an idea even Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, endorses.

 

Sure, at times this friend and their unorthodox views, which they can’t help but disseminate via encrypted messaging apps or shady platforms on the dark web, tries our patience just a tad.

 

The thing is, in this angry, polarised world we’ve come to believe that anyone whose views differ from our own must be torn down and dismembered, metaphorically speaking of course! Indeed, maybe this certain friend’s own relatives have become so alarmed about his vitriol they’ve reported him to ASIO or the national security hotline. Look, it happens all the time, and it’s sad. But there is another way. We can learn once more how to agree to disagree, live and let-live. Here are some tips to avoid an awkward dust-up the next time that opinionated buddy drops in.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 1:35 a.m. No.13907538   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13907531

 

2/2

 

Stop trying to change their mind

 

Do you honestly think that haughtily lecturing your friend about Daniel Andrews’ accident – with talking points such as “Well, Ambulance Victoria responders received a triple zero call at 6.36am about a patient who had fallen on steps at a house in Sorrento,” and, “Well, Victoria’s Police Chief confirmed police weren’t called to the scene on March 9 and Andrews wasn’t interviewed formally and informally” – is going to convince them the Premier really did just fall? C’mon!

 

As we all know, this is just one of those arguments neither side can win. So whenever your friend wants to gasbag about the “doctored” photos of Andrews in hospital or whispers knowingly, “Nobody’s got footage of the stairs,” or, exasperated, falls back on that routine insult “paedophile enabler”, just say, “Mate, I respect your opinion” and …

 

Change the subject

 

That’s right, deflect their attention, just like you do with a toddler. Just pretend your friend is a toddler, even if his complexion – assuming this friend is a “he” – appears radioactive and his leg jiggles uncontrollably and he persists in wearing a coat fashioned from fresh roadkill. And next time he raises that hoary old chestnut “Michelle Obama and Jacinda Ardern are actually men”, try delicately steering the conversation towards something anodyne and neutral.

 

For instance, ask him to speculate on whether the “Great Awakening”, the moment that accompanies “the Storm”, which will end the cabal of bloodthirsty Satan-worshipping paedophiles who run the world, might inspire Bunnings to hold an outdoor furniture sale.

 

Don’t provoke them

 

Think about it: if you don’t want your friend rabbiting on about how the real reason leftist elites wear red shoes is to conceal the blood spatter from slaughtered babies, then don’t leave your own pair of red shoes lying around as an obvious conversation prompt. It’s not that hard!

 

A bit of tact and tolerance will ensure that loveable-if-sometimes-annoying mate keeps it together just enough for you to enjoy his company and forget he’s in thick with a group the FBI has designated a domestic terror threat.

 

And if occasionally he lets rip about Daniel Andrews drinking the blood of sacrificed children, and every now and then tries to incite a mob against the institutions of democracy, honestly, what’s the harm? It’s not as if anyone of consequence is listening to him.

 

It’s not as if a mainstream Australian political party would tolerate their senior figures having any proximity to people who hold such views (regardless of that person’s influence over said senior figure), let alone amplify their agenda by asking questions that, say, imply a cover-up about Andrews’ fall.

 

So, just fire up the barbie and chill.

 

Julie Szego is an author and freelance journalist.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/skipping-the-q-how-to-handle-your-conspiracy-loving-friends-20210615-p5814c.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 1:43 a.m. No.13907563   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7883 >>9889 >>9893

>>13818968

>>13902382

Elise Thomas Tweet

 

I'm really glad that @Milliganreports and the @4corners team put the damage which QAnon does to lives & families front and centre in the episode, and to have played a small part in it myself. Conspiracy theories are a public health issue, and we should recognise them as such.

 

https://twitter.com/elisethoma5/status/1404406022421106697

 

Louise Milligan @Milliganreports

 

Just want to thank the Stewarts for their candour, their decency, their restraint. #4Corners

 

https://twitter.com/Milliganreports/status/1404394883750666246

 

 

Sally Neighbour Tweet

 

Great work by you @elisethoma5 documenting the impact of QAnon’s poisonous politics

 

https://twitter.com/neighbour_s/status/1404407870603493385

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 1:58 a.m. No.13907606   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2224 >>9861

‘Slow motion murder’ in family’s desperate race to free Julian Assange

 

ADAM CREIGHTON - JUNE 14, 2021

 

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces death if he’s not released soon from prison, according to his immediate family who have accused the US, UK and Australia of hypocrisy at the G7 by championing democracy and freedom.

 

In Washington as part of a 17-city tour to campaign for Julian’s release, his father, John Shipton, said it was “grotesque” that nations were trumpeting human rights at the G7 meeting at Cornwall, in Britain, when Julian had been imprisoned for almost 13 years for publishing evidence of US war crimes in 2010.

 

“It’s worse than hypocritical, it’s grotesque,” Mr Shipton said on Sunday night in the US with his son Gabriel to help convince the Biden administration to drop attempts to extradite Assange to the US, where he faces 175 years in prison.

 

Gabriel, a filmmaker, said Julian’s the situation was “dire”. “If he doesn’t get out he will die. We’re seeing the slow motion murder of a journalist. It will take sometime for him to get back to his usual self (if he gets out),” he said.

 

Assange, 49, has spent almost 13 years in detention, including seven years at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he evaded extradition to Sweden for sexual assault charges that were dropped in 2019.

 

He’s been held at Belmarsh prison since May 2019, where Professor Niels Melzer declared he was showing symptoms of “prolonged psychological torture”.

 

“He’s not been sentenced, he has no clue of when the next appeal will be. This is just another example of the torture he’s been suffering under, all these things add up after 13 years,” Gabriel Shipton said.

 

“We’re here trying to convince the American people to stand up and defend democratic rights, and so that they then ask their representative to talk to the DOJ.”

 

Even if the High Court dismisses the US appeal, a decision expected within weeks, Assange could not return to Australia because the US, unless it dropped the charges entirely, would “probably” launch fresh extradition proceedings in Australian courts, John Shipton said.

 

The two men, in the US courtesy of an Australian crowd-funded GoFundMe campaign, and fresh from a sold-out campaign event in New York, said the Australian government had been of little help throughout their ordeal.

 

“(But) we have dear friends who are friends of Arthur’s so we hope to have sympathy if not diplomatic support,” John Assange said, referring to Australia’s US ambassador Arthur Sinodinos. John Shipton said he was hopeful the US would lose its appeal in the UK, but less so it would ever formally drop the charges.

 

“In 100 years maybe … what can happen now is the Australian government or some other diplomatic entity can enter into negotiation whereby the charges are let fall away. That’s more likely,” he said.

 

The pair felt momentum was on their side, as parliamentary groups in the UK, France, Spain, Austria, and multiple free-speech organisations had started demanding Assange’s release, at the same time as US media groups had become alert to threats to media freedom from the US government.

 

The New York Times, CNN and The Washington Post are due to meet with US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday after revelations the Department of Justice during the Trump administration had sought to obtain journalists’ phone records.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/slow-motion-murder-in-familys-desperate-race-to-free-julian-assange/news-story/5144b3c7eb6c76dce1549373b0dbdbab

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:04 a.m. No.13907636   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9853

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith tells defamation trial he's disgusted by domestic violence claims

 

Jamie McKinnell - 15 June 2021

 

Australian war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has denied punching a woman in a Canberra hotel room, telling a Sydney court domestic violence is “a disgusting act of cowardice”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times newspapers, along with three journalists, over a series of articles published in 2018.

 

The 42-year-old alleges he was defamed by imputations including that he committed an act of violence against a woman, with whom he was having an affair, in a Canberra hotel room in March 2018.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith today told the Federal Court in Sydney he met the woman, referred to as “Person 17” due to a suppression order over her identity, in mid-October 2017 and began a relationship.

 

He had separated from his wife, Emma Roberts, towards the end of September 2017.

 

In March 2018, Mr Roberts-Smith took the woman to an event in Parliament House.

 

He told the court she became “extremely intoxicated” and fell down some stairs, leading to “a significant bump on the top of her left eye”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said she “wasn’t really coherent”, was “extremely unsteady on her feet” and “couldn’t really string words together”.

 

He said he took her to Hotel Realm, where she “completely passed out” and he left her on the bed with some ice for her injury.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Bruce McClintock SC, asked his client if he struck the woman.

 

“No, I didn't,” he replied.

 

When asked about his attitude towards domestic violence, Mr Roberts-Smith described it as “deplorable” and “reprehensible”.

 

“My mother and father brought me up with a very good set of values,” he said.

 

“I respect women a great deal. I have no tolerance for anyone who would ever raise a hand to women.

 

“I find it a disgusting act of cowardice.”

 

In a Whatsapp message chain, Mr Roberts-Smith discussed the woman’s injury with her the next day and urged her to tell her husband she fell down some stairs while at an event with him.

 

He said the incident was “effectively the final straw” of their relationship.

 

In an affidavit, Person 17 claimed she was punched by Mr Roberts-Smith in the hotel room who then “coached” her in messages about how to explain a black eye to her husband.

 

She said in the document that she told police she did not wish to make a formal complaint, as she was “genuinely scared about my safety and that of my children if I am identified in the media”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith today said the newspaper report about the alleged assault had “ruined his life”.

 

"For a long time, I found it very difficult to leave the house after that, just simply because I have such disdain for those types of people,” he said.

 

“To be labelled as someone like that and just have to wear that, it was very difficult.”

 

The court heard that before the Canberra event, Mr Roberts-Smith told Ms Roberts about the affair during a trip to Singapore in January the next year when the couple decided to try to work through their ongoing problems.

 

He told the court that in February 2018, Person 17 contacted him to let him know how hurt she was about the end of their relationship.

 

Not long after, she texted Mr Roberts-Smith to inform him she was pregnant, but he said after helping her arrange an appointment to terminate the pregnancy in Brisbane, he didn’t believe she was telling the truth.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith hired a private investigator, John McLeod, who filmed Person 17 at Greenslopes Hospital, where she claimed to have been having the procedure.

 

“I just wanted to know the truth,” he said.

 

“I felt I was being manipulated.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said Person 17 later admitted she’d lied about having the procedure, but then claimed to have had a miscarriage.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith’s case also alleges he was defamed by imputations that he “broke the moral and legal rules of war” on deployment in Afghanistan and bullied colleagues.

 

The former Special Air Services Regiment soldier has denied wrongdoing.

 

Nine Entertainment Co is relying on a defence of truth.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-15/ben-roberts-smith-denies-punching-woman-defamation-trial/100215224

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:08 a.m. No.13907649   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9856

>>13848125

Roberts-Smith hired investigator to check woman was having an abortion

 

Michaela Whitbourn - June 15, 2021

 

Former special forces soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has told a court that he hired a private investigator to follow a woman with whom he had been having a relationship to check whether she had an abortion because he suspected she was lying about being pregnant.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, is suing The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald for defamation over stories in 2018 that he says accuse him of being a war criminal and of punching a woman, with whom he was having an extramarital affair, in the face after a dinner in Canberra on March 28 that year.

 

Giving evidence in the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday, Mr Roberts-Smith replied “absolutely not” when asked by his barrister, Bruce McClintock, SC, if he had hit the woman.

 

“That particular allegation, I feel, coupled with being called a war criminal, ruined my life,” he said. “For a long time, I found it very difficult to leave the house after that.”

 

He said domestic violence was “highly reprehensible” and his parents had instilled in him a “very good set of values”. He had no tolerance for anybody who would raise a hand to a woman, he said.

 

The woman, known as Person 17 to protect her identity, had been “extremely intoxicated” after a dinner at Parliament House in Canberra, the former Special Air Services soldier said, and had fallen down a flight of stairs.

 

He said he iced the resultant bump on her head after putting her to bed in their room at the Hotel Realm.

 

The woman subsequently texted Mr Roberts-Smith that her husband “didn’t believe that I had fallen down stairs” but added that her other bruises would “hopefully make the falling story more believable”.

 

“Well, hopefully, he believes you,” Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith told the court that the events in Canberra had been “highly embarrassing for her and I” and they had discussed how she would explain her injury because she hadn’t told her husband that they were together at the time.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said he had separated from his now ex-wife, Emma Roberts, in late September 2017 and they remained separated for about six months.

 

He attempted to end the relationship with Person 17 after he went on a trip with his family to Singapore in early 2018, he said, but he had concerns from messages she sent him from London that she was “potentially going to self harm”.

 

Later, in February that year, the woman told him she was pregnant. He said they agreed to terminate the pregnancy, but he suspected it was not real.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith told the court he hired a private investigator to check if the woman attended a hospital in Brisbane for a termination. He believed video footage of her leaving the hospital confirmed that she had not had a termination because she was able to pick up her own bag, was “dressed nicely”, and did not appear to have had an “invasive procedure”.

 

He said that he showed Person 17 the footage later that day, and she admitted she had not had the procedure but said she did have a termination at an earlier date in Townsville. He said she subsequently told him she had had a miscarriage, meaning that she had provided “three stories” about what had happened.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said he believed he was being “manipulated so that I would stay in the relationship”.

 

“You continued with the relationship after this, didn’t you?” Mr McClintock asked.

 

“I did,” Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

The court heard the relationship ended in April 2018 and the pair had met at an airport when Mr Roberts-Smith was about to catch a flight to Canberra. He believed Person 17 had “come to the airport to ensure I boarded the plane”, and then drove to his matrimonial home.

 

“I landed in Canberra and received a message from my wife that Person 17 was there,” he said.

 

The trial continues.

 

Lifeline, 131 114

 

Beyondblue 1300 22 4636

 

https://www.lifeline.org.au

 

https://www.beyondblue.org.au

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/roberts-smith-hired-investigator-to-check-woman-was-having-an-abortion-20210615-p5818t.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:16 a.m. No.13907688   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7733 >>9332 >>9841

Scott Morrison raises the alarm about escalating cyber attacks with British intelligence chiefs

 

Anthony Galloway - June 15, 2021

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has raised the alarm on the escalating wave of cyber attacks against all levels of industry and government in meetings with Britain’s top spies in London, as the number of ransomware attacks in Australia appear to have tripled n recent months.

 

After wrapping up the G7 leaders summit, Mr Morrison was due to meet with British intelligence officials on Monday London time, where cyber security and protection of critical infrastructure were expected to be major talking points.

 

He will then have a one-on-one meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday where the two leaders hope to be able to announce the finalisation of a free-trade deal between the countries.

 

Trade Minister Dan Tehan has been locked in negotiations with his counterpart Liz Truss every night in the lead-up to the meeting, but officials from the Australian side conceded they may not reach a consensus before the two prime ministers hold a press conference at Downing Street on Tuesday.

 

Mr Morrison will then fly to Paris where he will raise with French President Emmanuel Macron the cost blowouts, schedule slippages and disagreements with the French company responsible for Australia’s $90 billion submarine project.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed on Monday that Australian frigates will within weeks join a British carrier strike group in naval exercises in the Indo-Pacific, including port visits and manoeuvres through the South China Sea, which is expected to upset China.

 

New figures show there has been a 200 per cent increase in reports of ransomware attacks to Australia’s premier cyber security agency in recent months. A ransomware is a form of malware which encrypts the victim’s files whereby the attacker then demands a ransom to restore access to their system.

 

Assistant Defence Minister Andrew Hastie, who will on Tuesday launch the government’s new cyber awareness campaign, said small and medium-sized businesses needed to boost their defences and become more aware of the support available from the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

 

“Any cyber criminal operating on the dark web or hiding behind encryption should be on notice that the full range of Australia’s intelligence and law enforcement capabilities are being aimed at you,” Mr Hastie said.

 

Last financial year the Australian Signals Directorate and the cyber security centre received more than 60,000 cyber crime reports - or one every eight minutes.

 

Mr Morrison last year revealed there had been a wave of sophisticated cyber attacks on all levels of government, industry and critical infrastructure including hospitals, local councils and state-owned utilities. Australian security agencies believe China was behind the cyber raids, but the government decided not to publicly name the state actor involved.

 

Mr Hastie said the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) - Australia’s cyber spy agency - would continue to use its “broad range of offensive cyber capabilities to disrupt and bring cyber criminal syndicates targeting Australia to their knees”.

 

US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, last week warned ransomware attacks were a “national security priority”, particularly as it related to attacks on critical infrastructure.

 

ASD director-general Rachel Noble on Friday revealed a major Australian company in charge of critical infrastructure refused to comply with her agency for weeks after it was hit by a significant cyber attack.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-raises-the-alarm-about-escalating-cyber-attacks-with-british-intelligence-chiefs-20210614-p580xm.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:19 a.m. No.13907700   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13882053

Political boycott of scientific cooperation set to further harm Australia

 

Yu Lei - Jun 14, 2021

 

An Australian national science agency is reportedly set to break up its partnership with a Chinese top marine science institute following a baseless warning from Australia's security intelligence agency.

 

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will terminate an oceans research collaboration with Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (QNLM) from June 2022, according to The Australian. Previously, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation(ASIO) made a groundless accusation against QNLM, saying "it could help the Chinese navy to hunt down Australian submarines."

 

If The Australian's report is confirmed to be ture, it would be the latest example of the Australian's reckless interference with normal scientific and technological cooperation under the guise of national security.

 

Marine research cooperation is not the only field being affected, projects in agriculture, environmental protection and other fields are also threatened by Canberra's political boycott campaign. The Australian federal government in last December was reportedly considering tearing up a research agreement between the Victorian government and China's Jiangsu Province.

 

Australia's decision to meddle scientific cooperation is not an isolated policy decision, but rather to cater for the US' decoupling from China in economy and technology. This is Morrison's response to US' anti-China policy and another manifestation of its loyalty to the US.

 

However, politicizing scientific and technological cooperation will seriously hinder the progress when it comes to advancing the human race. The US' blockade of China in space technology is an example, which is proved failing to contain China's progress, but instead drag down the US progress.

 

China and Australia have carried out extensive cooperation in marine science, agricultural science, Antarctic protection and atmospheric change, and have made many achievements. Political boycott campaign undermines Australia's technological development. Compared with China, Australia's technology is not advanced, and this latest action will only set Australia back.

 

To sabotage scientific co-operation is also bound to potentially hurt Australia's economic interests. In technical cooperation with the US, Australia often provides funds, but patents and intellectual property rights are taken by Americans, while in cooperation with China, Australia can jointly share the technology outcomes.

 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a press conference on Saturday at the Group of Seven leaders that his government wants to restart dialog with China, but if Canberra has any sincerity to stop the escalating relationship with China from spiraling down, it should first change the practice of politicizing economic and trade issues and scientific and technological cooperation.

 

If the Morrison government is serious about repairing relations with China, it should take concrete action as soon as possible, and in particular should put an end to the damage Australia is inflicting on economic and trade ties and focus on promoting to scientific and technological academic cooperation and normal people-to-people exchanges, so as to avoid further irreparable losses.

 

The author is chief research fellow at the research center for Pacific island countries of Liaocheng University in East China's Shandong Province. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202106/1226134.shtml

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:30 a.m. No.13907733   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7739 >>5005 >>9841

>>13907688

‘A new dawn’: Australia and Britain agree on historic trade deal

 

Bevan Shields, Latika Bourke and Rob Harris - June 15, 2021

 

1/2

 

London: Working holiday visas will be extended for Australians up to the age of 35 in the historic trade deal just agreed with Britain after Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison offered last-minute concessions over dinner at Downing Street.

 

On Tuesday night AEST, Morrison and Johnson held a joint press conference to announce the in-principle agreement - which could boost the Australian economy by up to $1.3 billion each year and offer exporters new options to pivot away from the volatile Chinese market.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was the most ambitious agreement that Australia had struck since its deal with New Zealand.

 

“I said we’d wait for the right deal and I think we’ve got the right deal, Boris,” he said.

 

Asked if Australia would raise Australia’s farming standards to Britain’s, Morrison defended Australia’s animal welfare standards, saying Australian farmers set world standards.

 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the deal marked a “new dawn” in the relationship, “underpinned by our shared history and common values”.

 

“You give us Tim Tams, we give you Penguins, you give us Vegemite, you give us Marmite, we give you Burberry mackintoshes and you give us RM Williams,” he said.

 

Morrison and Johnson thrashed out some of the final barriers to the new economic pact during a three-hour dinner at the British Prime Minister’s official London residence on Monday evening, where Johnson served Welsh lamb and Scottish salmon, and Morrison presented a hamper of Australian food and a Vegemite-themed surfboard.

 

Details of the in-principle agreement will be fleshed out before it is passed by parliaments in both countries.

 

It will likely take effect from mid-next year.

 

The Australian deal - Britain’s first since it split from the European Union on January 1 - also gives Johnson a big symbolic victory as he seeks to soften the economic costs of Brexit through new agreements with other trading partners.

 

The deal will increase the working holiday visa age limit from 30 to 35 and give Australians and Britons a total of three years to live and work in each other’s countries.

 

The UK government succeeded in removing the rule that obliges Brits on12-month working visas in Australia to work for 88 days on farms if they wish to stay another year. A new agriculture visa will be created instead.

 

Nationals deputy leader David Littleproud, who has claimed scrapping that rule could lead to a loss of up to 10,000 farm workers a year, said on Tuesday his party would fight for a new visa subclass to encourage farm work if the change was made.

 

The agreement will also mean a raft of professional qualifications gained in one country will be recognised in the other.

 

Fears that the signing might be delayed by a squabble over how much Australian beef and lamb would be allowed into the UK proved unfounded, with the two leaders settling on a scheme which will phase out tariffs over 15 years.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:31 a.m. No.13907739   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13907733

 

2/2

 

Centre for European Reform trade expert Sam Lowe said he was surprised the UK agreed to eventually eliminate agricultural tariffs.

 

“When it comes to tariffs, we have a constituency-based electoral system which sees farmers heavily concentrated in Conservative backyards. The fact we are discussing duty free and quota-free trade is something that will have shocked everyone.”

 

Australian agricultural exports are worth $50 billion annually but only $700 million goes to the UK.

 

Britain is already Australia’s fifth largest trading partner, with two-way goods and services valued at $36.6 billion, while Britain is Australia’s second largest investment partner.

 

As part of the deal, the federal government will scraps tariffs on a range of British goods including whisky, which current has a tariff of 5 per cent. Tariffs will also be dramatically slashed on pharmaceuticals, cars, machinery and tractors. Britain will also gain greater access to Australian markets for services.

 

Federal Trade Minister Dan Tehan told Federal Parliament that when Britain had turned its attention to the common European market decades ago, Australia felt that a special bond was broken.

 

“Half a century on, Australia stands ready again to be a willing partner with the UK,” he said.

 

“We want to help the UK achieve their aim of global Britain, like we want them to make sure that they work with us to promote trade liberalisation. To be advocates for free trade right across the globe.”

 

As it stands Australia’s beef exports are limited to a post-Brexit UK import quota of just 3761 tonnes, while sheep meat is limited to an annual UK import quota of just 13,335 tonnes.

 

Dairy producers are limited to an import quota of just 44 grams of cheese per person every year, when the average Briton consumes 125 grams of cheese per week.

 

The sensitivities in Britain over Australian agricultural imports point to difficult negotiations ahead with America, one of the world’s largest food producers.

 

Protectionist forces within the Conservative Party have claimed an open-slather deal with Australia would set a precedent for future negotiations with Washington.

 

“This deal is a crushing defeat for the self-serving protectionist lobbyists and a resounding victory for the Australian and British people,” said Matthew Lesh, head of research at the London-based free-market Adam Smith Institute.

 

The full potential of the deal will only be realised after Australia opens its border to vaccinated travellers.

 

A trade deal with Australia could lift UK GDP by 0.02 per cent, or £500 million ($914 million), while British forecasts suggest GDP in Australia could grow by up to £700 million ($1.3 billion).

 

While Britain has struck economic deals with other countries since the Brexit referendum, for example with Japan and Canada, these have been carry-over deals securing for Britain the same trading arrangements it enjoyed when in the European Union.

 

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, one of 12 advisers on the new-look UK Board of Trade, cautioned protectionists against trading in “fear, not hope”.

 

“It baffles me a little that so many people in Britain are always running the country down,” he told GB News.

 

“Britain can cope. And a trade deal with one of Britain’s friends…that’s no threat to the people of Britain, this is going to help the people of Britain.“

 

Morrison will now travel to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and former Australian finance minister Mathias Cormann, the new secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, before returning to Canberra.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/a-new-dawn-australia-and-britain-agree-on-historic-trade-deal-20210615-p5817c.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:41 a.m. No.13907765   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

New laws introduced to protect people from extreme online abuse, trolls

 

Matthew Doran - 15 June 2021

 

Australians subjected to vile online abuse and harassment will have greater protections from trolls, if new powers pass the federal Parliament this evening.

 

People accused of posting and sharing the threatening material will face fines of up to $111,000 if they refuse to remove the content, and $500,000 for companies like Facebook and Twitter which fail to comply with so-called "take down notices".

 

Authorities argued the legislation, which was introduced to the Senate on Tuesday morning, is necessary to particularly deal with the surge of abuse being directed at women, who make up 70 per cent of the reports of abuse.

 

"The way that online harassment, gendered violence really manifests towards women is very different than in that directed towards men," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

 

"It's sexualised, it's violent, and it's meant to cause serious harm. It threatens rape, murder of children.

 

"This gives us powers to be able to tackle that kind of abhorrent content that is meant to cause distress and harm."

 

The new legislation would also reduce the time to comply with take down notices from 48 to 24 hours.

 

Ms Inman Grant said the reforms had taken six years to develop and would tackle the limitations her office experiences in dealing with online harassment and abuse.

 

She said her investigators would assess complaints as they came in, and would have to find a "balance" between freedom of expression and the most hateful content.

 

"So we'll have to make out that serious harm has been done and the intent to cause serious harm," the eSafety Commissioner said.

 

The legislation has the support of prominent online safety advocates, including Sonya Ryan and broadcaster Erin Molan.

 

Ms Ryan's daughter Carly was murdered in 2007 by a man who groomed her using a fake online identity.

 

Legislation to protect children from online predators, known as "Carly's Law", passed Federal Parliament in 2017.

 

"Just as we have protections for people that try and harm those offline, we need to absolutely make sure we have the same protections for the harms that are happening online," Ms Ryan said.

 

"Had the Office of the eSafety Commissioner existed … who knows, maybe my beautiful girl might still be here.

 

"But her legacy can potentially help prevent what happened to her happening from other innocent people in the future."

 

Molan, a sports journalist with the Nine Network, has spoken out about the trolling she was subjected to online.

 

She welcomed the new powers, hoping they would act as a deterrent.

 

"Once people start to understand that you no longer can hide, the rates of this will decrease, it will start to stop happening, which is exactly what we want," she said.

 

"You can't send a threat to rape my daughter, and think that you will go to work the next day in your nine-to-five job and that you will not be held accountable whatsoever."

 

Molan hoped the new powers would "change the narrative" and encourage victims to come forward.

 

"If you are abused and targeted and attacked online — it's not because you are a failure, or you are weak," she said.

 

"It's because these perpetrators are vile bullies."

 

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the laws would be a "world first", and noted the eSafety Commissioner would be given extra powers to block websites and apps during "crisis events".

 

He used the example of the Christchurch massacre, where a gunman live-streamed his shocking murder of 51 people at two mosques in 2019.

 

The Greens had been highly critical of the bill, concerned it made the eSafety Commissioner the "sole arbiter of internet content in Australia".

 

Senator Nick McKim had previously argued the complaints process could be rorted by people opposed to such things as pornography and sex work.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-15/new-laws-esafety-online-abuse-penalties-trolling/100217376

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:48 a.m. No.13907799   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2164 >>9893

>>13907315

>>13907463

Kevin Rudd Tweet

 

Great speech by Chris Bowen on Morrison and his close personal relationship with an activist from QAnon - the far right, extremist, religious conspiracy group that stormed the US Capitol.

 

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1404718885220151306

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 2:57 a.m. No.13907815   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9841

Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet

 

Great to exchange candid views with Defence Minister @PeterDutton_MP on how to further strengthen (Japan and Australia) defence cooperation.

 

https://twitter.com/YamagamiShingo/status/1404619706305155076

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 3:23 a.m. No.13907883   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13907179

>>13907563

FBI WARNS OF ‘REAL-WORLD VIOLENCE’ FROM QANON FOLLOWERS IN NEW REPORT

 

EDEN GILLESPIE - 15 June 2021

 

The FBI has warned of an increased threat of violence among QAnon followers, who it says may move from being “digital soldiers” to engaging in “real-world violence.”

 

The threat assessment was sent to lawmakers last week and obtained by several US news outlets, including CNN.

 

In it, the agency claims the inauguration of President Joe Biden and the disappearance of the leader of QAnon has seen some adherents leave the movement.

 

But it fears others may no longer “trust the plan” and take matters into their own hands, “instead of continually awaiting Q’s promised actions which have not occurred.”

 

QAnon is a conspiracy theory that was born on the message board 4chan in 2017 and then moved to 8Chan and 8Kun, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

 

The conspiracy began with an anonymous poster named “Q”, who claimed to have a high-level security clearance in the US government, posting so-called ‘clues’ to followers.

 

Adherents of QAnon believe a cabal of satanic pedophiles are secretly running the world and sex trafficking children, according to ISD researcher Elise Thomas.

 

Ms Thomas said followers of QAnon regarded former US President Donald Trump as a saviour who was leading the fight against the cabal during his presidency.

 

“[They believed] he would reclaim the world in the name of patriots and eliminate something called ‘the storm’, which would lead to the Great Awakening.”

 

Ms Thomas said ‘Q’ hasn’t posted since last December, but that hasn’t stopped the movement from changing shape and becoming a stew of conspiratorial beliefs.

 

She believes there is a legitimate concern that some of the most radical followers may decide they are “the storm” and turn to violence.

 

“A lot of those kinds of more mainstream people have dropped off, or they've gone into other areas,” she said.

 

“But what you have left is a fairly hardcore of people who are really deeply into it, some of whom would qualify as radicalised, and others, are going through various mental health issues.”

 

In its threat assessment, the FBI says it had arrested more than 20 QAnon followers who participated in the Capitol insurrection.

 

“These individuals were charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct in a restricted building and obstruction of an official proceeding, according to court documents and press reporting based on court documentation, public statements, and social media posts," the assessment reads.

 

Ms Thomas said another event like the storming of the US Capitol is unlikely and that the threat lies in radicalised lone individuals.

 

Australia has the fourth-largest online community of QAnon supporters, following the US, UK and Canada, according to ISD.

 

Ms Thomas told The Feed we should treat those who’ve fallen down the rabbit hole and become immersed with conspiracy theories with compassion.

 

“During the pandemic, we’ve seen an explosion of conspiratorial beliefs, which is largely linked to the increase of mental health stresses and pressures,” Ms Thomas said.

 

“QAnon ruins people’s lives.”

 

“It ruins them financially it ruins them professionally, it ruins their relationships. And that's why I think you need the public health issue.”

 

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/fbi-warns-of-real-world-violence-from-qanon-followers-in-new-report

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 3:40 a.m. No.13907925   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9552 >>9875

>>13895726

Wuhan bat video shows much of pandemic origin information was ‘Chinese disinformation’

 

Sky News Australia

 

Jun 15, 2021

 

Sky News host Sharri Markson says exclusive footage she revealed which proves live bats were kept at the Wuhan Institute of Virology shows much of what the world has been told about the origin of the pandemic was “Chinese disinformation”.

 

Ms Markson told Fox News in the interview that Beijing’s disinformation was then “propagated” by many who were “compromised”.

 

“It shows that much of what we’ve been told about the origin of the pandemic from the very beginning was Chinese disinformation which was then propagated by many people who had been working in conjunction with the Wuhan Institute of Virology who are compromised, who had extreme conflicts of interest,” she said.

 

Ms Markson scorched the WHO team which visited Wuhan earlier this year to investigate the origin of the pandemic.

 

“People like Peter Daszak insisted that it was a conspiracy theory – he used the term in a tweet from December 2020 – that it was a conspiracy theory to say that there were bats in the lab,” she said.

 

“He’s an official WHO, World Health Organisation, investigator who went into Wuhan to supposedly investigate the origins of the virus earlier this year and it was completely false.

 

“This new footage shows that there were bets being kept in the Wuhan Institute of Virology and it’s something Peter Daszak has had to admit, has had to correct just this month.

 

“There’s so much that he didn’t and the WHO team didn’t ask when they went into Wuhan.”

 

Ms Markson said the WHO team failed to even ask what happened to a colossal database of coronaviruses at the lab.

 

“They didn’t ask if there were bats at the laboratory, they didn’t ask where the virus database was, this is such a crucial thing, the virus database with some 15,000 or 17,000 bat samples suddenly disappeared from the internet in September 2019 just prior to the outbreak of COVID-19,” she said.

 

“People like Peter Daszak who went into to supposedly investigate this were riddled with conflicts.

 

“Anthony Fauci, as well, should not be advising the president on the origin of coronavirus given it was his organisation that funnelled money through a subgrant through to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

 

“He can issue all the denials that he likes. The scientific papers say that they were funded with NIH.”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-_Y1zmLCME

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 15, 2021, 11:51 a.m. No.13910760   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13818968

‘Ritual abuse’ in sex abuse royal commission report, despite claims QAnon inserted it to Scott Morrison’s speech

 

RICHARD FERGUSON and JAMES MADDEN - JUNE 15, 2021

 

Ritual abuse was identified by the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse as a regular experience of victims, despite claims Scott Morrison used the term in a speech under the influence of a conspiracy theorist.

 

The ABC’s Four Corners reported on Monday that Tim Stewart – a family friend of the Prime Minister who believes the world is controlled by a cabal of Satanic paedophiles – sent text messages claiming he’d had the phrase ­“ritual abuse” inserted into Mr Morrison’s 2019 apology to victims of institutional sex abuse.

 

The term “ritual abuse” has been identified as a key word for followers of the QAnon conspir­acy, who also believe a global child sex trafficking ring is being led by Hollywood actors and former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in their online forums.

 

The ABC on Tuesday said there was a distinction between the “rituals” and “ritualised abuse” detailed by the royal commission, and the “ritual sexual abuse” mentioned by Mr Morrison in 2019.

 

“The terms have two distinct meanings. ‘Ritual’ is ceremonial while ‘ritualised’ refers to something that is repeated – such as military hazing ceremonies,” an ABC spokeswoman said.

 

“The examples … all refer to ‘ritualised’ – repeated – abuse, mainly in the context of military hazing ceremonies. The Prime Minister did not use the phrase ‘ritual sexual abuse’ in that context in the national apology speech.

 

“(Four Corners) is accurately reported and raises questions it is legitimate and in the public ­interest to ask and examine.”

 

The second volume of the royal commission’s final report includes several mentions of how victims of abuse described rituals of hazing and rape across orphanages, churches, the Australian Defence Force and other institutions.

 

“In some private sessions, we heard about how many of the forms of sexual abuse described above were used in ritualistic or initiation settings to instil institutional culture. For example, institutions may condone sexually humiliating rituals or initiation practices, including forced public nudity, hazing and rape,” it says. The report also highlights ritual abuse of children involved in ADF youth troops and mentions that “ritualised abuse” has been a recurring theme in the media.

 

“The abuse took place within an informal hierarchy in which older recruits physically and sexually abused more junior recruits as part of the ritualised practices of bastardisation that were designed to break in and humiliate the new entrants to the navy.

 

“The media reported on high-profile alleged offenders, organised paedophile networks and ritualised abuse in Australia and overseas. As awareness grew, so did knowledge of related behaviours, such as grooming.”

 

The texts between Mr Stewart and a former QAnon believer in which Mr Stewart purports to have inserted the phrase “ritual sexual abuse” into the speech formed the cornerstone of Monday night’s Four Corners episode.

 

The report was hotly anticipated after its original air date was pushed back when ABC managing editor David Anderson decided it was not ready to run.

 

In the program, UNSW criminologist Michael Salter said mental health groups came to him after Mr Morrison’s 2019 apology to sex abuse victims and raised that the term “ritual sex abuse” was used regularly by QAnon.

 

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie tabled a petition in parliament last November that called the royal commission an inquiry into “ritual abuse”, but on Tuesday said he would not have done so if he knew the words’ connection with QAnon conspiracy.

 

The QAnon investigation was the most-watched Four Corners episode of the year to date.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/ritual-abuse-in-sex-abuse-royal-commission-report-despite-claims-qanon-inserted-it-to-scott-morrisons-speech/news-story/b0e68a66ab20fbefd1e891bf2b0310b2

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 12:45 a.m. No.13914986   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4989 >>4059 >>9875

Victoria continued to use Uighur labour firm to avoid delays on $2.4b rail project

 

Paul Sakkal and Sumeyya Ilanbey - June 15, 2021

 

1/2

 

Victoria’s Transport department advised the Andrews government to continue with the purchase of train parts from a Chinese supplier linked to exploited Uighur workers because it would have cost too much to find a different contractor on the $2.4 billion train project.

 

Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show department officials told transport ministers Jacinta Allan and Ben Carroll they should continue with their purchases despite the involvement of Chinese state-owned company KTK Group, which was using scores of Muslim Uighur workers sourced through a Chinese government program.

 

“[The department] could direct manufacturers to seek alternative suppliers for KTK-supplied components, however this may lead to delays and additional costs,” the advice stated.

 

In correspondence with train manufacturer Bombardier, KTK confirmed it acquired scores of workers through the Chinese government’s Xinjiang Aid program. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute estimates about 80,000 members of the country’s persecuted Uighur minority were transferred out of their homes or detention camps in Xinjiang to work at factories as part of the program.

 

Victoria’s 65 high capacity metro trains are being built by CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, a company central to President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative and intention to be a global leader in rail manufacturing. KTK builds the gangways that connect carriages.

 

The trains are two years overdue and government hopes for a December rollout of the new high capacity fleet could be cruelled by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

In response to an investigation undertaken by train manufacturer Bombardier, KTK, which continues to supply parts to the Victorian project, confirmed that it used about 80 Uighur workers between 2018-19 after “follow[ing] the call of the government to take the social responsibility, provide working opportunities to Uighurs, and make contributions to poverty alleviation”.

 

The company said “all [Uighur] workers voluntarily signed labour contracts” and “KTK complied with China’s labour laws”.

 

“Meanwhile, KTK has employed one dedicated cook in order to respect and satisfy the tradition of Muslim food, and provided new decorated dormitories to them free of charge,” the KTK letter said.

 

“In summary, there is no forced recruitment or forced labor in KTK Group, all employees’ personal freedoms and personalities have never been violated. KTK resolutely safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of employees.”

 

The Andrews government was the only Australian jurisdiction to sign up to the Chinese government’s $1 trillion Belt and Road strategy to invest in global rail, pipeline and telecommunications systems.

 

Critics including the US and European powers increasingly view the strategy as a foreign policy and propaganda tool and a potential debt trap for developing nations. Victoria’s agreement was cancelled by the Morrison government in April.

 

Premier Daniel Andrews maintained the BRI was a boon for the Victorian economy. He placed a strong emphasis on the state’s relationship with China since coming to office and instructed all cabinet ministers to visit China during his first term.

 

In February last year, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank published a world-leading study that found CRRC, along with 82 companies including Nike and BMW, was benefiting from the forced labour of Uighur people. The report found KTK employed about 40 Uighur workers in 2019.

 

The Transport Department advice was based on investigations by train companies that use KTK products: Downer, Alstom and Bombardier – the latter two of which have since merged.

 

China experts questioned how Australian companies were able to determine the veracity of KTK’s assurances given the lack of transparency in Xinjiang. “[They] are not currently aware of any use of forced labour by KTK Group,” the department’s briefing document stated.

 

Last year the US Commerce Department placed KTK on a so-called “entity list” that restricts its use of US goods. The department said the company was “implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of the People’s Republic of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor, involuntary collection of biometric data, and genetic analyses targeted at Muslim minority groups”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 12:45 a.m. No.13914989   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13914986

 

2/2

 

A Victorian government spokeswoman said on Monday that complying with modern slavery laws was “non-negotiable” and it expected everyone working on state contracts to comply with the legislation.

 

“All contractors working on this program have provided the Department of Transport with written assurances that forced labour was not used in the making of parts for the trains,” the spokeswoman said.

 

“The Victorian government has taken extensive steps to investigate these allegations since they were raised last year, including repeatedly seeking assurances from suppliers that forced labour is not used in the production of Melbourne’s HCMTs.”

 

The transport departments of Victoria, NSW and Queensland last year began investigating into supply chains on their train projects, all of which use KTK parts, following the release of the ASPI report.

 

In October last year, Premier Daniel Andrews said his government accepted CRRC’s assurances that the company was not benefiting from forced labour. Of China’s treatment of Uighurs, he said: “We don’t agree with everything that is done in every country around the world but ultimately we are about getting things done.”

 

Latrobe University Professor James Leibold, whose current research focuses on the Uighur ethnic minority and who co-authored the Uighurs for Sale report, said the Victorian government should not take at face value the assurances of the Chinese companies given the overwhelming evidence of repressive government policies in Xinjiang.

 

“Washing your hands of the concerns that KTK is involved in labour transfer schemes that are indicative of forced labour is negligent and, in my mind, the Victorian government needs to do more work to seek assurances, and if those assurances aren’t forthcoming, it should consider scrapping the contract,” Dr Leibold said.

 

“KTK now admits they’re involved in the Xinjiang Aid program, and it seems to be an admission the concerns we raised in the report are occurring, and that should have been a red flag for the Victorian government that the assurances it’s receiving don’t seem to line up with what the facts reveal.”

 

Dr Leibold raised questions on how Bombardier and Alstom, which were separate entities at the time, were able to ascertain and independently verify KTK was not involved in forced labour, given the lack of transparency and high levels of secrecy that dominate Chinese government policies.

 

“It is impossible [to independently investigate] – I know this because I’ve spoken to the CEO of a major auditing company in Hong Kong who said it’s impossible to do best practice, unannounced forced labour audits in [China],” Dr Leibold said.

 

China analysts have said while KTK’s admission of being involved in the Xinjiang Aid program is not an admission of using forced labour, it was “pretty close”.

 

China expert at Swinburne University of Technology John Fitzgerald said KTK’s claim that workers were recruited voluntarily could not be entirely discounted, but he said there could have been coercion if the workers were choosing to work at KTK as a method of exiting a re-education camp.

 

Professor Fitzgerald agreed that secrecy surrounding the Chinese government’s activities in Xinjiang made it difficult to test KTK’s claims.

 

“If China wants to counter these concerns it should allow more foreign journalists into the country and allow them to travel and investigate freely as they do elsewhere,” he said.

 

“If there’s nothing to hide, what’s the problem?”

 

The Department of Transport in April faced the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after it refused to release the advice to the Opposition’s transport infrastructure spokesman, David Davis. Mr Davis was last week handed a copy of the departmental advice.

 

The Age independently submitted its freedom of information request after it first revealed the link to Uighur labour.

 

Mr Davis said the Victorian government was “naively” accepting KTK Group’s assurances was a scandal and “simply not good enough”.

 

“The glib assurances provided by Jacinta Allan last year are worth nothing. What these damaging documents establish is there has been no independent investigation into the supply chain for Victorian rail purchases,” Mr Davis said.

 

Bombardier, CRRC and KTK Group were contacted for comment.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-continued-to-use-uighur-labour-firm-to-avoid-delays-on-2-4b-rail-project-20210614-p580x7.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 12:51 a.m. No.13915005   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5010 >>5145 >>9841

>>13907733

Scott Morrison, Boris Johnson agree in-principle to free trade deal

 

GEOFF CHAMBERS and GREG BROWN - JUNE 15, 2021

 

1/2

 

Australia is the first nation to secure a post-Brexit free trade deal with the UK in a historic breakthrough, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to stand shoulder to shoulder with Scott Morrison against Chinese aggression.

 

The pair signed an “agreement in principle” after a three-hour working dinner the night before at 10 Downing Street, with Mr Morrison describing the breakthrough as “the most comprehensive and ambitious agreement that Australia has concluded”, alongside New Zealand.

 

At a joint press conference, the British Prime Minister raised concerns with China’s global conduct and said he was hopeful his country could become a more significant trading partner with Australia given the scale of the trade relationship with Beijing.

 

“I looked at the numbers. I think something like $175bn is Australia’s trade with China,” Mr Johnson said. “I think Australia’s trade with the UK is currently in the order of $15bn. So you can see the difference in the scale. I want to raise that second figure very substantially as a result of what we’re doing.”

 

Referencing Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang and its “general repression of liberties in Hong Kong” and the way it behaved “particularly towards Australia”, Mr Johnson said the UK stood “shoulder to shoulder with our friends”.

 

“Nobody wants to descend into a new cold war with China,” he said. “We don’t see that as the way forward. This is a difficult relationship where it is vital to engage with China in the most positive way as we can. Where there (are) difficulties evidently … it’s vital that allies, UK and Australia, work together. That’s one of the reasons we’re sending the Carrier Strike Group you way.”

 

Mr Morrison said the new trade agreement would help make up the “foundation of this broader partnership that Australia and the United Kingdom enjoy”. He hailed it as the “right deal” despite earlier stumbling blocks on labour mobility and quotas for Australian agricultural producers.

 

“This is a foundational partnership for Australia as it is for the UK,” the Prime Minister said. “And everything else we do stems from that relationship, our co-operation on defence, on strategic issues, our co-operation on science and research, in dealing with technology challenges to combat climate change and indeed the economic relationship.

 

“Our economies are stronger by these agreements … Movement of people, movement of goods, movement of services, this is what underpins the strength of advanced economies and liberal democracies.”

 

The agreement was touted by Mr Johnson as a “prelude to further deals” and a launching pad for entry into the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, although he conceded there were “sensitive issues” that had been confronted by both sides.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 12:52 a.m. No.13915010   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2635

>>13915005

 

2/2

 

Mr Johnson said the UK would now “be able to take tariffs off” over a period of 15 years, arguing the deal would benefit British farmers and consumers as well.

 

“There are indeed safeguards. There is a 15-year transition period, which is a long time to wait,” he said. “As you can imagine for our friends in Australia, the UK joined what was then the common market in 1973 and I have to tell you that was pretty devastating for lots of farmers in Australia.

 

“They committed suicide some of them in the face of what happened to Australian agriculture in the 70s when the UK went into the common market. We’re opening up to Australia but we’re doing it in a staggered way.”

 

Mr Johnson said the deal would be good news for British car manufacturers and services firms as well as those operating in the agricultural sector.

 

“It will also make it easier for young British people to go and work in Australia without having the traditional compulsion to going to work on a farm for 80 days which used to be the rule,” he said.

 

Under the deal, Australia will phase out by 2027 the requirement for British backpackers to work on farms to extend their working holiday visas, with the labour shortfall in the agricultural sector to be made up through the introduction of an agricultural visa by the end of 2021. British backpackers had provided the agricultural sector with up to 10,000 workers a season

 

The Australian has been informed the agricultural visa will take in workers from the 10 Association of South East Asian nations – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – and work in conjunction with the seasonal worker program and Pacific labour scheme.

 

Mr Morrison said the deal would provide greater opportunities for young people in the UK and Australia to move about and work in both nations in a way that “builds the capacity of both countries.”

 

On Tuesday, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the Nationals had “already got an agreement from the Prime Minister to make sure that there is a mechanism in which, not only to replace that up to 10,000 (British backpackers), but also to look to stabilise and build on the capacity of seasonal workers that are required”.

 

“This goes hand in glove, although it’s separate to any free trade agreement,” Mr Littleproud told the ABC.

 

Nationals MP Damian Drum backed an agricultural working visa to fill the void from British backpackers.

 

Trade Minister Dan Tehan assured the Coalition partyroom on Tuesday that the deal did not force Australia to endorse a net-zero emissions by 2050 target, after questioning from Nationals senator Matt Canavan.

 

In London, Mr Johnson said he thought that Australia had “declared for net zero by 2050” despite Mr Morrison only saying it was his preference to reach carbon neutrality by mid-century. Mr Johnson said Australia achieving net zero by 2050 would be a “great step forward” given it was a “massive coal producer”. “It’s having to change the way things are orientated and everybody understands that,” he said.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/scott-morrison-boris-johnson-agree-inprinciple-to-free-trade-deal/news-story/d0f12150f39e0f4a1e1f138622d1d70d

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 12:54 a.m. No.13915015   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

Elite universities submit 4000 foreign deals for Marise Payne to scrutinise and possibly cancel

 

RICHARD FERGUSON - JUNE 15, 2021

 

More than 6000 university deals with foreign powers are being scrutinised by Foreign Minister Marise Payne, as she considers vetoing any contrary to the national interest.

 

The Group of Eight universities alone have submitted more than 4000 foreign deals, including agreements to operate China-linked Confucius Institutes, as the university sector seeks to re-engage with the Morrison government over national security.

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was also notified of more than 2000 foreign arrangements from the nation’s 30 other higher education institutions before the deadline on Friday.

 

DFAT will now comb through the university sector’s arrangements and memorandums of understanding with foreign entities before Senator Payne makes a determination to cancel any of them, as she did in April with the Victorian government’s Belt and Road deal with Beijing.

 

“I recognise the work universities have put into the (Foreign Arrangements) Scheme and appreciate their engagement,” Senator Payne said.

 

“Universities themselves now have full visibility of their international activity across their various faculties. This will result in improved governance and due diligence of their foreign agreements.”

 

The mass collation of foreign deals comes after more than 2000 pieces of written correspondence and 100 meetings and briefings from DFAT for states, local councils and universities.

 

Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson said attempts to meet the Friday deadline set by the Foreign Relations Act was a major task for the eight sandstones – which include the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne – and more deals would need to be submitted.

 

“This process has been a huge logistic and administrative challenge, with the complexity of the legislation putting potentially hundreds of thousands of person-to-person ‘agreements’ and other minor arrangements in the frame,” she said. “There is, however, more to be done as some universities were required to review in detail as many as 75 agreements for every one agreement lodged with the scheme.”

 

The Foreign Relations Act – which orders states, local councils and universities to submit all overseas deals to the Foreign Minister – was brought in amid concerns about links between university researchers and the Chinese military.

 

A University of Queensland spokeswoman on Tuesday said UQ had submitted 587 foreign agreements and 71 prospective deals to DFAT. The University of Melbourne said it had submitted “several hundred” agreements, and the University of Western Australia said it submitted 180 deals, which were mostly with Chinese partners.

 

The Australian National University, Monash University and the University of Sydney also confirmed they had submitted foreign arrangements, but would not give any numerical details.

 

University leaders have been prepared for their on-campus Confucius Institutes to be cancelled by the Foreign Minister.

 

The institutes purport to be Chinese cultural and language study centres but have been linked with Beijing’s attempts to influence foreign universities.

 

The University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of Adelaide, UNSW, UWA, and the University of Queensland all have Confucius Institutes, and have submitted their contracts for review. The higher education sector unsuccessfully lobbied to be exempted from the Foreign Relations Act over concerns the law was too broad.

 

Ms Thomson on Tuesday said some foreign partners had begun to either withdraw or pause deals with Australian universities due to the legislation. “The impact of this legislation has not gone unnoticed by current and potential international partners of Go8 universities,” she said.

 

“A number have withdrawn from agreements, not because of any issues concerning alignment with Australia’s foreign policy, but on the basis of complexity and what they perceive (to be) unwarranted government overreach into the university sector.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/elite-universities-submit-4000-foreign-deals-for-marise-payne-to-scrutinise-and-possibly-cancel/news-story/d9d73da58cca085fabc5b5b170cf6959

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 1:33 a.m. No.13915145   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5148 >>5160 >>9865

>>13915005

Emmanuel Macron tells Scott Morrison ‘we’re by your side’ on China

 

FINN MCHUGH - JUNE 16, 2021

 

Emmanuel Macron has declared “we stand by your side” in Australia’s ongoing stoush with China, declaring Canberra “central” to regional stability.

 

The French President made the comments as he welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Elysee Palace in Paris, where the pair discussed Beijing’s increasingly assertive posture in the Indo-Pacific.

 

Mr Morrison has been on an international tour to bolster an international alliance in the region after accusing China of economic coercion over its year-long campaign of trade sanctions on Australian products.

 

Speaking alongside Mr Morrison, Mr Macron declared France rejected “any coercive measures taken against Australia”. He described them as a “flagrant violation of international law”.

 

“You are at the forefront of the tensions that exist in the region, of the threats, and sometimes of the intimidation. I want to reiterate here how much we stand by your side,” he said.

 

“I would like to reiterate how committed France remains to defending the balance in the Indo-Pacific region and how much we consider the partnership we have with Australia to be at the heart of this Indo-Pacific strategy.”

 

Mr Macron joined UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who Mr Morrison met in London this week, and the US in throwing its weight behind Canberra during the stoush.

 

Standing alongside the French President, Mr Morrison said the two countries shared common goals and values, describing their co-operation as vital to regional stability.

 

“Every element of our partnership is about reinforcing the values and the beliefs that we hold dearly,” he said.

 

“The work that you’ve done in supporting and standing with Australia as we go through some difficult times in the Indo-Pacific … we greatly appreciate that.”

 

The pair made the remarks before sitting down for wide-ranging discussions over dinner, days after Mr Morrison was invited to attend the G7 summit.

 

A joint statement from G7 leaders demanded Beijing “respect human rights and fundamental freedoms”, referencing the oppression of the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang and crackdowns on democratic movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

 

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian described the statement as “deliberate slander” designed to accelerate regional tensions.

 

“It reveals the malign intentions of the US, and a few other countries, to create confrontation and widen differences and disputes. China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this,” he said on Tuesday.

 

During his tour, Mr Morrison has also attempted to bridge the divide between Australia and major developed countries on climate change after refusing to follow the G7 nations by committing to a net zero emissions target by 2050.

 

The Prime Minister has signed partnerships with Japan and Germany over hydrogen technology, which he has made central to Australia’s energy future, and praised Mr Macron for his leadership on the issue.

 

“(You are) practically addressing the challenges of technology that are necessary to ensure that not only is a carbon neutral economy achieved in advanced economies but importantly that it’s achieved in developing economies,” he said.

 

“And for that to occur it requires the technology that makes it achievable for them.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/emmanuel-macron-tells-scott-morrison-were-by-your-side-on-china/news-story/8c9dc0d0818e8623754397b077a05722

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 1:34 a.m. No.13915148   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9865

>>13915145

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on June 15, 2021

 

CCTV: On June 13, the G7 summit concluded and issued a communiqué, which made groundless accusations on China with regard to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other issues. What is your comment?

 

Zhao Lijian: We have noted that the G7 summit communiqué mentions China-related issues, deliberately slandering China on issues related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan as well as maritime issues, and interfering in China's internal affairs. Such moves seriously contravenes the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the trend of the times for peace, development and win-win cooperation. It reveals the bad intentions of the US and a few other countries to create confrontation and estrangement and widen differences and disagreements. China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this.

 

Issues related to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan are purely China's internal affairs that brook no foreign interference. China is firmly resolved in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests.

 

I want to emphasize that multipolarization and democratic international relations are irresistible trend of the times. The era of one country or a bloc of countries dictating world affairs is over. Under the current situation, the international community need to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and practice true multilateralism more than ever. Countries should not seek bloc politics on the basis of the interests of small cliques, suppress different development models by holding ideology as the yardstick, and still less confuse right with wrong and shift blames onto others. The US is ill, very ill indeed. We'd like to advise the G7 to take its pulse and come up with a prescription for the US.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1884007.shtml

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 1:39 a.m. No.13915160   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

>>13915145

China 'incredibly aggressive' towards Australia

 

Sky News Australia

 

Jun 16, 2021

 

Former UK High Commissioner Alexander Downer says China has been incredibly aggressive towards Australia and the west.

 

“I think what’s really good about the G7 meeting is that we’ve sent a very strong message to China,” Mr Downer told Sky News.

 

Mr Downer said despite the current tensions, Australia wants to engage with China.

 

“I hope that the Chinese do understand what damage they’ve done over the last few years.

 

"But we want to engage with them.”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGBqFf263Vg

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 1:50 a.m. No.13915189   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5194 >>9856

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith used pre-paid phones due to phone hacking fears, defamation trial hears

 

Jamie McKinnell - 16 June 2021

 

1/2

 

Ben Roberts-Smith used pre-paid mobile phones to communicate with soldier colleagues after he was accused of war crimes because he was worried about phone hacking, a court has heard.

 

On his fourth day giving evidence to a high-stakes defamation trial in Sydney, the war veteran blamed two members of Special Air Services Regiment (SAS) for "poisoning the well" by speaking to the media about missions in Afghanistan.

 

The 42-year-old is suing The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times newspapers over a series of 2018 stories, which reported serious allegations against Mr Roberts-Smith related to his Afghanistan deployments, including unlawful killings.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith told the Federal Court that after reading the first article in June 2018, he spoke to four current or ex-SAS officers who were on the missions mentioned.

 

After initially using his own mobile phone, Mr Roberts-Smith asked a friend of his ex-wife to buy pre-paid mobiles for further communication.

 

"My view was that I just needed to talk on something that wasn't compromised by the media and used in another article," he told the court.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said the News of the World phone-hacking scandal was "playing heavily on my mind".

 

He said he spoke with the soldiers about their recollection of the missions and who was responsible for the allegations.

 

"Everyone had a view on which individuals were trying to poison the well with the media," Mr Roberts-Smith said.

 

He said two soldiers, referred to by the pseudonyms Person 6 and Person 7, were thought to be "the key drivers of the negative campaign".

 

Mr Roberts-Smith denied he used the pre-paid mobile phones to avoid the attention of the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force.

 

He also denied burying a number of USB drives that contained sensitive photographs and information from Afghanistan in his Sunshine Coast backyard.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said the drives were sent to him anonymously in the mail and included footage from missions and photographs from parties at the unofficial SAS bar, the Fat Lady's Arms.

 

The former soldier recalled attempting to obtain the home addresses of six SAS officers from a private investigator, John McLeod, as he was attempting to work out who was speaking to the media.

 

He denied ever sending threats in the mail and said while he was never given the addresses, he intended to pass them on to a WA-based private investigations firm so it could discover who was speaking to journalists.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 1:51 a.m. No.13915194   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13915189

 

2/2

 

The Victoria Cross recipient appeared to become emotional in the witness box on several occasions when he was asked by his barrister, Bruce McClintock SC, about the impact of the stories on his life and his family.

 

He told the court it was "traumatising" to get a call from his ex-wife's parents, shortly after the articles were published, expressing concern about him and his children.

 

"You fight for your country, you come home," he began, loudly exhaling and pausing.

 

"And somebody attacks you from the shadows, like cowards, and your own family has to think that about you."

 

Mr Roberts-Smith detailed the impact on his children and said every day he worries about what people may say to them about him.

 

"It was, and it is, something that just crushes me," he said.

 

"It crushes my soul. Because I gave so much to that job. And it's all lies."

 

Just before Mr McClintock finished questioning his client, Mr Roberts-Smith told the court the reports "ruined" his life because his family life was untenable, his public speaking business collapsed, and he is "constantly racked with anxiety".

 

He said it takes "an amazing amount of effort" to face people every day and put on a brave face after struggling to get out of bed.

 

"How do you feel people see you now, what do you think people think of you?" Mr McClintock asked.

 

"That's that problem, I don't know," the veteran replied.

 

"I used to. Now I walk down the street, people look at me. The first thing I think of is that they think I've hit a woman," he said, wiping his nose with a tissue.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith insisted he "did everything I was supposed to" in Afghanistan and followed the rules of engagement.

 

"I have had those moments in my life in the last three years, that I just didn't think it was worth it," he said.

 

"I have so much respect for the Victoria Cross and what it stands for, the Australian Defence Force, people I work with, I love my family, my children.

 

"That keeps me going. To set the record straight. And that's why I'm here."

 

Mr Roberts-Smith alleges he was defamed by imputations including that he "broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement", "disgraced his country", bullied SAS colleagues, and committed an act of domestic violence against a woman in a Canberra hotel room.

 

Nine Entertainment Co, the publisher of two of the papers, is using a defence of truth.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-16/ben-roberts-smith-gives-evidence-about-pre-paid-mobile-phone-use/100218686

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 1:57 a.m. No.13915213   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5218 >>9882

Alleged Australian child abuser arrested after six months on the run in Thailand

 

Fergus Hunter - June 12, 2021

 

1/2

 

An Australian man who was on the run in Thailand for six months, fleeing child sexual abuse charges, has been arrested by local authorities and will now face court.

 

It can also be revealed that Adam James Fox, 44, was able to obtain a working with children clearance in Victoria in 2017 and become a foster carer despite previously facing child abuse charges in Melbourne two decades ago under another name, Guy Christopher Weymouth.

 

Mr Fox, living in Thailand in recent years, has been in hiding since December and denies accusations he assaulted or violated at least three impoverished boys at his home under the guise of providing education and care. He has claimed the charges are a set-up and he won’t receive a fair trial in the Thai court system.

 

He was charged by the Royal Thai Police in early 2020 but received bail and did not attend the start of his trial in December. He was charged in the city of Mae Sot, which is on the border with Myanmar and has a reputation for human trafficking and exploitation.

 

Multiple sources confirmed Mr Fox was arrested again in the area on June 2 by immigration and narcotics law enforcement officers.

 

An investigator from New Zealand who was previously working on human trafficking cases in Thailand welcomed police efforts to recapture Mr Fox but warned he had been in custody before and was “inexplicably” granted bail.

 

“At the time Mr Fox went on the run he was already facing charges for serious sexual abuse against some of Thailand’s most vulnerable children,” the investigator, Daniel Isherwood, said.

 

Mr Isherwood said Mr Fox had made a mockery of the local justice system and bribed key officials to secure his release from custody and ongoing access to the children he was charged with abusing.

 

“I understand Mr Fox’s lawyer was recently elected as mayor of Mae Sot and I hope he is able to ensure corruption does not play a part of the trial process on this occasion,” Mr Isherwood said.

 

Mr Fox has previously admitted to bribery. In a video posted online, he said corruption was rampant in Thailand and “with enough money you can get people to give you whatever you want, whatever you need”.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age previously detailed the allegations against Mr Fox and revealed messages he sent to an associate in which he described, in graphic detail, sexual activities with children and dosing them with methamphetamine and heroin.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 1:59 a.m. No.13915218   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13915213

 

2/2

 

There is also evidence Mr Fox conspired to bribe officials within the local judiciary to drop drug charges against him and implicate a man called Kyaw Moe Aung, who worked for Mr Fox last year but fell out with him amid the abuse allegations.

 

Mr Fox’s record has also raised concerns about child protection in Victoria after it emerged he received a working with children clearance – which remained active until the Thailand allegations came to light – despite facing seven charges in 2000 for sexual abuse of a child under 16.

 

Working with Children Check Victoria granted the clearance, which lasts five years, in 2017. The government agency, which relies on applicant disclosure and police information for background checks, may not have been aware of Mr Fox’s alias and previous charges.

 

He was found not guilty on all of the abuse counts in April 2002. Victorian working with children laws were changed from August 2017 to require that sexual offences against a child are assessed in working with children checks even if the person was found not guilty. Mr Fox appears to have acquired his clearance before the change came into effect.

 

Under longstanding laws, applicants are also required to declare any other names by which they have been known. If Mr Fox did not disclose the truth about his past to the agency, he could face up to two years imprisonment or a fine of $39,652 for providing false or misleading information.

 

Mr Fox was an active volunteer foster carer, accredited with a Victorian foster care agency, before he left Melbourne for Thailand.

 

Since the airing of Mr Fox’s past and the accusations in Thailand earlier this year, Mr Fox’s check has been revoked and he is prohibited from engaging in child-related work in Victoria.

 

One person who knew Mr Fox in the 2000s, and did not want not to be named, said Mr Fox’s explanation for his dual identities at the time was that the name Guy Weymouth had baggage because of the abuse charges.

 

The goal of the working with children checks is to determine whether a person poses an “unjustifiable” risk to children in the relevant work or volunteering.

 

“Assessments for a WWCC include a thorough look at the criminal history and relevant professional conduct findings of applicants to ensure they assist in protecting children from sexual or physical harm,” a spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Community Safety said.

 

If this article has raised concerns for you, support is available by phoning Lifeline at 13 11 14.

 

https://www.lifeline.org.au

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/alleged-australian-child-abuser-arrested-after-six-months-on-the-run-in-thailand-20210612-p580hs.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 2:09 a.m. No.13915233   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5235 >>5238 >>9696 >>9876

Revealed: Epstein and Maxwell implicated in multiple UK abuse claims over a decade

 

Serious questions raised about why Met Police chose not to investigate alleged offences. Police said today they will ‘review the information’ reported by this programme.

 

Channel 4 News Investigations Team - 15 Jun 2021

 

1/2

 

A Channel 4 News investigation has found more than half a dozen claims that young women and girls are alleged to have been targeted, trafficked, groomed, or abused in the UK by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, over a period spanning more than a decade.

 

Some of those victims have provided detailed accounts of their experiences. The evidence comes from a combination of publicly available documentation (including court papers), witness accounts, and interviews. The alleged offences detailed in the accounts include serious sexual assault and rape.

 

The Channel 4 News investigation reveals that despite this, the Met Police chose not to carry out a full criminal investigation into these alleged offences despite many of these claims being in the public domain, a direct approach from at least one victim, and widespread evidence that Epstein had abused young women through a global criminal enterprise.

 

Serious questions have been raised about why the force failed to carry out a full criminal investigation, including whether Prince Andrew’s involvement with Maxwell and Epstein had any bearing on their decision not to fully investigate; and whether the Metropolitan Police faces a conflict of interest due the role of its officers serving in proximity as Royal protection officers. Prince Andrew denies any wrongdoing.

 

Legal experts who reviewed the claims for Channel 4 News said the allegations provide clear grounds for an investigation and accused the Met Police of failing in their legal duty to launch a full criminal inquiry.

 

Nazir Afzal OBE, the former Chief Crown Prosecutor for NW England at the CPS, who led landmark cases against grooming gangs in northern England, said: “From what I’ve seen, there is clearly enough evidence for the police to investigate more thoroughly than they have done up to now.

 

“It’s concerning, because we’ve got potentially victims here. And maybe other victims or alleged victims, who may if an investigation follows its course, be identified.”

 

A spokesperson for the Met Police told this programme it would “review” the information put to them by Channel 4 News.

 

When asked if Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein were treated differently by the MPS because of their connection with Prince Andrew, Afzal warned: “The perception here is a different approach was taken in relation to these alleged offences, then there would be than if it was some brown guy in Rochdale, or some sex offender in London who didn’t have any standing at all.”

 

Channel 4 News was also able to identify potential witnesses by tracing name and telephone numbers from a publicly available contacts directory, known as the ‘Black Book’, which openly details associates and workers (including drivers, pilots, and masseuses) in the UK, in a similar pattern to those seen in other countries that have launched investigations, including the US and France. None of the people we called told us they had received any contact from the UK police.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 2:10 a.m. No.13915235   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13915233

 

2/2

 

Publicly available flight records from this period show Epstein and Maxwell were frequent visitors to the UK. Our analysis shows Epstein’s private planes – a Gulfstream jet and the luxury Boeing 727 dubbed “The Lolita Express” – flew in and out of UK airports at least 51 times, including into RAF Marham in Norfolk. The pair were also visitors at Royal residences including Balmoral, Windsor and Sandringham.

 

In 2015 the Met Police chose not to open a full criminal investigation into an incident involving Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew in 2001, despite a complaint from a third party who passed on evidence of serious criminal activity involving the exploitation of a vulnerable young woman. In 2019 the Met Police carried out a review of that decision and concluded that no further action was required.

 

One of the alleged UK victims and her legal team spoke directly with Met Police officers in 2016 and urged them to investigate. When Channel 4 News has previously asked questions about this direct approach, the Met Police has not provided any answers and ignored the questions. The Met Police has never publicly acknowledged this direct approach, instead providing public statements referring only to the third-party complaint in 2015.

 

A spokesperson for the Met Police told Channel 4 News it would “review” the information put to them by this programme. However, they said they stand by their decision not to open a full investigation.

 

In a statement the force said: “The MPS always takes allegations of sexual offences and exploitation seriously.

 

“All officers no matter what their role are duty bound to uphold the law and conduct themselves with integrity.

 

“The MPS is clear that it will investigate allegations where there is sufficient evidence of an offence having taken place, where it is the appropriate authority to do so and where those against whom the allegation are made are alive.

 

“The MPS stands by the statement by Commander Alex Murray issued at the end of 2019.

 

“This confirmed that the MPS had received an allegation of non-recent trafficking for sexual exploitation against a US national, Jeffrey Epstein, and a British woman in 2015 relating to events outside of the UK and an allegation of trafficking to central London in March 2001.

 

“Officers assessed the available evidence, interviewed the complainant and obtained early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service. However, following the legal advice, it was clear that any investigation into human trafficking would be largely focused on activities and relationships outside the UK.

 

“Officers therefore concluded that the MPS was not the appropriate authority to conduct enquiries in these circumstances and, in November 2016, a decision was made that this matter would not proceed to a full criminal investigation.

 

“In August 2019, following the death of Jeffrey Epstein, officers reviewed the decision making from 2016 and concluded that the position should remain unchanged.

 

“The MPS has continued to liaise and offer assistance with other law enforcement agencies who lead the investigation into matters related to Jeffrey Epstein but is unable to comment on individuals with whom they may or may not have interacted with regard any allegations of crime.

 

“We will always consider any new information and will review the information sent to us from Channel 4.”

 

https://www.channel4.com/news/revealed-epstein-and-maxwell-implicated-in-multiple-uk-abuse-claims-over-a-decade

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 2:11 a.m. No.13915238   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876

>>13915233

Revealed: Epstein and Maxwell implicated in multiple claims of abuse in UK over a decade

 

Channel 4 News

 

Jun 16, 2021

 

An investigation by this programme into the notorious sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged partner Ghislaine Maxwell has found mulitple claims that the pair targeted, groomed, trafficked and sexually abused at least half a dozen young women in the UK over a ten-year period.

 

The allegations have never been fully investigated by the Met, despite repeated complaints to the force.

 

The Metropolitan Commissioner has previously insisted that any decision not to investigate had nothing to do with Prince Andrew, but that it was a matter for US authorities, where Ghislaine Maxwell is facing trial.

 

But tonight senior legal figures in the UK who have reviewed our evidence from this country are calling for a full criminal investigation into what they call "serious allegations".

 

A warning: this report contains references to sexual abuse.

 

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

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 2:28 a.m. No.13915261   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5263 >>9893

>>13818968

Four Corners misses the big stories on QAnon

 

JACK THE INSIDER (Peter Hoysted) - JUNE 16, 2021

 

1/2

 

The ABC’s Four Corners report into the cult of QAnon now only stands relevant on the basis of semantic argument as we were reminded the term ‘ritual abuse’ was identified by the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse as a regular experience of victims, despite the program’s claims Scott Morrison may have used the term in a nod to the cult.

 

Let’s face it, the show was a nothing burger and those same claims had been reported over a year ago by other media.

 

The words were contained in a speech the Prime Minister made to the parliament on 22 October 2018.

 

I recall that day well and the PM’s speech in particular. It was one of those rare days where parliament was at its best. Scott Morrison spoke, voice quivering with emotion, as did then Opposition leader, Bill Shorten. They were fine speeches.

 

Victims of institutional child sexual abuse, many of whom were present in the parliament, some in the packed galleries, others listening in the Parliament’s Great Hall or outside on the lawns, found great comfort in the expressions of support, a sense that finally the nation had turned its eye to them and at last they had been believed. There was also a sense of collective grief, of victims assembling at one place at one time and succour of a kind came from it.

 

Through five years of public hearings at the Royal Commission we learned some hard truths about ourselves. We learnt that as a society we had failed to value our children, failed to listen to them, failed to believe them.

 

We learnt also that some of the country’s most trusted institutions – state and private, religious and secular, sporting and recreational, held these children’s lives cheap. These institutions had known of the abuse perpetrated behind their walls and covered up, obsessed with abstract concepts like legal liability and reputational damage. The victims were cast into an emotional abyss from which many would never return.

 

Nation’s sorrow assuaged

 

The nation’s sorrow was assuaged by the Prime Minister’s speech and by actions that followed them, the establishment of the National Redress Scheme which offered victims a chance of lawyerless compensation, albeit by completing a long and often perplexing form which required them to outline the circumstances of their abuse in detail that would necessarily re-traumatise them before waiting months and sometimes years before receiving payments and apologies from the institutions responsible for their abuse.

 

It was an imperfect solution to an intractable problem. There is room for journalistic rigour here that seems to have gone through to the keeper — victims who had to wait too long that they gave up hope or died waiting for compensation.

 

Many of those most disadvantaged by the scheme are what are known as Clannies — the Care Leavers Australia Network — former wards of the state who were abused in one place, then transferred to another where they were abused again and often on to another where the abuse continued with new tormentors. Their homes had been run by a mix of providers, state and private. When it came time for their redress to be examined, the claims would have to be passed to one institution, then on to another and so on.

 

Thus, the NRS was designed to be more difficult for what were arguably those who had suffered more enduring harm.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 2:29 a.m. No.13915263   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13915261

 

2/2

 

The empty seat at the table

 

What did arise from the Four Corners program is what might call the empty seat at table, families who have had to endure the absence of loved ones lost to a cult. Those firmly in the grip of QAnon conspiracies as with all cults have a long journey back if they can come back at all.

 

Explaining what QAnon is is invariably difficult. It is a cult and in the way of cults, its belief systems are regarded as bizarre to outsiders.

 

If I tried to explain the fundamental precepts of Scientology, the same problems would arise. QAnon is a political cult that relies on claims of institutional child sex abuse perpetrated, the theories go, by Democrats and Hollywood personalities as part of a global cabal of the powerful. QAnon also, it must be said, is vehemently anti-Semitic.

 

Still, the emotive pull of it cannot be underestimated. What could be more important than saving children?

 

Unlike Scientology or any one of the other faux religious cults, QAnon relies on the concept of the digital warrior – the notion that one can do good by simply following the cult’s adherents and influencers online (who often have something to sell) and spreading the word.

 

Unsurprisingly, police and the FBI have reported the rise of QAnon has made their job more difficult. Unfounded claims of child sexual abuse have made the business of actual child sexual abuse more difficult to investigate. Waters are necessarily muddied when hundreds of false claims are reported.

 

When we get to the QAnon denouement, the riots at the Capitol Building in Washington DC on January 6, we saw people assembling who had otherwise been law abiding. Members of the military and even law enforcement were present. Not all, but a sizeable fraction of those who stormed the Capitol that day, were QAnon adherents. Some were members of militia groups with angry names – Boogaloo Boys, Proud Boys, Three Per Centers. Many had travelled to Washington DC because they believed their country was at risk. They had been told so, based on the lie President Donald Trump had repeated loud and often that he had been cheated of victory in the US Presidential election in November 2020.

 

The term radicalisation is rarely attributed to the Capitol Building attacks but that is precisely what happened. Of the more than 400 arrests that have been made since, the one consistent back story for many is that of vulnerable people in a state of heightened suggestibility who found themselves in the middle of a violent mob. They became radicalised in seconds.

 

How QAnon started and by whom remains a mystery. We know that at some point, not long after the US Presidential election in 2016 that posts from Q – the so called anonymous deep state insider were almost certainly contrived by an internet entrepreneur, Ron Watkins. But Q had been posting for 18 months prior to Watkins’ meddling.

 

The language of the cult

 

We know, too, that people close to Trump’s re-election team – Roger Stone and Major General Mike Flynn were quick to adopt the language of the cult for political motives.

 

It was a psy-op straight out of a CIA textbook and millions were sucked in. Just yesterday, the FBI issued a statement predicting more QAnon violence, that its adherents, no longer directed by the cryptic Q posts, would move from digital soldiers to engage in more “real world violence.”

 

The frustration is that journalistic obsessions about what a prime minister did or didn’t say are such small beans compared to what is out there in the actual.

 

Rewriting history is a journalistic hobby of sorts these days. The frustration is that the real history, documented, observable, clear in our memories is pushed to the back so we can fixate on an almost meaningless dot in the distance as if the truth can only be consumed in made-for-television bite-sized chunks.

 

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/four-corners-misses-the-big-stories-on-qanon/news-story/06904652bae870f1172c0e0970e8f10e

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 2:43 a.m. No.13915288   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13907179

CNN Newsroom

 

Berman to former QAnon follower: How could you believe that?

 

15 June 2021

 

CNN's John Berman speaks with Jitarth Jadeja, who followed QAnon for two years, about the FBI's warning to lawmakers that QAnon "digital soldiers" may become more violent.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/media/2021/06/15/former-qanon-follower-fbi-warning-jadeja-intv-newday-berman-sot-vpx.cnn/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 2:45 a.m. No.13915294   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13818968

Lucy Turnbull Tweets

 

I am worried about how widespread these crazy ideas are. Was walking down a street in the neighborhood late last year and a tradie shouted out to @TurnbullMalcolm and me ‘Hi paedophiles’. It was truly bizarre. It really shook me. The guy was very snarky and weird.

 

https://twitter.com/LucyTurnbull_AO/status/1404701519325196295

 

Louise Milligan @Milliganreports

 

In the US, only today: “The FBI has warned that followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory could again engage in violence against political opponents out of frustration that the theory's predictions have not come true.”

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi-warns-that-qanon-followers-could-engage-real-world-violence-2021-06-14/

 

https://twitter.com/Milliganreports/status/1404699357547429894

 

 

By the way @TurnbullMalcolm was a little further away and did not hear what he said. I sure did. It was loud and clear and really disturbing.

 

https://twitter.com/LucyTurnbull_AO/status/1404703086485012482

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 3:14 a.m. No.13915354   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2628 >>9844

Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post

 

June 14 2021

 

#MATESHIP

 

 

9 News Darwin

 

June 14 2021

 

The unshakable mateship between we Aussies and the Americans stretches back more than a century.

 

And today there's no better place to illustrate this great military alliance turned love affair than Darwin.

 

As we mark the ten year anniversary of the U.S. Marine deployment down under, reporter Amy Clements brings us a little bit of Top Gun from the Top End.

 

https://www.facebook.com/MRFDarwin/posts/153458686816623

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 3:15 a.m. No.13915358   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2572 >>9844

>>13855451

U.S. Marines, Australians, Japanese kick off trilateral Exercise Southern Jackaroo

 

Capt. Thomas deVries - 06.15.2021

 

Darwin, NT, Australia – U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D), soldiers with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and soldiers with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) will conduct Exercise Southern Jackaroo 2021 in Northern Territory training areas June 15-25, 2021.

 

Exercise Southern Jackaroo is a field training exercise that integrates Australian and Japanese elements with the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, increasing the capacity to mutually support one another during combined operations.

 

Three main activities will occur during the training. There will be a table top exercise where key leaders and planners will receive a mission and then war game to assess their plan to accomplish the mission. Marines will conduct sniper training and establish an artillery battery of M777 Howitzers, 155mm cannons; these provide indirect fire support for infantry units. Finally, there will be a live fire field training exercise that will integrate infantry and artillery units of the U.S. Marines, Australian Army, and Japanese Ground Self Defence force.

 

The MRF-D Ground Combat Element is comprised of a reinforced infantry battalion, including 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment; an artillery battery from 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment; and a detachment from 1st Combat Engineer Battalion. Other capabilities of MRF-D, such as logistics and aviation elements, will support the live fire training in Mount Bundy Training Area.

 

All U.S. service members in Australia strictly adhered to Australian health including COVID-19 testing and quarantine before being released. The health protection measures demonstrate a sustained commitment to the Australia-U.S. alliance and ensure continued regional health, security, and stability.

 

For media interested in covering the exercise, contact Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Communication Strategy and Operations Officer, Capt. Thomas deVries, USMC: MRFDmedia@usmc.mil.

 

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/398916/us-marines-australians-japanese-kick-off-trilateral-exercise-southern-jackaroo

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 3:17 a.m. No.13915359   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5363 >>5368 >>9844

TalismanSabre Tweet

 

#YourADF is gearing up for #TalismanSabre by honing the skills of Australia’s amphibious force on Exercise Sea Explorer!

 

The tiered training program coordinates the insertion of sailors, soldiers and vehicles by air and sea.

 

Learn more: bit. ly/ExSea-

 

https://news.defence.gov.au/capability/exercise-explores-all-options

 

https://twitter.com/TalismanSabre/status/1403849628756463619

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 3:18 a.m. No.13915363   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

>>13915359

Exercise explores all options

 

Captain Dan Mazurek - 11 June 2021

 

There is a lot going on in the air, on land and at sea in Exercise Sea Explorer, which is landing on Cowley Beach in North Queensland until June 15.

 

The annual Sea Series of exercises is a tiered training program that hones the skills of Australia’s amphibious force, ensuring it is ready now and future-ready.

 

After last month’s planning exercise Sea Horizon, Exercise Sea Explorer allows nearly 1600 Army, Navy and Air Force elements to rehearse and perfect the intricate process of moving people and materiel from HMA Ships Canberra and Choules to shore.

 

Exercise Sea Explorer is the amphibious force’s preparation for July’s Exercise Sea Raider in which they will support the broader ADF as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre.

 

Coordinating the insertion of sailors, soldiers and vehicles – including main battle tanks – by air and sea requires a focused effort to overcome challenges while maintaining safe and effective training.

 

Commander Amphibious Task Force Captain Leif Maxfield said Army, Navy and Air Force personnel synchronised the complex management of the amphibious manoeuvre, while in the background, the ships’ companies also maintained rigorous internal training and maintenance regimes.

 

“There is certainly a lot going on,” Captain Maxfield said.

 

“Sea Explorer is our opportunity to bring our amphibious forces together to achieve initial training goals while ensuring we operate to the highest standards of safety before we pick up the pace on exercise Sea Raider.

 

“I am continually very proud of the hard work and professional approach of the embarked amphibious forces and crews of Canberra and Choules.”

 

During Exercise Sea Raider, the focus will shift to tactics and further integration with a company of US marines from Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, a strike company of Royal Marines from Bravo Company, 40th Commando Royal Marines, and a platoon of Japanese infantry from the Amphibious Ready Deployment Brigade.

 

For more images of the exercise, see the Defence image gallery.

 

https://images.defence.gov.au/assets/S20211870

 

https://news.defence.gov.au/capability/exercise-explores-all-options

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 16, 2021, 3:20 a.m. No.13915368   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

>>13915359

Capturing the beachhead - Exercise Sea Explorer

 

Department of Defence Australia

 

Jun 16, 2021

 

Exercise Sea Explorer is the second of three exercises in the annual Sea Series designed to hone and certify Australia’s Amphibious Task Forces. The first - Exercise Sea Horizon was a planning activity in preparation for the subsequent Sea Explorer and the final Sea Raider exercises.

 

During Exercise Sea Explorer almost 1800 soldiers, sailors, and aviators aboard HMAS Canberra and HMAS Choules practiced amphibious landings of soldiers, vehicles, and equipment onto Cowley Beach in North-Eastern Queensland from 2-15 June 2021.

 

More here: https://news.defence.gov.au/capability/australian-amphibious-force-completes-exercise

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_y-PrqudVU

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 12:36 a.m. No.13922164   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2171 >>9893

>>13907315

>>13907799

Kevin Rudd Tweet

 

Could you imagine any other Australian PM refusing to answer questions about inviting an extreme, far-right religious cultist to Kirribilli House? What about accepting his help to write a speech to parliament? His own family reported him to the National Security Hotline.

 

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1405070098008711169

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 12:38 a.m. No.13922171   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13818968

>>13922164

Did the PM try to keep his ties with a QAnon supporter secret? | 7.30

 

Jun 16, 2021

 

ABC News (Australia)

 

This week, Four Corners aired an episode detailing links between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and a man who supports QAnon - a group the FBI considers has the potential for domestic terrorism. The report detailed concerns about the radicalisation of Tim Stewart, who is a close friend of the PM and whose wife Lynelle worked at Kirribilli House.

 

Among the revelations were that the Stewarts were due to be on the PM’s controversial Hawaii holiday and a claim of influence over Prime Minister. Chief political correspondent Laura Tingle reports.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-IZwugU6NE

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 12:39 a.m. No.13922180   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2184 >>9518 >>9893

>>13818968

BRISSC (Brisbane Rape and Incest Survivors Support Centre)

 

RITUAL ABUSE

 

1/3

 

What is Ritual Abuse?

 

The term ‘ritual abuse’ was first used in the early 1980’s, to describe a particular form of abuse, (predominantly of children), involving organised ritual as a central feature. The term first appeared in North American literature and was used in Australia from 1984 onwards (Scott, 2001). Since this time, the term ritual abuse has been defined in various ways, by various people, including survivors, academics and workers from professional fields that come into contact with survivors and perpetrators e.g. police, social workers, psychologists etc.

 

Ritual abuse has existed for longer than the last twenty years. Survivors talk of their childhood experiences of ritual abuse, occurring in the 1950’s and 60’s. Ritually abusive practices within families are often trans-generational, meaning they are practised by various generations of family members over many years. Evidence, derived from court cases and personal accounts, indicate ritual abuse existed as far back as the 16th century.

 

The extent to which it is practised in Australia is hard to determine due to a number of factors, including the highly secretive nature of ritual abuse practices and a culture of disbelief which further hides it and, which influences and impedes political and social institutions’ responses toward it.

 

The 1989 Report by the Ritual Abuse Task Force of Los Angeles County Commission for Women, defined ritual abuse in the following way:

 

Ritual abuse usually involves repeated abuse over an extended period of time. The physical abuse is severe, sometimes including torture and killing. The sexual abuse is usually painful, sadistic and humiliating, intended as a means of gaining dominance over the victim. The psychological abuse is devastating and involves the use of ritual indoctrination. It includes mind control techniques which convey to the victim a profound terror of the cult members and of evil spirits they believe cult members can command. Both during and after the abuse most victims are in a state of terror mind control and dissociation. (ASCA, 2002).

 

Survivors of ritual abuse may give varying descriptions of their experiences. However, a number of factors generally feature across accounts including:

 

• The abuse includes physical, sexual and psychological abuse

 

• The abuse constitutes a range of criminal acts

 

• It is systematic, can be ceremonial and often occurs within a group setting (usually more than one perpetrator at a time, but not always)

 

• Like all abuse, ritual abuse is about power and control, but is designed to more expressly meet the needs of a group, with the specific purpose of indoctrination into that group’s belief system or ideology

 

• Mind control techniques or programming plays a significant part in keeping group members faithful to the group and its needs. Much of this programming is about engendering a sense of terror within group members, so that they will not leave the group or expose the group’s criminal practices to outsiders.

 

Survivors’ accounts of their experiences of ritual abuse also include attempts to clearly distinguish this kind of abuse from other kinds of abuse they may have experienced. For example, in Sara Scott’s book, The politics and experience of ritual abuse: beyond disbelief (2001, p.62-80), women survivors of childhood abuse, including ritual abuse, clearly distinguished between their experiences of more “regular” forms of familial abuse, and their experiences of abusive cult ritual, prostitution and child pornography. However, all of these women’s accounts illustrated that the different kinds of abuse and exploitation they survived were interconnected within a culture where the abuse of women and children is normalised – a daily reality.

 

Survivors have also questioned the fact that the term ritual abuse has become too broadly applied. For many survivors ritual abuse, where a belief system or ideology plays a key role in abusive ritual, must not be confused with “ritualistic abuse” –abuse which is perpetrated in a habitualised manner, such as the sexual abuse of a child perpetrated on a daily basis.

 

The term and practice of ritual abuse has also been closely linked with other categories and practises of abuse, including: –

 

a) “organised abuse”, which refers to the abuse and exploitation of children through organised crime (prostitution and pornography) and paedophile rings;

 

b) institutional abuse, which refers to the abuse of persons within political and social institutions, such as within schools, orphanages and mental health facilities etc;

 

c) “organised, sadistic abuse” which is often used as an umbrella term across these kinds of abuse, wherein ritual abuse features as a more extreme example.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 12:40 a.m. No.13922184   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2193

>>13922180

 

2/3

 

Who Perpetrates Ritual Abuse?

 

Initial discussion of ritual abuse in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s predominantly implicated satanic cults in the perpetration of ritual abuse against children. However, not every group or cult dedicated to satanic worship practices ritual abuse.

 

Moreover, ritual abuse is not exclusively practised within such groups. Groups or cults organised around other religious or quasi-religious belief systems, including Christian cults, have been associated with the use of abusive ritual to maintain control over members. Ritual abuse which occurs within religious groups is often called “cult-based ritual abuse” (Kelley, 1988, p.229).

 

Religion is not always a defining factor of groups who practice ritual abuse. White supremacy groups such as Nazi cults and the Klu Klux Klan have been associated with such practices. Groups involved in organised crime and paedophilia have also been identified as sites of ritual abuse. Ritual abuse which is not part of a developed belief system, but which is primarily about the sexual exploitation of children has been called “pseudo-ritual abuse” (Kelley, 1988, p.229).

 

Groups who practice ritual abuse are always hierarchical – the abuse is used to maintain this hierarchy and to benefit those at its higher levels. Benefits may include power and prestige, sexual gratification and financial wealth.

 

Ritual abuse may be practised within family groups across generations, or it may be associated with groups or institutions external to survivors’ families. For example, some reports concern the recruiting of children from orphanages and day-care centres, for abuse within paedophile rings. Ritual abuse may be perpetrated through connections between families and external groups.

 

Impact on Survivors

 

Impacts of ritual abuse on survivors ritual abuse has profound effects upon the lives of child and adult survivors. The range of psychological symptoms and emotional effects survivors may experience include:

 

• Trauma related symptoms such as flashbacks, dissociation, amnesia and triggered flight or fight reactions to circumstances which in some way remind the survivor of abusive experiences

 

• Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)

 

• Self-harm and eating issues

 

• Suicidal thoughts and attempts

 

• Confusing concepts of good and evil

 

• Preoccupation with death

 

• Memories of ritualistic practices such as Black Masses and sacrifices to Satan and those which involves gang rape, murder, the abuse of animals and being buried alive

 

• Memories of symbols and ceremonial objects used in rituals such as inverted crosses, swastikas and chalices

 

• Memories of perpetrators dressed in ceremonial and bizarre costumes

 

• Memories of being tortured and/or deprived of sleep, food and water

 

• Memories of being drugged during rituals

 

• Phobias of symbols associated with rituals, blood, certain colours, drugs, incense, candles and being confined in small spaces

 

• Shame, guilt and blame

 

• Addictions.

 

This list is not exhaustive, but simply gives us some idea of the immense impact that ritual abuse has on survivors. It also illuminates the tremendous strength of those who survive ritual abuse. Surviving in a culture of disbelief adds to the immense impact of ritual abuse on survivors, is the frustration and despair of attempting to survive within a wider culture where ritual abuse experiences are disbelieved and denied. The culture of disbelief is further compounded through the very social and political systems and institutions, which are supposed to promote the best interests of survivors, as those requiring special personal support and legal protection and justice.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 12:42 a.m. No.13922193   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13922184

 

3/3

 

Australian Governments have been unwilling to acknowledge that ritual abuse exists. It has been suggested that the association of ritual abuse practices with government institutions (for example, orphanages and mental health facilities) has rendered governments afraid of litigation, should they fully acknowledge its existence. For whatever reasons, governments have not encouraged adequate responses toward the issue from those systems which come into contact with survivors and perpetrators. This includes the criminal justice and health-care systems, which are responsible for the provision of services that promote the health and well-being of survivors of sexual violence.

 

Support for Ritual Abuse Survivors

 

Blueknot Foundation

Support Line: 1300 657 380

Telephone: (02) 8920 3611

Website: www.blueknot.org.au

Email: admin@blueknot.org.au

 

Myriad Support Group (for women with DID/MPD)

Phone: (07) 3399 3340

Contact Person: Diana Hunt

 

Qld Association for Mental Health

Street Address: Fleming House, Orford Drive Wacol

Postal Address: PO Box 475 Sumner Park BC 4074

Phone: (07) 3271 5544

Email: association@mentalhealth.org.au

 

Trauma and Dissociation Unit

Street/Postal Address: Belmont Private Hospital , 1220 Creek Road Carina 4152

Phone: (07) 3398 0280

Comments: Inpatient and day patient programmes. Admission based on referral by psychiatrist.

 

Lotus Place (for survivors of institutional abuse)

Street Address: 46 Cleveland Street, Stones Corner, 4120

Postal Address: PO Box 3449, South Brisbane, 4101

Phone: (07) 3347 8500

Website: https://www.lotusplace.org.au/

Comments: Supports people who have been abused institutionally – state and church (foster, detention centres etc.). Outreach, advocacy and support, historical abuse network, National Redress Scheme support.

Comments: A program which provides a support service for persons who have experienced physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse whilst in an institution, orphanage, detention centre or foster care in Queensland .

 

References

 

• ASCA 2002. Healing from Ritual Abuse: Also known as Organised Sadistic Abuse. Information Package.

 

• Kelley, S J. “Ritualistic Abuse of Children: Dynamics and Impact” Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 5, No.2, 1988.

 

• Ritual Abuse Survivors and Supporters, Australia at http://www.heart7.net/ritual-abuse-ss.html

 

• Scott, Sara. 2001. The politics and experience of ritual abuse: beyond disbelief.

 

https://brissc.org.au/resources/ritual-abuse/

 

BRISSC Support line: (07) 3391 0004

 

support@brissc.org.au

 

 

Q Post #1735

 

Jul 27 2018 13:13:18 (EST)

 

There is nothing more precious than our children.

Evil has no boundaries.

https://genius.com/Slayer-evil-has-no-boundaries-lyrics

The choice to know will ultimately be yours.

These people are SICK!

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/07/27/cbs-honcho-les-moonves-will-be-accused-sexual-misconduct-in-latest-ronan-farrow-bombshell-report-says.html

To those who are courageous enough to speak out - we stand with you!

You are not alone in this fight.

God bless.

Q

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 12:48 a.m. No.13922224   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9861

>>13907606

Julian Assange’s family speaks out on Tucker: He committed ‘no specific crime at all’

 

Angelica Stabile - 17 June 2021

 

Australian editor Julian Assange has been behind bars in the United Kingdom since his April 2019 arrest after being evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy where he had been given refuge for years. Now, as Assange fights extradition to the United States where he faces charges that could land him in jail for more than 100 years, his family is speaking out against the parameters of his incarceration.

 

Assange’s father, John Shipton who is currently touring the United States to raise awareness of his son's situation, told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Wednesday that Assange really didn’t do anything wrong or commit any "specific crime at all."

 

"He just offended some people in certain sections of Washington," he said. "And consequently has faced 12 years now of persecution and harassment."

 

Shipton pointed out that even though Assange is not an American citizen, he’s been charged under the U.S. 1917 Espionage Act, threatening 175 years in jail over "nothing at all."

 

Gabriel Shipton, Assange’s brother, shared that the last time he was able to visit Assange at London’s Belmarsh Prison was in October of 2019. Since then, the prison has been completely locked down due to COVID.

 

"It’s a maximum-security prison so it’s got all of the most dangerous prisoners from around the UK, the most violent prisoners," he said. "He won his extradition case on Jan. 4 and the U.S. government appealed and then a couple days later, he was refused bail."

 

"Since January, he’s been sitting in prison an innocent man, not able to see his family or lawyers. And we just don’t know when the appeal will happen or when this will end."

 

Gabriel revealed that there have been no elected officials backing his family on freeing Assange since President Biden’s inauguration.

 

"It’s been silent from people in Congress and in the Senate which is part of the reason why we’re doing this," he said. "To encourage Americans to stand up for their First Amendment rights and speak to their congresspeople."

 

https://www.foxnews.com/media/julian-assange-family-tucker-no-specific-crime

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 1:01 a.m. No.13922273   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3717 >>9844

‘Hate speech’: More right-wing groups could be listed as terrorist organisations

 

Anthony Galloway - June 17, 2021

 

More right-wing extremist groups could be declared terrorist organisations after Labor and Liberal MPs unanimously backed the listing of neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division.

 

Liberal senator James Paterson, chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, called on the government to investigate more “like-minded organisations with a mind to listing them as terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code, if they meet the criteria”.

 

In March the then home affairs Minister Peter Dutton announced the UK-based group Sonnenkrieg Division would become the first right-wing extremist organisation listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia.

 

Federal Parliament’s security and intelligence committee examined the listing and backed the move in a report tabled on Wednesday night.

 

The report found Sonnenkrieg Division “seeks to encourage lone-actor terrorist attacks against its political, racial, and ethnic enemies”.

 

“SKD members acting on behalf of the organisation, have encouraged, promoted, and glorified terrorist acts through online propaganda,” the report said. “SKD adheres to an ideology that is violently opposed to multi-ethnic Western societies and there is a possibility that a lone-actor attack directed or inspired by SKD could result in harm to Australians.”

 

Senator Paterson said although Australians were not directly involved in the group its “encouragement, promotion and glorification of lone actor attacks could inspire some Australian extremists, and the availability of SKD propaganda online has potential to contribute to the radicalisation of others”.

 

“The committee encourages the government to continue investigating other like-minded organisations with a mind to listing them as terrorist organisations under the criminal code, if they meet the criteria.”

 

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus, a member of the committee, said it was “troubling” it had taken so long for the government to list an extreme right-wing group.

 

“As ASIO has told this Parliament time and time again, the threat posed by right-wing extremism to our country’s safety and to the safety of its people is very real and very serious and it’s growing,” he said.

 

“We can see the dangers with our own eyes and read about it day after day in our newspapers. We’ve seen the images, and read the reports, of dozens of neo-Nazis openly burning crosses and chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans at a popular Victorian tourist destination.”

 

Other groups on the list include Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab and Islamic State.

 

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said in March he had recommended to the government that other ideologically motivated extremist groups also be listed but suggested it decided they did not meet the legal definition.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hate-speech-more-right-wing-groups-could-be-listed-as-terrorist-organisations-20210617-p581so.html

 

https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/Listedterroristorganisations/Pages/sonnenkrieg-division.aspx

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 1:05 a.m. No.13922290   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9861

Cardinal Pell at 80

 

George Weigel - June 16, 2021

 

Fifteen months ago, it looked as if Cardinal George Pell might spend his 80th birthday in prison. A malicious trolling expedition by the police department of the State of Victoria in his native Australia had led to the cardinal’s indictment on manifestly absurd charges of “historic sexual abuse.” His first trial ended with a hung jury heavily in favor of acquittal; but because of a court-imposed media blackout on the trial, the public did not know that the defense had shredded the prosecution’s case by demonstrating that the alleged crimes couldn’t have happened how, when, and where the complainant said they’d happened. The cardinal’s retrial ended in an incomprehensible conviction, which was followed by an even more incomprehensible (and feckless) rejection of the cardinal’s appeal. Happily – for the sake of an innocent man’s liberty and the reputation of Australia’s justice system – the country’s High Court unanimously quashed the guilty verdict on April 7, 2020, and entered a judgment of “innocent” in the case of Pell v. The Queen.

 

Cardinal Pell did not waste his 404 days in prison, most of them in solitary confinement. He wrote a daily journal that has become something of a modern spiritual classic; Ignatius Press has been publishing it in three volumes, the last of which will appear in October. Through his Prison Journal, thousands of people around the world have discovered the real George Pell: a man of rock-solid faith, keen intelligence, deep compassion for the confusions that beset the human race, and a determination to live out the priestly ministry to which he committed himself when he was ordained by Cardinal Gregory Peter Agagianian (runner-up to John XXIII in the conclave of 1958) on December 16, 1966.

 

I’m happy that so many others have now discovered the truth about this good and great man, not least because he and I have been friends since he spent his post-ordination summer in my Baltimore parish, in between his Roman theological studies and his doctoral work at Oxford. Over that half-century, we’ve discussed just about everything. And while the cardinal has not converted me to the virtues of cricket, we are of one mind on so many other things that we’ve worked in close harness on several occasions.

 

Thus it strikes me as providential that Cardinal Pell’s 80th birthday falls while the universal Church is being roiled by the German “Synodal Way: a process that, absent a decisive Roman intervention (and perhaps even in the face of that), seems likely to confirm that institutional Catholicism in Germany is in a state of apostasy. Providential, because without George Pell’s leadership as archbishop of Melbourne and then cardinal archbishop of Sydney, Australia might well have become the kind of ecclesiastical disaster area Germany is today – although the Aussies would have gotten there 25 years earlier.

 

His enemies will never admit it, but Cardinal George Pell saved the Church in Australia from dissolving into a Liquid Catholicism indistinguishable from Liberal Protestantism. He did so by his defense of Vatican II as renewal within tradition; by his reform of the priesthood and his care for sexual abuse victims in the dioceses he led; by his unwavering support of Catholic orthodoxy in the teeth of fierce cultural headwinds that cowed many of his brother bishops; by championing serious Catholic intellectual life in a variety of initiatives; and by hosting Sydney’s World Youth Day-2008, which evangelically energized young Australian Catholics as Denver’s World Youth Day-1993 had done for young American Catholics. Without George Pell’s leadership and his willingness to stand for the truth against vicious criticism, Catholicism Down Under in 2021 might well look like the moribund Church in much of Germany today, but absent the Germans’ vast, tax-supported wealth.

 

Cardinal Pell’s work to clean the Augean stables of Vatican finance remains to be completed and questions about possible links between that work and his prosecution remain to be answered. Nonetheless, the cardinal’s grace under extraordinary pressure and the dignity with which he conducted himself before, during, and after his imprisonment have made him one of the most influential elders in the Catholic Church today. That he lost his vote in a future conclave on June 8 does not mean that he will be sidelined in the really consequential discussions of the Church’s future. He will be very much at the center of those conversations, now wielding the moral authority he has rightly won as a contemporary confessor.

 

The man I have known and cherished since the summer of 1967 was not built for quiescence. His voice will be heard. And it will be heard where it counts.

 

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

 

https://denvercatholic.org/cardinal-pell-at-80/

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 1:17 a.m. No.13922338   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

PM Morrison says Australia ‘working hard’ to avoid war with China

 

Scott Morrison has weighed in on the prospect of war with China after wrapping up an international tour to Asia and Europe.

 

Finn McHugh - JUNE 17, 2021

 

Australia is working “hard to prevent” tensions with China escalating to a Cold War, but its allies “know full well” the threat in the Indo-Pacific, the prime minister says.

 

Scott Morrison was returning from an international trip to Asia and Europe for the G7, where he worked to bolster an international coalition in the face of Chinese economic pressure.

 

After backing from world leaders during his travel, the prime minister was pressed on whether Beijing’s increasingly assertive posture in the Indo-Pacific could spark a new Cold War.

 

“We’re working hard to prevent that type of an outcome, and that is achieved by having as much engagement as possible,” he told Sky News in Paris.

 

En route to Europe, Mr Morrison met with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong before sideline talks with Japan’s leader, Yoshihide Suga, at the G7.

 

He described engagement with regional leaders as a “step” towards avoiding military conflict with Beijing.

 

“That is not an outcome that we would wish for in any circumstance. That is why you take the steps that we do take to ensure that you can get some stability in the region, a free and open Indo-Pacific, of which China is a part,” he said.

 

New US President Joe Biden, who Mr Morrison met for the first time at the G7, has prioritised alliance-building more so than predecessor Donald Trump, and in March included Australia in an historic Quad meeting focused on the Indo-Pacific.

 

Mr Morrison said the President’s experience gave him a “deep understanding” of the region, which he was looking to engage “through ASEAN’s eyes”.

 

“He’s certainly not fresh to these issues, and that is enormously useful in our partnership … He has a very strong institutional understanding of the US system, and the role that the US has played in our region over a very long time,” he said.

 

After the Cornwall summit, the G7 leaders released a statement demanding Beijing respect human rights, referencing human rights abuses in Xinjiang and anti-democratic crackdowns in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron each backed Australia in the ongoing trade stoush after hosting Mr Morrison for one-on-one visits.

 

The UK parliament recently voted to extend lockdown measures by almost a month as it grappled with the new Covid-19 Delta variant, a reminder Australia was living “like nowhere else” during the pandemic, Mr Morrison said.

 

The extension was partly prompted by UK’s delay in barring travel from India as it endured the world’s worst outbreak.

 

“They could have taken that option, and they didn’t take that option at the time. It highlights the point: once you open the gates of decisions like this, it’s difficult to go back. That’s why we’ve been cautious on those issues,” Mr Morrison said.

 

During his visit to London, Mr Morrison struck an in-principle free trade agreement with the UK, its first major deal since leaving the European Union.

 

But the pair maintained markedly different stances on climate change, after Mr Johnson in April committed to a 78 per cent emissions reduction target by 2035 compared to 1990s levels.

 

“(Mr Johnson) has got a deep commitment (on climate change), I think people in the United Kingdom do also. That’s fine,” he said.

 

But Mr Morrison has refused to follow other developing nations, committing to a more meagre target, net zero emissions by 2050.

 

He attempted to bridge that divide during his trip, striking hydrogen technology deals with Japan and Germany, and insisted Australia was adapting to a “new energy economy”.

 

Mr Morrison will land in Perth on Thursday afternoon, before heading to Canberra to undergo two weeks’ quarantine at the Lodge.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/pm-morrison-says-australia-working-hard-to-avoid-war-with-china/news-story/864ae8cf1016c5db4820d0bca290ad5e

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 1:24 a.m. No.13922371   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9856

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith tells defamation trial soldiers were allowed to use 'whatever force was necessary'

 

Jamie McKinnell - 17 June 2021

 

War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has told a Sydney court Australian soldiers were permitted to use "whatever force was necessary" to arrest insurgents in Afghanistan, including punching those who were fighting back.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is being cross-examined on his fifth day in the witness box during a high-stakes defamation trial against three newspapers in the Federal Court.

 

The 42-year-old is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times, along with three journalists, over several 2018 stories which reported allegations of wrongdoing related to his time deployed in Afghanistan.

 

The publisher of two of the papers, Nine Entertainment Co, is relying on a defence of truth and Mr Roberts-Smith has denied all wrongdoing, including his alleged involvement in up to six unlawful killings.

 

Under questioning by Nine's barrister, Nicholas Owens SC, Mr Roberts-Smith agreed it was never permissible, under both the rules of engagement and the Geneva Conventions, to kill someone once they became a "person under confinement" (PUC) of the Australian soldiers.

 

He said all "fighting-aged males" in a "target building", such as a compound, would become PUCs, while care was taken to not touch women or children due to cultural sensitivities.

 

"Is there a strict definition in terms of age about a fighting-aged male?" Mr Owens asked.

 

"There is no strict description of a fighting-aged male. Effectively anyone that you felt was old enough to directly take part," Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith was then questioned about the use of force with PUCs.

 

"You could use what force was necessary and required to effect the arrest of the PUC," the veteran said.

 

"Would that include punching them?" Mr Owens asked.

 

"If required, yes," he said.

 

Force such as a punch would be required "if they were fighting back", he added.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said soldiers were also permitted to physically move someone if they were non-compliant.

 

He could not recall if the process for placing a person under confinement and bringing them back to base was different for an adult as opposed to an adolescent.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith has previously told the court some male insurgents he "engaged" with were as young as 15.

 

The process of placing a person under confinement is central to the case, as Mr Roberts-Smith's is arguing he was defamed by imputations that he "broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement" and "disgraced his country".

 

He has today agreed that at all times in Afghanistan, it was his understanding that if a soldier killed a PUC in any circumstance they would have committed murder.

 

He agreed that it would effectively break the legal and moral rules of military engagement.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith has previously denied killing any person who had been placed under the control of the Australian forces.

 

The veteran also agreed that it would never be permissible to "order, direct or encourage" another soldier to kill a PUC, and that there would be an obligation to take reasonable steps to prevent that conduct if the situation arose.

 

Today he also explained the evolving techniques of the Taliban insurgency, such as placing improvised explosive devices against walls that Australians would use for cover, using cornfields for ambushes, and firing upon Australian forces as they were "extracted" from missions by helicopter.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is also suing over what he claims were defamatory imputations that he bullied colleagues in the Special Air Services Regiment (SAS) and committed an act of domestic violence on a woman in a Canberra hotel room.

 

He has denied all the allegations.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-17/ben-roberts-smith-gives-evidence-for-fifth-day-defamation-trial/100221992

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 1:46 a.m. No.13922430   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9660 >>6589 >>9844

Former Australian spy 'Witness K' pleads guilty to conspiring to reveal classified information

 

Elizabeth Byrne - 17 June 2021

 

A former senior spy known as "Witness K" has pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court to conspiring to reveal classified information.

 

Witness K had been charged with conspiring with his then-lawyer Bernard Collaery to reveal information about alleged spying by Australia on the East Timor cabinet during sensitive oil and gas treaty negotiations.

 

In 2019 Witness K indicated he would plead guilty to the charge, but his case has been slow to move through the courts, and it was not until today that he formally entered his plea before a magistrate.

 

The former spy is facing a sentencing hearing that, barring any further disputes over the facts of the case, will run for two days and determine what punishment he will face.

 

The ACT Magistrates Court mandates that an accused must plead in person, so during today's plea, Witness K was concealed behind tall black screens in a corner of the court, to keep his identity secret.

 

Witness K and Bernard Collaery charged under Intelligence Services Act

 

Both Witness K and Mr Collaery were charged in 2018 with conspiring to reveal secret information.

 

The charge related to allegations Australian government agents bugged the cabinet room of East Timor during sensitive negotiations between the countries on oil and gas.

 

Witness K and Mr Collaery were each charged with a single count of conspiring to share information protected by section 39 of the Intelligence Services Act, which covers secrecy and the unauthorised communication of information.

 

Mr Collaery has chosen to fight his charge at trial.

 

More to come.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-17/witness-k-pleads-guilty-to-conspiring-to-reveal-classified-info/100223306

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 2:09 a.m. No.13922477   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876

Ghislaine Maxwell objects to raw sewage, nosy guards in NY jail

 

Jonathan Stempel - June 16, 2021

 

NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite fighting U.S. federal sex trafficking charges, remains subjected to raw sewage, water deprivation, "hyper-surveillance" by overbearing guards and other unacceptable treatment in jail, according to her lawyer.

 

Maxwell, 59, is preparing for a possible November trial on charges she procured four underage girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted.

 

In a Tuesday night filing, lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said Maxwell was forced to change cells at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after raw sewage last week permeated her cell.

 

Sternheim also said guards are still able to read Maxwell's confidential legal papers and monitor her meetings with lawyers, and that neither Maxwell nor her lawyers were allowed water during a four-hour meeting on Sunday.

 

Despite complaints about Maxwell's treatment, "little if anything has been done," Sternheim wrote.

 

"The ever-changing rules are negatively impacting Ms. Maxwell's ability to prepare for trial," Sternheim added. "The hyper-surveillance of Ms. Maxwell and counsel during legal visits is highly inappropriate and invasive."

 

Sternheim's letter was in response to a June 7 letter from prosecutors that said guards can see but cannot hear Maxwell's discussions with the lawyers.

 

Prosecutors also said Maxwell still gets more time than any other inmate at the Brooklyn jail to use a computer and review evidence, and at least as much time to talk with her lawyers. They also said Maxwell remains "physically healthy."

 

The office of U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan declined to comment on Sternheim's letter. The letter from prosecutors was made public on Wednesday.

 

Maxwell is the daughter of the late British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, and a former girlfriend and longtime associate of Epstein.

 

She has been denied bail three times by U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who oversees the case, and twice by a federal appeals court.

 

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 after pleading not guilty to sex trafficking charges. New York City's medical examiner called the death a suicide.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ghislaine-maxwell-objects-raw-sewage-nosy-guards-ny-jail-2021-06-16/

 

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

 

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.300.0.pdf

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 2:23 a.m. No.13922496   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2499 >>9696 >>9876

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre testifies against modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel

 

Giuffre told NBC News in 2019 that Jeffrey Epstein told her he slept with "over a thousand women that Brunel brought in." Brunel denies wrongdoing.

 

Sarah Fitzpatrick, Nancy Ing and Saphora Smith - June 17, 2021

 

1/2

 

PARIS — One of Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent accusers testified against French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel in a Paris court this week and is calling on other witnesses to come forward in the high-profile sexual assault case.

 

The closed-door testimony from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 37, is the latest turn in the international investigation into Epstein and people accused of being his co-conspirators.

 

It is not clear what Giuffre told the closed-door hearing, but her court appearance comes after years of accusations against Brunel. Giuffre said in a 2016 deposition, made public in 2019, that Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell had directed her to provide sexual services for Brunel. And speaking to NBC's "Dateline" in a special that aired in 2019, Giuffre said Epstein told her that he had slept with "over a thousand women that Brunel brought in."

 

In an interview after her daylong testimony, Giuffre said she appeared in court to be a voice for the victims and to make sure Brunel is brought to justice.

 

"I wanted Brunel to know that he no longer has the power over me, that I am a grown woman now and I've decided to hold him accountable for what he did to me and so many others," Giuffre said.

 

In 2019, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation into charges of rape, aggravated sexual aggression and criminal conspiracy related to offenses of a sexual nature likely committed by Epstein and other possible accomplices on French victims or on French territory.

 

Brunel was detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport in December last year as he was preparing to take a flight to Senegal and was taken into custody for questioning as part of the investigation, according to a statement released by Paris prosecutor Rémy Heitz.

 

He was formally charged with the rape of at least one minor over the age of 15 and sexual harassment. A statement from Brunel's attorneys denied any wrongdoing. The Paris prosecutor’s office declined to specify how many alleged victims of rape there were over the age of 15.

 

He was also "placed under the status of assisted witness of aggravated human trafficking to the prejudice of underage victims for the purpose of sexual exploitation," according to the statement.

 

Élodie Tuaillon-Hibon, a French lawyer who specializes in sexual assault cases, said the status of assisted witness meant that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge Brunel with the offense of human trafficking but that it did not exclude him from being charged in the future.

 

"I'm urging more witnesses — even if it is outside of the statute of limitations — to come forward," Giuffre said. "The judge is listening, the authorities are listening, I'm listening."

 

"We want to help put this monster away where he belongs," she said. "We can't do that unless we all work together."

 

Giuffre emphasized that French prosecutors are eager to speak to anyone who might have information about Brunel, and have recently set up a special email address to receive tips from the public.

 

"Whether you are a witness of Jean-Luc Brunel at one place or another — and it doesn't even have to be him doing something illegal, it can just be placing him somewhere, and by doing so it can help place together another victim's story, corroborate," she said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 2:25 a.m. No.13922499   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13922496

 

2/2

 

In an emailed statement, Brunel's attorneys said they could not comment in detail on the case but strongly denied that Brunel had any sexual relationship with Giuffre or participating in sex trafficking.

 

"When confronted with her own contradictions and evidence from the proceedings, Mrs. Virginia Roberts admitted that she had made mistakes regarding the places, dates and persons would allegedly assaulted her," the statement said.

 

Brunel has denied wrongdoing in a 2015 lawsuit against Epstein, in which he alleged that "false stories" linking him to Epstein caused him and his modeling agency a "tremendous loss of business."

 

In the suit, Brunel alleged that several photographers would no longer work with his agency because of the "adverse publicity" surrounding Epstein and his illegal activities and the publicity "falsely linking" Brunel and his agency with those activities, "namely, sex trafficking."

 

Brunel and Epstein had known each other for years, according to the 2015 lawsuit.

 

Sigrid McCawley, Giuffre's Florida-based attorney, said the French authorities had been working hard to bring justice to Brunel's alleged victims and that the process takes time.

 

"Virginia's incredible courage in stepping forward and assisting with the French investigation will pave the way for more to come forward," she said.

 

In her 2016 deposition, Giuffre said she was working as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago, the private club owned by former President Donald Trump, at age 16 when Maxwell recruited her to train as a masseuse. She says Epstein and Maxwell then preyed on her for years.

 

The account was in 2,000 pages of documents released in 2019 by a federal appeals court relating to a 2015 defamation lawsuit Giuffre filed against Maxwell. The suit was settled out of court in 2017.

 

Epstein, 66, died by suicide in a federal jail cell in New York City in August 2019 while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. He faced up to 45 years in prison.

 

Federal prosecutors in New York alleged that from at least 2002 through 2005, Epstein had paid girls as young as 14 for sex at his Manhattan townhouse or his estate in Florida. He had pleaded not guilty.

 

He had previously pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and felony solicitation of prostitution. He served 13 months and was registered as a sex offender in Florida under a non-prosecution agreement he signed with the office of the U.S. attorney for Miami.

 

Maxwell, his longtime confidante, was arrested in July and remains in custody in New York. She has pleaded not guilty to charges that include conspiracy to entice minors, conspiracy to transport minors, sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor.

 

Prosecutors accused her of playing a key role in Epstein's abuse of underage girls, helping to groom the victims and encouraging them to accept his offers of financial assistance. The original indictment alleges that Maxwell sometimes joined in the abuse.

 

Sources close to the federal investigation of Epstein and his associates said it is still an active investigation.

 

Maxwell’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-virginia-roberts-giuffre-testifies-against-modeling-agent-n1270959

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 2:32 a.m. No.13922510   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2513 >>9870

>>13882053

‘Utter nonsense’: CSIRO blasted for dropping Chinese climate partner

 

Peter Hannam - June 17, 2021

 

1/2

 

Senior scientists have ridiculed a decision by the CSIRO to end a highly productive climate research partnership with China, saying it was disingenuous to claim there were any national security risks.

 

The nation’s top science body informed staff late last week it would not extend its Centre for Southern Hemisphere Oceans Research (CSHOR) when its partnership with the Qingdao National Marine Laboratory Centre ends in 2022, despite substantial work studying critical climate issues.

 

“When the five-year CSHOR research collaboration comes to its end in June next year it will have delivered significant benefit to CSIRO, Qingdao National Marine Laboratory (QNLM), and the broader international research community by advancing understanding of the Southern Hemisphere oceans and their impact on climate,” Jaclyn Brown, director of CSIRO’s Climate Science Centre, told staff by email. “As such, CSHOR will not continue into a new phase.”

 

Researchers at home and abroad say the decision was made abruptly and followed comments in Senate estimates last month by Mike Burgess, Director-General of Security at the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, that foreign nations could use ocean research to gain an edge in submarine warfare.

 

“There’s a great bit of activity around ocean temperature modelling and how that is modelled and computed. That’s great for climate understanding and climate modelling,” Mr Burgess said. “It’s also great if you’re a submariner.”

 

ASIO won’t say whether it asked CSIRO to ditch its Qingdao relationship, with a spokesperson saying only that the spy agency “actively and routinely works with parliaments, industry, academia and other partners to build awareness of threats and provide protective security advice”.

 

CSIRO also won’t comment on any external pressure. A spokeswoman said the decision had “been informed by science strategy and the need for CSIRO to balance its portfolio of research so it is best placed to deliver on current and emerging science needs”.

 

But scientists inside CSIRO or familiar with the work say the move was ill-informed and would hurt Australia’s ability to predict and adapt to significant threats from climate change. One researcher who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorised to comment said presumed defence risks were “just a joke”.

 

“The Chinese also understand that CSIRO’s decision is because of pressure from the right-wing media… stoking anti-China populism,” the researcher said.

 

Steve Rintoul, a CSIRO fellow and one of the CSHOR leaders, said his organisation had worked with the Defence Department to ensure that there was no connection between CSHOR and CSIRO’s Bluelink program, which does military-related ocean research.

 

“We took great care to put a firewall around that work,” Dr Rintoul, who was honoured earlier this week with an Order of Australia for his research, said. Staff working at CSHOR could not work at Bluelink, and vice versa.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 2:33 a.m. No.13922513   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13922510

 

2/2

 

While it was true that ocean temperature monitoring and prediction at a small scale could assist in submarine warfare, CSHOR’s work was large-scale and basin-wide, generating data that was “completely irrelevant to hiding or finding a sub”, he said, adding that to state otherwise would be “misleading or disingenuous”.

 

Axel Timmerman, who heads the IBS Centre for Climate Physics in Korea’s Pusan University, said CSHOR’s work was cutting-edge and addressed the fundamental mechanisms of climate change, including how a warming world will generate more frequent powerful El Nino events in the Pacific.

 

“This information is relevant for a number of countries and societies affected by these climate phenomena, such as Indonesia, Ecuador, Peru, India, Thailand, Australia, the United States and China,” Professor Timmermann said. “CSHOR’s research is based on the statistical analysis of publicly available climate model simulations, which were conducted under the auspices of international programs and involved more than 50 climate modelling centres worldwide”.

 

“Suggesting that fundamental climate research, with publicly available outcomes and using publicly available data, poses a national security risk is utter nonsense,” he said. “Pushing a political fear-based agenda at the expense of basic science is a dangerous game to play.”

 

Mat Collins, a climate change researcher at the UK’s Exeter University, said CSHOR had produced a number of high-profile research papers that advanced our understanding of climate variability.

 

“The Chinese scientists are always very open and able to discuss matters of shared scientific curiosity,” Professor Collins said. “From the point of view of advancing our scientific understanding, it would be a real shame if this collaboration could not continue.”

 

CSIRO’s Dr Rintoul said CSHOR’s 12 researchers alone were producing about six papers a year that appeared in Nature, Science or PNAS journals, considered globally the top three. That compared with about 90 for CSIRO’s 5000-strong researchers

 

“It far outperformed the rest of CSIRO,” he said. “Globally, it has a reputation that is hard to beat.”

 

The end of the partnership means CSIRO will have to make up the $2 million in funds provided from China from elsewhere. “We’ll start again” to find another partner, Dr Rintoul said.

 

Science Minister Christian Porter directed The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age back to CSIRO. The Defence Department did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Audrey Fritz, who has researched the Qingdao lab for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the organisation had extensive involvement with Chinese government entities and defence conglomerates.

 

As such, “the collaboration between CSIRO and QNML poses a risk that likely extends beyond CSIRO’s safeguards”, Ms Fritz said. “Conducting due diligence research on entities to understand their ownership structure is imperative before establishing research co-operations, and such research could have changed the Australian government’s original decision to approve the cooperation in 2017.”

 

She noted, though, that the lab still appears to co-operate with various US, French and Japanese entities, and said: “these international organisations may need to re-evaluate their collaborations with QNML depending on the security implications of their joint research programs”.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/utter-nonsense-csiro-blasted-for-dropping-chinese-climate-partner-20210616-p581ix.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 2:42 a.m. No.13922524   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

Beijing backs Mark McGowan’s ‘constructive’ criticism of Scott Morrison

 

WILL GLASGOW - JUNE 17, 2021

 

Beijing has backed West Australian Premier Mark McGowan’s “constructive” criticism of the Morrison government’s China policy.

 

Responding to a question by the Party-controlled Beijing Daily, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian praised the Labor Premier’s latest blast of the federal government.

 

“The Australian government should heed these constructive opinions,” said Mr Zhao at a regular press conference in Beijing.

 

“[F]ace up to and reflect on the crux of the setback in bilateral relations, abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, earnestly uphold the principle of mutual respect and equal treatment, and act in ways conducive to enhancing mutual trust and promoting practical co-operation,” said the foreign ministry spokesman.

 

McGowan’s comments this week were made as Prime Minister Morrison was discussing with world leaders Australia’s concerns about Beijing’s belligerence in the Indo-Pacific.

 

“I know how much you are at the forefront of the tensions that may exist in the region, of threats, sometimes of intimidation. I would like to reiterate here how much we stand by your side,” Macron told Mr Morrison.

 

“We firmly reject any coercive measures of an economic nature taken against Australia in flagrant violation of international law,” he said.

 

The day earlier, at an oil and gas conference in Perth, Premier McGowan criticised Morrison government’s handling of Australia’s biggest trading partner.

 

“The federal talk of conflict, trade retaliation can and must stop. We should always protect our interests, our institutions, our independence, our democracy and our freedoms. That goes without saying,” said McGowan.

 

“But how is it in our interests to be reckless with trading relationships that fund and drive our prosperity and our nation forward?”

 

Budget papers in Australia’s second biggest resources state Queensland revealed China’s unofficial coal ban had nearly halved the state’s royalty earnings.

 

Queensland’s Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would like an improvement in the bilateral relationship “because it affects Queensland jobs”.

 

A survey released this week by Sydney’s University of Technology found only 32 per cent of Australians thought the Morrison government had managed the China relationship well.

 

Residents of the iron ore state of Western Australia were the most critical.

 

But the same survey by UTS’s Australia-China Relations Institute found more than six in 10 Australians said they wanted the government to take a harder line on China and that 67 per cent said China was a security threat.

 

Most Australians — 80 per cent of the 2000 surveyed — said Beijing and Canberra shared responsibility for improving the relationship.

 

Xi Jinping’s administration has maintained the breakdown is entirely the fault of Australia and refused the Morrison government’s requests for dialogue.

 

At Wednesday evening’s foreign ministry press conference, Mr Zhao again insisted the fault lay with Canberra.

 

“For quite some time, people from different social sectors in Australia have expressed concern about the way the Australian government approaches relations with China,” he said.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/beijing-backs-mark-mcgowans-constructive-criticism-of-scott-morrison/news-story/dac6ccf3fcf399dae37fa926c941af9a

 

 

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on June 16, 2021

 

Beijing Daily: On June 15, Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said that it would not be in Australia's interests to "be reckless with trading relationships that fund and drive our country's prosperity and our nation forward". He said that this isn't about giving in, but there needed to be a national reset in that relationship. Does China have any comment on that?

 

Zhao Lijian: China maintains that a sound and stable China-Australia relationship is in the fundamental interests of the two countries, and that the practical cooperation of mutual benefit between the two sides is conducive to the well-being of the two peoples. For quite some time, people from different social sectors in Australia have expressed concern about the way the Australian government approaches relations with China. The Australian government should heed these constructive opinions, face up to and reflect on the crux of the setback in bilateral relations, abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, earnestly uphold the principle of mutual respect and equal treatment, and act in ways conducive to enhancing mutual trust and promoting practical cooperation.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1884265.shtml

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 2:53 a.m. No.13922539   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2542 >>9844

Arthur Sinodinos leads US tribute to wartime air crew

 

ADAM CREIGHTON - JUNE 16, 2021

 

Australia’s deadliest air disaster, but probably the least well known, has been commemorated in Washington DC at a small ceremony at Arlington Cemetery.

 

The Bakers Creek Memorial Observance paid tribute to the 40 American soldiers, almost all in their early 20s, who died around 6am on June 14, 1943, after their plane crashed soon after take-off, 8km south of Mackay, Queensland.

 

“These young men, who were a long way from home, fighting a very tough battle in New Guinea, stopping an enemy that was primed to take Australia if the US had not been there,” said Australian ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos, who laid a wreath, and paid tribute to soldiers and the US alliance.

 

Wartime censorship, meant to keep up morale and avoid controversies around responsibility, prevented newspapers and radio from reporting the crash, which left only one survivor among the six crew and 35 passengers.

 

In a moving ceremony of around two dozen military, diplomatic and civilian attendees, Robert Cutler, executive director of the Bakers Creek Memorial Association, read aloud the names of the soldiers, from 23 US states, who died.

 

In Mackay, a day earlier, 90-year-old Terry Hayes, a retired journalist of 47 years on the Daily Mercury, gave a moving tribute. “Mackay gave them 10 carefree days, far from the rigours of the steaming jungles and the desperate war being fought there,” he said.

 

The men were part of around 200,000 US troops stationed in Australia during the war. “In their last few days of leave they had sent postcards and messages home and even bought souvenirs to take home when the war is over,” he added.

 

Colonel David Bowling, Commander of the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, spoke of the frustration and heartache of the families who weren’t told the cause of the deaths of their sons and brothers.

 

“I think it was 15 years until the cause was publicly released of how the accident actually happened,” he said.

 

“I was also struck by the similarities between their generation and our generation – December 7, 1941, which will live in infamy, and 9/11, both very similar in nature, rallying calls to the nation,” the colonel said.

 

Mr Sinodinos pointed out in his remarks that it was 20 years since former prime minister John Howard invoked the ANZUS alliance, since that tragedy, and 70 years since the ANZUS alliance itself was signed in San Francisco in 1941.

 

“One the most enlightened acts in the history of the 20th century was the way in which the US after WWII brought friends and foes together to build the global rules based order that underpins our peace and prosperity,” Mr Sinodinos said.

 

Covid-19 travel restrictions prevented a representative of the Mackay branch of the RSL, who usually features in the ceremony, from attending.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/arthur-sinodinos-leads-us-tribute-to-wartime-air-crew/news-story/2200e8995871792357e6cc03d547eaa7

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 2:55 a.m. No.13922542   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

>>13922539

Community holds ceremony to mark 78th anniversary of wartime Bakers Creek crash

 

The disaster claimed the lives of 40 American soldiers and crippled survivor Foye Kenneth Roberts.

 

Staff reporters - June 15, 2021

 

Community members gathered to mark the 78th anniversary of a wartime aviation disaster in Bakers Creek.

 

The Bakers Creek air crash happened on June 14, 1943, when a United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft crashed at Bakers Creek.

 

The disaster claimed the lives of 40 American soldiers and crippled survivor Foye Kenneth Roberts, who died in 2004.

 

The Bakers Creek Memorial is one of a relatively few memorials in the world that honour soldiers from another country.

 

This demonstrates the respect locals have for the Americans who gave their lives in our midst while returning to the war in New Guinea and so far from their homes.

 

The event to mark the 78th anniversary on Sunday included a parade and ceremony at the Bakers Creek Hall.

 

The RSL Mackay Sub Branch organised the event.

 

https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/queensland/mackay/community-holds-ceremony-to-mark-78th-anniversary-of-wartime-bakers-creek-crash/news-story/a1118fdb4ca64bfd7c0337593f2bdb7d

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 17, 2021, 3:16 a.m. No.13922572   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2615 >>9844

>>13855451

>>13915358

Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post

 

June 15 2021

 

“Enter Exercise Southern Jackaroo”

 

 

9 News Darwin

 

June 15 2021

 

Almost 800 Aussie diggers, U-S Marines and Japanese self-defence experts will join together over the next fortnight for some serious Top End training.

 

Exercise Southern Jackeroo was cancelled last year due to Covid.

 

https://www.facebook.com/MRFDarwin/posts/154109966751495

Anonymous ID: 16f83e June 17, 2021, 3:44 a.m. No.13922628   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13915354

Little do these satanic entities know they are coming for them. Remember Port Arthur people. Can't wait for justice to come down heavy on these swamp rats

Anonymous ID: 16f83e June 17, 2021, 3:51 a.m. No.13922651   🗄️.is 🔗kun

This is as hokey as the Plandemic it self. Fancy that animals in a experimental lab. Who would have thunk it. Dah.

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 17, 2021, 5:31 p.m. No.13927113   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Benjamin Fulford Part 3

 

The Rockefellers are also desperately trying to woo Russia to join them as junior partners in a new cold war against China when their so-called President Biden meets with Russian power avatar Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16th.

 

The signs the U.S. is a failed state continue to multiply. For example, as the chart below shows, the purchasing power of the domestic U.S. dollar (as opposed to the international one) continues to plunge: https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/its-permanent-not-temporary-dollars-purchasing-power-plunged-fastest-pace-1982

 

Also, all the funny money the Biden people have been distributing in an attempt to bribe the American public has caused 40% of small businesses to raise prices while 48% of these businesses are unable to find workers.

 

It also turns out that more than half of the unemployment money the U.S. handed out in response to the fake pandemic has been stolen and sent overseas by fraudsters. https://www.axios.com/pandemic-unemployment-fraud-benefits-stolen-a937ad9d-0973-4aad-814f-4ca47b72f67f.html

 

There is also a continuing slide into anarchy. For example businessmen in Fell’s Point Maryland threatened to stop paying taxes unless the city government did things like collect trash, enforce parking offenses, stop the illegal sale of drugs and alcohol on the street, and let the police do their job. https://www.scribd.com/document/511058781/Letter-to-City-Leaders-From-Fells-Point-Business-Leaders-6-8-21-Final#from_embed

 

'In Oregon meanwhile, they decided to give the homeless their right to camp and live on public streets and property. In other words, say goodbye to parks and public streets. https://thepostmillennial.com/oregon-legislature-passes-bill-to-allow-homeless-to-legally-camp-on-public-property/

 

There is also a continuing descent into violence and lawlessness as this headline illustrates:

 

“After historically deadly 2020, Atlanta homicides are up nearly 60% in 2021.”https://www.ajc.com/news/after-historically-deadly-2020-atlanta-homicides-are-up-nearly-60-in-2021/N63RJ5OKQZCZVOCNH2D6376S3E/

 

Also, there were more than 600 mass shootings – those involving four or more people who were shot – in 2020, and that record is expected to be surpassed in 2021.

 

Even as their U.S. slave regime continues its collapse, the KM (Khazarian Jewish Mafia) is still not planning to go quietly into the night. They are now threatening to shut down global commerce. Their World Economic Forum division issued the following veiled threat last week saying, “The key message voiced by experts at WEF and other international platforms is that supply chain security is to become a major cybersecurity issue in 2021.” They also said “the world is becoming ever more interconnected… In this context, a single vulnerable link is enough to bring down the entire system, just like the domino effect.” https://cyberpolygon.com/about/#link-s181

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 17, 2021, 5:32 p.m. No.13927120   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Benjamin Fulford Part 4

 

The G7 communiqué hinted at specific targets by noting “risks to the resilience of the critical global supply chains, in areas such as critical minerals and semiconductors.” A taste of this came when the Taiwanese government ordered “King Yuan, which is a key supplier for Nvidia, Intel, MediaTek, and many other top global chip developers, to stop all of its foreign laborers from working. The order was effective immediately, regardless of COVID test results.”

 

Russian FSB sources for their part say Khazarian Mafia mercenaries disguised as “IS”(Islamic State), “Boko Haram” etc. continue to steal gold and other precious minerals from Africa “on behalf of investors residing in the U.S.”

 

From a military perspective, the way to stop these criminals is to remove their control of central banks, because then they will lose their ability to finance mayhem. We have talked to IS and other mercenaries and they say they are paid in Swiss francs. So Switzerland remains a high-priority military target.

 

Khazarian Mafia control of the UN, the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the International Maritime Organization needs to be ended. It was control of these organizations that allowed them to use a fake pandemic to shut down the world economy and blackmail humanity.

 

A good look also needs to be taken at certain Chinese factions. There was a report on Jim Stone freelance about students being grabbed at 100 schools in China during lunch hour. Recently I have been unable to read his reports on my computer but was able to on my iPhone. However, the report was deleted from my iPhone as I was reading it. This is a good sign the Rockefellers, as a part of their deal with a certain Chinese faction to get support for their Biden avatar government, handed the keys of Japanese digital censorship to China.

 

Also, although I do not know why the students were taken, I do recall the head of a Taiwan-based Asian secret society saying that their revenge for SARS “would be unpredictable and worse than you expect.” The fact that only Westerners have been injected with dangerous vaccines in response to this fake pandemic gives rise to the question of whether or not this was their revenge. If so, China may be sheltering its best and brightest from the inevitable retaliation that will come if they are proven to be behind the vaccine campaign.

 

On a final note this week, we got the following intelligence from our source in the secret space program:

 

“All the news about Antarctica is being pushed now to keep everyone off of what is happening in Greenland. Russia is working closely with the U.S. military (Trump and Putin) developing a unique underground base that is directly connected with our off-world family. They are sharing new technologies that are not available here yet. This is the new area 51. China is not part of this operation”.

 

Let us see how this develops as time will tell.

 

Sauce: benjaminfulford.net

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 12:33 a.m. No.13929518   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9522 >>9893

>>13818968

>>13922180

OPINION: Charles Wooley - I’m more likely to believe in aliens than claims about PM’s QAnon ties

 

Claims raised by ABC program Four Corners that Prime Minister Scott Morrison was influenced by a crackpot US conspiracy theory defies rational belief, according to Charles Wooley.

 

CHARLES WOOLEY - June 18, 2021

 

1/2

 

Seven hundred and twenty-two thousand people watched the ABC’s Four Corners program this week.

 

That is a lot more than they usually get but not surprising when you consider the free publicity.

 

The controversial documentary alleged there was a connection between our (I would have thought) fairly unexciting PM and a crackpot American conspiracy theory known as QAnon.

 

The loonies who subscribe, know it simply as Q.

 

Not to be confused with the invaluable boffin in the Bond films who provided 007 with the submarine Lotus Esprit and the handy toothpaste bomb.

 

This new Q, supposedly an anonymous high-ranking Washington official (‘QAnon’. Geddit?) serves no such useful purpose.

 

Followers of QAnon believe that the world is under threat from “a cabal of satanic, cannibalistic paedophiles” who run a global child sex trafficking ring and conspired against President Donald Trump to defraud him of his legitimate re-election.

 

Those fruit loops implicate everyone from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to Hollywood stars and the billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros.

 

Yes, of course, there are paedophiles in high places. We know that only too well but what do they really have to do with rigging the US election?

 

It defies rational belief.

 

If they claimed aliens were living among us and running major corporate industry, I would find that much more believable. It would explain how the captains of oil, coal, and petrochemicals, can appear to so insouciantly destroy the planet they live on.

 

It’s simple. They have spaceships hidden in their basements. They can leave at any time.

 

Don’t write in. I know it doesn’t stack up but it’s better than QAnon.

 

And if you don’t think so, you need more help than I can give you here.

 

On Monday, the ABC’s Four Corners reported that Tim Stewart, a family friend of Scott Morrison and a QAnon believer, sent out text messages claiming he had used his influence to get the code words “ritual abuse” inserted into the PM’s 2019 parliamentary apology to victims of institutional sex abuse.

 

Stewart is known to believe that an apocalypse which he calls “The Great Awakening” is imminent.

 

Four Corners revealed that Stewart frequently boasted on the internet about his influence with his friend the Prime Minister of Australia. The program ran a sequence of his tweets prior to the PM’s address, bragging how he would get Scott Morrison to insert the code words “ritual abuse” into his speech.

 

It was, I admit a bit of a “gotcha moment” when the program replayed the PM’s celebrated apology speech and suddenly there it was; the magic phrase on the lips of our leader.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 12:34 a.m. No.13929522   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3394

>>13929518

 

2/2

 

The choice of those particular words, “ritual abuse”, had no special significance back in 2019 and went completely unnoticed.

 

But they were crucial in 2021 when reprised this week in the ABC’s 8.30 Monday night timeslot. Without those two words the rest of the 45-minute documentary had no raison d’etre.

 

There are only two possibilities. The first is that the ABC vigilante call was correct, and the PM has been unduly influenced by his potty mate to include the two coded signal words “ritual abuse”.

 

The theory is a little bit in the realms of Harry Potter (but perhaps R rated) in suggesting those words were a cryptic signal to millions of QAnon believers around the world, “The Prime Minister of Australia hears you and he’s secretly one of you”.

 

How ridiculous.

 

Does Four Corners really expect us to believe ScoMo thinks Hillary and Barack run around in weird robes, wearing a goat’s head or whatever, molesting and eating children?

 

Come on. Let’s get real here. ScoMo might be a bit of a happy clapper but under that baseball cap he is otherwise as boringly normal as John Howard. That is what the electorate likes about him.

 

Is he likely to believe some world leaders have been eating children when he tells us his own favourite breakfast food is Vegemite on toast?

 

On the other hand, if ScoMo did not mean to send a secret message to those who believe a cabal of paedophile cannibals are running the world then he must simply have made a semantic error.

 

The PM’s minders are saying that he was just applying a commonly used expression for the abuse that repeatedly occurs across churches, orphanages and other Australian institutions.

 

If that is true, then the term he should have used was “systemic abuse” and not “ritual abuse” which suggests the dark, occult and satanic practices the QAnon mob are getting off on.

 

Still if you listen to federal parliament you will find it hardly remarkable that an Australian politician should play loose with English grammar.

 

We might never know the truth here but there is probably not much truth to know.

 

If in the Australian way, ScoMo “did a favour for a little mate”, then he was merely silly and not the first Prime Minister to be so.

 

At best, the ABC used a sledgehammer to crack one tiny walnut. That was silly, too, and distracting.

 

At worst? Well, I don’t know what they were thinking.

 

Perhaps the aliens really are running the show.

 

https://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/charles-wooley-im-more-likely-to-believe-in-aliens-than-claims-about-pms-qanon-ties/news-story/9a6182e9808d2e231e794cadabcc9784

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 12:49 a.m. No.13929552   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9580 >>9875

>>13895726

>>13907925

Bombshell Evidence: Live Bats in Wuhan Lab & “Intense Clashes” Between China & France

 

Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng

 

18 June 2021

 

Today I will first of all show you a bombshell video, which shows that the P4 lab in Wuhan did keep live bats in it. Sky News showed a little bit of it several days ago. I found the entire, 11 minute video and translated it into English. So this is the exclusive world premiere of it.

 

After we watch the video, I will talk about my takeaways of it, and what we should do based on what this video tells us. I hope you can also share your thoughts about this video in the live chat area, or leave us some comments if you are watching after the live stream.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3OxEmAkTpc

 

http://zmkxj.cas.cn/zpzs/whfy/201710/t20171025_4532133.html

 

https://archive.is/QuIMJ

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 1:04 a.m. No.13929580   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9875

>>13929552

Google Translation

 

Record the construction and research team of Wuhan P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

10 minutes 53 seconds

 

Video introduction:

 

After more than ten years of persistence and unremitting efforts, the P4 laboratory construction and research team of Wuhan Institute of Virology has introduced design and key equipment through Sino-French cooperation. After digestion, absorption and innovation, it has built the highest safety level and the only biological organism in China. Safety level four laboratory. After ten years of sharpening a sword, it is this persistence and unremitting effort that shaped the construction of the Wuhan P4 laboratory. The Wuhan Institute of Virology will rely on the Wuhan P4 laboratory cluster platform, in accordance with the goals and mechanisms of the National Laboratory for Biosafety, to build a large scientific research center for biosafety of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and make new major contributions to the promotion of sustainable social and economic development.

 

http://zmkxj.cas.cn/zpzs/whfy/201710/t20171025_4532133.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 1:18 a.m. No.13929610   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9856

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case: Elite soldiers ‘covered up’ cliff execution, court told

 

KIERAN GAIR - 18 June 2021

 

War hero Ben Roberts-Smith conspired with two special forces soldiers in an effort to “cover up” the murder of a handcuffed man by “inventing” a story about an ambush in an Afghan cornfield, a court has heard.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times, now under separate ownership, over reports published in 2018 that alleged he committed murder during deployments to Afghanistan. He denies the allegations and says the reports portray him as a murderous war criminal.

 

On the second day of his cross-examination in the Federal Court by barrister Nicholas Owens, SC, for Nine newspapers, Mr Roberts-Smith was questioned in detail about key events surrounding Nine’s “centrepiece” allegation – the murder of unarmed civilian Ali Jan in Darwan, Uruzgan province, on September 11, 2012.

 

As part of its truth defence, the newspapers allege that Mr Roberts-Smith committed or was complicit in six unlawful killings in Afghanistan, including the murder of Jan. They allege the farmer was kicked off a cliff while handcuffed and then shot dead by Australian soldiers in the village of Darwan in 2012.

 

Mr Owens suggested the war hero had kicked a PUC – an acronym for persons safely and securely under the control of Australian soldiers – in the chest and “over the cliff” after the man twice laughed at him.

 

“You and person 11 dragged him into a cornfield and either you or person 11 shot him,” Mr Owens said. “That’s completely false,” Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

Mr Owens showed the Victoria Cross recipient a photo of the man’s body with four bullet wounds, an “open gaping wound in his chest”, an injury around the man’s mouth, and injuries “consistent” with being handcuffed.

 

Mr Owens asked: “When this man was shot, his arms were handcuffed behind his back, won’t they?” “No, they weren’t,” Mr Roberts-Smith said. “You, person 4 and person 11 all discussed how to cover up the killing, correct?” “That’s false,” Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

Last week, Bruce McClintock, SC, for Mr Roberts-Smith dismissed the outlets’ “centrepiece” allegation – the murder of Jan on September 11, 2012 – as a “ludicrous” accusation that “did not happen”. Asked by Mr McClintock about the allegation, Mr Roberts-Smith said: “Every time I have to read that or hear it, I can’t believe it has been written. It feels like a nightmare, to be frank.”

 

The court has heard that the rules of war – as outlined in the Geneva Convention and the Australian Defence Force’s rules of engagement – ban the killing of persons under the control of Australian soldiers.

 

On the ninth day of the defamation case, the war hero was also accused of lying in the witness box after he said he had made a mistake in his evidence about the killing of an Afghan man with a prosthetic leg.

 

On Thursday, Mr Roberts-Smith told the court he dragged the man he killed back to the compound wall while the second SAS operator dragged the second insurgent. However, on Friday he said he’d realised his evidence had been “wrong” – the second soldier did not move the second insurgent’s body.

 

“He lay where he fell,” Mr Roberts-Smith said. “It was a mistake in my evidence I felt I should correct.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith told the court he was involved in over “300 missions” across six deployments to Afghanistan and that “sometimes you mix it up”.

 

“You find it hard to keep your story straight, don’t, you?” Mr Owens asked. “No,” Mr Roberts-Smith replied. Mr Owens later asked: “You’ve thrown this man on the ground and then rolled him over and shot him, correct?” “No,” Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

At one point, Mr Roberts-Smith accused the barrister of peddling a “fanciful story.”

 

“You would not pick someone up and put yourself in danger like that, it’s a ridiculous story.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is also suing over reports alleging he assaulted a woman – a key witness in the defamation proceedings – at a Canberra hotel in March 2018.

 

A substantial part of Mr Roberts-Smith’s cross-examination is expected to be held behind closed doors on Monday to ensure national security information is not divulged in open court.

 

The hearing continues.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/ben-robertssmith-defamation-case-elite-soldiers-covered-up-cliff-execution-court-told/news-story/79e5c4f8f423cc50a87059a2c6d2898c

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 1:36 a.m. No.13929643   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9646 >>9856

>>13848125

MP Andrew Hastie set to testify on allegedly ‘blooded’ rookie soldier in Ben Roberts-Smith case

 

The Liberal MP is a former SAS captain who served in Afghanistan and was trained by Roberts-Smith

 

Ben Doherty - 18 Jun 2021

 

1/2

 

The assistant defence minister, Andrew Hastie, is slated to give evidence to the federal court in relation to an SAS mission in Afghanistan where a rookie soldier was allegedly “blooded”, or ordered to kill an unarmed prisoner, by Ben Roberts-Smith.

 

Hastie, a former SAS captain and now a Liberal MP, was confirmed on Thursday as a “likely” witness to be called on behalf of three newspapers alleged by Roberts-Smith to have defamed him over allegations of war crimes.

 

The newspapers have alleged in their defence documents that Victoria Cross recipient Roberts-Smith committed six murders while on deployment with the SAS in Afghanistan, as well as an act of domestic violence in Australia.

 

The evidence involving Hastie concerns an allegation that Roberts-Smith ordered a subordinate soldier – anonymised before the court as Person 66 – to kill an unarmed Afghan in Syahchow during a mission in October 2012. Roberts-Smith confirmed in court on Friday that Hastie was present: “he came on the mission”.

 

Court documents filed by the newspapers as part of their defence allege that during the mission Roberts-Smith directed Person 66 to take two prisoners from a compound where they were being held to a nearby field.

 

It’s alleged that Roberts-Smith ordered Person 66 to shoot one of the Afghan prisoners, which he did. After the incident, Roberts-Smith is alleged to have said he had “blooded” the new soldier.

 

Person 66, who was not a regular member of Roberts-Smith’s patrol, is also expected to give evidence to the trial, called by the newspapers.

 

In his earlier opening to the case, barrister Bruce McClintock SC, appearing for Roberts-Smith, told the court “the essence of the allegation is that, gratuitously, my client [Roberts-Smith] ordered Person 66 to shoot one of two Afghan males, which Person 66 then did”.

 

“My client’s response to that is that the incident in question never happened,” he said.

 

“The only other evidence – and I use that word with quotation marks – that may be before the court is from Mr Hastie, a member of the House of Representatives. Mr Hastie has long been a commentator for the respondents and anti-[Roberts-Smith], if I could put it like that.

 

“His outline offers nothing probative, except that when the mission was over, he saw Person 66 looking anxious and uncomfortable. There might be many reasons, after combat, why someone looked anxious and uncomfortable.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 1:37 a.m. No.13929646   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13929643

 

2/2

 

The newspapers allege the practice of “blooding” new soldiers – essentially an experienced senior soldier ordering a new subordinate to kill an unarmed person – occurred among Australian SAS soldiers in Afghanistan.

 

“‘Blooding’ refers to initiating a person in the practice of killing, or giving them the taste for killing,” the newspapers’ defence states.

 

Roberts-Smith has told this trial he never heard the phrase ‘blooding the rookie’ “until a few years ago when it was being bandied around”. He said he had never engaged in, nor seen, the practice.

 

Hastie was an SAS captain who served in the Australian defence force between 2003 and 2015. He served two tours of Afghanistan, and was trained by Roberts-Smith on an SAS officer’s training course in 2010.

 

One of 21 former and serving SAS soldiers expected to give evidence for the defence in the trial, Hastie has written previously about being troubled by a “warrior culture” within the SAS regiment.

 

“The warrior ethos I sometimes saw was about power, ego and self-adulation. It worshipped war itself. It was the opposite of the humility that I expected to find at SASR (Special Air Services Regiment).”

 

Hastie has said he supported the inquiry conducted by Justice Paul Brereton, the inspector general of the ADF, into allegations of war crimes.

 

“When wrong is done, we must hold ourselves to account,” he wrote.

 

The Guardian has put questions to Hastie but has not received a response.

 

Roberts-Smith, one of the most decorated soldiers in Australian military history, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of ­reports published in 2018. He alleges the reports are defamatory because they portray him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and committed war crimes, including murder.

 

The 42-year-old has consistently denied the allegations, saying they are “false”, “baseless” and “completely without any foundation in truth”. The newspapers are defending their reporting as true.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/18/mp-andrew-hastie-set-to-testify-on-allegedly-blooded-rookie-soldier-in-ben-roberts-smith-case

 

https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/services/access-to-files-and-transcripts/online-files/ben-roberts-smith

 

https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/services/access-to-files-and-transcripts/online-files/ben-roberts-smith/Respondents-Witness-List.pdf

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 1:45 a.m. No.13929660   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6589 >>9844

>>13922430

Witness K speaks for first time in open court as he pleads guilty to breaching secrecy laws

 

Former spy charged over his role in exposing Australia’s 2004 bugging of impoverished ally Timor-Leste

 

Christopher Knaus - 17 Jun 2021

 

Lawyers for the former intelligence officer Witness K have urged a court to spare him a criminal conviction for his role in unearthing Australia’s bugging of Timor-Leste, saying it would only serve to increase his “alienation, anxiety and post-traumatic stress”.

 

Amid much secrecy and after extraordinary delay, sentencing proceedings against Witness K finally began on Thursday in the ACT magistrates court.

 

The former spy was present but surrounded by a wall of black panels which hid him completely from the crowd of lawyers and observers packing out the courtroom.

 

Electronic devices were banned from the court and security cameras were obscured. Glass panels leading into the courtroom and behind the magistrate, Glenn Theakston, were blacked out.

 

The voice of Witness K, whose identity is guarded closely, was heard for the first time in open court after he was arraigned on a single charge of conspiring with his lawyer, Bernard Collaery, to disclose intelligence information to the government of Timor-Leste.

 

Asked how he would plead, Witness K responded quietly from behind the black panels: “Guilty, your honour.”

 

Collaery was watching on from the public gallery.

 

The charge stems from Witness K’s role in exposing Australia’s bugging of its impoverished ally, Timor-Leste, during negotiations to carve up the resource-rich Timor Sea in 2004.

 

Prosecutors say Witness K disclosed details to the Timor-Leste government through documents he provided to Collaery – who he had approval to seek advice from – and the permanent court of arbitration in the Hague, where Timor-Leste disputed the maritime treaty signed during the bugged 2004 negotiations.

 

His counsel, Robert Richter QC, argued his client should be spared a criminal conviction and released with a good behaviour order.

 

“There is no utility at this stage in convicting Mr K,” Richter told the court.

 

Witness K had no criminal history, was a highly decorated ASIS officer, and was now suffering depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, the court heard. The court also received several medical reports detailing the health of Witness K.

 

“The option of imposing a conviction will simply increase the alienation, the anxiety, and the post-traumatic stress … when it is not necessary to achieve any sentencing objective,” Richter said.

 

Witness K’s defence conceded the offence was not trivial but said that didn’t preclude a non-conviction order.

 

Richter argued his client has been effectively imprisoned in Australia for eight years after his passport was taken away. “The mental anguish that he’d suffered up until that time was amplified,” he said.

 

The prospect of prosecution loomed over Witness K for years before the charge was finally brought in 2018, the court heard.

 

After the 2013 raid, the then-attorney general, George Brandis, had avoided making a decision on whether to sign off on Witness K’s prosecution.

 

Richter suggested this was because Brandis either had concerns about it or simply wanted to avoid making a decision. “To withhold that decision for a period of three years is itself imposing additional torment on someone who from the very first day … has known he was susceptible to being prosecuted,” the barrister said.

 

When Christian Porter was made attorney general, the court heard, the approval to prosecute was granted quickly.

 

The removal of Witness K’s passport, the court heard, had robbed him of any hope of relieving the depression and anxiety he experienced. He and his wife used to take boating trips abroad, in a country that cannot be named, which were the source of great joy. “That was all taken away,” Richter said.

 

Richter said there were two documents provided by Witness K. The first was to Colleary, which was given as a set of instructions to the lawyer, and was never intended to be filed to the permanent court of arbitration.

 

The second was an affidavit designed to be filed with the court, which Richter said had security protocols and policies to handle such content.

 

The sentencing hearing is scheduled to resume on Friday.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/17/witness-k-speaks-for-first-time-in-open-court-as-he-pleads-guilty-to-breaching-secrecy-laws

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 2:04 a.m. No.13929696   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876

>>13915233

>>13922496

Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweets

 

Scotland Yard to review UK Ghislaine Maxwell trafficking claims. There’s no running now Maxwell, your wanted in 2 Countries for your crimes against children.Keep her locked up & your children safe. #LockHerUp #SaveOurKids #TimesUp #SeeSayDo #SpeakUp #Help

 

https://twitter.com/VRSVirginia/status/1405590170338873350

 

Scotland Yard to review UK Ghislaine Maxwell trafficking claims

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/15/scotland-yard-to-review-uk-ghislaine-maxwell-trafficking-claims

 

 

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre testifies against modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel. Stand with me once again my warrior friends! Only United can we win! If not for yourself then for the voiceless & the future of our children. #TimesUp #Help

 

https://twitter.com/VRSVirginia/status/1405588412191576064

 

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre testifies against modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-virginia-roberts-giuffre-testifies-against-modeling-agent-n1270959

 

 

Jean- Luc Brunel victims resource for speaking out about his abuse, which spans decades. The time is NOW to speak out. Only together can we make this world a better place. #TimesUp #United #JeanLucBrunel #GhislaineMaxwell

 

https://twitter.com/VRSVirginia/status/1405587917712461828

 

Police nationale @PoliceNationale

 

[#AppelàTémoins] Dans le cadre de l’affaire #Epstein, la police judiciaire recherche des témoignages français et internationaux.

 

[#SeekingInformation] The French national police are seeking French/international witnesses with regards to the Epstein investigation.

 

https://twitter.com/PoliceNationale/status/1195296366118998016

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 2:24 a.m. No.13929743   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9875

Coronavirus: WA, Qld Covid check-in data accessible to foreign authorities

 

PAUL GARVEY - JUNE 17, 2021

 

Foreign government agencies have had the ability to access data collected via Western Australia’s and Queensland’s Covid check-in apps, according to the terms and conditions of the mandatory systems.

 

The decision by both states to use international tech giants Amazon and Microsoft to host the data appears to have opened the possibility for overseas law enforcement and other agencies to access the information, although it is unclear if any such access has been sought.

 

The legal frameworks underpinning the apps have been under scrutiny following revelations this week that WA Police had used the state’s SafeWA check-in app to assist with two serious criminal investigations, despite promises from the government that the compulsory app would only ever be used to assist in Covid contact tracing. The WA government on Tuesday introduced emergency legislation aimed at closing the loophole.

 

The terms and conditions of the WA and Queensland apps note that the storage of the check-in information is hosted by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure Cloud Services respectively. They both feature near-identical warnings that the two software giants are “subject to both Australian and overseas laws that may require the disclosure of your information (in limited circumstances) to government authorities here and overseas”.

 

While the data in both apps is encrypted to help protect it from external attack, the WA app’s conditions note that both Amazon and GenVis – the Perth-based technology company that developed the SafeWA app – hold ­encryption keys.

 

Neither the Service Victoria nor Service NSW check-in apps feature similar warnings in their terms and conditions to the WA or Queensland apps, although the Victorian app notes that personal information may be handed over for law enforcement or to investigate unlawful activity, or to a commonwealth security agency.

 

The commonwealth’s own COVIDSafe app is protected by legislation that specifies that the data collected must “be stored in, and not disclosed outside of, ­Australia”.

 

It also specifies that the data can only be accessed by the police or Director of Public Prosecutions “to investigate and prosecute ­alleged breaches of the Privacy Act in relation to the handling of Covid app data”.

 

Julia Powles, an associate professor of law and technology at the University of WA, said the police access to the data and the provisions for access by overseas authorities were “staggering”.

 

“This absolutely guts public trust,” she said. “You go from a position where you say ‘well ­surely this does what it says on the tin’ to now where you don’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to say ‘well I don’t know now where this is going and who is getting access, and how can I get a good assurance that it hasn’t gone elsewhere’.”

 

The success of the apps, she said, relied on the public being confident they would not be used as a “Trojan horse” to track ­people’s whereabouts for other purposes.

 

“They say they’re now closing this loophole, but have there been other requests and does the government even know, especially on that overseas question?” she said.

 

A spokesman for Queensland’s Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy confirmed that data held by Microsoft could be provided to overseas authorities but said there had been no notifications of any such access.

 

“Microsoft are obliged to inform the state of any disclosure to any overseas authority,” she said.

 

A spokesman for Amazon Web Services said the company did not disclose customer information in response to government demands unless it was required to do so to comply with a legally valid and binding order.

 

“Unless prohibited from doing so or there is clear indication of ­illegal conduct in connection with the use of AWS products or services, AWS notifies customers ­before disclosing content information,” he said.

 

The spokesman said the US CLOUD Act did not give law ­enforcement agencies unfettered access to cloud data, but enabled US agencies to seek evidence about US crimes. “It’s highly unlikely that SafeWA data could be relevant to a US crime,” he said.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/coronavirus-wa-qld-covid-checkin-data-accessible-to-foreign-authorities/news-story/4a5644bf3afcb8df25793b18d692b926

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 2:36 a.m. No.13929767   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

United States Consulate General in Melbourne Tweet

 

We’re flying the BLM flag today in celebration of Juneteenth, in recognition of the continuing struggle for equity, and with the genuine determination to make things right. - CG Mike Kleine #Juneteenth2021

 

https://twitter.com/usconsulatemelb/status/1405766189461098505

 

>https://qanon.pub/?q=BLM

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 3:31 a.m. No.13929830   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9833 >>2023 >>9870

>>13898754

The China files: how Morrison persuaded Europe to talk tough

 

Bevan Shields - June 18, 2021

 

1/2

 

Paris: When Scott Morrison left his hotel room last Sunday at the 18th century Tregenna Castle - a luxury Cornwall resort where he and other world leaders slept during the G7 summit - he made sure one important document was tucked away in his bag.

 

Conventional wisdom was that Morrison would be in for a rough time that morning when he sat down to debate tougher action on climate change. US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga all back targets of net zero by 2050 and Morrison’s refusal to do so made him an RM Williams-shod elephant in the room.

 

But the Coalition leader who once brandished a lump of coal on the floor of the Australian Parliament escaped without a scrape. He won’t be so lucky at the big climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow later this year. Perhaps the $16,000 the Australian delegation paid to offset the carbon emissions of their travel helped too.

 

Morrison later told reporters no country pressured him on his climate policies, or even asked to make them more ambitious. Sources from two other delegations involved in the discussions backed up this account.

 

Instead, the Prime Minister’s big moment that Sunday came when he pulled out the document stashed in his bag. During a session dubbed Open Societies, Morrison tabled a dossier that Chinese diplomats had handed to Nine News reporter Jonathan Kearsley at a meeting inside Canberra’s Hyatt Hotel last November.

 

The document listed 14 grievances Beijing had with Australia, including restrictions on foreign investment decisions based on national security grounds, government funding for think tanks critical of China, and unfriendly reporting by Australian media.

 

By handing the dossier to Nine after months of radio silence at ministerial level, China perhaps hoped to pressure Australia to back down on some of its tougher tactics.

 

But Morrison instead took the list to some of the most important leaders of the free world to argue growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific were a problem even for geographically distant Europe.

 

“There is not a country that would sit around that table that would seek a concession on any of those 14 points as something they also would tolerate,” Morrison said after the meeting.

 

After a slow start at the G7, those bolshy remarks and Morrison’s surprise decision to table the dossier were the first signs of what the Prime Minister might achieve from the trip. By the time he landed back in Australia on Friday morning, his warnings about the Indo-Pacific had achieved strong cut through. Australia’s plight is now on the radar of nations with less skin in the game.

 

The biggest backing came during a meeting between Morrison and Macron at the Elysee Palace. France’s historic interests in the Pacific mean Macron has a good ear for the tensions - he spoke about the geopolitical balance of the region at length during a Sydney visit in 2018 - but the forcefulness of his support for Australia this week took many observers by surprise.

 

Speaking of threats and intimidation, Macron declared Australia was at the “forefront” of the dispute in the region and pledged to stand by Canberra’s side.

 

“As a token of friendship and solidarity, and as we discussed together during the G7, we firmly reject any coercive economic measures taken against Australia in flagrant violation of international law,” he said.

 

The speech raised eyebrows from those listening in, including assembled press who knew Macron had told an earlier summit in Brussels that he didn’t think China was NATO’s business. That same summit for the first time declared China poses “systemic challenges” to international order.

 

But a transcript of what Macron actually said at NATO is telling. Of China, he said: “It is much larger than just the military issue. It is economic. It is strategic. It is about values. It is technological.”

 

Macron’s lines were so similar to what Morrison has been saying for many months now that the statement could have been uttered by the Prime Minister himself.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 18, 2021, 3:33 a.m. No.13929833   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13929830

 

2/2

 

Asked by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age whether a turning point had arrived in how countries view China, Morrison raised his eyebrows and said: “I think there is a growing awareness of the Indo-Pacific, full stop”.

 

“It is so much more a factor in both the considerations and assessments of governments - not just strategically but economically as well, but also of the business community.”

 

Morrison was also buoyed by a public show of support from Johnson, who during a Downing Street meeting promised to “stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends”. But the British Prime Minister offered a note of caution by stressing nobody wanted to descend into a Cold War with China.

 

Johnson had earlier grappled with other G7 leaders over how hard to criticise Beijing in the summit communique for its human rights abuses and treatment of Australia. We only know this because Draghi, the Italian Prime Minister, told Morrison so at the start of their bilateral meeting. The only difference in views on China, Draghi explained in a recording of what was probably intended as a private exchange, was the “intensity” of the message to send.

 

Italy stunned fellow G7 members when it signed up to Beijing’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative in 2019 but the newly installed Draghi is clearing the way for a policy shift. He has been cool on the partnership for several weeks now but emerged from the G7 session so alarmed he pledged to review Italy’s deal.

 

“It’s an autocracy that does not adhere to multilateral rules and does not share the same vision of the world that the democracies have,” he said.

 

In the end, the G7 rebuked Beijing for human rights abuses, its assault on Hong Kong and “non-market practices which undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy”. It also included a reference to Taiwan for the first time, calling for peace across the Strait that separates China from its threatened island neighbour.

 

China accused the bloc of rich countries of attempting to dictate world affairs and said that the era of international diplomacy “was over”. It called the United States, its superpower rival, “sick, very sick” for leading a coalition that had interfered in its internal affairs.

 

The statement was probably less than Morrison and an increasingly assertive Biden had hoped for but was a big step up from just two years ago in the French city of Biarritz when the rising superpower wasn’t even mentioned by name in the G7 communique.

 

Backed up by his razor-sharp national security advisor Michelle Chan, Morrison deployed a simple strategy to explain to Europe the problems in the Indo-Pacific: China may not be an immediate security threat to remote nations but its pattern of behaviour presents a real risk to the health of all economies.

 

He hammered this home during a speech at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris - the final engagement of his trip. After being welcomed by former finance minister Mathias Cormann, Morrison told ambassadors that anti-market behaviour was a threat to their financial prosperity.

 

“The global trading system and rules-based order is under serious strain and threat,” he said. “Meeting these challenges will require a degree of active cooperation not seen for many decades.”

 

This week was just the start. But not a bad one.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/the-china-files-how-morrison-persuaded-europe-to-talk-tough-20210617-p5820c.html

Anonymous ID: 7cb3b7 June 18, 2021, 5:11 p.m. No.13933956   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

The Gympie, Queensland, Australia pyramid.

The site is closed off by the Australian government as "native private property".

26.1690°S 152.6930°E

63 Gympie Connection Rd, Victory Heights QLD 4570, Australia

 

I think this channel is promoting white supremacy.

Not sure.

It is called Aryan Archeology, Linguistics and Anthropology.

Haven’t looked at it much.

Following it because a friend is heavily into languages and I am sending him language related posts.

 

https://t.me/AryanAnthropology

Anonymous ID: 948095 June 18, 2021, 5:47 p.m. No.13934173   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

HOW IS THIS NOT CORRUPT AF

 

Gladys Berejiklian dating high-profile lawyer Arthur Moses

 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian reportedly has a new boyfriend, with her sister uploading a picture of her and a high-profile Sydney lawyer.

 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is reportedly in a new relationship, with her sister uploading a picture of her and a high-profile Sydney lawyer.

 

Ms Berejiklian has recently started dating Arthur Moses, SC, the lawyer who represented her at a corruption hearing into her former partner Daryl Maguire.

 

A spokesman for the premier confirmed that the couple had recently started seeing each other.

 

“They have recently begun spending private time together. The Premier will not discuss her private life,” the spokesman said.

 

It comes after Ms Berejiklian’s sister, Mary, posted a photo of the pair on Instagram.

 

“After work Friday feels with these two. Glad and her boo,” she captioned a picture showing Ms Berejiklian and Mr Moses smiling and looking at each other.

 

According to The Daily Telegraph, rumours about the couple’s budding romance have been swirling for months after they were seen by some ministers having coffee and visiting her office.

 

Mr Moses served as president of the NSW Bar Association and president of the Law Council of Australia and is currently representing Ben Roberts-Smith in his defamation case against Nine newspapers.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/politics/gladys-berejiklian-dating-highprofile-lawyer-arthur-moses/news-story/4b99f92a56b5138fdd6ef1fd9dcee54f

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 19, 2021, 3:28 a.m. No.13936516   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13818968

ABC duped by Four Corners Scott Morrison QAnon conspiracy report

 

Joe Hildebrand - JUNE 19, 2021

 

OPINION

 

Elizabeth the First was perhaps the most important ruler of the past thousand years.

 

Were it not for her reign, we would probably all be speaking Spanish, Catholics and Protestants might still be waging world war, there might never have been a United Kingdom and we may never have seen the writings of Shakespeare.

 

The key to her incredibly long, successful and stable reign was moderation. She eschewed both extreme papists and extreme puritans but refused to persecute English Catholics in the same way that her predecessor Mary ruthlessly persecuted Protestants.

 

While the Spanish Inquisition was running rampant on the continent, extracting under torture people’s deepest beliefs, Elizabeth famously declared: “I have no desire to make windows into men’s souls.”

 

It is therefore passing strange that almost half a millennia later we have a new brand of puritanism that demands windows into the soul of every man, woman and child to determine if they are ideologically pure enough to be members of society.

 

And now it appears that that censoriousness applies not only to an individual’s own beliefs but those of their friends and family.

 

This brings us to the ABC’s somewhat bizarre Four Corners report on a family friend of Scott Morrison – his wife’s friend’s husband – who has fallen into the online wormhole of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

 

I have literally no time for any of the QAnon crap – I have wasted neither thought nor word on it until Four Corners propelled it into the national political debate – but the idea that any politician or public figure should be held accountable for the beliefs of some weird bloke they know seems to me a pretty odd course of prosecution.

 

For one thing, we all have a batshit crazy mate. If you don’t, you haven’t really lived.

 

I have a friend of more than 25 years who is a nutbag anti-vaxxer and believes all sorts of lunatic conspiracy theories. I still love him to death and would do anything for him.

 

Must I excommunicate him in order to prove my outspoken championing of vaccination programs? Or is he perhaps infiltrating my messaging? Maybe there is a secret conspiracy to make me so aggressively pro-vaccination it will turn people away from it! Someone should do an investigation.

 

I also once had socialist friends who welcomed the election of John Howard in 1996 because they felt certain it would bring on the revolution. Should I have reported them to ASIO? It seems a bit late now.

 

So what was the point of the great QAnon conspiracy that was exposed by Four Corners on Monday night – not to mention on the Crikey website more than 18 months ago? A semantic debate about the PM’s apparently coded use of the word “ritual”? A question of whether the PM has sufficiently interrogated all his friends about their deepest beliefs?

 

It is hard to say. According to the Four Corners report there were concerns the PM was too close to his QAnon buddy. By the next night these had miraculously transformed into concerns for the PM’s own safety, lest he suffer at the hands of his QAnon infiltrator. It’s certainly a wriggly little conspiracy.

 

More puzzling is that the PM’s supposed signal he was all in on QAnon came not in October 2019, when Crikey first reported it, but in October 2018 when he made his “National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse” in Parliament.

 

“The crimes of ritual sexual abuse happened in schools, churches, youth groups, Scout troupes, orphanages, foster homes, sporting clubs, group homes, charities and family homes as well,” Mr Morrison told the House of Representatives.

 

That was apparently the great call to arms that QAnon had been waiting for and if anyone can tell me what happened next I’ll give them a biscuit.

 

Here’s a clue: Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Zero. Sweet mother-loving FA.

 

If these all-powerful online bedwetters were waiting for the glorious right-wing revolution in which the armies of righteousness were unleashed upon the dark forces of Lucifer they must have been a tad underwhelmed over the past two-and-a-half years.

 

But why? Why did nothing happen? Was this all part of a greater conspiracy? Did the liberal left media conspire to snuff it out? Or is the evil patriarchal capitalist hegemony still plotting and scheming its strike against the freedom fighters of Ultimo?

 

Maybe we’ll just have to wait and see. Or maybe it’s all just a massive load of horseshit and the only people dumb enough to believe it are the cult followers of QAnon and, unfortunately, the once great Four Corners itself.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/abc-duped-by-four-corners-scott-morrison-qanon-conspiracy-report/news-story/c752e1baaaf68553e3dd2c4eadbdcff9

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 19, 2021, 3:48 a.m. No.13936569   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6573 >>9856

>>13848125

Media’s barrister circles Ben Roberts-Smith, campaign by campaign

 

Deborah Snow - June 19, 2021

 

1/3

 

As the first fortnight of the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial drew to a close it became clear why, as the lawyers predicted, this epic clash could run for another eight weeks or longer.

 

It was not until Thursday morning that Nicholas Owens, SC, the barrister for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times was able to begin cross-examining the towering former soldier, whose first days in the witness box had been spent under the sympathetic questioning of his own barrister, Bruce McClintock, SC.

 

Roberts-Smith had come across as a disciplined and articulate performer on the stand. Now it was up to Owens to try and take his story apart.

 

By Friday morning, the barrister for the media outlets was starting to move in on his quarry, putting to a periodically rattled-looking Roberts-Smith that parts of his evidence were “implausible” and lies, doubling back again and again over the testimony the ex-soldier had given, picking out inconsistencies, gaps in memory, and growing uncertainties about who in the SAS field of operations had done what, when and where.

 

Roberts-Smith denies any falsehoods. He says he is an honourable man, devoted to his country, who served with valour and distinction in Afghanistan and who – contrary to the allegations of the media outlets – never murdered or connived in the murder of six prisoners and never committed an act of domestic violence against his one-time lover.

 

He spoke during the week about the “nightmare” he’d been living since the allegations against him were first published three years ago, detailing the impact on his reputation and his family, the fears about the effect of his public disgrace on his children and parents, the loss of income that followed the cancellation of the many speaking engagements he’d once enjoyed, and the loss of a lucrative job offer with big four consultancy firm, PwC.

 

At times he’d wondered if life was worth carrying on, he told Federal Court judge Anthony Besanko, who is presiding over the trial with unwavering inscrutability.

 

But the three newspapers say behind the public image of the Victoria Cross-winner lies a bully who, for all his military awards for valour, is guilty of the acts they accuse him of.

 

Owens has now begun the task of trying to prove the truth of the newspaper’s allegations, first put forward in June 2018 by investigative reporters Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters, who are also being sued by Roberts-Smith. Both were present in the courtroom this week, Masters from the beginning and McKenzie arriving on Thursday having just escaped Melbourne’s latest lockdown. One or other and sometimes both of Roberts-Smith’s parents, Len and Sue, have also been regulars in the courtroom.

 

Owens began on Thursday laying the groundwork for the media outlets’ defence much as a spider spins a web: methodically and purposively, his seemingly leisurely pace masking lethal intent.

 

Initially he probed Roberts-Smith’s understanding of the international rules of warfare – reflected in Australia’s rules of engagement – which require protection to be given to combatants (or suspected combatants) who’ve been disarmed and rendered Persons Under Control (or PUCs in military jargon).

 

Yes, Roberts-Smith said, he understood those rules. And yes, he agreed he’d be complicit in a crime if he killed or assaulted a PUC, or stood by as another soldier ordered or committed such an action.

 

Owens then took him through the intricate detail of how Australian special forces handled villagers, women, children, “fighting age males” (or FAMs) and prisoners during their sweeps through Afghan settlements and compounds, before turning to several key events which lie at the heart of the newspapers’ published allegations.

 

One, in 2012, centres on the death of a man described by Roberts-Smith as a Taliban “spotter”, whom he says he helped kill in a cornfield in the vicinity of a dry creek-bed near the village of Darwan. The media outlets say that individual was really a harmless farmer named Ali Jan, kicked down a cliff by Roberts-Smith who then either shot him or stood by as another soldier did so before their SAS patrol exited the area by helicopter.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 19, 2021, 3:49 a.m. No.13936573   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6575

>>13936569

 

2/3

 

Crucial timing differences

 

On Friday Roberts-Smith shifted uncomfortably in the witness box as he was asked to accept that a crucial time window he’d first estimated as being around 10 minutes long was, in fact, much longer, perhaps up to one and half hours.

 

He was challenged on why the supposed “spotter” hadn’t already been flushed out by troops on each side of the creek bed, who were carrying out detailed searches of the area.

 

Then came a tussle with Owens over the meaning of the word “cliff”. Roberts-Smith agreed there’d been “very steep terrain” near where he’d been operating. But, he told the media’s barrister, “a cliff is a cliff and that is not a cliff to me.”

 

After challenging nearly every detail of the incident as described by Roberts-Smith, Owens moved to the crunch: “I want to put it to you that you have invented the story of the [spotter] in the cornfield”. “No” Roberts-Smith replied.

 

A second incident, also central to the media outlets’ defence, turns on the death of an insurgent with an artificial leg which occurred during an SAS search of a compound designated Whisky 108 in 2009.

 

At the time, Roberts-Smith was second in command of a patrol dubbed Gothic 5. Roberts-Smith says he rounded a wall outside the compound in the course of the search operation and encountered the man carrying a weapon, at which point he opened fire and killed him. But the media outlets assert Roberts-Smith machine-gunned the man when he’d already been rendered harmless.

 

On Friday morning, Roberts-Smith amended one key aspect of the evidence he’d given the previous day on this incident, denying (when challenged by Owens) that he’d spoken to anyone about it overnight. Owens put forcefully to the Victoria-Cross winner that his account of this incident was also concocted – a charge denied by the former soldier.

 

Owens has been getting Roberts-Smith, step by step, to reconstruct his exact movements through these and four other contested events in a time frame between 2009 and 2012. Maps, diagrams, photos and satellite images have been repeatedly handed to the former soldier, with Owens asking him to mark his position at different stages of each operation.

 

The meticulous scene-setting will no doubt play a central role when Nine (owner of the Age and the Herald) calls a number of former SAS colleagues of Roberts-Smith’s to testify against him down the track.

 

The witness list shows it will also call his former wife, Emma Roberts, and his former lover, a married woman identified only as Person 17 with whom he had an affair in late 2017 and early 2018.

 

In another extraordinary development in this already extraordinary case, Andrew Hastie – a former SAS captain who served in Afghanistan and is now the assistant minister for defence – is listed as a “likely” witness for the media outlets while former minister for defence Brendan Nelson will give evidence for Roberts-Smith.

 

Nelson was one of the first to ring and commiserate with Roberts-Smith when the first articles appeared on a June weekend in mid-2018, the ex-soldier told the court this week.

 

“He was disgusted with what had been written. And he had identified that it was talking about me.”

 

This was a reference to the fact that the initial articles had not identified Roberts-Smith by name, but through the pseudonym “Leonidas” after a warrior of ancient Sparta. (The ex-soldier has a Spartan helmet tattooed across part of his chest). Roberts-Smith says this and other clues in the text made clear he was the subject of the allegations, and a subsequent article, in August of that year, did identify him by name.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 19, 2021, 3:49 a.m. No.13936575   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13936573

 

3/3

 

Roberts-Smith’s legal team have flagged they have up to 14 former and serving SAS soldiers who will support his version of events. The newspapers have up to 21 military witnesses listed. While this will make for riveting theatre for the rest of the country, it will be extremely uncomfortable for leaders of the ADF as soldier is pitched against soldier, and former comrade against former comrade.

 

Roberts-Smith’s alleged misdeeds in Afghanistan are not the only aspects of his behaviour under scrutiny in this trial. McClintock took the tactical decision to get his client’s version of a range of other events, which occurred after he left the army, on the record this week before they could be dredged up by Owens.

 

These include Roberts-Smith’s decision to hire private investigator John McLeod to spy on his former lover as she visited an abortion clinic in early 2018 and his use of the same PI to try and find the home addresses of soldiers he thought were briefing against him.

 

Owens in his opening address accused Roberts-Smith of using prepaid “burner” phones to secretly collaborate with former army colleagues in an attempt to “undermine the integrity of the evidence” against him. But Roberts-Smith says he was just trying to protect his privacy, fearful that calls with colleagues would be intercepted by the media. He was also trying to work out which of his one-time SAS comrades were “trying to poison the well” against him.

 

He conceded comparing notes with other former soldiers, saying “the kind of thing we would talk about is, for example, where we got dropped off, what our route was moving into position, who assaulted which areas of the compound … whether it was night or day. Just basically looking at what had been written, because most of it was wrong and false.”

 

Owens’ cross examination of Roberts-Smith will continue into next week, before the one-time war hero calls the first of his witnesses to speak in defence of his reputation.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/media-s-barrister-circles-ben-roberts-smith-campaign-by-campaign-20210618-p5825a.html

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 19, 2021, 3:53 a.m. No.13936589   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

>>13922430

>>13929660

Australian spy avoids jail in East Timor espionage scandal

 

Rod Mcguirk - June 18, 2021

 

CANBERRA – A former Australian spy was released from court on Friday with a three-month suspended prison sentence over his attempt to help East Timor prove that Australia spied on the fledgling nation during multibillion-dollar oil and gas negotiations.

 

The former spy, publicly known as Witness K, and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery, had been charged in 2018 with conspiring to reveal secret information to the East Timorese government.

 

Former East Timor President and Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta is among leaders of the impoverished half-island nation of 1.5 million to urge Australia to drop the persecutions.

 

K pleaded guilty on Thursday at the beginning of a two-day sentencing hearing in the Australian Capital Territory Magistrates Court. The public and media were excluded when classified evidence was discussed.

 

Magistrate Glenn Theakston sentenced K to three months in prison fully suspended. K, who was hidden behind black screens in the courtroom throughout the hearing, must also pay a 1,000 Australian dollar ($840) security bond to be of good behavior for 12 months.

 

K had faced up to two years in prison. The maximum has been increased since his offense to 10 years as Australia tightens controls on secrecy.

 

The Australian government has refused to comment on allegations that K led an Australian Secret Intelligence Service operation that bugged government offices in the East Timorese capital, Dili, in 2004 during negotiations on the sharing of oil and gas revenue from the seabed that separates the two countries.

 

The government canceled K's passport before he was to testify at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2014 in support of East Timor's challenge to the validity of the 2006 treaty.

 

The East Timorese argued that the treaty was invalid because Australia had failed to negotiate in good faith by engaging in espionage.

 

There was no evidence heard in open court of a bugging operation, which media had reported was conducted under the guise of a foreign aid program.

 

But K and Collaery had prepared for the East Timorese government two affidavits that identified K as a former ASIS member and details of ASIS functions.

 

Theakston noted that the case was unusual because K's offense was committed "in plain sight of Australian authorities."

 

"That suggests to me it was brazen and indifferent or mistaken," Theakston said.

 

Theakston said it was open to him to find K had made a mistake rather than a deliberate breach "based on a perception of justice."

 

The judge described K as an "elderly man" more than 70 years old who had had the threat of prison hanging over him for eight years.

 

The ASIS secrecy rules were "strict and absolute" for serving and former officers, Theakston said.

 

Defense lawyer Robert Richter said "Mr. K" had suffered from not being able to travel overseas with his wife because of the loss of his passport.

 

Richter blamed K's post-traumatic stress disorder, clinical depression and anxiety for his offense. He argued for K to escape a conviction being recorded for "reasons that will be made clear in closed court."

 

Collaery has pleaded not guilty and wants to fight the charge in an Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court trial without media or the public being excluded.

 

Collaery was allowed to sit in the public gallery of K's hearing during the closed and open hearings. Collaery declined to comment on the sentence.

 

Richter told The Associated Press, "I think it's a fair outcome."

 

Prosecutor Richard Maidment declined to comment on the result.

 

Australia and East Timor agreed on a new maritime border treaty in 2018.

 

A year later, the Australian prime minister arrived in Dili to formalize the agreement and was targeted by street protests demanding charges against K and Collaery be dropped.

 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/australian-spy-avoids-jail-in-east-timor-espionage-scandal-1.5475826

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 19, 2021, 4:20 a.m. No.13936670   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team arrests Sydney man

 

19 June 2021

 

A Sydney man who allegedly supports the Islamic State terrorist organisation has been arrested after a NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) investigation.

 

Police executed search warrants in Chester Hill and Sefton, NSW, yesterday (Friday, 18 June 2021) and arrested a 24-year-old Chester Hill man.

 

The man has been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation, namely Islamic State, and is expected to face Parramatta Local Court today (19 June 2021). Yesterday’s arrest follows a seven-month investigation by the NSW JCTT into the man, whom police will allege had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

 

Police will further allege the man’s rhetoric online was escalating, that he had collected a large amount of extremist material and he was in possession of several improvised explosive recipes.

 

Australian Federal Police Commander Counter Terrorism Investigations Stephen Dametto said the priority of the NSW JCTT investigators was to prevent any harm to the community.

 

“The actions of this man do not represent the Islamic faith. His actions are criminal and they represent hatred and terror,” Commander Dametto said.

 

“We will allege in court that this man was a member of ISIS and it shows there are still those in the community that seek to do us harm. The items found show that this individual posed a significant risk to the Australian community and we will act early to ensure safety of the Australian people”.

 

“This investigation shows that the influence of IS remains an enduring threat and it maintains the ability to inspire and radicalise individuals in Australia”

 

“The actions taken yesterday highlight the great partnership and commitment of the NSW Police, the AFP, NSW Crime Commission and ASIO in working together to keep the NSW and Australian community safe.”

 

NSWPF Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Michael McLean, commended the dedication of NSW JCTT investigators to the safety of the people of NSW.

 

“Yesterday’s arrest is a great example of the strength of the partnerships and collaboration in Australia’s counter terrorism framework,” Acting Assistant Commissioner McLean said.

 

“The NSW JCTT works cooperatively and diligently to act in response to those who choose to follow an extremist ideology that is not compatible with the diverse, inclusive values of the community.

 

“Our greatest asset in combating terrorism is our community. You are our eyes and ears and we need you to continue to work with us to help us to keep everyone safe.”

 

The man has been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation, 102.3(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth), punishable by imprisonment for 10 years.

 

The NSW JCTT is comprised of members from the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police Force, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the NSW Crime Commission.

 

Anyone with information about extremist activity or possible threats to the community should come forward, no matter how small or insignificant you may think the information may be. The National Security Hotline is 1800 123 400.

 

There is no ongoing threat to the community relating to this investigation.

 

Editor’s Note: Vision of the arrest is available via Hightail - https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/bdx3ehUMHI

 

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/nsw-joint-counter-terrorism-team-arrests-sydney-man

 

https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/WhatAustraliaisdoing/Pages/TheNationalSecurityHotline.aspx

Anonymous ID: 4f0d54 June 19, 2021, 4:28 a.m. No.13936688   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

Federal government takes China to WTO over wine tariffs

 

AFP - JUNE 19, 2021

 

Australia will take China before the World Trade Organisation over Beijing’s imposition of crippling tariffs on Australian wine exports, it announced Saturday, in the latest sign of worsening tensions between the two countries.

 

The decision “to defend Australia’s winemakers” comes six months after Australia lodged a separate protest at the WTO over tariffs on Australian barley and is in line with the government’s “support for the rules-based trading system”, it said in a statement.

 

It added, however, that “Australia remains open to engaging directly with China to resolve this issue”.

 

It is the latest incident in an escalating tussle between Australia and its largest trading partner and follows warnings by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that his government would respond forcefully to countries trying to use “economic coercion” against it.

 

China in November slapped tariffs of up to 218 percent on Australian wines, which it said were being “dumped” into the Chinese market at subsidised prices.

 

“The actions taken by the Chinese government have caused serious harm to the Australian wine industry,” Trade Minister Dan Tehan said at a press conference announcing the decision to lodge a formal dispute with the WTO.

 

“We would love to be able to sit down and be able to resolve these disputes” directly with the Chinese, he said, but added that lower-level official contacts had failed to make progress.

 

“We will use every other mechanism to try and resolve this dispute and other disputes that we have with the Chinese government,” he said.

 

Tehan acknowledged that the dispute process within the WTO was difficult and estimated it would take two to four years for any resolution.

 

Beijing has imposed tough economic sanctions on a range of Australian products in recent months, ranging from high tariffs to disruptive practices across several agricultural sectors, coal, wine and tourism.

 

The measures are widely seen in Australia as punishment for pushing back against Beijing’s operations to impose influence in Australia, rejecting Chinese investment in sensitive areas and publicly calling for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Saturday’s move came just a week after a summit of the G7 grouping of advanced economies echoed Australia’s call for a tougher stand against China’s trade practices and its more assertive stance globally.

 

The G7 summit ended on June 12 with the announcement of US-led plans to counter China’s trillion-dollar “Belt and Road Initiative”, the hallmark of its efforts to extend economic influence around the world.

 

The grouping promised hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment for low- and middle-income countries in a “Build Back Better World” (B3W) project.

 

The B3W was seen as aimed squarely at competing with China’s efforts, which has been widely criticised for saddling small countries with unmanageable debt.

 

Morrison attended the summit as part of a G7 plus formula that also brought in the leaders of South Korea, South Africa and India, and made clear he would push the other nations for joint action against China’s aggressive trade policies.

 

“The most practical way to address economic coercion is the restoration of the global trading body’s binding dispute-settlement system,” he said in a speech just ahead of the summit.

 

“Where there are no consequences for coercive behaviour, there is little incentive for restraint,” he said.

 

Morrison has received explicit backing in his government’s confrontation with China from the US as well as from French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Paris following the G7 meeting.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/federal-government-takes-china-to-wto-over-wine-tariffs/news-story/fe2c87062d0ce64d87ad032d40cabaa9

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 19, 2021, 7:48 p.m. No.13942023   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2030 >>3377 >>9870

>>13929830

Morrison’s China list left leaders shocked and appalled

 

The Prime Minister reveals he used the G7 leaders summit to push allies to adopt the same position on climate change as they took on vaccines, and brought evidence of how bad things have become with Beijing.

 

GEOFF CHAMBERS - June 19, 2021

 

1//2

 

Inside the sprawling Carbis Bay coastal resort in Cornwall, the leaders of the free world listened as Scott Morrison tabled China’s list of grievances against Australia.

 

The Prime Minister had been asked to speak in a closed G7 session on open societies at the first major in-person leaders’ summit since Covid-19 shut down borders and economies. It was an opportunity for Morrison to discuss Australia’s experience with Chinese economic coercion tactics, headlined by the banning and restricting of key exports including wine, barley and coal.

 

The final G7 communique named China only three times but the bulk of discussions in Cornwall and at the NATO summit in Brussels on Monday focused on efforts by Beijing and Moscow to undermine liberal democracies in the Indo-Pacific and Europe.

 

The key themes from G7, NATO and Morrison’s talks with world leaders were cyber, intelligence and military threats posed by China and Russia; climate change; dealing with Covid-19, vaccines and future pandemic preparedness; global trading systems and the rules-based order; and aligning like-minded countries to rail against alternative models promoted by authoritarian regimes.

 

Following the G7, Morrison told Inquirer: “Living with China, which is the goal, requires us to be very clear about what our values are and what our principles are and how our countries are run and how we will continue to run, free of interference.”

 

Johnson and Macron took firm positions on China’s treatment of Australia. In a statement before their meeting, Macron said he understood Australia was at the “forefront of tensions” dominated by threats and intimidation. “I want to reiterate here how much we stand by your side,” Macron said. In London, Johnson said: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends.”

 

The declarations of support, which followed similar sentiment at the G7 summit, are being backed up by action from France, Britain and Germany. The three European powers have committed to sending warships, submarines and aircraft carriers to the South China Sea this year, with Britain and France also ramping-up their influence across the South Pacific, where both countries have deep historic roots.

 

Inquirer understands G7 leaders, including Macron, took the list of China’s 14 grievances with Australia provided by Morrison back to their cabinets to discuss. The G7 leaders were understood to be shocked and appalled by the list, which was released by the Chinese embassy in Canberra.

 

Morrison’s first in-person meeting with US President Joe Biden in Cornwall was upgraded to trilateral talks that also involved Johnson – bringing together the wartime allies in a strong message to China.

 

Morrison told Inquirer Australia’s partnerships in the Indo-­Pacific with the US, European powers, ASEAN nations including Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, Japan and India were about “integration and collaboration”.

 

“It’s joining things up and, I ­believe, by doing so, increasing stability … and by increasing stability, you reduce the temperature. It is not designed to increase the temperature, it’s designed to lower the temperature. That’s why we do it, that’s our objective,” Morrison said.

 

As the global focus shifts firmly on the Indo-Pacific, Australia’s “first sphere of responsibility” remains the South Pacific, a region that China has aggressively pursued via its Belt and Road Initiative and soft power diplomacy, promising to build infrastructure, which typically doesn’t work or isn’t delivered.

 

Johnson and Biden are looking at ways to combat Xi Jinping’s BRI, with the G7 backing a green fund building mass renewable projects in developing nations across Asia and Africa.

 

Morrison’s first stop at Singapore on the way to the G7 was strategically important. Apart from being an ASEAN powerbroker and head of one of the world’s leading economic hubs, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is also a conduit with Beijing. The leaders’ 40-minute one-on-one meeting allowed them to speak frankly on sensitive issues, not always possible in a virtual setting.

 

It also provided Morrison with an opportunity to seek counsel and advice from a senior ASEAN leader before jetting off to Cornwall for a G7 summit focused on the Indo-Pacific and geostrategic competition between China and the US.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 19, 2021, 7:49 p.m. No.13942030   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13942023

 

2/2

 

Despite Labor and others expecting Morrison to be pilloried over climate change, the opposite occurred. The opportunity to meet leaders in-person allowed Morrison to sell his climate-change strategy, based on accelerating the development of low-emissions technologies, bringing hydrogen online sooner, and ensuring that developing countries are not left behind.

 

He signed deals with Japan, Germany and Singapore on low-emissions technologies and hydrogen, and won the backing of Johnson and Macron.

 

Morrison used the G7 summit to call for advanced countries to adopt the same position on climate change as they took on developing vaccines.

 

“It’s a new comparison I’ve been making around Covid,” he told Inquirer. “With Covid we tried to find a vaccine and everyone just got on to the how. They didn’t need to be convinced that we needed to get a vaccine to deal with Covid.

 

“Technology is the vaccine for climate change.”

 

But the leading question for all countries remains: how does the world live with the virus?

 

In Britain, people are scarred by last year’s extended lockdowns. Many of them have had Covid, some with lingering health effects including loss of taste. QR codes at venues are not uniform, with some still using physical sign-in methods, while mask-wearing and social distancing is generally not enforced. In Paris, an 11pm curfew is imposed by police.

 

As long as the NHS-led vaccine rollout in Britain continues to power ahead, Johnson will retain a dominant position in Britain despite surges in cases and ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. Senior political and media figures in Britain told Inquirer the vaccine rollout was the “singular reason that Boris remains well ahead”. With Australians heading to the polls by May next year, and a March election increasingly likely, Morrison wants to see the domestic vaccine rollout continue at pace.

 

Deep ties exist between the conservative Johnson and Morrison governments, and after weeks of high-level negotiations to finalise an in-principle agreement on the Australia-UK free trade pact – Britain’s first major deal since Brexit – the final decision rested on a Monday night “working dinner” between Morrison and Johnson at Downing Street. The dinner followed a function hosted by Australian High Commissioner to the UK, George Brandis, the night before, which was attended by Morrison, UK Trade Secretary Liz Truss and multiple senior Johnson government ministers.

 

Johnson and Morrison successfully ironed out issues around sheep and beef farmers, timelines for various elements of the trade package, and visa changes before meeting for breakfast the next morning, exchanging hampers packed with Australian and British products and announcing the historic agreement.

 

Also in the spotlight were the roles of Australian campaign advisers Sir Lynton Crosby and Isaac Levido. In the joint press conference at Downing Street after sealing the trade pact, Johnson joked there would be “free exchange of British rent-a-Poms, and indeed Australian campaign managers will be able to come more easily to work in this country”. You could expect those “Australian campaign managers” will be front and centre alongside Liberal Party ­federal director Andrew Hirst as Morrison heads to his second election with the power of pandemic incumbency behind him.

 

With state leaders adopting a “tough on borders” approach, Morrison is confronted by the ­dilemma of how and when he will reopen international borders.

 

On this point, the Prime Minister will not be rushed. Morrison understands keeping out the virus has ensured the nation’s economic prosperity and liberty for Australians.

 

Unlike the UK and US, which were forced into emergency vaccine rollouts, Australia has time on its side – for now.

 

The government will maintain a cautious approach to reopening, and closely watch the impact of vaccines and international travel in other jurisdictions as it pursues a staggered reopening to ensure Australian border, health and quarantine systems are ready by the middle of next year.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/scott-morrison-earns-his-seat-at-the-top-table/news-story/1507135fdedf7e5c8d781c48c6c6272a

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 20, 2021, 2:11 a.m. No.13943323   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3335 >>4895 >>4451 >>9861

Incarceration ‘grotesque’: Assange partner

 

AAP Newswire - Jun 19 2021

 

The partner of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has described his ongoing incarceration in one of England's highest security prisons as "intolerable and grotesque".

 

Stella Moris, 38, and the couple's two young sons Gabriel, four, and Max, two, visited Assange in prison on Saturday morning for the first time in eight months.

 

Despite winning his long-running extradition battle against the US in January, Assange remains in HMP Belmarsh in south London pending the outcome of an appeal.

 

The 49-year-old Australian is still wanted in the US on an 18-count indictment, facing allegations of plotting to hack computers and conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.

 

The prosecution followed WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents in 2010 and 2011 relating to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as diplomatic cables.

 

Ms Moris said the last time she had seen Assange in the flesh was at his last court appearance in early January.

 

Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled Assange should not be extradited to the US on mental health grounds due to his suicide risk.

 

But she refused to release him while US prosecutors appeal the decision, citing fears he would abscond.

 

Ms Moris's visit to the prison coincides with the date Assange sought diplomatic protection from the Ecuadorian Embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on sex offence charges which have since been dropped.

 

"He was happy to see the kids, but he's suffering," Ms Moris told the Press Association. "You know it's a grim, horrible place.

 

"The situation is utterly intolerable and grotesque, and it can't go on.

 

"The situation is just getting more and more oppressive."

 

Ms Moris said she and Assange's lawyers were hopeful there is less of an appetite to prosecute him in the US following Joe Biden's election victory.

 

"The Biden administration is showing signs of wanting to project a commitment to the first amendment," she said.

 

"The only logical step for (Biden) to take would be to drop this entire prosecution, and I hope that cooler heads prevail than under the Trump/Pompeo/Barr administration."

 

Ms Moris said the UK's decision to keep Assange behind bars "degrades" the country.

 

"Having Julian locked up and facing extradition degrades the UK, and it is a threat to press freedom in the UK," she said.

 

"(The UK authorities) need to look at this situation afresh and bring it to an end, because it's gone on for too long, and Julian's life is at risk.

 

"They're driving him to deep depression and into despair."

 

When asked if she though he was being kept safe in prison, she said: "It's not the right place for Julian at all, he shouldn't be in prison at all, he shouldn't be prosecuted at all, because he did the right thing: he published the truth."

 

https://www.riverineherald.com.au/world/2021/06/19/4473275/incarceration-grotesque-assange-partner

Anonymous ID: 82d1f3 June 20, 2021, 2:47 a.m. No.13943394   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13929522

Look you moron. This is what your partner in crime said.Health Minister No one died in Australia from Covid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXgCRzy5WRo

Jon James Pratt (999) aka the storm ID: f29e11 Australia, Britain and the USA have betrayed Assange June 20, 2021, 9:19 a.m. No.13944895   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13943323

 

 

Meta 

 

Since the 1st January 2017. 

 

And yes, it can only be demonstrated by actions, not buzzy 3 word slogans like ‘drain the swamp’ 

 

Many politicians and religious leaders in the folder already. 

 

Vile, deceitful politicians and celebrities. 

 

For the fake online twitter holy war between Hillary and Trump, that definitely wasn’t bread and circuses sponsored by Israel. 

 

And for the aberration of QAnon. 

 

Best thing ever, really. 

 

Thick cunts. 

 

Made me invisible. 

 

The demented push by Americans and twitter to push a billionaire property developer as a prophet. ‪

 

327 000 000 ‬thick as fuck Americans.

 

62 million thick as fuck Brits too.

 

And 14,6 gorillion sneaky Jews. 

 

And 13 vile irredeemable kikes 

 

Disdainful and disrespectful. 

 

It’s because none of our leaders have ever had permission to kill, not In the name of God Almighty or any religion. Ever. 

 

Despite what our politicians say. 

 

Always someone else’s fault, isn’t it? 

 

DIRECT LINKS 

 

Illumination route(27 pages)

https://view.publitas.com/51899/497385/pdfs/a8c594cbd211702f0bef3bf4dbe1ae131b2d547c.pdf

 

Methodology (37 pages)

https://view.publitas.com/40132/322676/pdfs/842241c4185d6efcbf67950fee3772a2b07872e3.pdf

 

Direct link to google drive pdf of illumination route (27 pages) 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1if9rCpYtP4PClx7phLG3er7kkMSs3WcW/view?usp=drivesdk

 

Direct link to google drive pdf of methodology. 37 pages 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15IkbtvPCe49XjXjR4k_E5Iu6G-LxIQen/view?usp=drivesdk

 

 

FOLDER 📁 OF DOOM aka 

Victory of the light. 

 

For those that have betrayed, blocked, argued, threatened or knowingly concealed (done nothing, in other words. 

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1-0QMb_G3N4NSCvIROpsNW_fjsZRLmRTU

 

First illuminated polymath in thousands of years (context) 

 

Totally detached from my knowledge too. Argue with that until the cows come home. 

 

Thick, disrespectful and vile Americans, Jews and Brits. 

 

 

KNOWLEDGE 

Direct link to source document in pdf format. 

 

2,238 pages 130mb 

 

17 year long beam of light from the absolute. Every single entry date and time stamped 

 

Direct download 

 

https://view.publitas.com/72234/880115/pdfs/d4f86d8e8c2117fd530ef381c5b3b016936f5ad1.pdf

 

Scrolling google drive version

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18ZEHlCwP1DYUoG1hA4TNCyA3uukJ2zty/view?usp=drivesdk

 

One size fits all. 

 

Kills butthurt Americans, Brits and Jews instantly. 

 

 

What good are your weapons and poor hurt personal feelings and opinions now? 

 

Jon James Pratt (999) 

Aka ‘cosmic Lol’ 

Aka ‘the storm’ 

 

50 year old illuminated polymath from Warwickshire 

 

Humbly blessed as the World's top intellectual and philosopher. 

 

Never lies and is never violent. 

 

#allpointsarereconciled 

 

 

BREADCRUMBS 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?as_st=y&tbm=isch&as_q=%23allpointsarereconciled+&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&imgsz=&imgar=&imgc=&imgcolor=&imgtype=&cr=&as_sitesearch=&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=

 

RESEARCH AND MEMES

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/mobile/folders/1qhE2UWiZJO9FId4Kq67oaQhnLKBuHJbSSBcCj-Cz/1U6Kfa7f0O5e_9JumXg_e8jJlduNitKEfUNszAU9U7w?sort=13&direction=a

 

 

EMERGENCY BACKUP DRIVE

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1du6pXkl_ZQ-87t51FH5aPEmpmchfGNYC?sort=13&direction=

 

BREADCRUMBS 2: GOOGLE CACHE

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%23allpointsarereconciled&client=safari&hl=en&prmd=mvin&sxsrf=ACYBGNSvoeYzzFOuuLo1NT135mCAjPzekw:1579501613116&filter=0&biw=320&bih=527

 

All over 8kun too 

 

https://8kun.top/doomer/res/145.html#27216

 

Front row seats to hell 

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 20, 2021, 11:49 a.m. No.13945690   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5694 >>9893

>>13884064

Key ABC witness Peter ­Alexander Priest is a serial conspiracy theorist

 

STEPHEN RICE - JUNE 20, 2021

 

1/2

 

A key witness in the ABC’s Four Corners story on QAnon is a ­serial conspiracy theorist who has twice been detained by the fixated persons unit of Queensland Police and who admits he took part in the TV program to “politically damage Scott ­Morrison”.

 

The man introduced by the program as “Eliahi Priest” and described as “a self-styled online anti-corruption crusader” has a long history of making bizarre claims, which the ABC failed to mention. His real name is Peter ­Alexander Priest, a jeweller who works in his parents’ jewellery store on the Sunshine Coast but claims to be the designate consul to the Democratic Republic of Congo and to have infiltrated a CIA front company involved in an alleged $US15 trillion fraud linked to Australia’s failed Nugan Hand Bank.

 

Mr Priest has formed his own right-wing political party, the ­Remembrance Party, which he says has 650 members, with membership increasing on the back of his appearance on Four Corners. In 2018 he addressed a Brisbane rally organised by the far-right True Blue Crew, railing against “the deep state” and “the sodomites in our universities”.

 

He has described himself as “a world peace diplomat with a UK, US and Australian government-accepted and recognised cosmic (off-planet) security clearance in my Australian passport”. Mr Priest has recounted on video his own experience of helping an “extra-terrestrial craft” land in Scotland after learning the correct “communication protocols”. But the claim that would land him at the centre of Australia’s own QAnon scandal is even more out of this world.

 

For years, Mr Priest has put forward a theory linking an ­alleged hidden $US15 trillion fortune – supposedly gained from CIA drug trafficking – to the now defunct Australian Nugan Hand Bank. The Sydney merchant bank collapsed in 1980 after the apparent suicide of one of its founders, Frank Nugan, and the disappearance of co-founder ­Michael Hand, amid claims of drug-smuggling, arms dealing and CIA connections.

 

Mr Priest says he was never a follower of QAnon – the cult-like group which believes the world is run by a cabal of blood-drinking, child-sacrificing Satanists – but simply wanted Mr Stewart to hand the Prime Minister his dossier on the Nugan Hand plot.

 

When neither pursued the case, Mr Priest became angry and ­decided to “air all the QAnon in Kirribilli dirty laundry”.

 

“I burned Stewart to fairly and politically damage Scott Morrison to put the Prime Minister on notice and to hold him to­ ­account,” Mr Priest says in a statement posted on his Twitter account after the ABC program aired. But he says his intervention didn’t end there.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 20, 2021, 11:50 a.m. No.13945694   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13945690

 

2/2

 

Mr Priest claims he was responsible for a cyber attack on Australia’s security and intelligence agencies on February 7, 2019 using “inside knowledge” inadvertently provided by Mr Stewart. The then head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, Alistair MacGibbon and then Australian Signals Directorate director-general Mike Burgess were called to Parliament House after MPs were warned parliament’s systems were the subject of a cyber-security “incident”.

 

The attack forced the Prime Minister and all MPs to change their passwords. The security agencies said “a sophisticated state actor” was responsible for the attack. But Mr Priest alleges he performed the phishing exercise as a “harmless penetration exercise” to push Mr Morrison to investigate his Nugan Hand Bank claims.

 

Four Corners did not detail Mr Priest’s background or claims of involvement in the cyber attack, saying only he “was questioned by counter-terrorism police after social media posts where he said he’d successfully hacked the Prime Minister’s office”.

 

Mr Priest says he was asked “two short questions” about the hacking incident by counter-terrorism police but was then reported to the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC), a joint operation of the Queensland Police and the Queensland Forensic Mental Health Service.

 

After speaking with him, police issued a fixated order and Mr Priest was detained in a psychiatric unit for two days.

 

Mr Priest claims it was an attempt to silence him, telling The Australian: “It’s very easy for people to call me nuts, and it might be a bit crazy what I’m doing, but I feel it’s a very important activity, which is why I’ve persisted.

 

“They tried to peg me with paranoid delusions of grandeur, and my line to Queensland Health was – well give me one example that’s a delusion of grandeur – and they couldn’t.”

 

Mr Priest was detained a second time by the FTAC after claiming on social media he held 3kg of enriched uranium and stating: “I am no longer asking. I now command a seat at the table, regardless of whether ‘they’ choose to recognise it.”

 

Mr Priest says that was taken out of context and that he had been approached by a contact in Central Africa who knew of his connections in the US Department of Energy and wanted to sell some uranium.

 

“I didn’t mean it threaten­ingly, just that it was about time people took me seriously. I’m a world peace advocate,” he said.

 

One of the main platforms of his Remembrance Party is to “task the Governor-General to summon the current United Kingdom Prime Minister to Australia to answer questions about the $US15 trillion transaction into the Royal Bank of Scotland Global in 2009. Should they fail to come, the Queen (or king) would be asked to intervene.”

 

This transaction, he says, is “the key to unlocking the global debt facility, thousands of trillions [sic] of dollars.”

 

In fact the documents appear to be a version of an online scam known as the Riyadi/Saurin scam, so notorious that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York – one of the institutions said to be involved – devotes a full page warning on it.

 

An ABC spokesman said Four Corners “was aware of Priest’s background – Priest openly ­acknowledges it – and information is included in the story. The program used verifiable information provided by Priest, including messages from Tim Stewart’s mobile phone number and a photograph of Priest with Stewart.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/key-abc-witness-peter-alexander-priest-is-a-serial-conspiracy-theorist/news-story/73c60d96619a76e6300836e163140f6b

 

https://qanon.pub/#2106

Anonymous ID: 6a099f June 20, 2021, 12:19 p.m. No.13945824   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13907352

They trrying real hard to smear the PM, wonder why?

 

"baseless" eh?

 

I noticed they skipped the part where there are several "unindicted co-conspirators" from Jan 6th (read s FBI informants and undercover inciting agents)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 21, 2021, 12:58 a.m. No.13949256   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13818968

PM does not want QAnon friend 'cancelled'

 

Daniel McCulloch - JUNE 21 2021

 

Scott Morrison has again struck out at "pretty ordinary" attempts to link him to a man involved in the QAnon conspiracy theory.

 

Four Corners investigated his relationship with old friend Tim Stewart, who is deeply involved in the conspiracy cult.

 

Mr Stewart bragged about getting the coded message "ritual sexual abuse" inserted into one of the prime minister's speeches and his wife worked at Mr Morrison's official residence until late last year.

 

The pair celebrated New Year's Eve together and were scheduled to be in Hawaii around the same time.

 

Four Corners revealed Mr Stewart's mother and sister were so concerned about his behaviour in relation to QAnon they twice contacted the national security hotline.

 

The prime minister distanced himself from Mr Stewart, who he has known for several decades.

 

"We've all got friends and we've all got acquaintances who have got views that we don't share," he told 2GB radio on Monday.

 

"But you know, what do they expect us to do, to just sort of cancel people just because they have views different to ourselves?

 

"I don't support the views of QAnon, I barely even knew what it was until more recently, over the last year or so."

 

QAnon is a discredited, far-right, pro-Donald Trump conspiracy theory that believes Satanic and cannibalistic pedophiles run a global child sex-trafficking ring.

 

Mr Morrison accused people of trying to attack him over what people he knew believed and said the investigation was "a bit of a long bow".

 

"I haven't seen Tim for some time, I'm much closer to his wife, Jenny and I are long time friends of her," he said.

 

"I just think it's a bit ordinary to drag other people into it. I'm the prime minister, hold me to account for my views."

 

He said people he knew were entitled to privacy regardless of whether people agreed with their views.

 

"I certainly don't agree with Tim's views on those things at all," Mr Morrison said.

 

"He's a (Cronulla) Sharkies support, I agree with him on that, but not on QAnon."

 

https://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/7305426/pm-does-not-want-qanon-friend-cancelled/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 21, 2021, 1:02 a.m. No.13949269   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

>>13818968

Scott Morrison says he doesn’t back QAnon and refuses to ‘cancel’ supporter friend

 

PM downplays his friendship with Tim Stewart and calls Four Corners program ‘pretty ordinary’

 

Paul Karp - 21 Jun 2021

 

Scott Morrison has accused those questioning his relationship with Tim Stewart of wanting him to “cancel” the QAnon conspiracy theorist.

 

On Monday the prime minister played down his association with Stewart by saying he hadn’t seen him for some time and reiterated that he does not support the views of QAnon.

 

Guardian Australia first revealed in August 2019 that Stewart, a prominent proponent of the QAnon conspiracy, is a family friend of Morrison, and his wife was on the prime minister’s staff.

 

Last week the ABC’s Four Corners aired a program about the pair’s association, which included Stewart’s sister, Karen, questioning why “the prime minister would want to be seen to be with someone who has such radical beliefs”.

 

On Monday Morrison said he thought the program was “pretty ordinary”.

 

“I mean, we’ve all got friends and we’ve all got acquaintances and people we know who have views that we don’t share,” Morrison told 2GB Radio.

 

“But, you know, what do they expect us to do? Just to sort of cancel people just because they have views different to ourselves?

 

“I don’t support the views of QAnon. I barely even knew what it was until more recently over the last year or so.

 

“So, you know, look, if people are going to have a crack at you because of what people you know think, I think that’s really starting to, you know, [draw a] bit of a long bow.”

 

Asked if he was still close with Stewart, Morrison replied: “No, look, I haven’t seen Tim for some time.”

 

“[I’m] much closer to his wife, who you know, Jenny and I are longtime friends of her.

 

“I just think it’s sort of a bit ordinary to drag other people into, I mean, I’m the prime minister, hold me account for my views.

 

“For people who have known me or have been friends with me over the period of time, they’re entitled to their privacy regardless of if people don’t agree with their views.

 

“And I certainly don’t agree with Tim’s views on those things at all. I mean, he’s a Sharkies supporter. I agree with him on that, but not on QAnon.”

 

The Four Corners program revealed that Stewart had posted photos on social media from Kirribilli House in January 2019, claiming that he was housesitting the prime minister’s official residence in Sydney.

 

The program also questioned why Morrison had used the term “ritual sexual abuse” in his apology to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, revealing messages reportedly sent by Stewart referring to his attempts to get the words “ritual abuse” into the apology.

 

The QAnon conspiracy purports that powerful forces are hiding and protecting satanic paedophile rings and that a secretive individual named Q leaves clues for his followers to decipher on internet forums.

 

Last year Stewart’s QAnon Twitter account, BurnedSpy34, was permanently suspended for “engaging in coordinated harmful activity”.

 

Stewart said in 2019 he had not attempted to influence Morrison nor had he had conversations with him about any QAnon content.

 

“I have never spoken to Scott about anything of a political nature,” he said at the time. “I’m not an adviser. The idea of me talking to him about this … it’s just not true.”

 

In the lead-up to the Four Corners program, Morrison said it was “deeply offensive” and “poor form” of the ABC to investigate his relationship with Stewart.

 

“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation,” Morrison told reporters at a press conference.

 

“I clearly do not. It is also disappointing that Four Corners would seek to cast this aspersion not just against me but members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form.”

 

In the program, a spokesperson for Morrison said it was “a personally motivated slur against the prime minister and his family by a Four Corners program that is already facing serious questions about the accuracy, bias and credibility of its journalism, that is now giving credence to irrational Twitter conspiracy theorists and raising the profile of what the prime minister clearly deems a discredited and dangerous fringe group”.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/21/scott-morrison-says-he-doesnt-back-qanon-and-refuses-to-cancel-supporter-friend

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 21, 2021, 1:09 a.m. No.13949295   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9856 >>9875

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial resumes after war veteran tests negative for COVID

 

Jamie McKinnell - 21 June 2021

 

Ben Roberts-Smith has tested negative for COVID-19 after a visit to an exposure site in Sydney's CBD delayed his high-stakes defamation trial.

 

The 42-year-old was due to face a third day being cross-examined in the Federal Court, as the trial entered its third week.

 

But this morning, his barrister Arthur Moses SC told the court Mr Roberts-Smith had been instructed by NSW Health to get tested after visiting "a venue in the CBD" on Thursday.

 

After lunch, Mr Moses informed the court Mr Roberts-Smith had received a negative result and was told he no longer had to isolate.

 

The court will return for a late sitting from 3.30pm.

 

NSW Health has listed a city Fitness First gym as an exposure site on Thursday afternoon, saying anyone who attended between 3.10pm to 4.30pm was a "close contact" and must get tested, remaining isolated until further advice from the department.

 

The MLC Food Court at Martin Place, which is a short walk from the Federal Court building, was also a potential exposure site for casual contact on Thursday morning.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times and three journalists over stories published in 2018.

 

The series of articles included serious allegations against the ex-soldier, including involvement in unlawful killings and bullying of colleagues in Afghanistan, and that he committed an act of domestic violence against a woman in Canberra.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith denies all of the allegations, while Nine Entertainment Co, the publisher of two of the papers, is relying on a defence of truth.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith's second day of cross-examination on Friday included several tense exchanges with Nine's barrister, Nicholas Owens SC, who accused him of lying to the court.

 

The veteran had volunteered a correction to evidence about the position of the body of a suspected insurgent shot dead during a 2009 mission, insisting he made "a mistake" and wanted to be accurate.

 

But Mr Owens seized on the change, suggesting Mr Roberts-Smith must have realised a photo of the body would show his version was implausible and was having difficulty keeping his story straight.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith rejected the attack.

 

He also rejected an account of a September 2012 mission, in which he is alleged to have kicked an unarmed man named Ali Jan over a cliff and entered an agreement with Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) colleagues that he be executed.

 

Mr Owens put to Mr Roberts-Smith that he interrogated three men that day, assaulted Ali Jan, and left his body near a cornfield with a radio to cover it up.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith has insisted a man killed in that area was a Taliban "spotter" who was shot dead as his patrol made their way up a creek bed.

 

The trial, before Justice Anthony Besanko, is expected to run for up to 10 weeks.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-21/ben-roberts-smith-defamation-trial-paused-due-to-covid-exposure/100230044

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 21, 2021, 1:21 a.m. No.13949332   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

>>13907688

PM in cyber defence push with Britain’s MI6

 

GEOFF CHAMBERS - JUNE 20, 2021

 

Scott Morrison has warned that cyber attacks are a constant threat and that Australians must understand cyber security is as “important as the locks on the front door”, after meeting with British intelligence chiefs in London last week.

 

Amid the rising global threat landscape – fanned by technological advances and nations including Russia and China ramping-up cyber operations – the Prime Minister met with MI6 officials to better understand co-operation between Australian and British security agencies.

 

“Australia has a highly developed capability that is greatly respected by our partners and these meetings are an opportunity to ensure that’s as connected up as possible,” Mr Morrison told The Australian.

 

“We look to but don’t leave it to anyone. We ensure that we have our own capability, which adds value, and these meetings are an important opportunity for me to talk to the people who are doing this between our countries and just being clear in my own mind that we’re doing what we need to do, that we’re making our contribution, that it’s effective and that if there’s anything more that I need to know to make that more effective then I can get that first-hand.”

 

A year since publicly revealing Australian governments, companies, political groups, essential services providers and infrastructure operators were being targeted by a “sophisticated state-based cyber actor”, Mr Morrison said the threat remained “constant”.

 

At the G7 and NATO summits last week, US President Joe Biden put cyber at the top of the global security agenda, after attacks on US companies, government agencies and critical infrastructure.

 

Australian hospital operators, parliaments, logistical firms and other businesses have been hit by cyber attacks in the past year.

 

Mr Morrison said it was important to remember it was “not always state actors that are doing this, criminals are doing it”.

 

“Criminals, gangs and organised crime are very sophisticated and so are terrorists. There are many reasons why people would do this, not all of them involve state actors,” he said.

 

“We’ve highlighted this as part of a workforce and skills strategy as well. People in companies, people working in the IT sectors of hospitals and any sort of public activity and particularly corporations who want to ensure that they can keep hold of their IP and all of these sorts of things.

 

“Cyber security is as important as the locks on the front door. In fact, probably more.”

 

The G7 communique, released following the three-day summit in Cornwall, called on all states to urgently identify and disrupt ransomware criminal networks operating within their borders.

 

Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who has responsibility for the Australian Signals Directorate and Australian Cyber Security Centre, said recent ransomware strikes illustrated the threat level internationally and domestically.

 

“Cybercriminals and ransomware gangs are on notice. Australia’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies are working alongside our international partners to tackle the scourge of ransomware,” Mr Dutton said.

 

The ACSC last week released a guide to help businesses combat ransomware as national security agencies continued to issue warnings that the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the threat level for Australians online.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/pm-in-cyber-defence-push-with-britains-mi6/news-story/456fc2707d42f372b08d7b49c25db000

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 21, 2021, 1:53 a.m. No.13949411   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9849

Police to consider brief on Brittany Higgins case

 

Samantha Maiden - JUNE 21, 2021

 

Prosecutors have received the police brief of evidence over the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins and will now consider whether or not to lay charges.

 

News.com.au has confirmed today that police handed over the brief of evidence in recent days to the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold.

 

“I confirm I have today received a partial brief of evidence, and a request to provide advice for consideration of prosecution,” Mr Drumgold said.

 

News.com.au broke the story on February 15 that a Liberal staffer alleged she was raped at Parliament House in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ ministerial office by a colleague.

 

In explosive allegations detailing the Morrison Government’s handling of the incident, media adviser Brittany Higgins told news.com.au that she spent the last two years “internalising the trauma”.

 

She revealed that she was brought to a formal employment meeting about the incident in the room where the alleged incident occurred — a decision the Morrison Government has now accepted was an error by the then Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds.

 

Last month, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw revealed that a brief of evidence would be sent to the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions over the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins within “weeks”.

 

The bombshell announcement in Senate estimates confirms that prosecutors will now shortly consider whether or not criminal charges will be laid against a man who Ms Higgins alleges sexually assaulted her at Parliament House in March 2019.

 

“A brief of evidence is likely to be submitted to the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions in coming weeks,” Commissioner Kershaw said.

 

But Commissioner Kershaw cautioned MPs over asking him questions over the allegations now that it would potentially go to “jury trial” if the matter is prosecuted in the courts.

 

Ms Higgins was just 24 at the time of the alleged incident and only months into her “dream job” of working at parliament.

 

The alleged incident occurred in the early hours of March 23, 2019, just weeks before Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the election on April 10, 2019.

 

Commissioner Kershaw has also revealed the fallout from the Higgins matter had now sparked multiple reports of unrelated sexual misconduct allegations at Parliament House involving federal MPs and their staff.

 

“As at 17 May 2021, 40 reports have been received by the AFP since 24 February relating to 19 different allegations. Twelve reports were identified as sensitive investigations, 10 were referred to state and territory police for assessment, one is with the AFP for ongoing inquiries and one has been finalised,’’ he said.

 

“Seven matters do not relate to electorate officers, ministerial staff or official establishments, of those five have been referred to state and territory police and two concluded with no criminal offence identified.”

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/act-director-of-public-prosecutions-to-consider-police-brief-on-brittany-higgins-case/news-story/9b4a9b0cbfa11c07966ec4c9ee0e84ef

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 21, 2021, 2:04 a.m. No.13949437   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9849

Resignations in the news

 

Sony Music Australia CEO and chairman Denis Handlin departs company abruptly

 

news.com.au - JUNE 21, 2021

 

After more than 50 years, the CEO and chairman of Sony Music Australia, Denis Handlin, has abruptly left the company.

 

His shock departure was announced to staff in an email sent out on Monday, with reference to the company going in a “new direction”.

 

Sony Australia is currently making headlines over an investigation into workplace culture after a staff member from its Sydney office made a complaint, with allegations of bullying and harassment, reported The Sun-Herald.

 

An Australian-based external counsel has been appointed to investigate the claims.

 

There is no suggestion that Mr Handlin’s departure relates to the allegations being investigated.

 

Mr Handlin began his career in the mail room at Sony Music and is the company’s longest-serving employee globally after joining the organisation in 1970. He became CEO of the Australian operations in 1984.

 

His departure, which is effective immediately, was announced by Sony Music’s global boss Rob Stringer in an internal email on Monday.

 

“It is time for a change in leadership and I will be making further announcements in terms of the new direction of our business in Australia and New Zealand in due course,” the note said.

 

He added: “My team and I will be speaking further to your team leaders about this process throughout the week, but at this point I wanted to let everyone know this news at the same time.”

 

Mr Handlin was thanked for his “extraordinary contribution” to the company in the email, where he has held the position of chairman since 1996.

 

During his time, he led the company into new areas such as video games, music publishing, DVDs, CD manufacturing, and television and content creation.

 

“Denis is renowned for his highly competitive spirit and his championing of local talent. Under his leadership, Australian artists such as Men at Work, Midnight Oil, Silverchair, John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite, Tina Arena, Delta Goodrem, Human Nature, Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy, The Veronicas, Justice Crew, David Campbell, Amy Shark, Tash Sultana, Gang of Youths and Ruel have achieved international recognition and success,” according to his company bio.

 

In 2005, Mr Handlin was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of “service to the music industry, particularly through the promotion of Australian musicians, to professional organisations, and to the community through fundraising for charitable organisations”.

 

An influential figure in the Australian music industry, with a number of awards to his name, he has been married to his wife Jan since 1977 and they have six children together.

 

Mr Handlin has been a member of the board at the Australian Recording Industry Association since 1984 and chairman of the ARIA Board since 2010.

 

He is also a founding member of the Sony Foundation of Australia, which has raised over $31 million since 1998 for youth-based charitable causes.

 

Mr Handlin’s replacement has not yet been announced.

 

https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/sony-music-australia-ceo-and-chairman-denis-handlin-departs-company-abruptly/news-story/b77efe3c432e67fd048b842e9b5ba3c5

Anonymous ID: 048fe0 June 21, 2021, 3 a.m. No.13949535   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Anon Politely request that you watch and share

if something should go viral.

the could be that which wakes the sleepers

 

Thank you & God bless you and yours

 

o7

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 21, 2021, 3:44 p.m. No.13953154   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Summer Solstice Turning Point As Military-Industrial Complex Takes On Medical Industrial Complex

 

Benjamin Fulford 6/21/2021 Part 1

 

A fundamental sea change has taken place at the highest levels of world power on or around June 21st, 2021. The world’s military and intelligence agencies have decided to treat the ongoing fake pandemic medical emergency as an act of war and react accordingly. To quote from MI6:

 

“We know the whole Covid thing is a scam, a lie, a money-making con.Civilians who conducted an undeclared act of war have been now been well and truly found out. That allows us with military legal to actually deal with these people.”

 

Mossad sources for their part report:

 

“There is a clean-up operation taking place of the Octagon group in Switzerland. Since Yossi Cohen the Head of the Mossad stepped down as of June 1, Octagon has no more protection from the Mossad. David Barnea the new Mossad Chief, has been ordered to stand down.”

 

As a part of this, a death warrant has been issued for David Rockefeller Jr. He is pictured below with his slaves Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko and Akie Abe the wife of former Japanese slave prime minister Shinzo Abe (we are not sure who the woman at the far left of the picture is).

 

It is well-documented history that the Rockefeller family took over Western medicine by setting up and financing medical associations. These suppressed traditional natural-based medicine in favor of petroleum and chemical-based medicine. Since Western medicine has long been structured as a military organization headed by “surgeon generals,” it was easy to co-opt this system by taking control of its command structure. This is the WHO, the various medical associations, and assorted “surgeon generals.” Any doctor who dissents from this command structure will have their medical “license,” removed and lose their access to a lucrative salary.

 

Since Rockefeller Jr. is ultimately responsible for the “pandemic” and the resultant campaign to vaccinate all humans with toxins this makes him one of the worst mass murderers in human history.

 

Rockefeller has been fingered by former Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu (who is now in protective custody) as the most senior member of the genocidal Octagon group. For this reason, a warning is being sent to the Swiss, to either hand him over for questioning or face the complete destruction of Octagon group headquarters near Lake Geneva.

 

Rockefeller Jr. inherited not only control of the medical associations from David Rockefeller Sr., but also control of much of the so-called G7 power structure including most of the Fortune 500 corporations. This is what they refer to as the “[Rockefeller] rules-based world order.”

 

The ongoing attempt by these corporation-owning families to turn Planet Earth into a giant animal farm is what the world’s military organizations have decided to fight against. The chart linked below illustrates the effects of fascism, i.e. when corporations take over government.

https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/wage%20share%20US.jpg?itok=KX8Kb1_h

 

Basically it turns the power structure into a giant vacuum cleaner that sucks the wealth from ordinary people and other living creatures into a giant black hole of oligarchy.

 

We also have received reports from P3 freemasons, MI6, and Russia’s FSB about the summit meeting in Geneva last week between Rockefeller U.S. presidential avatar Joe Biden and Russian presidential spokesman Vladimir Putin. At the summit “Joe Biden” proposed a new cold war against China, the sources agree. To sweeten the deal they stopped blocking Russia’s Nordstream II pipeline and offered many other incentives and bribes. One was a promise to end the hysterical anti-Russian propaganda campaign being waged by their mainstream media outlets. To underline this they allowed Putin a long un-censored interview on U.S. corporate TV.

 

Let us quote from that interview to see what the official Russian view is:

 

“In the last two years, where the U.S.-Russia relationship was sacrificed for the sake of fierce political strife inside the U.S.…We have been accused of all kinds of things: election interference, cyber-attacks and so on and so forth. And not once, not one time did they bother to produce any kind of evidence or proof. Just unfounded accusations.”

 

Putin also noted:

 

“The U.S. is a high-tech country. NATO has declared cyberspace an area of combat. That means they are planning something. They are preparing something.”

 

Here is some recent evidence to back his claims:

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/17/tech/airlines-website-outage/index.html

 

https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-puerto-rico-power-outages-business-9894e9679ef144acb08973e199b8b73a

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 21, 2021, 3:49 p.m. No.13953177   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Summer Solstice Turning Point As Military-Industrial Complex Takes On Medical Industrial Complex

 

Benjamin Fulford 6/21/2021 Part 2

 

Putin also made clear Russia was not interested in joining a G7 cold war against China saying things like:

 

“Over the last few decades, we have developed a strategic partnership relationship between Russia and China that previously had not been achieved in the history of our nations, a high level of trust and cooperation in all areas: in politics, in the economy, in the area of technology, in the area of military and technical cooperation. We do not believe that China is a threat to us…It has not declared us an enemy, as the United States has done.” http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/65861

 

So much for the official view.

 

Off the record, our various intelligence sources had different versions of what really went on. The P3 Freemasons and MI6 both said an agreement had been reached to establish a World Federation to replace or enhance the existing international governance infrastructure.

 

However, a Russian FSB source said the secret war for the planet was still raging. Their intelligence from Geneva is that the Octagon group plans are as follows:

 

“They will cancel cash in about two to five years. Also, all rich people will lose everything they have.Small businesses will be bought up by large semi-governmental corporations. Big business and government will merge. But actually, there will be no government, the people will become slaves.”

 

The FSB proposed a stealth strategy to put an end to these horrific plans. However, since we do not want to give the enemy a heads up what the counter-strategy is, we are unable to tell our readers about it at this time. Nonetheless, clearly a part of it means striking at the head of the octopus instead of fighting with its various arms.

 

Let us look now at how the war against the various arms of the Octagon is raging. The first thing to note is that “In Europe, as of June 5, 13,867 people have died and 1,354,336 injured following a COVID-19 ‘vaccine.’”

 

https://m.thebl.com/world-news/13867-dead-and-1354336-injuries-in-european-database-of-adverse-drug-reactions-for-covid-19-shots.html

 

MI6 says most of the vaccine deaths will happen three to five years from now as the prions they contain do their damage.

 

In any case, there is now a rash of disclosure about how the entire justification for this vaccination campaign was criminal. Here is an example:

 

“Former CDC head Robert Redfield said of the World Health Organization (WHO), which ‘investigated’ the origins of the pandemic in what was nothing more than political theatre conducted by a highly conflicted group – one of whom, Peter Deszak of NGO EcoHealth Alliance, worked with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and was funded to the tune of millions of dollars by Anthony Fauci’s NIH.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/who-highly-compromised-unfit-lead-covid-19-investigation-according-former-cdc-director

 

Sauce: benjaminfulford.net

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 1:37 a.m. No.13955774   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9893

CNN New Day

 

'It's no fun': One of QAnon's first targets speaks out

 

21 June 2021

 

Former Counselor to President Obama John Podesta describes being targeted by QAnon in the group's early years.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/06/21/john-podesta-qanon-target-newday-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/top-news-videos/

 

>https://qanon.pub/?q=podesta

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 1:48 a.m. No.13955828   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

China-led ‘ambush’ on health of the Great Barrier Reef

 

BEN PACKHAM - JUNE 21, 2021

 

Australia has been blindsided by a push by a China-chaired UN committee to declare the Great Barrier Reef “in danger” without proper consultation or scientific process.

 

Australian government officials learned of the draft World Heritage Committee decision on Friday, despite an assurance just weeks ago from the Paris-based World Heritage Centre that the reef’s health status would not be downgraded.

 

The decision, which was due to be made public by UNESCO overnight, will be presented for ratification at the 44th meeting of the World Heritage Committee in China from July 16.

 

The draft decision said the committee noted with “utmost concern” that “despite positive achievements”, progress in protecting the reef had been in­sufficient in meeting key targets, particularly in relation to water quality.

 

Australia has expressed its “grave concerns” at the proposed “in danger” listing, which was not backed up by any on-the-ground scientific assessment.

 

Any downgrading of the reef’s status would threaten the 64,000 jobs and $6.4bn in tourism revenue linked to the natural wonder in a normal year.

 

Australia is a member of the 21-nation World Heritage Committee, but the body – under the chairmanship of China’s Vice-Minister for Education Tian Xuejun – is considered likely to accept the recommendation.

 

China also holds the position of UNESCO deputy director-general, the presidency of ­UNESCO’s International Union for Conservation for Nature, and is head of Asia at the World ­Heritage Centre – all three of which contributed to the World Heritage Committee’s draft ­decision.

 

The proposed listing comes despite Beijing’s destruction of reefs in the South China Sea to create artificial islands for military purposes.

 

Environmental law groups in Australia and the US have pushed for the Great Barrier Reef to be placed on the “in danger” list, arguing the Morrison government’s climate change policies mean the nation is failing to live up to its responsibilities to the site under the World Heritage Convention. However, the latest push to put the reef on the critical list has bypassed normal World Heritage Committee processes.

 

In 2014, a similar “in danger” listing proposal was foreshadowed rather than proposed for an immediate decision. That allowed Australia time to develop the Reef 2050 Plan jointly with Queensland, with federal, state and private sector support.

 

The World Heritage Committee has not visited the reef since 2012, and there has been no mention of an “in danger” listing since 2015.

 

Australia has told the committee that while climate change is a clear threat to the reef, the government is doing more to ­improve its long-term health than ever before.

 

UNESCO is struggling to deal appropriately with the global effects of climate change on World Heritage-listed locations and has focused primarily on the Great Barrier Reef ahead of 82 other sites – including reefs, rainforests and glaciers – assessed as being at high or very high threat from climate change.

 

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s 2019 Outlook Report acknowledged that climate change was the greatest pressure facing the reef – as it is a pressure facing coral reefs worldwide. It found the “outstanding universal value” of the reef was under pressure but intact.

 

A Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority spokesman said the federal and Queensland governments were investing $3bn to protect the World Heritage site.

 

“Australia is widely acknowledged as an international leader in reef management,” the spokes­man said. “In recent years, Australia has doubled the size of its field management program on the reef, is pioneering a world-leading climate adaptation and reef resilience program, and is working in partnership with the science community, industry, government agencies and traditional owners.”

 

Australia is also working with its partners to try to counter Chinese domination of UN committees and standard-setting bodies, which accelerated during the presidency of Donald Trump.

 

Scott Morrison told the UN General Assembly last year the institutions needed work to ensure they were effective.

 

“We are committed to ensuring they are fit for purpose, that they’re effective, that they are open and transparent,” he said.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/chinaled-ambush-on-health-of-the-great-barrier-reef/news-story/b99813fe30fbc1919325058327980ce6

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 1:54 a.m. No.13955847   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5854 >>9870

Revolt over China’s grip on Port of Newcastle

 

GEOFF CHAMBERS and JOE KELLY - JUNE 20, 2021

 

1/2

 

Fifteen Coalition MPs are demanding Josh Frydenberg impose tougher controls on the half-Chinese owned Port of Newcastle because they fear its monopoly powers could be exploited to impose “punitive costs” to hurt Australian coal exporters.

 

In a letter to the Treasurer and Scott Morrison, the MPs call for new arbitration measures for the Port of Newcastle, arguing the current regulatory regime gives the “Communist Party of China a geopolitical advantage over the export of Australian coal’’.

 

The Australian can reveal the letter, sent by Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz to the ­Treasurer and Prime Minister last week, outlines fears the port — half-owned by China Merchants Port Holdings — could lift access charges for Australian coal exporters and they would not have a legal mechanism to challenge it.

 

The letter, sent by Senator Abetz, followed a Senate estimates hearing this month at which Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims said the world’s largest export coal port was a “monopoly” with no regulatory oversight.

 

The MPs are calling on Mr Frydenberg to declare the port a monopoly under the National Access Regime — set out in the Competition and Consumer Act – which would ensure that, if a user cannot agree on terms to ­access the port, the competition watchdog could resolve the dispute through arbitration.

 

The MPs are arguing for an arbitration mechanism to be put in place between the port and NSW coal producers “similar to the ACCC arbitration mechanism for other monopoly assets”.

 

“As you are aware, the Port of Newcastle is a major strategic asset for Australia. It accounts for around 40 per cent of Australia’s coal exports and is the largest coal export port in the world,” the letter says.

 

“The port also operates as a monopoly, making it incredibly vulnerable to foreign interference. Most coal producers in NSW have no alternative but to use the Port of Newcastle. It is also half-owned by China Merchants Port Holdings, which is a state-owned corporation under the direction of the Communist Party of China.

 

“It seems incredulous that a half-Chinese-owned company that controls a monopoly bottleneck in the coal export chain can increase charges at their ­discretion, forcing up prices for Australian coal overseas and making our second-largest export commodity less ­competitive.” The letter was co-signed by Liberal and Nationals MPs Barnaby Joyce, Matt Canavan, Bridget McKenzie, James McGrath, Sarah Henderson, Alex Antic, Kevin Andrews, Paul Scarr, Phillip Thompson, Llew O’Brien, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, ­George Christensen, Gerard Rennick and Susan McDonald.

 

The Australian has been told more Coalition MPs were expected to sign-up this week.

 

A spokesman for Mr Frydenberg said the independent ­National Competition Council had considered on multiple occasions whether the Port of Newcastle should be declared under the National Access Regime and each time had recommended against it.

 

“The government’s decisions have been consistent with this ­independent expert advice,” the spokesman said. “Following the NCC’s most recent decision, the Treasurer agreed not to declare the Port of Newcastle.” The Port of Newcastle has welcomed Mr Frydenberg’s decision, as well as a subsequent review of the timeliness of decisions made under the National Access Regime.

 

Executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Peter Jennings told The Australian it was clear that “any Chinese company can be subject to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to meet the party’s political objectives”.

 

“This is also underlined by China’s national security law, which requires all companies and individuals to assist the Chinese intelligence community if asked to do so. The risk for Australia is that any piece of critical infrastructure which has an element of Chinese ownership is potentially at risk from this type of political ­behaviour. That is true of the Port of Newcastle, but also for a great deal of the electricity grid and gas infrastructure.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 1:56 a.m. No.13955854   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13955847

 

2/2

 

In their letter, the MPs said they do not want any changes in arbitration determinations to be retrospective, but have sounded the alarm on changes to the ­National Access Regime included in the May budget.

 

They say the most recent changes, aimed at improving the timeliness of decisions under the regime, “appears to exacerbate the situation, by retrospectively eliminating previous arbitration determinations relating to the Port of Newcastle”.

 

“We note that the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Office of Best Practice Regulation describes this proposal as ‘not consistent with good practice’.”

 

Senator Abetz told The Australian “what we need is a resolution mechanism in place in the event of a substantial dispute”.

 

“Trying to create the mechanism after a dispute has already happened gives the whip hand to the monopoly supplier, in this case the Port of Newcastle, which could potentially prejudice 40 per cent of our coal exports.”

 

The letter expresses grave concerns over China Merchants Port Holdings’ engagement with Beijing’s contentious Belt and Road Initiative.

 

“We also draw your attention to the fact that China Merchants Port Holdings openly states that its ambition is to implement a ‘Port-Park-City’ development model at the Port of Newcastle, under the Communist Party’s Belt and Road Initiative,” the letter states.

 

“The company’s parent, China Merchants, also boasts that it is guided by ‘Xi Jinping thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New era’.”

 

Earlier this month, The Australian revealed coalminers were ramping-up their campaign against the port over pricing wars headlined by a longstanding stoush involving Glencore after Mr Sims described as “non-existent” the current regulatory oversight of the port. A Port of Newcastle spokesman told The Australian the government had been “coming up with a commonsense way to bring this impasse to an end”.

 

“Essentially, this comes down to a commercial dispute between a 100 per cent foreign-owned miner and a 50 per cent locally and foreign-owned port that is holding back the diversification and future of the Hunter and northern NSW,” he said.

 

NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee has previously described as “concerning” the confusion within the ­government about “the ACCC’s role in relation to the Port of ­Newcastle”.

 

“The Port of Newcastle is a monopoly, yet current government policy allows it to operate without any ACCC oversight or role. This is extremely concerning for us as major users of the port without any alternative provider,” he said earlier this month.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/revolt-over-chinas-grip-on-port-of-newcastle/news-story/e8f30873efd3ee4ed83f18f2a84d2f77

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37wBbiTDegg

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 2:08 a.m. No.13955899   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

9 News Facebook Post

 

Australia's show of force in the south china sea

 

20 June 2021

 

Australian navy ships are preparing to send a message to Beijing by sailing through the South China Sea.

 

This comes in the wake of the Prime Minister's stand against the rising superpower at the G7 summit. #9News

 

https://www.facebook.com/9News/videos/australias-show-of-force-in-the-south-china-sea/1157411731334319/

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 2:29 a.m. No.13955954   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9882

Women plead guilty to planning female genital mutilation of two-week-old baby girl in Perth

 

David Weber - 22 June 2021

 

Two women have pleaded guilty to charges related to their attempt to have a baby girl circumcised in Perth.

 

The women, aged 23 and 50 at the time, faced court in March after being charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

 

They have pleaded guilty to conspiring in Canning Vale to commit unlawful genital mutilation.

 

The baby girl was two weeks old at the time of the offences in January.

 

Police had said they were alerted after the women approached a doctor and asked them to conduct a female circumcision on the baby.

 

The doctor refused and the procedure did not happen.

 

The women entered their guilty pleas when they appeared in Armadale Magistrates Court this morning and will be sentenced in the District Court in Perth in August.

 

The pair did not speak to the media outside the court.

 

When the women were charged in March, WA Police said "practices which may be acceptable by some cultures and in some countries may constitute criminal offences in Western Australia".

 

Procedures that remove part or all of the external female genitalia or cause injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons are illegal across Australia.

 

It is believed around 53,000 women live with female genital mutilation across the country.

 

Clinical practice guidelines from WA's Women and Newborn Health Service explain that the procedure is usually carried out between the ages of 4 and 10 years old, but may be conducted "just before marriage, during pregnancy or post-birth".

 

"The motivation for communities to practice [female genital mutilation] varies wildly but includes psychosexual and sociological reasons, hygiene and aesthetic reasons and myths," it reads.

 

"It is a practice that is deeply entrenched in cultural heritage and traditions."

 

Australia's first prosecution for female genital mutilation was recorded in November 2015.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-22/women-plead-guilty-to-planning-baby-female-genital-mutilation-wa/100234498

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 2:36 a.m. No.13955973   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5977 >>9856

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith denies murdering Afghan prisoner and watching execution of elderly man, court hears

 

Decorated Australian soldier admits to shooting man who had prosthetic leg, but tells defamation hearing the man was an armed, legitimate target

 

Ben Doherty - 21 Jun 2021

 

1/2

 

Ben Roberts-Smith has been accused in court of dragging an unarmed prisoner outside a compound wall during a raid in Afghanistan before killing him with a burst of machine gun fire, as well as standing by while a subordinate soldier executed an elderly man.

 

In a fierce, and at times heated, cross-examination, the former SAS corporal consistently rejected a version of events – incompatible with his own earlier testimony before the court – put to him about a raid on a compound called Whiskey 108, in the village of Kakarak, on Easter Sunday in 2009.

 

Nicholas Owens SC, acting for the newspapers Roberts-Smith is suing for defamation over allegations he committed war crimes, put it to Roberts-Smith that, during the raid on Whiskey 108, a tunnel was discovered inside the compound.

 

After soldiers called into the tunnel, two unarmed men surrendered and were taken into custody under the control of the Australian soldiers.

 

Owens told the court Roberts-Smith was present when Roberts-Smith’s patrol commander – anonymised in court documents as Person 5 – ordered a subordinate SAS soldier – Person 4 – to “shoot the old man”. Roberts-Smith did not object to the illegal order.

 

Together, Person 4 and Roberts-Smith walked over to another Australian soldier – Person 41 – and asked to borrow his suppressor, used to muffle the sound of a weapon. Person 41 handed it over, Owens said.

 

Owens said Person 4 and Roberts-Smith walked back to where the two prisoners were being held. Roberts-Smith allegedly pulled the older man into a kneeling position.

 

Person 4 shot the prisoner, Owens said.

 

Roberts-Smith consistently denied every element of Owens’s sequence of events.

 

“That is completely false … there were no men in the tunnel,” he said.

 

Owens alleged Roberts-Smith then picked up the remaining prisoner – the man with the prosthetic leg – and carried or “forcefully manhandled” the man outside the compound where he threw him to the ground.

 

“You then shot the man with the prosthetic leg with an extended burst of machine gun fire until you had a stoppage,” Owens put to Roberts-Smith.

 

“That is totally false,” Roberts-Smith said.

 

Over repeated objections from Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Arthur Moses SC, Owens put it to Roberts-Smith he returned to the inside of the compound where he approached Person 41 – the soldier who had lent his suppressor – and said: “are we cool?”

 

Roberts-Smith said it never happened: “no, that’s a lie.”

 

Person 5 raised with Roberts-Smith the potential issue of the killings being recorded on ISR – the ‘intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance’ platform that monitors and supports soldiers’ missions.

 

Roberts-Smith said Owens’s allegation he responded “what do we do to stop this, is the ISR still filming?”, was “a ridiculous assertion”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 2:37 a.m. No.13955977   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13955973

 

2/2

 

Roberts-Smith has repeatedly told the court he shot the man with the prosthetic leg but the man was an insurgent he saw running, carrying a weapon, as he moved outside the compound.

 

He said after he shot the man – who was armed, a legitimate target, and could be killed under the laws of war – he dragged his body back closer to the compound wall to “clear” the body – check it for explosives or weapons – in a safer location before running back out to retrieve the man’s rifle.

 

Owens put it to Roberts-Smith his version of events was “inherently implausible” and his answers to questions “completely disingenuous”.

 

“This is another example of you not being able to keep your story straight, isn’t it?,” Owens said.

 

“It was over a decade ago in battle,” Roberts-Smith replied, “and I’m trying to give you my best recollection”.

 

The man with the prosthetic leg killed at Whiskey 108 has become a central allegation against Roberts-Smith, and the events during that raid will be the focus of further evidence and testimony.

 

A number of soldiers reportedly present have been listed as witnesses in this trial, and are likely to give evidence on either side of this case. Person 4 and Person 41, the soldier who allegedly shot the older prisoner, and the soldier who lent him his suppresser, are listed to give evidence for the newspapers.

 

Person 5 is slated to give evidence for Roberts-Smith.

 

The leg from the slain man was removed as a souvenir by another soldier, who took it back to the Australian base at Tarin Kowt where it was used as a drinking vessel at the unauthorised soldiers’ bar the Fat Ladies’ Arms.

 

Roberts-Smith said he never drank from the leg, though conceded in court he “contributed to and encouraged a culture where it was acceptable to drink from the leg”. He has been photographed alongside soldiers drinking from the leg.

 

Roberts-Smith also told the court he had two commemorative beer drinking mugs, shaped like a prosthetic leg, and engraved with the SAS 2 squadron’s emblem.

 

Roberts-Smith will continue to be cross-examined, likely in closed court, on Tuesday.

 

Roberts-Smith, one of the most decorated soldiers in Australian military history, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of ­reports published in 2018. He alleges the reports are defamatory because they portray him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and committed war crimes, including six allegations of murder.

 

The 42-year-old has consistently denied the allegations, saying they are “false”, “baseless” and “completely without any foundation in truth”. The newspapers are defending their reporting as true.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/21/ben-roberts-smith-denies-murdering-afghan-prisoner-and-watching-execution-of-elderly-man-court-hears

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 3:01 a.m. No.13956029   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6033 >>9844

‘The game is back on’: How does spying work in Australia?

 

Our spy agencies recruit a mix of talent, from computer whizzes to people skilled in cultivating sources. What do our spies do, and who are their bosses?

 

Anthony Galloway - JUNE 21, 2021

 

1/5

 

Theresa May was less than two months into the British prime ministership when she met her Australian counterpart in September 2016, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China. The encounter with her old friend from Oxford, Malcolm Turnbull, in the city of Hangzhou, would lead to one of the biggest shake-ups of Australia’s security and intelligence agencies in history. While Brexit dominated the discussion, Turnbull wanted to raise another matter with May: whether to create a “super department” modelled on the United Kingdom’s Home Office.

 

While the idea had been floated before, including by Scott Morrison when he was immigration minister after the 2013 election, there was a growing push within senior ranks of the government to make Immigration, Border Force, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) work together more closely under one portfolio. Under the plan, Australia’s domestic security agencies would maintain their statutory independence but answer to one minister.

 

With Australia facing escalating threats of foreign interference, cyber attacks and serious and organised crime, along with the persistent threats of terrorism and violent extremism, it was thought a more unified policy approach was needed. There was also growing anxiety about Chinese corporations owning and controlling critical infrastructure, such as Australia’s 5G network, which Australian intelligence agencies feared could have given Beijing the ability to shut down networks such as electricity grids.

 

So, who do our intelligence operatives now work for? And what makes a good spy today?

 

How is a security mega-portfolio created?

 

In Hangzhou, May, who had just served as home secretary for six years, told Turnbull that reorganising domestic security under one umbrella was an idea worth pursuing. May made officials from the Home Office available to Turnbull’s department to talk them through how the British mega-portfolio operated.

 

In early 2017, Martin Parkinson, who was at the time secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, gave Turnbull a concept paper setting out how a proposed Department of Home Affairs should operate. Work on the super portfolio had been tightly guarded within Turnbull’s own department, but Parkinson said it was time to start consulting other agencies.

 

The immigration minister at the time, Peter Dutton, was naturally supportive of the idea – he would likely be in charge of the new portfolio. Other cabinet ministers, particularly attorney-general George Brandis, told Turnbull he was apprehensive about giving Dutton more power.

 

It was soon decided that the person to be given the mammoth task of putting it all together should be Michael Pezzullo, the then secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, who had been pitching the concept of a home affairs department for more than a decade. Pezzullo, a tough-minded former Defence bureaucrat known within senior ranks of the government for “getting things done”, would be appointed secretary of the new department.

 

There was another important decision to be made, and it would forever change the make-up of Australian spies. While the Turnbull government was putting the finishing touches on the structure of its super department, former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) secretary Michael L’Estrange and former senior intelligence officer Stephen Merchant were nearing completion of their review into Australia’s intelligence services.

 

The review recommended that the Office of National Assessments (ONA) be turned into the Office of National Intelligence (ONI), with an augmented ability to supervise the nation’s other spy agencies. The nation’s premier foreign cyber intelligence agency, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), would also become its own statutory agency, reporting directly to the defence minister, giving it more independence – and highlighting the escalating threat of cyber attacks by state-based actors and sophisticated cyber criminals.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 3:02 a.m. No.13956033   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6036

>>13956029

 

2/5

 

On July 18, 2017, Turnbull announced the creation of Home Affairs, giving Dutton control of the new department and revealing that the government was accepting all the recommendations in L’Estrange and Merchant’s report. Nick Warner, the then head of ONA, would lead the newly created ONI, essentially becoming Australia’s top spy.

 

Partly because of the personalities involved and partly because the two major changes were revealed on the same day, this announcement has led to a number of misconceptions. First, the creation of Home Affairs immediately sparked accusations that Turnbull was placating Dutton, his eventual challenger for the prime ministership. In fact, Turnbull’s own department, as well as Morrison and Pezzullo, had been urging him to explore the model for years.

 

Second, some insiders argue the creation of Home Affairs has undermined the rationale for the establishment of the ONI as the main co-ordinating agency for our spies. In truth, Home Affairs is no different to any other department – just a lot bigger. Its co-ordination role is centred on policy and action; in other words, working out how to best manage a risk or respond to a threat. Intelligence co-ordination – the role of the ONI – is primarily concerned with discovering things and making sense of them. Spies tell you what the problem is while senior bureaucrats and politicians work on the policy response. So if everyone stays in their lane, there is no contradiction between the two major changes.

 

Other gripes centre on the sheer size and power of Home Affairs. Some senior officers in the AFP were never happy with moving, along with ASIO, from the Attorney-General’s Department. Others say having the attorney-general as the person who signed off on warrants for the AFP and ASIO, while also being the minister responsible for their day-to-day operations, was never appropriate.

 

The ONI, like its predecessor the ONA, is Australia’s peak intelligence assessment agency. It draws on information collected by Australian agencies and other countries, as well as unclassified and “open source” material, to assess potential threats. The key difference between the ONA and the ONI is that the latter now plays a major co-ordination role for the entire Australian intelligence community. Whereas before, the ONA primarily assessed foreign intelligence, its successor deals with intelligence relating to foreign as well as domestic threats.

 

Former ONA head Allan Gyngell says the ONI is much better resourced and the 2017 overhaul recognises it is no longer possible to sustain a clear distinction between foreign and domestic intelligence. After all, international terrorists operate both within and outside Australia. Gyngell, national president of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, says the creation of the ONI helped fulfil the vision of Australian intelligence originally put in place by the Hope royal commissions in the 1970s and ’80s.

 

“It places the national intelligence assessment and analytical capability – clearly independent from the direction of policymakers – at the centre of the Australian intelligence community, elevates the position of the director-general within the public service and gives him or her the necessary resources to co-ordinate and evaluate the work of the other intelligence agencies,” Gyngell says.

 

The ONI was, until the end of 2020, headed by one of Australia’s most experienced diplomats and top spies in Warner, the former head of both the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) and the Department of Defence. With the creation of the ONI, Warner also became Australia’s first director-general of national intelligence. When Warner’s term as the ONI boss expired in December 2020, he was replaced by Morrison’s cabinet secretary Andrew Shearer, a former deputy director of the agency.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 3:04 a.m. No.13956036   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6039

>>13956033

 

3/5

 

What do modern spies do?

 

Australian spy agencies require a mix of different talents. The computer whiz who sits in an office in the ASD trying to detect the next cyber attack is a world away from the ASIO agent installing a listening device on the car of a potential terrorist or agent of foreign influence. Some operatives need considerable interpersonal skills – including charm – to cultivate sources and get the information they need, especially within espionage and counterespionage agencies such as ASIO and ASIS (see below). For spies engaged in signals intelligence at the ASD – the interception of electronic transmissions – these kinds of skills may be less important.

 

ASIO, the nation’s domestic spy agency, counters threats of terrorism, violent extremism, espionage and foreign interference. The agency is headed by Mike Burgess, one of a new breed of national security leader appointed by the Morrison government. Security chiefs would once have been drawn mostly from the ranks of DFAT or Defence but Burgess, who also holds the title of director-general for national security, has spent most of his career working in the cyber-security space – an area that poses an ever-increasing threat to Australia’s national security.

 

Sometimes spies themselves are not aware of where their jobs fit into the big picture. John Blaxland, one of the principal authors of a three-volume official history of ASIO, says the role of the agency and its spies has changed significantly since its inception in 1949. Blaxland, professor of international security and intelligence studies at the Australian National University, says one of the most gratifying experiences of writing the history was giving former ASIO operatives a broader understanding of what they’d been doing all those years.

 

“Insiders, by and large, operate according to the ‘need to know’ principle. So you get your own little, very narrow laneway of information and responsibility with very strict blinkers on what you are and are not allowed to see and delve into,” Blaxland says. “They were given certain responsibilities but the broader context was never given to them and in reading the books they were able to put their life experience into [that] broader context, and they said that was very rewarding, very satisfying, because they said it made things make more sense.”

 

Blaxland, who was given “unparalleled access” to the secret organisation when investigating its history, says the modus operandi of spies is drastically different today. Technology makes it almost impossible to hide identities, meaning traditional espionage and statecraft are a lot more difficult.

 

Cyber attacks, foreign interference and espionage are now front of mind for an agency such as ASIO. “Twenty years ago, espionage was arguably seen as a quaint little Cold War anachronism, a holdover from the Cold War,” Blaxland says. “But nowadays, there is a broader recognition that it’s actually pretty darn serious and the game is back on. If it was ever off, it’s certainly not off now – it’s well and truly life and death stuff.”

 

What is our equivalent of MI6?

 

The Australian Secret Intelligence Service, which sits within DFAT, is Australia’s principal overseas intelligence collection agency. Sometimes referred to within the government as “the other DFAT”, the agency’s mission statement is “to protect and promote Australia’s vital interests through the provision of unique foreign intelligence services as directed by the Australian government”.

 

ASIS agents are embedded in Australian embassies around the world to report intelligence to Canberra. Some are registered with the host nation and others are under deep cover. ASIS is one of the most secretive organisations – it was formed in 1952 but its existence remained hidden until 1972 – and the work of its agents rarely sees the light of day.

 

ASIS officers were involved in the bugging of Timor-Leste’s cabinet building to listen in to discussions about the nation’s claim to oil in the Timor Sea, the revealing of which has led to the prosecution of former senior ASIS intelligence officer Witness K and lawyer Bernard Collaery.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 3:05 a.m. No.13956039   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6043

>>13956036

 

4/5

 

Are there spies in the military?

 

The Department of Defence includes a number of military intelligence units with a mix of uniformed officers from the navy, air force and army, as well as civilian intelligence officers.

 

The Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) is the principal intelligence assessment agency for Defence. The Australian Geospatial Intelligence Organisation (AGO) is responsible for the collection of satellite and aerial imagery as well other geospatial intelligence. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) is responsible for cyber-security and the collection of foreign signals intelligence while it assists security agencies in preventing and disrupting offshore cyber-enabled crime – its mission statement is “Reveal Their Secrets – Protect Our Own”.

 

As insiders put it, the ASD is both a defensive and offensive agency: it protects against cyber attacks, but it also eavesdrops on electronic transmissions abroad and disrupts the activities of would-be hackers. ASIO and the AFP require a warrant to enlist the ASD for technical help to pinpoint servers on domestic soil. The ASD was subject to some controversy after reports that the government was considering a proposal to give the agency the power to track down online paedophiles, terrorists and other serious criminals within Australia. In June 2019, the AFP raided the house of then-senior News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst, now The Age’s state political editor, after she wrote an exposé of the proposal.

 

Who are the new kids on the block?

 

Now, cops are spies. The 2017 intelligence review recommended the expansion of the Australian intelligence community from six to 10 agencies. This resulted in the addition of the AFP, the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) into what is now known as the “national intelligence community”. The change in technology, crime and other threats have meant these organisations have steadily grown their intelligence functions.

 

Who watches the watchers?

 

Justice Robert Hope delivered two landmark royal commissions into Australia’s national security and intelligence services, in 1974–77 and 1984, that led to major changes, including the establishment of the ONA, greater accountability for ASIO, and the establishment of both a parliamentary watchdog and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS). IGIS has the enduring powers of a royal commission. Established in 1987,it can require the attendance of witnesses, take sworn evidence and enter the premises of intelligence agencies.

 

Other key oversight bodies – also referred to by their acronyms – are the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM), the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Security and Intelligence (PJCIS) and the security division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). Blaxland says the expansion of the national security community into 10 agencies means the two main oversight bodies – IGIS and INSLM – need to be better resourced.

 

Still, he says the oversight of spy agencies today is a “different world” from the past. The former Defence intelligence officer devoted his biggest criticisms of ASIO in the organisation’s official history to “the Protest Years”, from 1963 to 1975, when he says the agency spent too much of its time monitoring private citizens whose views and actions were better described as dissent rather than subversion. He says the IGIS’s powers are now a “sobering restraint on the abuse of power” and forces intelligence agencies to behave. “On any day, a member of [the IGIS] team can come into their office and demand to see the files they’re working on, the emails they’ve been sending and the correspondence they’ve been having.

 

“The critics of the Cold War days, particularly the ’60s and early ’70s, who haven’t kind of moved on, they tend to overlook the reforms that have been instigated since then and they see the world through the prism of 1968 and 1969 when ASIO was chasing the Communist Party of Australia and perhaps missing the wood for the trees. It is a long way from where it was in the dark old days – a very different beast.”

 

Meanwhile, the shake-up of 2017 has now settled and the changes are bedded down, mostly recently supported by a review of national security laws handed down by former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson last year. But as shown by a meeting in China five years ago, in the world of Australian spies, there are always new developments around the corner.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 3:06 a.m. No.13956043   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13956039

 

5/5

 

Know your acronym: a bluffer’s guide to our ‘national intelligence community’

 

• ACIC: The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission is the conduit for sharing criminal information and intelligence among state, territory and Commonwealth law enforcement agencies.

 

• ACSC: The nation’s cyber resilience agency, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, supports government agencies and businesses – it’s part of the ASD (see below).

 

• AFP: Australia’s Federal Police force, which has steadily grown its intelligence functions in recent years, works closely with ASIO when the intelligence agency has found evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

 

• AGO: It’s amazing what you can see from space these days, but how to make sense of it? The Australian Geospatial Intelligence Organisation collects and interprets satellite and aerial imagery and other location, or geospatial, data.

 

• ASD: “Reveal Their Secrets – Protect Our Own” is the motto of the Australian Signals Directorate, which handles cyber-security and the collection of foreign signals intelligence while helping other agencies tackle offshore cyber-enabled crime.

 

• ASIO: The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is the domestic spy agency, countering terrorism, violent extremism, espionage and foreign interference.

 

• ASIS: Australia’s answer to MI6, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service is the main overseas intelligence collection agency, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) – and it’s top secret.

 

• AUSTRAC: The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre combs through financial reports to collect intelligence that might expose serious and organised crime.

 

• Department of Home Affairs: This mega-department housing ASIO, the AFP, AUSTRAC, ACIC and Australian Border Force helps co-ordinate a policy approach to domestic security threats.

 

• DFAT: The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for Australia’s diplomatic network around the world. ASIS is part of DFAT.

 

• DIO: The Defence Intelligence Organisation is the principal intelligence assessment agency within the Department of Defence.

 

• IGIS: The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security keeps an eye on the spies, deploying the powers of a royal commission to ensure that intelligence agencies are behaving.

 

• ONA: The Office of National Assessments is the superseded version of the ONI.

 

• ONI: The Office of National Intelligence orchestrates all the agencies, as well as being the peak assessment body, dealing with intelligence relating to foreign as well as domestic threats.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-game-is-back-on-how-does-spying-work-in-australia-20210614-p580tm.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 11:44 p.m. No.13962479   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

>>13855451

U.S. Marines Tweet

 

Today, @MrfDarwin #Marines, Australian Defence Force @DeptDefence soldiers and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force @Japan_GSDF soldiers began Exercise Southern Jackaroo 2021 in Australia. This exercise increases the capacity to mutually support one another during combined operations.

 

https://twitter.com/USMC/status/1404929814205710341

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 22, 2021, 11:45 p.m. No.13962495   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

U.S. Department of Defense Tweet

 

Back together with the mates.

 

@MrfDarwin Marines arrive at Nhulunbuy, Australia to kick off exercise Darrandarra to increase interoperability with @DeptDefence and train/reinforce embassies to respond to crises & contingencies in the Indo-Pacific region.

 

https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/1406914877973803012

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 23, 2021, 4:56 a.m. No.13963394   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9882

Father jailed over ‘gross’ images showing his son, other minors being sexually violated

 

EMILY COSENZA - JUNE 22, 2021

 

A father who groomed what he thought was a young girl was later found with exploitation material involving his own two children, including grotesque images with his sleeping five-year-old son.

 

The predator, whose identity is suppressed, was sentenced in the Adelaide District Court on Monday after previously pleading guilty to all offences against him.

 

The man in his 30s, originally from interstate, was charged with three counts of making a child amenable to sexual activity, three counts of aggravated production of child exploitation material and maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child.

 

He was also charged with two counts each of possession and aggravated possession of child exploitation material.

 

According to sentencing remarks, the paedophile’s offending was discovered when he unknowingly began speaking with an undercover police officer who impersonated a 14-year-old girl on the Kik Messenger app on December 26, 2019.

 

During those conversations, he sent sexually explicit messages, a pornographic video of an adult male and female as well as a photo and video of a girl aged under 14 performing a sex act.

 

Police arrested him at his home in February 2020, seizing electronic devices and finding hundreds of images depicting child exploitation material, which included his son and daughter.

 

Of the 533 illegal images on his mobile phone, there were 10 of his five-year-old son dated October 13, 2019 that showed the man exposing himself near his child.

 

A further 10 photos from December 7-8 that year showed the man defiling the sleeping boy.

 

There were eight other disturbing photos involving the man and the boy.

 

Thirteen photos of the man’s naked eight-year-old daughter were also discovered, with one cropped so all that was visible was her body from her chin to mid shin.

 

Judge Kimber said the two children still had no knowledge of the images being taken.

 

A further 33 pictures depicting exploitation material of children under the age of 17 years were on his mobile as well as 500 indecent images that showed children under the age of 14 years.

 

Two laptops also were found to contain further images and videos of the illegal material.

 

The judge said the predator’s actions were “a gross breach” of his children’s trust.

 

While they were unaware of his actions now, they may learn of what their father did and be “adversely impacted”, he said.

 

“I am not prepared to sentence you on the basis your conduct will never have any impact upon them,” Judge Kimber said.

 

“I expect they will ask why you are no longer part of their lives, if they have not asked that question already.

 

“Even if they never learn of what you did, I expect that they will be adversely impacted by not being able to understand why they can have no relationship with their father.”

 

The court heard the paedophile reported being “guilt ridden” after his first four offences but claimed not to remember his offending against his children.

 

“I find that difficult to accept,” the judge said.

 

“You must have been aware of the offending afterwards, as you had the photographs and you kept them.”

 

He was handed down a head sentence of 10 years and four months imprisonment.

 

Because the judge found the man to be a serious repeat offender, he was ordered to serve a non-parole period of eight years and four months.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/father-jailed-over-gross-images-showing-his-son-other-minors-being-sexually-violated/news-story/6d63050ac4c46705c50e2c1b4ae48eb4

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 23, 2021, 4:58 a.m. No.13963401   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

China warning: Joyce calls on MPs to prepare for end of Pax Americana

 

David Crowe - June 22, 2021

 

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has issued a stark warning to government MPs about the risk to Australia from the waning power of the United States, calling for unity as China emerges as a new superpower.

 

Mr Joyce urged Liberal and Nationals MPs to unite behind the mission of making Australia “as strong as possible as quickly as possible” when it could not rely on the US to guarantee regional security.

 

The message resonated with government MPs who are increasingly concerned about the Chinese government’s construction of military bases in the South China Sea and provocations in the Taiwan Strait.

 

Liberals noted the remarks were made in Mr Joyce’s first speech to the Coalition party room after he regained the Nationals leadership on Monday and was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister on Tuesday.

 

“He said there’s a unifying cause, that it’s more important to the nation than anything else, that the times that we live in today are different to those that we were born into,” a Coalition spokesman said of the remarks.

 

“He said the world is changing … we’re moving from the Pax Americana to a new superpower that’s different and there are different ways of seeing the world.

 

“Our liberties and freedoms that we took as a birthright and never really thought about, in the future might be challenged like they never have before.”

 

Mr Joyce will join the government’s leadership team as Deputy Prime Minister as well as taking a seat on the national security committee of cabinet.

 

Those who heard Mr Joyce’s remarks said he did not name China but did not need to when he mentioned a new superpower.

 

“He said what is required of us is to make Australia as strong as possible as quickly as possible in order to protect our way of life,” said one Liberal.

 

“And he believes that is a comparative strength for the Coalition.”

 

Coalition MPs noted Mr Joyce did not talk to the meeting about policy differences on climate change or about the Nationals’ constituency among farmers and other regional groups.

 

“He was trying to be much bigger than that, focusing on the national interest,” said one MP.

 

Mr Joyce has expressed concern about China over many years, backing changes to foreign investment rules in 2016 to tighten the oversight of land sales to overseas buyers.

 

He declared last December that the biggest issue facing young Australians was they would live in a world where China was a superpower and not a liberal democracy.

 

The new Nationals leader’s close ally, former resources minister Matt Canavan, called last year for stronger federal action against Chinese trade sanctions on wine and barley, raising the possibility of a levy on iron ore exports to China.

 

“If our iron ore is going to be used to build ships and planes and they are used to threaten peaceful countries, that might not be something that should continue,” he said.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/china-warning-joyce-calls-on-mps-to-prepare-for-end-of-pax-americana-20210622-p583bo.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1624393642-1

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 23, 2021, 5:05 a.m. No.13963447   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3449 >>9870

>>13869222

The Chinese community group, the consulate and the Labor Premier

 

Marta Pascual Juanola, Eryk Bagshaw and Hamish Hastie - June 22, 2021

 

1/2

 

The WA government appointed two pro-Beijing community leaders to a new paid advisory council before Premier Mark McGowan escalated his criticism of the Morrison government’s handling of the China relationship.

 

The Labor Premier has become the most outspoken state critic of Australia’s China policy, drawing praise from Beijing and some Australian business leaders who fear their long-term exports are at risk from the collapse in diplomatic relations between the trading partners.

 

McGowan’s position has been bolstered through key WA community groups backed by influential Chinese businessmen and the Chinese consulate. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week seized upon the foreign policy split between Canberra and Perth.

 

McGowan sharpened his criticism of the federal government’s relationship with Beijing last Tuesday, saying Australia was acting “against its own interests” and the economic consequences of losing the trading relationship would be “absolutely catastrophic”.

 

China’s Foreign Ministry hailed the comments, stating the Australian government should “heed these constructive opinions”.

 

McGowan has been warning the federal government over provoking China as far back as May last year, even offering himself to help rebuild the relationship in December.

 

In February, his government appointed Dr Edward Zhang and Dr Ting Chen, as the only two Chinese community representatives, to his 15-member multicultural council, a policy advisory body where members can earn up to $385 per day.

 

Zhang, who didn’t reply to a request for comment, has condemned the federal government’s position on the disputed South China Sea. “We overseas Chinese are the first line of defence for our motherland,” he said in 2016.

 

He has also said he would censor any content frowned upon by Beijing in his Chinese-language newspaper, the Australian Chinese Times, including criticism of the government, separatist language and references to the Falun Gong and the Taiwanese independence movement.

 

Zhang is a founding member and honorary chairman of the WA branch of the Australian Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China, a group tied to United Front. The United Front operates overseas networks that mobilise support for the Chinese Communist Party.

 

Its Sydney president, billionaire political donor Huang Xiangmo, was banned from re-entering Australia in 2019 on advice from intelligence officers.

 

Chen, the second representative on the council, has been vice-president or president of WA’s largest and oldest Chinese association, Chung Wah, since 2017.

 

The association’s shift to a pro-Beijing organisation was ushered in by former president Richard Tan after years of internal hostilities sidelined second-generation Australian-Chinese members.

 

Tan said he built the organisation’s intimate relationship with the Chinese consulate and aided a leadership takeover by a bloc of mainlanders in murky circumstances in 2015 when Chen was secretary.

 

Tan said there was no official affiliation with United Front but many individuals had ties with groups in the network, including himself. Chen founded WA’s Fujian association - a United Front linked operation - with his colleague Ding Shaoping. Chen then succeeded Ding as the president of Chung Wah.

 

“The links with the United Front is something so obvious, or it has been so obvious in the past,” said Tan. “It’s just that Australian politicians knowingly ignored it, or pretend they don’t know.”

 

In 2016 Chung Wah signed a statement defending China’s actions in the South China Sea where it has made territorial claims disputed at the United Nations. “The Chinese nation has been a nation that values peace since ancient times, but if anyone plots wrongdoing, we will fully support the motherland in a just struggle,” the statement said.

 

“China wants to expand influence. That something so obvious that it is benign,” said Tan. “It’s not like China is going to take over Australia or anything.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 23, 2021, 5:06 a.m. No.13963449   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13963447

 

2/2

 

A former senior figure within the Liberal party who has worked with the association has questioned whether its leadership is too close to the Chinese consulate and the Consul-General.

 

“With the tensions between China and Australia, I am concerned if things get worse these [may not be] good representatives of the Chinese community in Australia,” said the Liberal figure, who asked to remain anonymous so he could speak freely.

 

He said the association struggled to resist the pressures from the consulate, which often underwrote their functions, pressured them to host events and linked them to United Front groups.

 

The consulate and Chung Wah co-hosted the Chinese New Year Ball last year with Liberal and Labor MPs and a gala event in 2019 commemorating the 190th anniversary of Chinese migrants’ arrival in Western Australia.

 

Former Perth Chinese consul-general Dong Zhihua, Chen, Zhang and McGowan dined together last year, photos published by the consulate reveal.

 

Chen denied any link between the consulate and Chung Wah. “They don’t have any influence at all,” he said.

 

He said the government committee work was focused on promoting multicultural harmony, not international affairs.

 

“My job is to protect the best interests of the Chinese to avoid any racism and discrimination in Australia,” he said.

 

Chen praised McGowan for his “very good comments” on the state of the China-Australia relationship. He said Australia “will benefit from a stable China” and that Prime Minister Scott Morrison “needed to concentrate more on domestic issues than on international issues”.

 

A spokeswoman for the WA government said China accounted for 56 per cent of the state’s exports in 2020. “The federal talk of conflict and trade retaliation can and must stop,” she said. “It is in our security and economic interest to do so.”

 

Federal Labor is also targeting the economic impact of $20 billion in trade strikes from Beijing after months of relative bipartisanship over national security and human rights disputes.

 

Labor’s trade spokeswoman Madeleine King said McGowan was “clearly expressing his frustration at what he saw as a failure to manage a very important economic relationship”.

 

Chung Wah received a $5 million grant from the WA government at the end of last year – equivalent to its entire annual budget. McGowan personally awarded the grant in the key seat of Riverton ahead of the state election in March, which he won in a landslide.

 

The association is audited by CPL, a company run by the Perth-based family of Tam Yiu-Chung, the only Hong Kong representative in the standing committee of Beijing’s National People’s Congress. Tam was sanctioned by the US after he drafted the national security laws that have imprisoned more than 100-pro democracy leaders in Hong Kong and wiped out public opposition to Beijing.

 

A spokeswoman for the McGowan government said it supported Chung Wah because it represented all sections of the state’s Chinese communities, which includes migrants from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.

 

Chen said the only feedback he had received on Hong Kong from members of the community was that they “supported the Hong Kong government instead of the pro-democracy movement” and that “some Hong Kong people were scammers who have put Chinese in Australia in a very difficult position”.

 

Asked about Xinjiang, where up to 1 million Muslim-minority Uighurs have been detained by Chinese authorities, Chen said he had not seen any evidence of human rights abuses and that “no one had raised the issue with him”.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/the-chinese-community-group-the-consulate-and-the-labor-premier-20210621-p582ra.html

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 23, 2021, 5:11 a.m. No.13963472   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

Alleged Asian drug syndicate kingpin Tse Chi Lop fighting extradition from Netherlands to Australia

 

ABC/Reuters - 23 June 2021

 

The alleged leader of an Asian drug syndicate who has been compared to drug lords Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Pablo Escobar is fighting extradition to Australia, saying he would not get a fair trial here.

 

Tse Chi Lop, a Chinese-born Canadian national, was arrested in January at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at the request of the Australian Federal Police while in transit from Taiwan to Canada.

 

He has denied wrongdoing and is contesting extradition, with his lawyer arguing that Australian authorities essentially engineered his expulsion from Taiwan to Canada on a flight with a stopover in the Netherlands so he could be nabbed there.

 

The 57-year-old is wanted in Australia for his connection to the AFP-led Operation Volante, which dismantled a global crime syndicate operating in five countries.

 

According to the AFP, the operation resulted in the arrest of 27 people for importing and trafficking "substantial quantities" of heroin and methamphetamine into Australia in 2013.

 

While Australia has extradition treaties with both the Netherlands and Canada, Mr Tse's lawyer argued in court on Tuesday that Dutch extradition policies were more advantageous for Australian law enforcement.

 

"If Australia was involved in inappropriately turning my client over to the Netherlands, his fair trial rights have already been violated," lawyer Andre Seebregts told Reuters after the hearing.

 

He asked judges to investigate the circumstances of the arrest before deciding on extradition.

 

Prosecutors said the circumstances of Mr Tse's expulsion from Taiwan were not relevant.

 

Mr Tse spoke briefly in court to protest his innocence.

 

"Mass media are calling me a drug kingpin but that is not true," ANP news agency quoted him as telling the judges through interpreters.

 

He added that he was scared Australian judges would be biased against him.

 

The Rotterdam court is expected on July 2 to rule on the extradition request or order additional investigations into the circumstances of Mr Tse's arrest.

 

Syndicate known as The Company

 

Australian investigators say Mr Tse's syndicate, known to its members as The Company, dominates the $90 billion-a-year Asia-Pacific drug trade.

 

Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia and Pacific representative for the UN drugs agency UNODC, told Reuters in 2019 that Mr Tse was in the league of El Chapo or maybe Pablo Escobar — referring to Latin America's most notorious drug lords.

 

Authorities also refer to the syndicate as Sam Gor — or Brother Number Three in Cantonese — after one of Mr Tse's nicknames, Reuters reported at the time.

 

Reuters was unable to contact Mr Tse for the 2019 report, which described Mr Tse as "Asia's El Chapo".

 

The AFP accuses Mr Tse of being "the senior leader of the Sam Gor syndicate".

 

The group has "been connected with or directly involved in at least 13 cases" of drug trafficking since January 2015, according to the documents cited by Reuters.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-23/alleged-drug-syndicate-kingpin-tse-chi-lop-australia-extradition/100236400

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 23, 2021, 5:17 a.m. No.13963499   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3501 >>5635 >>9870

Chinese less favorable to Australia amid strained ties: GT poll

 

About one-fourth see Canberra as political, ideological threat than economic partner

 

Chen Qingqing, Zhao Yusha, Xie Jun and Xu Keyue - Jun 23, 2021

 

The latest Chinese public opinion poll on Australia conducted by the Global Times Research Center showed that the Chinese people have a less favorable attitude toward Australia, and more than 40 percent consider Australia a threat on military, politics and ideology rather than an economic partner, while the two-way favorable attitude between China and Australia is expected to further decline in 2021.

 

The survey was conducted online by the Global Times Research Center and the Australian Studies Center of Beijing Foreign Studies University from June 11 to 15, with market survey firm DATA100 collecting 2,067 respondents in 10 Chinese cities from people aged between 18 and 70. The latest poll also mirrored vision of Australians toward China based on the 2020 Lowy Institute Poll, as the Global Times survey took some questions from the Lowy Institute's survey as reference.

 

The average Chinese attitude toward Australia turned out to be 55.6 points - on a scale of 0 to 100 - in the poll, amid deteriorating China-Australia relations, dropping from 65.3 points from 2020 when the Global Times Research Center did a similar survey for the first time.

 

Such decline was also in line with the Australian survey results as the Lowy Institute Poll in 2020 showed the feelings of the Australian public toward China on a scale of 0 to 100 fell sharply in 2020 to 39.

 

The deteriorating impression on each other from people in the two countries mirrors souring bilateral ties. People viewed each other more negatively in the latest polls, and the trend continued this year, which shows that Australia's China bashing and the country's rising anti-China sentiment have sparked this negative trend, Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

 

"Australia singlehandedly has to be responsible for such simmering public opinion. Australian media and politicians have been smearing and criticizing China on every front, be it economy, COVID-19 or other issues. Yet Australia has been less frequently mentioned in Chinese publications," Chen said.

 

Australia-China relations hit a tough road over the past year, as the two major economies in the Asia-Pacific had been entangled in a growing diplomatic and trade row due to anti-China sentiments fueled by some of Canberra's politicians. From hyping allegations on China's interference, to pushing forward a so-called independent review of the COVID-19 origins, to tearing up a formal Belt and Road Initiative deal, relations between China and Australia have become fraught, with observers saying such growing tension with China results from Australia's lack of political wisdom.

 

China's top economic planner also suspended on May 6 all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, marking the first time that a bilateral diplomatic mechanism had been frozen.

 

The US role

 

Nearly 88 percent of Chinese respondents consider that to Australia, China is an economic partner rather than a military threat, while about 41.3 percent said to China, Australia is more like a threat on military, political and ideology fronts, while nearly half consider the US the biggest factor in interrupting China-Australia relations.

 

China-Australia relations had remained stable for large part of the five decades since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1972, yet ties have been spiraling downward in recent years since Canberra started attacking China - for example, banning Huawei's 5G in 2018 and throwing mud on China in regard to the origins of the coronavirus.

 

"The US' anti-China strategy has stimulated the rise of similar sentiments in Australia. Yet there is not much mutual trust between Beijing and Canberra, so Australia should not risk to discard it completely simply to benefit a third country," he said.

 

When asked about whether they expect China-Australia ties to improve in the next two years, about 44 percent of the Chinese respondents showed a positive attitude, while 22 percent said "it's hard to say."

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 244c6b June 23, 2021, 5:18 a.m. No.13963501   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13963499

 

2/2

 

While the Lowy Institute survey showed that more than half of Australians consider China an economic partner and an overwhelming 94 percent of them agree that the Australian government should work to find other markets for Australia to reduce their economic dependence on China, about 50 percent of Chinese respondents agree that Australia is economically overdependent on China, according to the GT survey.

 

An overwhelming number of Australians calling for reducing dependence on China also shows that Australians have a growing anxiety under the hype fanned by the Australian government and media on China-related topics, which has been used many times since the COVID-19 outbreak to advocate the decoupling with China in order to boost Australia's manufacturing, according to an analysis the Australian Studies Center of the Beijing Foreign Studies University made in the survey.

 

Despite an icy trade relationship, Chinese imports from Australia in May rose 55.4 percent year-on-year according to official data. "Australia has been trying to reduce imports like clothes from China as much as it can, and find alternative sources such as India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. But it's hard for them to find bulk commodity exporters that can replace China," Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the research center for Pacific island countries of Liaocheng University in East China's Shandong Province, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

 

China has been insisting on depoliticizing the economy and trade sectors. Whether China will take further countermeasures on Australia depends on Australia's attitude and policy direction, Yu said, noting that China can take action against Australia on all products except for iron ore, as iron ore is the only commodity which China has difficulty finding an alternative source.

 

People-to-people ties affected

 

Under the current situation, the willingness of the Chinese respondents to travel to and study in Australia would be affected by the souring bilateral relationship.

 

Among those from 18 to 39 years old, 15.5 percent favor the UK as the top destination for their overseas studies, the survey showed. The mention rate of Australia on the list of top destinations for Chinese international students dropped 5 percentage points in 2021.

 

Some Chinese students in Australia who talked with the Global Times said the deteriorating ties also made them change their mind working or living longer in the country, especially as Australian politicians and media have been keen on China bashing.

 

Liu Yue, a PhD candidate with an offer from Monash University, has decided not to study at Australian schools after waiting for his visa for more than half a year. Liu told the Global Times that he used to think Australia is just another Western country. Yet after its tussles with China, he realized it is a stupid country willingly to serve as the US vassal.

 

If he was given another choice to choose a foreign country to study, Liu said he would take politics into consideration. "I was too na?ve at that time. I got offers from UK, Hong Kong and Australian universities. I chose Australia without thinking about politics, but I had never anticipated it would trap me."

 

The unfriendly policies Australia took have been the underlying reason behind the reduced willingness of Chinese people to choose Australia as their top overseas tourism or education destination, Yu said, noting that the unfriendly policies have caused racism to rise in Australia.

 

It happens from time to time that Chinese students studying in Australia had been attacked but with no sufficient investigations from the local police, which discourage Chinese students from going to study there, he noted.

 

It's wishful thinking in Australia that the bilateral relationship won't affect the economic exchange and services trade. As the relationship further declines, the number of Chinese students to Australia has been dropping since 2018 with sluggish tourism growth, the Global Times survey showed.

 

Australia's policies toward China won't change in the short term, and the number of Chinese students studying in Australia will increase only slightly, Yu predicted.

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202106/1226840.shtml

Anonymous ID: 6a099f June 23, 2021, 11:53 a.m. No.13965635   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13963499

Chinese propaganda piece. So what is the procedure on a weekday? Is it "sensible chuckle" and open a Fosters or "derisive snort" and a Victoria Bitter?

Anonymous ID: 891d48 June 24, 2021, 4:03 a.m. No.13971048   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2028 >>9882

New report finds vulnerable children are being targeted by paedophile rings

 

ANGELICA SNOWDEN - JUNE 24, 2021

 

Urgent calls are being made to reform Victoria’s residential care system for children, amid news young people are fleeing temporary homes at alarming rates and are easy prey for predators seeking to sexually or criminally exploit them.

 

The damning findings — which also revealed organised paedophile rings are actively targeting young people in out-of-home care — were reported by an inquiry tabled in parliament on Thursday.

 

Principal Commissioner for children and young people Liana Buchanan found young people who go missing are considered “street smart” and therefore the risks connected to their disappearance are downplayed.

 

“There is no consistent approach to reporting or recording children who are absent or missing from care,” she said in a foreword.

 

“Many workers recognise that the current system drives a dispiriting and damaging cycle of absence, harm and brief return for many high-risk young people, yet there is a sense of resignation and powerlessness in the face of these systemic failures.

 

Child protection opposition spokesman Matt Bach said the state is in the “grip of a child protection crisis”.

 

“We already knew a record 65 children known to child protection died last year. Through this new report we’ve learnt more about the shameful failures of the Andrews Labor Government, with vulnerable children being successfully targeted by organised paedophile rings, and raped,” he said.

 

“The Andrews Labor Government must change its crisis-driven approach into supporting our children and young people to prevention and early intervention.”

 

The inquiry found care given to children in residential placements is in “many cases inadequate”. The agencies responsible for residential care include the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Victoria Police and residential service providers.

 

In the 18 months to March 31 last year, 37 per cent of missing children incident briefs contained reports of sexual exploitation.

 

In the same time period, girls and young women were reported as missing at 2.5 times the rate boys and young men were. But it is likely that boys and young men are under-represented in incident reporting.

 

A group of 12 children also appeared to go missing more frequently than others, accounting for 33 per cent of all primary absent reports. Half of those reports concerned three young people in particular.

 

There was a spike in missing children reports when state of emergency restrictions were announced in Victoria last year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with numbers of absent client incidents up by 36 per cent in the six months to August 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

 

The inquiry found the system used to monitor missing children is “inconsistent” and as a result authorities do not know how many children go missing, how long they disappear for and what happens to them during their absence.

 

The report called for urgent and systemic change in the system, which should recognise how consequences of trauma can drive young people away from their placements.

 

Child protection minister Luke Donnellan said there was a “long way to go” to improve the state’s child protection system.

 

“Children and young people in residential care have complex backgrounds, with a history of trauma and abuse – so they need extra support to feel safe, stable and settled in their placements,” he said.

 

“We’re boosting the workforce and expanding new care models for children and young people – including wrap-around services, comprehensive mental health support, better connection to community and country, and smaller, more family-like care settings.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/new-report-finds-vulnerable-children-are-being-targeted-by-paedophile-rings/news-story/5ef8975e6a8ebe6d45fecd9f965cb152

Anonymous ID: f39169 June 24, 2021, 7:49 a.m. No.13972028   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13971048

>https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/new-report-finds-vulnerable-children-are-being-targeted-by-paedophile-rings/news-story/5ef8975e6a8ebe6d45fecd9f965cb152

 

paywalled. dont bother posting the URL if you can't also post an archived, unpaywalled version

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 3:39 a.m. No.13979074   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9882

Kimberley child sex offender and former fugitive Charles Batham pleads guilty to 34 charges

 

Sam Tomlin, Joanna Menagh, and Erin Parke - 25 June 2021

 

A child sex offender who fled northern Western Australia and spent nearly a decade on the run overseas has admitted his crimes.

 

Former tourism operator Charles Gordon Batham fled Broome in 2011, after he was charged with more than 30 child sex offences, relating to a period between 2007 and 2010.

 

He was able to flee Australia, flying to Malaysia and onto Europe, before remaining at large for nearly a decade.

 

But an ABC investigation published in February last year resulted in a string of sightings and tip-offs.

 

The fresh information led police to northern Italy, where Batham was arrested and from where he was extradited last year.

 

WA Police Detectives travelled to Italy at the height of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, escorting Batham to Perth, where he has remained in custody ever since.

 

Appearing in the Perth Magistrate's Court today, Batham pleaded guilty to 34 charges, including sexual penetration of a child, indecently recording a child and encouraging a child to engage in sexual behaviour.

 

He was remanded in custody, and is due to face the Perth District Court again in August, when a sentencing date is expected to be set.

 

Well-known Broome tourism operator

 

At the time of his initial arrest and flight from Australia, Batham was a well-known figure in Broome, running a business taking tourists on ultralight aircraft tours over Cable Beach.

 

He lived in a converted double-decker bus and regaled locals with stories about his travels in Africa and the Middle East.

 

The news has been met with relief in the town of Broome, where the offences occurred.

 

'Huge relief' for victims

 

Broome resident Robyn Maher first met the tall Englishman in the 1990s, when she was working in the town's tourism industry.

 

She helped the ABC with the 2019 coverage that resulted in Batham being located in Europe.

 

"I think it's fantastic news that he's pleaded guilty, as it means the victims don't have to go through the court process," Ms Maher said.

 

"It will be a huge relief for everyone, and I'm just so glad he got caught.

 

"It was so frustrating that he just left town and felt he got away from it."

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-25/broome-paedophile-pleads-guilty/100245754

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 3:52 a.m. No.13979138   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9149 >>9882

Nicholas Emmanuel Athans: DJ jailed for ‘persistent’ grooming of underage girls on social media

 

A DJ and event promoter has been handed a jail term for his ‘persistent’ offending in grooming underage girls on social media.

 

Emily Cosenza - JUNE 25, 2021

 

1/2

 

A South Australian DJ and event promoter who groomed underage girls for sex has been jailed for at least a year and three months.

 

Nicholas Emmanuel Athans was found guilty of four counts of procuring a child to engage in or submit to sexual activity during a judge-alone trial in January this year.

 

The 26-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges.

 

Athans, of Ridleyton, contacted the four girls privately after he found them through his Facebook business page Yeah Hard Entertainment between April 2016 and July 2017.

 

During his trial, the court was told he also used the Snapchat messaging app to send photos of his exposed genital area as well as photos of him in his Calvin Klein underwear.

 

At the time, he was aged between 21 and 22, while the victims were aged between 14 and 16.

 

The pedophile fronted the Adelaide District Court on Friday and was sentenced to one year and eight months jail, with a non-parole period of one year, three months and seven days.

 

Judge Sophie David said the victims described the images as “graphic” and caused them “a level of unease, discomfort or disgust”.

 

Over the course of Athans’s 15 months offending, the court was told he also sent a meme to one victim that showed a person sitting on a jet ski with a caption that read: “When you want some head so you jetski out in the middle of nowhere and you tell her to suck it or swim back.”

 

“There was a persistence to your offending,” Judge David said.

 

“These images were attended by sexual or flirtatious comments and/or requests to meet up in person with the complainant with whom you were communicating.”

 

The court was told Athans was first arrested and charged in February 2017 over allegations made by the initial two victims and was granted bail, which he breached because he used social media and worked with children.

 

After being sentenced to seven days in jail, he was subject to a home detention bail agreement, where he couldn’t access any device connected to the internet.

 

The predator again breached those conditions by possessing a mobile phone.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 3:53 a.m. No.13979149   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13979138

 

2/2

 

Judge David made numerous references to Athans having a close relationship with his family and being supported by them.

 

A psychological report was cited by the judge that found Athans suffered from depressive symptoms.

 

“(The psychologist) said that the charges have brought shame and guilt to bear upon you and created distress for you and your family,” the judge said.

 

Athans also suffers from “severe” Bell's palsy – a form of temporary facial paralysis or weakness on one side of the face that causes drooping or stiffness – which he developed in August 2019.

 

Judge David said services, like private neuro-physiotherapy, required to treat the condition were accessible within the corrections system.

 

She found there were no special circumstances to grant the Athans a suspended sentence or a home detention order.

 

“I cannot ignore that count one is not an isolation aberration or incursion into criminal offending but occurred in the context of further similar offending by you against three other complainants.

 

“You have taken no responsibility for the offending, and you continue to maintain your innocence.

 

“It is also not unimportant that social media is pervasive in our society, and other young persons must be deterred from using social media in the manner you did to commit these harmful acts.”

 

When establishing a non-parole period, Judge David said Athans qualified as a serious repeat offender and was not satisfied that the predator’s circumstances outweighed community protection and personal deterrence.

 

She added that Athans’s fourth count of offending was committed while on bail for earlier offending, which was a “blatant” breach.

 

“It is difficult to have any real confidence in your prospects of rehabilitation," she said.

 

“In those circumstances I cannot say that your personal circumstances are so exceptional as to outweigh the considerations of the protection and safety of the community and personal general deterrence.”

 

In Athans’s previous appearance, Marie Shaw QC, for the defence, argued that her client was not much older than his victims at the time of his offending and should be handed a home-detention sentence instead of a jail term.

 

“The defendant was 20 years of age at the time of his first offence and … the circumstances of the alleged victims’ ages, and age difference (between them and Athans), makes it appropriate for home detention to apply, and (he) was not in a position of authority,” Ms Shaw told the court in May.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/south-australia/nicholas-emmanuel-athans-dj-jailed-for-persistent-grooming-of-underage-girls-on-social-media/news-story/53050e44e23407039332afb31cce78f1

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 4:01 a.m. No.13979186   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9205 >>9882

University of Adelaide rocked by damning sexual harassment report

 

DAVID PENBERTHY - JUNE 24, 2021

 

1/2

 

The University of Adelaide has been rocked by a damning report into a culture of sexual harassment and will establish an Integrity Unit separate from its human resources department to better deal with allegations of misconduct, bullying, discrimination and abuse.

 

UA Governing Council has also issued a formal and unreserved apology “to all individuals who have experienced sexual assault, sexual harassment, bullying or other unacceptable behaviour while on University premises or in the course of activities for which the University was responsible”.

 

The new claims of harassment and misconduct are contained in an independent KPMG report which the University commissioned last year following the scandal over former Vice-Chancellor Peter Rathjen, who was found by ICAC to have groped two women at an alumni function and had an inappropriate relationship with a third.

 

ICAC also found that Rathjen lied about his misconduct and his departure prompted many staff and students to ask how he had got away for his misbehaviour for so long.

 

In response to the ICAC investigation the UA Council and new Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Hoj commissioned KPMG Australia to conduct an independent survey which received submissions from 664 members of the UA community, of whom 351 were staff and 289 students.

 

This ranged from “unwelcome remarks about hairstyle and dress” and offensive conduct such as unwanted hugs, up to “evident sexual misconduct” including inappropriate touching, grabbing and kissing, and the most serious category, “egregious sexual misconduct”, which covers coercion, sexual abuse and assault.

 

The report says KPMG also heard other allegations involving the use of abusive and insulting language, bullying, spreading misinformation, unwanted attention, favouritism and failures to declare conflicts of interest.

 

It says staff and students told KPMG that they felt the university did not have clear policies covering misconduct and that they had little or no confidence in the systems in place to protect them.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 4:07 a.m. No.13979205   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13979186

 

2/2

 

Professor Peter Hoj told The Australian that he found the report “shocking” but that the university was determined to change its culture and put new processes in place to prevent future misconduct.

 

“It is a very detailed, deep look at what’s happened and what they think we have to do so that things that happened in the past can’t be repeated,” Professor Hoj said.

 

“Zero is the only number that’s acceptable. It is very, very disappointing and you could say shocking how big a proportion of people who felt victimised felt that we had not engaged with them in the appropriate way.”

 

“Some felt let down, others were even distressed by how we dealt with them. That is one of the things that we really have to remove.”

 

The KPMG report makes 22 recommendations – all of which have been accepted – and their implementation will be led by the Chair of the University’s ICAC Response Steering Committee, Professor Katrina Falkner.

 

Professor Falkner told The Australian that she was particularly troubled that staff and students had told KPMG they were reluctant to come forward with allegations of misconduct.

 

This was why the university would immediately embrace the proposed creation of an arms-length Integrity Unit separate from its HR department as a central contact point for the investigation of complaints.

 

“Some members of the community have indicated they don’t feel safe coming forward with concerns either as bystanders or as people who have experienced things themselves,” Professor Falkner said.

 

“That is clearly very disappointing and very concerning. Because our community was so brave to share their experiences, they have told us what we need to do. Making changes to process, structure and culture will lead to a system that stops these things from happening again.”

 

Professor Hoj said it was his understanding that the university had not recorded any cases of sexual assault in the past two years.

 

Over that same period there were 18 documented cases of sexual harassment, 10 of them in 2019 and eight in 2020.

 

Professor Hoj said it was possible that other past cases could emerge if UA staff and students had more confidence in the reporting processes.

 

“We want people to be very comfortable in reporting,” he said. “In terms of university-related incidents it is our best understanding that the reported number of sexual assaults in 2019-2020 was zero.”

 

“But what we need to acknowledge is when you have procedures and processes that are not streamlined, we can’t be sure that everything that happened is reported.

 

If all this works really well, until such time that the culture change is perfect, we could well see that more people feel comfortable in reporting.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/university-of-adelaide-rocked-by-damning-sexual-harassment-report/news-story/073c175061054c69f4d1d18bd2b2303f

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 4:34 a.m. No.13979274   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9279 >>9856

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith in fiery exchange with Channel 9 lawyer

 

Candace Sutton - JUNE 24, 2021

 

1/4

 

Ben Roberts-Smith has engaged in a fiery exchange with the lawyer for Channel 9, calling accusations he cheated on his bravery medal to cover up killing a teenager “disgusting”.

 

Sensational allegations were made on day six of Ben Roberts-Smith’s cross-examination suggesting had “exaggerated” his bravery to win a medal and had really just shot an unarmed teenage boy.

 

Nine newspaper’s lawyer alleged Mr Roberts-Smith’s act of bravery, in Afghanistan’s Chora Valley in 2006, was fictional and covered up a campaign of bullying of a young soldier who knew the truth.

 

In the Federal Court, Nicholas Owens SC said Mr Roberts-Smith had given untrue accounts of the engagement to media and in an interview with Australian War Memorial historian Dr Peter Pederson.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith agreed that he had “conflated” more than one battle when giving his account of the incident which won him his MG, but had not meant to.

 

Mr Owens retorted: “You only did that because you didn’t want the public to think the engagement for which you won the Medal of Gallantry (MG) was for shooting an unarmed teenager”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith: “Not only do I find that a disgusting comment, it’s completely false.”

 

In a barrage of accusations on Mr Roberts-Smith’s sixth day of cross-examination and eleventh day in the witness box, Mr Owens suggested the wording of the MG citation was false.

 

The war veteran was awarded the MG four years before he earned his Victoria Cross, and the medal’s citation states that an Afghan militia attempted to outflank Mr Roberts-Smith’s patrol.

 

The citation says that he “ensured that his patrol remained secure by holding this position without support for twenty minutes”.

 

Mr Owens put it to Mr Roberts-Smith that he hadn’t held the position for 20 minutes alone because he had been joined by Person 1, a soldier the war veteran is accused of bullying.

 

Denying the suggestion, the veteran said he believed he had been awarded the medal for pushing “out the front by myself”.

 

Described as a “small and quiet soldier”, Person 1 had jammed his minimi machine gun while on the mission.

 

Mr Owens accused Mr Roberts-Smith of thereafter physically assaulting and abusing Person 1 and calling him a “useless c*nt” and threatening to kill him, which Mr Roberts-Smith denied.

 

He agreed that in a subsequent media interview and the discussion with Dr Pederson, he mixed up details of the engagement with later battlefield incidents.

 

“I’ve conflated that with something that happened later in the day,” Mr Roberts-Smith told the court.

 

“It happened after a number of tours. I acknowledge those mistakes.”

 

Mr Owens said Mr Roberts-Smith had plagued Person 1 with bullying comments and had invented a scenario in which the young soldier woke up with “night terrors” pointing a machine gun.

 

Mr Owens put it to Mr Roberts-Smith that it was he who had pointed his gun at Person 1, and his bullying had escalated after the Chora Pass mission because the young soldier knew about the unarmed teenager.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said none of those suggestions were true and “I just didn’t trust Person 1 with my life and that’s a dangerous thing in Afghanistan”.

 

In earlier evidence on Thursday, Mr Roberts-Smith took a swipe at his ex-wife Emma, after the contents of a text message between Ms Roberts-Smith and her best friend were revealed in court.

 

The war veteran’s defamation trial heard on Thursday morning that Emma Roberts-Smith had texted her school friend and divulged a conversation between her then-husband and an SAS comrade.

 

The text message, sent on May 9, 2018 by Emma Roberts-Smith to Danielle Scott, followed a conversation the night before her ex-husband had with a soldier known as Person 5.

 

Person 5, who had been Mr Roberts-Smith’s patrol commander had just appeared before an inquiry into Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

 

The court heard that Emma Roberts-Smith texted Ms Scott, writing “Hey mate, (person 5) rang BRS late” and included a sad face emoji.

 

She then texted: “he was grilled for hours. Lots of questions about (Ben Roberts-Smith). He didn’t get much sleep.

 

“It is obvious someone said a hell of a lot about Ben. They still have to be able to prove it.”

 

Both Ms Roberts-Smith and Ms Scott are due to testify against Mr Roberts-Smith at the trial in coming weeks.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 4:36 a.m. No.13979279   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9285

>>13979274

 

2/4

 

Asked by Nicholas Owens SC, for Nine newspapers, if he had not been breaking the law by discussing Person 5’s testimony to a confidential national inquiry, Mr Roberts-Smith said he hadn’t discussed the contents of the testimony.

 

He also denied telling his then-wife that the Director General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) inquiry into what SAS soldiers did in Afghanistan would “still have to be able to prove it”.

 

“It looks like she is forming her own opinion, which is reasonably typical about my ex-wife,” Mr Roberts-Smith told the court.

 

“I probably was a bit frustrated and upset.

 

“I told my wife they were questioning my awards, because that’s what I believe was happening.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith also told the court his ex-wife “went through my email account and went through deleted and junk folders” to retrieve emails he thought he had got rid of.

 

The emails contained possibly sensitive material which Mr Roberts-Smith said his ex-wife had then given to the media lawyers.

 

Mr Owens grilled Mr Roberts-Smith over a Tupperware container filled with USB sticks, which the ex-soldier said had been anonymously sent to him after he asked comrades for images of their Afghanistan missions.

 

The media lawyer produced two photographs he claimed showed where the USB container had been buried by Ben Roberts-Smith in the backyard of his matrimonial home on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

 

The first photo, taken at 2.06pm on June 5, 2020 the location showed “an airconditioning compressor with a hose reel. Under the hose reel there was a rock”.

 

Asked if “that was the location the USBs were buried in”, Mr Roberts-Smith said “incorrect”.

 

A further photo taken at 2.32pm on the same day showed the rock removed and a hole which he alleged Mr Roberts-Smith had left after he “dug up the USBs and removed the container”.

 

The ex-soldier denied removing the container, and said he had never buried it, always storing it in a desk drawer of the home.

 

Asked if the USBs contained hundreds of photos of soldiers drinking from the prosthetic leg of a man Mr Roberts-Smith had killed in Afghanistan, he agreed, saying “thousands” of such images had been taken.

 

Asked by Mr Owens if he had deliberately “physically hid” the USBs in the back yard to conceal evidence, Mr Roberts-Smith said that wasn’t true.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith told the court that he and Emma Roberts-Smith had finally parted ways in about the third week of January, 2020.

 

“I was going through a very difficult divorce, I wasn’t focused on USBs.

 

“(I was) trying to work out where I was going to live, what I was going to do.”

 

He agreed he had been dining with one of his lawyers, Monica Allen, in late 2019 when he had dinner with a former SAS comrade at a Woolloomooloo restaurant on December 4, 2019.

 

Ms Allen was photographed holding hands with Mr Roberts-Smith in Brisbane in August last year, but at the beginning of the defamation trial denied she was in a relationship with him.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith also denied threatening an SAS member, Person 14, who Mr Owens claimed had told the VC winner that “he would not lie on the stand” to the IGADF inquiry about the prosthetic leg incident.

 

Asked by Mr Owens if Mr Roberts-Smith had said “it’s going to be like that is it” and “leant forward” and said “be careful who you f*cking talk to”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said the suggested exchange was “a complete lie”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said “was shocked” at Person 14, who he thought “was recording” the conversation with him “because the whole thing was a stitch up”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith did agree that on the USB sticks he received was an image of a penis with wings attached to it and the words, “Welcome to Tizak”.

 

The image, which he suspected had been drawn by an SAS friend, is an apparent parody of the SAS crest which is a winged sword, or a sword flanked by flames, with the motto “Who Dares Wins”.

 

The Battle of Tizak, in 2010, resulted in Mr Roberts-Smith being awarded his Victoria Cross.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 4:37 a.m. No.13979285   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9295

>>13979279

 

3/4

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing Nine newspapers and three journalists for articles published in three newspapers from the second half of 2018.

 

He says the reports falsely claim he committed six war crime murders in five missions in Afghanistan, that he bullied other soldiers and that he assaulted a women with whom he was having an affair.

 

Under cross-examination on Wednesday, the war hero was quizzed about intimidating letters Nine newspapers alleges he sent to an SAS soldier with “mafia-style threats”.

 

Nicholas Owens SC, for Nine, told the court Emma Roberts-Smith had lambasted her then-husband following media reports of his allegedly sending the threatening letters.

 

The court heard Ms Roberts-Smith said to her husband: “What the f*cK are you doing. What is this all about”.

 

Mr Owens then alleged Mr Roberts-Smith admitted he had sent a letter to a soldier, known as Person 18, to which his wife replied, “No more f*cking lies Ben.

 

“You know they can trace your fingerprints and where this letter was sent.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith denied sending the threatening letters and refuted Mr Owens’ assertion that after the conversation he burnt remaining envelopes “in your firepit at home”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith did admit burning computer hard drives by pouring petrol on them.

 

He denied doing so to conceal evidence from the official Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) inquiry into the conduct of Australian troops in Afghanistan.

 

“If I’m not going to trade in a computer, I’m going to destroy the hard drive,” he said.

 

“I’ve burned laptops in 2010 and 2012. It’s not anything to do with anything.”

 

Around 60 witnesses will testify at the 12-week trial, including 21 SAS soldiers, Emma Roberts-Smith and deputy defence minister and SAS veteran, Andrew Hastie who will give evidence against Mr Roberts-Smith.

 

Former Australian War Memorial director, Dr Brendan Nelson and 14 SAS soldiers will give evidence in support of him.

 

Last week, the war hero was questioned about an incident in which it was alleged by Nine newspapers that he had kicked a man known as Ali Jan off a cliff in 2012 and killed him.

 

It is Nine’s allegation, which Mr Roberts-Smith rejects, that he murdered the unarmed villager, after interrogating him, and then colluded with fellow soldiers to cover-up an unlawful killing. Mr Owens claimed the blood stains on the man’s arms suggested he had been cuffed, and claimed wounds to his mouth showed physical trauma.

 

Mr Owens said a strip of skin on the man’s wrists showed he had been restrained with flexi-cuffs before being shot.

 

“He was wearing flexi-cuffs when he was shot wasn’t he,” Mr Owens asked Mr Roberts-Smith, who replied “no, he was not”.

 

“You interrogated three men you had found for more than an hour, assaulted those men, eventually killed one of those men?” Mr Owens put to Mr Roberts-Smith, who said, “no, absolutely not”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith told the court the man was killed while hiding in a cornfield and was a “spotter” relaying intelligence to the Taliban about the location of Australian soldiers.

 

In the trial’s first week, Mr Roberts-Smith broke down several times, once while recalling the 2010 Battle of Tizak, for which he awarded the medal for valour, the Victoria Cross.

 

On the second occasion he broke down, it was recalling discovering that one of the soldiers he had killed in the same battle – of 76 insurgents shot dead during 14 hours of fighting – was a 15-year-old boy.

 

Asked by Mr McClintock, how he dealt with that fact, Mr Roberts-Smith said “I struggle”.

 

He was also asked about Mr Owens’ opening statement in week one in which the lawyer called the ex-soldier “a mass murderer”.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said he was both sad and “very angry” at accusations of he had executed unarmed Taliban fighters, or men who had been “PUCed”, and were persons under control.

 

“I spent my life fighting for my country. I did everything I possibly could to ensure I did it with honour,” he said.

 

“I listened to that … and it breaks my heart actually.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 4:39 a.m. No.13979295   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13979285

 

4/4

 

Ben Roberts-Smith revealed last week that he had secretly tailed his mistress as she faked having a pregnancy termination because he believed she was lying about being pregnant to keep him in their affair.

 

The war hero said that in February 2018, some months after the woman – known as Person 17 – had threatened to self harm, she had met up with him to attend a pregnancy termination “appointment”.

 

The appointment was at Brisbane’s Greenslopes Hospital and he had her surveilled on video by private eye John McLeod, because he believed she wasn’t really having an abortion.

 

Person 17 later told him that was true, but the pair continued their relationship until March, when they attended a function at Parliament House in Canberra hosted by then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

 

The court heard the woman had taken a Valium pill and drunk a bottle of wine and after the event had fallen down stairs and injured her left eye.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith told the court he had cared for the woman who had been “incoherent” and “passed out” in the Hotel Realm.

 

She later accused him of assaulting her by punching her in the left eye, which Mr Roberts-Smith vehemently denies.

 

He said the claim of domestic violence assault, which was published in a Nine Newpapers article, had seriously damaged him and his family.

 

“Now I walk down the street, people will look at me and think I hit a woman,” he said.

 

“I couldn’t protect my kids which is extremely hard to take.

 

“I was worried about my children physically and emotionally, what someone might say to them, what someone might do to them,” he told the Federal Court.

 

He said that when the article was published identifying him as having allegedly beaten Person 17, “I started to think my life is over.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith said that after media had pursued him in late 2017 and early 2018, he became aware he was the subject of “a whispering campaign”.

 

He was aware former SAS soldiers had made allegations about what had happened in Afghanistan.

 

“The bottom line is I felt I was being attacked publicly in the press and had no way of defending myself,” he said.

 

“I wanted to understand how … we’re not allowed to speak to the media. I’m bound by the Secrets Act.”

 

Mr Roberts-Smith agreed he had asked Mr McLeod to get the home addresses of former unit members, but said he hadn’t used them to intimidate his former comrades.

 

Asked by Mr McClintock if he had ever sent former unit members threatening letters or caused others to, Mr Roberts-Smith said no he hadn’t.

 

In the trial’s first week, Mr Roberts-Smith broke down several times, once while recalling the 2010 Battle of Tizak, for which he was awarded the medal for valour, the Victoria Cross.

 

On the second occasion he recalled discovering that one of the soldiers he had killed – of 76 insurgents shot dead during 14 hours of fighting – was a 15-year-old boy.

 

Asked by Mr McClintock how he dealt with that fact, Mr Roberts-Smith said “I struggle”.

 

Also asked about Mr Owens’ opening statement last week in which he called the ex-soldier “a mass murderer”, Mr Roberts-Smith said he was both sad and “very angry” at accusations of executing unarmed Taliban fighters.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/ben-robertssmith-takes-a-swipe-at-his-exwife/news-story/8983b3ff69c95009217ff35c4c24b6e7

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 4:45 a.m. No.13979328   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9348 >>9856

>>13848125

Ben-Roberts Smith punched woman in face in Canberra hotel room, court told

 

‘The whole story is a fabrication,’ soldier says after court hears he also took pictures of the unconscious woman naked

 

Ben Doherty - 25 Jun 2021

 

1/2

 

Ben Roberts-Smith has been accused in court of punching a woman in the face in a Canberra hotel room, taking pictures of her naked body while she was unconscious and then initiating sex with her.

 

The soldier has vehemently denied the allegations, saying they are “completely false”.

 

“The whole story is a fabrication,” he told the court.

 

The details of Roberts-Smith’s tempestuous relationship with a woman, known in court documents as “Person 17” , were put before the federal court as part of the Victoria Cross recipient’s defamation against three newspapers he says have defamed him by portraying him as a war criminal and an abuser of women.

 

The court heard at one point in their relationship, after an altercation, he sent her a message by phone: “Don’t fucking abuse me again, because it won’t end well.”

 

Roberts-Smith did not deny sending the message but said “it wasn’t a threat”, and that he did not know the context in which it was sent.

 

The court has previously heard Roberts-Smith hired a private investigator to secretly surveil and film Person 17 as she attended a Brisbane abortion clinic to terminate a pregnancy the pair had agreed to end.

 

Roberts-Smith said he did so because he didn’t believe the woman was pregnant and that she was trying to manipulate him.

 

Roberts-Smith and Person 17 had a subsequent discussion at a hotel, in which he showed her the secret surveillance video of her at the abortion clinic, and she said she had been pregnant but had earlier had a miscarriage.

 

Owens put it to Roberts-Smith he said to Person 17: “I will burn your house down if you turn on me and it might not be you that gets hurt but people that you love”. Roberts-Smith denied saying those words.

 

Roberts-Smith has been accused of assaulting Person 17 in a Canberra hotel room after a dinner at the great hall of Parliament House on 28 March 2018.

 

The woman fell downstairs as she was leaving Parliament House with Roberts-Smith.

 

He has told the court she injured her head – resulting in a black eye – from this fall.

 

The newspapers allege the injury resulted from him punching her later on in the hotel.

 

Nicholas Owens, SC, for the newspapers, said that following the woman’s fall, Roberts-Smith helped her into the back seat of a commonwealth car that would drive them to the Realm hotel.

 

Owens put it to Roberts-Smith the woman had asked to be taken to hospital, and the driver offered – twice – to take them, but he refused, saying he could look after her.

 

In the hotel room, the court was told, Roberts-Smith shook Person 17 by the shoulders and said: “Fuck … what have you done? You were all over men at dinner. I should have just left you there because now everyone’s going to know we’re having an affair.”

 

Owens said Person 17 moved towards the bed holding Roberts-Smith’s hands and said that her head hurt.

 

Roberts-Smith replied either “It’s going to hurt more” or “I’ll show you what hurt is”, withdrew his right hand from hers and punched her in the left temple with his right hand.

 

Person 17 staggered backwards and fell onto the bed, Owens said.

 

“That is a complete fabrication,” Roberts-Smith said.

 

“I’ve never hit a woman. I never would hit a woman. And I certainly never hit Person 17.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 4:48 a.m. No.13979348   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13979328

 

2/2

 

While Person 17 was unconscious, Roberts-Smith went through her handbag, taking photographs of medication and of several pages of handwritten notes in her diary. The detail of those notes was not revealed before the court, but Roberts-Smith has said he was justified in taking pictures of the notes because they “pertained to me specifically”.

 

Roberts-Smith has previously told the court he took pictures of Person 17 while she was asleep, with the covers pulled over her body.

 

Owens put it to Roberts-Smith he also took pictures of her naked body with the covers pulled down.

 

“No, and that’s disgusting,” Roberts-Smith said.

 

“You did it and you showed her the photographs the next morning,” Owens put to the soldier, alleging they were taken to manipulate and control her.

 

“No, I did not.”

 

Owens said Person 17 woke up during the night, said her head hurt and that she wanted to go to hospital.

 

“No, she didn’t wake up,” Roberts-Smith said.

 

Owens put it to Roberts-Smith “you initiated sex with Person 17”, and that after they had had sex, “she told you multiple times she was sorry and that she loved you”.

 

Roberts-Smith is alleged to have replied he loved her too and that “it will all be OK”.

 

Roberts-Smith said that version of events was a “complete fabrication”.

 

“We didn’t speak and we certainly didn’t have sex,” he told the court.

 

Roberts-Smith told the court he was “annoyed and frustrated” with Person 17 on the night of the dinner because he believed she had behaved disrespectfully, but that he was not angry, and that he never assaulted her.

 

In his evidence-in-chief, Roberts-Smith told the court that as he was arranging for a Comcar to take them back to the hotel, a staff member told him Person 17 had fallen down the stairs.

 

He said Person 17 had a “significant bump at the top of her left eye”.

 

“She looked extremely intoxicated,” he told the court. “She wasn’t really coherent, she couldn’t string words together.”

 

Roberts-Smith said he did not believe Person 17 needed to go to hospital, and he took her to the hotel room where he undressed her, put an icepack on her head, and put her to bed. He said he checked her respiratory rate and pulse and stayed awake all night checking she was OK.

 

The court also heard detailed evidence about Roberts-Smith’s marriage to Emma Roberts and his version of “separation” from his wife when he was still regularly staying at the marital home and having sex with his wife.

 

Roberts-Smith had been having an extramarital affair with Person 17 for four months before he told his wife about it. But he said he and his wife were separated at the time he and Person 17 began seeing each other.

 

“I’ve never had any qualms with using the word affair,” he told the court.

 

“It was life, I didn’t get it right all the time, but that’s exactly what happened.”

 

Roberts-Smith did not reveal the affair to a marriage counsellor or a psychiatrist.

 

Owens put it to Roberts-Smith that he pressured his wife to “adhere to the lie” of being separated so as to protect the soldier’s public reputation. Owens put it to Roberts-Smith that he told his wife if she did not accede “she would lose the children”.

 

“That is completely false,” Roberts-Smith said.

 

The court heard Roberts was “furious” when he called her to tell her she needed to conduct an interview with the Australian newspaper in which she would agree she was separated from Roberts-Smith at the time of his relationship with Person 17, and that she needed to participate in a photo-shoot.

 

Emma Roberts is scheduled to give evidence later in this trial.

 

Roberts-Smith is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of reports published in 2018 that he alleges are defamatory because they portray him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and committed war crimes including murder. The 42-year-old has consistently denied the allegations, saying they are “false”, “baseless” and “completely without any foundation in truth”. The newspapers are defending their reporting as true.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/25/ben-roberts-smith-punched-woman-in-face-in-canberra-hotel-room-court-told

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 5:07 a.m. No.13979455   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9856

>>13855472

Afghan translators who helped military flown to Australia on protection visas

 

Stephen Dziedzic - 25 June 2021

 

Dozens of Afghans granted safe haven after working alongside Australian soldiers and diplomats in Afghanistan have arrived in Australia.

 

The ABC has confirmed that around 60 people – including Afghan interpreters and locally engaged staff in Kabul – have landed in Australia on recent commercial flights.

 

The news was first reported by SBS.

 

The ABC has been told the roughly 60 Afghans are part of a contingent of well over 200 people who will arrive in coming days.

 

Australia has been resettling Afghans who fear for their lives because they worked for the federal government since 2013.

 

Over 1,400 visas have been granted to them and their family members over that period.

 

But the government has intensified efforts to resettle people ahead of the US military withdrawal, which has provoked intense anxiety among Afghans who have worked for Western countries.

 

Violence has intensified in Afghanistan this year and some analysts predict the country could quickly fall to the Taliban after US soldiers leave.

 

Earlier this month an Afghan translator employed by Australian troops told the ABC they had been placed on a Taliban kill list for working with "infidel enemies".

 

He also said a Taliban operative had tracked him to his home – years after they had tried to kill him by running him over with a car.

 

The Department of Home Affairs said it was "urgently" processing visas for the Australian government's locally employed staff members and was "working with other Government agencies and providers to facilitate … the movement of these visa holders to Australia".

 

The department also confirmed the Afghans and their family members are exempt from Australia's travel restrictions – although it stressed they still have to meet "rigorous health, character and national security requirements".

 

Earlier this month the Prime Minister said he was "very aware" of the danger faced by some Afghan interpreters, and said the government was working "urgently and steadfastly and patiently" to resettle people in Australia.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-25/afghan-translators-who-helped-military-flown-to-australia-/100245356

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 6:21 a.m. No.13979916   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9937 >>3916 >>9870

Japan will stand by Australia on complex issues in Asia Pacific: Japanese Ambassador Shingo Yamagami

 

Sarah Basford Canales - JUNE 24 2021

 

The Japanese Ambassador to Australia has told business and government leaders Japan will be a "real friend" to Australia amid rising tensions within the region.

 

When asked about Japan's approach to navigating complex regional issues, including growing friction with China, Ambassador Shingo Yamagami told a Canberra business forum on Thursday like-minded countries needed to find common ground.

 

Mr Yamagami said it was important to follow the rule of law in difficult times and not resort to unilateral, arbitrary measures when disputes arise.

 

But if relations were to deteriorate further, Japan would be a "real friend" to Australia, he said.

 

"We have to be careful not to escalate the tensions on our part, but when push comes to shove, you will know who's your real friend," Mr Yamagami said.

 

"This is the kind of moment Australia needs real friends and Japan is hereby standing with Australia."

 

Indian High Commissioner Manpreet Vohra echoed Mr Yamagami's words, advocating for a banding of countries in the region that share common ideals.

 

He said the border aggression India faced from its neighbours in recent years had been a catalyst for the move.

 

"I think that is the attempt at the moment … for some of us countries then to get together and try and offer a different approach, which guarantees that amount of sovereignty, that amount of rules-based order and approach to how things should be done in our region," Mr Vohra said.

 

"That, I think, is the glue that is coming together between some of our countries and Australia."

 

But the Japanese Ambassador was clear not to fuel ideas that two world teams were forming following years of trade and political hostility between China and the United States.

 

Instead, Australia, Japan and key powers in the Asia-Pacific region, including India and Indonesia, could work towards guaranteeing order in their backyards.

 

"We are not living in a time of Cold War, or any binary, no competition between two superpowers or two big powers," Mr Yamagami said.

 

"I think what is facing all of us now, including in Australia, India, in Japan, Indonesia, and many others in this region, is how to make sure this growth based on our regional and international order could be maintained and further strengthened.

 

"No one country, you know, dictates what to do. No one country puts pressure on others by way of coercion or intimidation … that is the kind of regional order we would like to see in the Pacific.

 

"Every man is equal in front of the law. It's the same applying to sovereign nations."

 

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7312424/japan-a-real-friend-to-australia-amid-tensions/?cs=14329

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 6:25 a.m. No.13979937   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

>>13979916

Committee for Economic Development of Australia Tweet

 

"When push comes to shove, you will know who is your real friend, and this is the kind of moment Australia needs real friends - and Japan is hereby standing with Australia." - Japan's Ambassador to Australia, @YamagamiShingo, on tensions with China. #SoN2021

 

https://twitter.com/ceda_news/status/1407937914978275339

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 6:27 a.m. No.13979955   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

>>13855451

Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post

 

25 June 2021

 

Ready…Exercise

 

From June 11-24, U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, participated in Exercise Southern Jackaroo at Mount Bundey Training Area, NT, Australia. The Marines teamed up with the Australian Army and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to demonstrate their combined ability to provide mounted and dismounted support to trilateral maneuver elements utilizing direct and indirect fire support weapons. Defense ties between the United States, allies, and partner nations are critical to regional security, cooperation, and integration of our combined capabilities.

 

(U.S. Marine Corps photos by Sgt. Micha Pierce and Cpl. Sarah E. Taggett)

 

https://www.facebook.com/MRFDarwin/posts/160431436119348

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 25, 2021, 1:04 p.m. No.13982666   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Ben Fulford Part 3 6/25/2021

Summer Solstice Turning Point As Military-Industrial Complex Takes On Medical Industrial Complex

 

Needless to say, a large portion of the Chinese Communist Party leadership is in on this crime. Mossad sent us this picture of a Maoist Chinese one yuan bill with a clear Zionist symbol on it. Asian secret society sources, for their part, promise to purge all of David Rockefeller’s bastard children from China’s power structure.

 

The WHO by the way says that 650,000, 1.5 million, and 2.56 million people died respectively from influenza, tuberculosis, and pneumonia in 2017 for a total of 4.7 million deaths. https://www.who.int/news/item/13-12-2017-up-to-650-000-people-die-of-respiratory-diseases-linked-to-seasonal-flu-each-year

 

https://ourworldindata.org/pneumonia

 

This compares to the 3.86 million who supposedly died of Covid-19 since it broke out in 2019. Needless to say, these are years in which Pneumonia, Tuberculosis, and Influenza deaths magically vanished from statistics.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=how+many+people+died+of+covid+19

 

We can confirm that in Japan, since doctors and military personnel are refusing to vaccinate people, they are drafting dentists, first aid personnel, and veterinarians among others to administer vaccines, The vaccinators are being paid 400,000 yen (US$3,640) for each person they vaccinate. You can be sure slave Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his entire cabinet will be executed for these crimes.

 

Anyway, a full revolt against the scamdemic is well underway. Here is a great example from Australian TV: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQGEVzvHPaw/?utm_medium=share_sheet

 

Here is one from the UK’s GB News:

 

What is now undeniable is that there is rampant Covid hypocrisy when it comes to the behavior of our leaders, given the regulations they expect us mere mortals to follow. We saw that loud and clear at the G7 summit – now officially a super spreader event for Cornwall by the way – where there were fist bumps, masks, and social distancing in public. Compared to unmuzzled hugs and normal socializing when they thought the cameras were off. Now it turns out this sort of Covid hypocrisy might have been going on at Number 10 Downing Street for many weeks. https://www.gbnews.uk/shows/dan-wootton-covid-hypocrisy-of-elites-is-an-insult-to-hardworking-brits/107263

 

MI6 set up GB News to provide fact-based information to the public after they did an analysis of English language corporate media and concluded almost all the articles were commercially sponsored. https://www.gbnews.uk/

 

The Rockefellers and the Octagon group are going on their own counter-offensive against the British. A part of this is an ongoing move to widely publicize the truth about the death of Diana Spencer.

 

This was seen in the following June 19th front-page story on the Daily Mail, a story that MI6 says they were paid to publish. No doubt more is coming.

 

Essentially, she was murdered at the orders of Prince Philip, without the knowledge of Queen Elizabeth, because she was pregnant with Dodi Fayed’s child and was about to convert to Islam. This cold-blooded murder of a young mother is a crime for sure and the truth about this needs to come out but, it is not on the same level as systematic genocide.

Anonymous ID: bd69fd June 25, 2021, 1:06 p.m. No.13982685   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Ben Fulford Part 4 6/25/2021

 

The other thing the fake Rockefeller-Biden government headquartered at Fort McPherson, Atlanta Georgia is up to is economic sabotage aimed at strengthening oil industry profits, according to the NSA.

 

Jim Stone Freelance noted that many U.S. dams have been deliberately drained to deprive Americans of hydro-power. By the way, we are unable to access his site on a PC in Japan. When we go to his site we get the following URL: jimstone.is/shutupordie.html Fortunately we can still access it on an iPhone.

 

In any case, we note the sabotage of dams, nuclear power plants, and other facilities benefits the Rockefeller-controlled oil industry. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hoover-dams-lake-mead-hits-lowest-water-level-1930s-180978022/

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-06-17/green-energy-the-issue-is-politics-not-technology-or-cost

 

We are also noting a slew of “articles” in the corporate propaganda media subtly promoting oil. Here is a small example:

 

”Around the world, energy developers are replacing greenhouse-gas emitting coal and gas-fired power plants with wind and solar farms. But they aren’t always adding enough batteries or keeping enough backup power on hand to buttress those clean sources of power for when the sun sets or winds die down.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/18/world/global-power-grids/

 

You can be sure battery farms will be prime targets for sabotage once they are set up.

 

In a sign the Pentagon has split from the Rockefellers, we note the U.S. military is withdrawing troops, aircraft, and missile defenses from the Middle East.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/18/politics/pentagon-remove-missile-defense-saudi-arabia-middle-east/index.html

 

So now it seems the Greeks have replaced Americans:

 

“In April, Greece said it will lend a Patriot battery to Saudi Arabia to protect its critical energy infrastructure.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/saudi-talks-up-strength-after-us-cuts-military-assets/ar-AALfv53

 

Also, as we noted last week the Octagon front group World Economic Forum is promising major cyber-attacks during the rest of this year. That is another reason why the riot act is being read to Geneva.

 

Finally, we close this week with some raw intelligence from MI6:

 

“The Diana case is soon to be more important than this crazy coronavirus bullshit…We have fired I don’t know how many judges. All of our officers are beginning to think oh my god, we did the wrong thing; We have police officers and others coming forward. The whole thing is beginning to collapse.

 

Richard Dearlove and all the director generals who have been running intelligence agencies have been lying and the lies now constitute criminal offenses so they are in a blind state of panic. All of our bad behavior of the past has stopped…

 

The Libor scandal essentially bankrupted the Rothschilds so they have turned to everything else they can do. These people don’t take well to losing their wealth. This is their kickback using medical methods, killing people…

 

We have talked to intelligence people around the world and they have been bribed. What these people don’t realize is that they have lost, they are gone. We have thrown out their prime minister in Israel. We have taken out this group with our execution of Bush.

 

The whole Covid business will have to be put through due process. Prince William has left London, the queen cannot be found and no phone calls shall be answered…

 

Something appears to have changed overnight. They have stopped listening to the medical-industrial complex and are now listening to the military-industrial complex. The world’s governments have begun to turn on this medical tyranny.”

 

Let us see how things unfold.

 

Sauce: benjaminfulford.net

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 5:01 p.m. No.13984301   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4327 >>9870 >>9875

>>13895726

Greg Hunt orders review into risky Wuhan research

 

SHARRI MARKSON and LIAM MENDES - JUNE 24, 2021

 

1/2

 

The CSIRO and several Australian universities have engaged in at least 10 joint projects with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the past decade, a laboratory US intelligence has linked to the Chinese military and which is suspected of being at the centre of the Covid-19 outbreak.

 

Australian scientists and politicians are calling on Health Minister Greg Hunt to halt and review “gain-of-function” research in Australia, amid concerns this type of experimentation may have sparked the pandemic.

 

The risky research, which aims to increase the virulence of viruses through genetic manipulation, is allowed to take place under Australian government policy, even though it was deemed so dangerous the Obama administration banned it in 2014.

 

Late on Thursday — after questions from The Australian — a spokesperson for Mr Hunt said he had ordered a review of gain-of-function research in Australia by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

 

The CSIRO has been forced to correct evidence it gave at a Senate estimates hearing after initially denying its researchers had undertaken work on live bats with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab at the centre of growing international concern it was the source of Covid-19. CSIRO chief operating officer Judi Zielke admitted the organisation had “undertaken research on bats previously”.

 

Under questioning from ­Nationals senator Matt Canavan on June 3, the CSIRO initially gave evidence that it “does not undertake research on live bats at ACDP”. However, Senator Canavan later presented the CSIRO with an excerpt from a scientific paper written in conjunction with the Wuhan lab stating: “Wild caught P Alecto bats were trapped in Southern Queensland, Australia, and transported alive by air to the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Victoria, where they were euthanised for dissection.”

 

Correcting the record in a letter the next day, Ms Zielke said her ­responses “weren’t clear and have led to misinterpretation of the answers”. She clarified that research on live bats was not currently being undertaken but had been.

 

Senator Canavan said the Morrison government should immediately suspend any gain-of-function research or experiments involving potential pandemic pathogens. “Serious questions have been raised that gain-of-function may be the reason we have a global pandemic so it would be absolutely irresponsible to ­continue such funding when there is a risk of it causing another pandemic,” Senator Canavan said.

 

“I don’t think there’s a case to fund gain-of-function research long term but, if there is, the ­burden of proof should be on those virologists who think it makes sense and they should be held to account for how they are protecting the wider com­munity for this type of research.”

 

Raina MacIntyre, head of the Kirby Institute’s biosecurity program, said she has been concerned about the risks of gain-of-function research since 2011, from both an ethical standpoint and because of the risk of accidents.

 

“It’s the kind of research that has global impact because you can do a bit of research here in Australia, say there’s an accident, and it spreads the virus, it can infect people in Indonesia, or in India or somewhere else where the research wasn’t conducted, so that opens up a whole lot of other ethical questions,” Professor MacIntyre said. “The possibility (that gain-of function research causing the Covid-19 pandemic) has to be considered because if we don’t consider the possibility, then we can’t take any action to prevent any future incidents that might occur. And we know that there are a lot of laboratory accidents that have been documented.”

 

Australian government policy has continued to allow gain-of-function research.

 

A spokeswoman from the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator said: “Work with genetically modified pathogenic viruses would be restricted to a high-level containment facility certified by the regulator and would require a licence from the regulator before it can proceed. Australia’s gene technology legislation is regularly reviewed to keep the legislation up to date with technological progress and changes in scientific understanding of the risks posed by gene technology.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 5:03 p.m. No.13984327   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13984301

 

2/2

 

The CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory, in East Geelong, is one facility accredited to undertake research on pathogenic viruses.

 

The CSIRO trained Chinese infectious diseases expert Shi Zhengli’s protege, Peng Zhou, who is now head of the Bat Virus Infection and Immunity Project at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Associate Professor Zhou spent three years at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory from 2011 to 2014. He was sent by China to complete his doctorate at the CSIRO in 2009-10.

 

Professor Shi, director of the Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, also worked in Australia from February to May 2006.

 

Australian universities have engaged in at least 10 collaborative projects in the past decade with the Wuhan lab. The most recent CSIRO project with the Wuhan Institute of Virology was in 2016. It involved providing the first gene map of the Type 1 interferon region of a bat species and was done by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Monash University, the CSIRO and the University of Melbourne.

 

The CSIRO and Wuhan Institute of Virology also collaborated in 2014 to examine the bat immune system. Professor Shi, Professor Zhou and Lijun Wu participated from Wuhan, while the CSIRO’s scientists were Michelle Baker, Diane Green, Paul Monaghan and Chris Cowled.

 

The CSIRO and the Wuhan Institute of Virology collaborated on several projects on bats’ antiviral immunity in 2011. The purpose of a study was to understand why bats remained asymptomatic to viral infection that was capable of spillover to other susceptible mammals “with lethal consequences”.

 

The studies were jointly funded by the Australian, Chinese and US governments.

 

The University of Queensland was involved in a study with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in August last year – despite the fact intelligence agencies had said four months earlier that Covid-19 might have leaked from the Wuhan laboratory. The August 2020 paper – titled “Origin and cross-species transmission of bat coronaviruses in China” – lists the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science’s Hume Field as co-author alongside Professor Shi, Peter Daszak and 12 other scientists.

 

Dr Hume is also an EcoHealth Alliance science and policy adviser.

 

The concern about gain-of-function research causing a pandemic or being used for bioterrorism led to its ban under the Obama administration in 2014. National Institutes of Health director Anthony Fauci lifted the ban during the Trump administration.

 

Professor MacIntyre said there needed to be more community consultation on this research.

 

“The impact of gain of function research, whether it’s development of cures or vaccines, or whether it’s the creation of a pandemic, ­accidentally, the impact is on the community,” she said. “The community is an essential stakeholder and I feel that the community hasn’t been involved adequately in the whole debate.”

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/csiro-unis-in-10-joint-research-projects-with-wuhan-lab/news-story/5856c25b8a9036535eef9e9057f5d127

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 5:23 p.m. No.13984451   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9861

>>13943323

Assange's fiancée urges Biden to free WikiLeaks founder to show U.S. has changed

 

Kate Holton - June 26, 2021

 

LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden must let Julian Assange go free if he wants the United States to become a beacon for a free press once again and put the legacy of Donald Trump behind it, the fiancée of the WikiLeaks founder told Reuters.

 

Washington has sought the extradition of Assange over his role in one of the biggest ever leaks of classified information, accusing him of putting lives in danger by releasing vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables.

 

He has now spent nine years in jail or self-incarceration in Britain, and both Assange's fiancée Stella Moris and the British judge overseeing the extradition request have warned he may not survive a process to send him across the Atlantic.

 

"If Biden really wants to break with the Trump legacy, then he has to drop the case," Moris told Reuters in an interview. "They can't maintain this prosecution against Julian while saying that they defend a global press freedom."

 

When Barack Obama served as president and Biden was his vice president, the U.S. decided not to seek Assange’s extradition on the grounds that what WikiLeaks did was similar to journalistic activities protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

 

Weeks after taking office Trump administration officials stepped up public criticism of Assange and later filed a series of criminal charges accusing him of participating in a hacking conspiracy.

 

The U.S. Justice Department said in February it planned to continue to seek the extradition for Assange to face hacking conspiracy charges. read more

 

Moris said the couple were planning to marry soon at the top-security Belmarsh prison where he is being held.

 

U.S. prosecutors and Western security officials regard Assange as a reckless enemy of the state whose actions threatened the lives of agents named in the leaked material.

 

Supporters pit him as an anti-establishment hero who exposed U.S. wrongdoing in Afghanistan and Iraq and say his prosecution is a politically-motivated assault on journalism that gives a free pass to oppressive regimes around the world.

 

WikiLeaks came to prominence when it published a U.S. military video in 2010 showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.

 

An effort to extradite him was launched in 2019 after he was detained in London after taking refuge in Ecuador's embassy in the British capital for seven years to avoid being extradited to Sweden.

 

British judge Vanessa Baraitser said in January that although she accepted the U.S. legal arguments in the case, she said Assange's mental health issues meant he would be at risk of suicide if extradited, leading to her rejecting the request.

 

Moris, who has two young boys with the Australian-born Assange, said the 49-year-old was very low but still fighting. She likened his treatment as akin to the way some journalists are treated in China and Saudi Arabia.

 

"I think there's no doubt that Julian wouldn't survive an extradition," she said.

 

She argued that any robust democracy had to accommodate internal dissent. "A superpower that has a free press is very different in nature from one that does not."

 

She said she is hopeful that the case will be viewed differently under a Biden administration, but refused to say if his legal team had held talks with U.S. officials.

 

Despite that hope, she said the couple were planning to marry soon inside Belmarsh, once the paperwork is done, rather than wait to hear his fate.

 

She said Assange had been given a huge lift recently when she was allowed to take their two sons to visit, allowing him to touch his children for the first time in over a year.

 

"He was happy to see us, but he's struggling," she said. "He's very low but he's fighting. He has the hope that this will end soon."

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/assanges-fiance-urges-biden-free-wikileaks-founder-show-us-has-changed-2021-06-25/

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 6:07 p.m. No.13984690   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4699 >>9856

>>13848125

There are two versions of the facts at Ben Roberts-Smith's defamation trial. Neither is kind to the SAS

 

Nick Grimm - 26 June 2021

 

1/3

 

Ben Roberts-Smith is a hard bloke to miss.

 

I almost barrelled into the two-metre-plus former soldier on Sydney's Macquarie Street as I rushed to buy a coffee.

 

We danced that familiar shuffle performed by thousands of city-street pedestrians every day as our brains calculated the best odds of shifting either left or right to avoid collision. Australia's most decorated soldier smiled and with a polite "excuse me", we each continued on our solitary way.

 

Me to that coffee shop. Him to Courtroom 18D of the Australian Federal Court in Sydney to face another day in the witness box at his headline-grabbing defamation proceedings where at one point he was asked how he felt people viewed him.

 

"I walk down the street and people will look at me," he told the court through tears.

 

"The first thing I think of is that they think I hit a woman."

 

But the allegation he punched his lover in the face after a day of heavy drinking isn't his only source of torment. Killing teenaged insurgents is another.

 

"I saw things in Afghanistan and I did things in Afghanistan like having to engage adolescents that I'm not proud of and I live with that … I accept that and that is a trauma I've lived with."

 

Mr Roberts-Smith has brought the defamation proceedings in a bid to clear his name of the slew of allegations in newspaper articles that he says labelled him as a war criminal, a bully and a domestic violence offender.

 

The man heaped with honour and distinctions for his war service insists he was immediately identifiable as the soldier dubbed "Leonidas" in the stories, thanks to his family connections in the military, distinctive tattoos and his towering height.

 

"I've had to watch my family's good name dragged through the mud for three years," he told the court.

 

But the case is also seeing the good name of Australia's military get dragged through the muck.

 

Both legal teams have presented unflattering pictures of SAS

 

Legal counsel acting for the defendants, Nine Entertainment, Nicholas Owens has told the court it will be presented with two diametrically opposed versions of events that unfolded during Australia's involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

 

But regardless of which side succeeds in this case, both legal teams have presented distinctly unflattering pictures of the Australian Army's elite SAS regiment, certain to tarnish the image of a professional, highly disciplined and drilled fighting force.

 

Nine will argue that war criminals served within its ranks, men who murdered or were complicit in the murder of unarmed prisoners. And while Mr Roberts-Smith vehemently denies being a war criminal or a witness to war crimes, he himself describes a military force wracked by "corrosive jealousy" and infighting, bitter resentments and often prone to displays of outright incompetence on the battlefield.

 

It stands in stark contrast to the SAS's long-held image as the best of the best.

 

In his 2006 book The Partnership: The Inside Story of US-Australian Alliance Under Howard and Bush, Greg Sheridan gave this description of the regiment:

 

"The SAS is the cream of the Australian military … as good as any special forces formation in the world."

 

The author goes on to quote former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage.

 

"The Australian SAS are shit-hot, and our people love to work with them," he said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 6:09 p.m. No.13984699   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4711

>>13984690

 

2/3

 

The standards of the SAS

 

The mystique surrounding the SAS is in no small part due to its notoriously tough selection process. The Australian Defence Department described the kind of candidates it was looking for in a 2006 call for recruits in the Army News.

 

"Mentally tough, quick thinking, innovative and can keep a cool head in difficult situations," it said.

 

In 2010, the same journal provided a glimpse of the gruelling selection regimen SAS recruits would undergo.

 

"We want to break them all down physically and mentally, so they are at the same level, and then we see the essence of the man, that's how we pick the ones we want," one SAS instructor told Army News.

 

A recruiting sergeant described how important the standards were.

 

"We want to maintain our standards, so they never drop. We know the sort of people we want to fight with and the people that will cover our backs," he said.

 

What the court has heard

 

At Mr Roberts-Smith's defamation proceedings we've heard accounts of soldiers who had survived the SAS's notoriously gruelling selection and training process and yet, in his view, didn't deserve to be serving within its ranks.

 

"The SAS does not have an infallible selection process … there are people who shouldn't be in the unit," he told the court.

 

He went on to describe soldiers (who were supposedly among the nation's most elite) going into battle without first checking to ensure their weapons were functional or that they had brought the essential supplies they needed to keep them working (machines guns that needed copious amounts of oil to stop from jamming) or who opened fire on civilians and their own fellow soldiers.

 

He described fighters who sometimes woke from night terrors pointing their machine guns at their terrified colleagues, yelling, "I'm a friendly, I'm a friendly".

 

Another, according to Mr Roberts-Smith, endangered his life and his mission trying to shoot a stray dog and crashing his military vehicle in the process.

 

That led to a fresh allegation from Nine barrister Nicholas Owens that he himself killed the animal.

 

"You pulled out a gun and shot the dog, didn't you?"

 

"No I didn't," responded Mr Roberts-Smith.

 

And then there was the prosthetic leg souvenired from the body of a dead insurgent and turned into a drinking vessel back at base so that troops could "decompress" after going into battle and as Mr Roberts-Smith put it, exorcise "the demons that people deal with".

 

On another occasion, the court heard about a soldier identified in court as Person One, who risked his own life and that of his comrades during a Taliban mortar attack because he was more concerned about the noodles he was cooking.

 

"When you have ordnance in the air, you don't really want to stuff around worrying about whether your lunch is ready," Mr Roberts-Smith said.

 

But Nine's barrister Mr Owens suggested the veteran was using a trivial incident to try to discredit the other soldier, leading to the following exchange:

 

"You've had years to think about every possible act of incompetence … and that makes the top four? The incident never happened as you described it?" Mr Owens said.

 

"No, it did […] Person One just wasn't a very good soldier," Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 6:10 p.m. No.13984711   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13984699

 

3/3

 

Former SAS members to give evidence

 

Nine's lawyers have argued Mr Roberts-Smith's alleged murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners took place in circumstances that had nothing to do with the "heat of battle" or the "fog of war", foreshadowing that 21 current and former SAS members will give evidence against Mr Roberts-Smith.

 

That includes Australia's Assistant Defence Minister, senator Andrew Hastie, a former SAS captain who last year told the ABC he encountered a toxic "warrior culture" when he was deployed to Afghanistan.

 

"There were two warrior cultures — there was a bad one, which was built on self-adulation, ego, and the worship of war itself, and there was a better warrior culture, which was about quiet professionalism, service before self and protecting our country," he said.

 

Giving evidence in support of Mr Roberts-Smith will be around a dozen of his former SAS comrades, and character witnesses including former Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson who in 2018 launched the exhibition From The Shadows, focusing on Australia's special forces.

 

"We can't apply the prism of our comfortable sanctimony to judgments about what they have to do in the operations we send them to conduct," Dr Nelson told reporters at the time.

 

But the two sharply contrasting cases presented in the Federal Court have painted a picture of a fighting force unravelling under the pressure of repeated tours inside a war zone where their strategic goals (the defeat of the Taliban) ultimately stood little chance of success.

 

As the case has been unfolding in the Federal Court in Sydney, news has been emerging from Afghanistan of the Taliban retaking districts in Uruzgan Province where Australian troops were stationed during the conflict.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-26/ben-roberts-smith-defamation-trial-sas/100245286

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 7:30 p.m. No.13985350   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5361 >>9882

>>13848229

‘Don’t be disrespectful. He’ll be upset if you don’t sleep with him’

 

For almost three decades, missionary Richard Daschbach ran an orphanage providing refuge for some of East Timor’s most needy children. He has since admitted to sexually abusing countless young girls – yet locals still support him.

 

Chris Ray - JUNE 26, 2021

 

1/7

 

Nona was born in a dirt-floor hut in a East Timor highland village, where hungry children grow up stunted and wise men see omens in the flight of birds. Her parents grew rice and corn in swidden gardens, but struggled to feed six children. At the age of 9, Nona decided on a solution: she would leave home to live at an orphanage called Topu Honis. It had brightly painted dormitories, neat vegetable gardens and a tiny church. “There was a playground with a slide and swings and the girls wore colourful, clean outfits. It seemed like a dream for a little girl,” she remembers.

 

Topu Honis sits in a mountain valley in Oecusse, a coastal district cut off from the rest of East Timor by Indonesian territory. In this distant backwater, religion, poverty and politics have sensationally collided in a child abuse scandal that has put the Vatican at odds with its most devout province and muddied the reputation of East Timor’s paramount political figure, Xanana Gusmão. The result is a criminal trial that raises the question: can the powerless get justice in Asia’s youngest nation?

 

In Meto, the regional language of Oecusse’s Atoni ethnic group, Topu Honis means to lead someone to a better life. An American Catholic missionary, Richard Daschbach, set up the orphanage in 1991 when East Timor was under Indonesian occupation. More than an orphanage – Daschbach called it a “safe house” – Topu Honis also took in non-orphans from the poorest families, widows and women fleeing domestic violence. It attracted sponsors from Australia and the US and grew to accommodate about 100 girls and boys of primary-school age.

 

Topu Honis’s neighbouring village, Kutet, was the site of Nona’s school – a 90-minute uphill slog from her family house built of thatch and cocowood. Out of school, she gathered firewood beneath grey and white eucalypts, fetched water from a spring and scared birds from fields of ripening rice. Now, at the age of 25, her hands flash polished nails as she gestures during a video call from her new home far from Oecusse.

 

Nona’s best friend, the daughter of a widowed neighbour, lived at Topu Honis, but sometimes turned up at home unexpectedly. “She’d say, ‘I’m not going back unless some other kid comes with me.’ She never said why she was uncomfortable there, and no one asked,” says Nona, who has a round, cheerful face and deep-brown hair set in a loose bun. “I volunteered to join her because I wanted to help my family and me. I knew I would get to eat every day and I wouldn’t have to walk far to school.”

 

Kutet was still swathed in morning mist when Nona went with her best friend and her mother to see Daschbach in 2005. He had grown up a steelworker’s son in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but almost everyone in Oecusse kneeled to kiss his hand. They referred to him as “Uis Neno” – literally, “Lord of the sky”, a Meto concept appropriated by early missionaries to describe the Christian God. “Everybody, old and young, revered him and feared him like nothing I’ve seen since,” Nona says. Daschbach, a slight man with a bony face and sparse, grey hair, told Nona at their first meeting, “I accept you, you’re special.”

 

At home, Nona slept on a mat on the ground or shared a bed with her sisters. At Topu Honis, she was thrilled to get her own bunk bed, a powder-blue frock and her first comb. Nona’s daily routine began with a bucket shower before a bell announced breakfast of rice or instant noodles, eaten on the verandah of the dormitory she shared with about 20 girls before heading to Kutet school, an easy stroll away. Afternoons at Topu Honis were set aside for play. After the 6pm dinner of rice and vegetables, everyone assembled for prayers and hymns in a building that also enclosed Daschbach’s quarters and a guest bedroom.

 

The American, then in his mid-60s, invariably led prayers with a girl sitting on his lap. He mostly dressed in long pants and polo shirts but, on Sundays, he put on white vestments for morning mass at the village church. On Sunday afternoons he would stand naked in the orphanage shower block and wash as many children as he had energy for. “He always did us girls first,” Nona says. “He said he did it because he didn’t want us to waste shampoo.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 7:33 p.m. No.13985361   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5369

>>13985350

 

2/7

 

Within a couple of days, Nona learnt she would be required to sleep with Daschbach and have sex with him – and that his assaults ran to a timetable. Girls were put into groups of four for cleaning duties and organised according to a roster posted on a wall. “Usually, if it was your turn to sweep that day, all of you would go to Daschbach’s room during his afternoon nap and after evening prayers,” Nona says. “Sometimes, he requested just one girl.”

 

In 2007, after Nona had left the orphanage, Australian musician Ros Dunlop recorded girls and boys at Topu Honis singing the anthem of Falintil, the armed wing of the resistance against Indonesian occupation, which cost as many as 200,000 Timorese lives. With hands over chests and fists clenched, the children looked straight ahead “trying to be really strong”, recalls Dunlop, a renowned clarinettist who taught at Sydney Conservatorium of Music for 26 years. It’s one of her poignant recollections of East Timor, which she visited dozens of times over 13 years, mostly to record traditional music.

 

Lately, she’s had to contemplate a more disturbing memory: the procession of children to and from Daschbach’s room. “There were always kids sleeping in his room, and always girls. That much I was well aware of,” says Dunlop, who stayed at Topu Honis four times between 2005 and 2016, twice with her husband and three children and twice alone. “We didn’t think much of it because there seemed to be heaps of kids going in and out. There was no attempt to conceal anything.” She thought of it in the context of families like her own, with young children “always in and out of their parents’ bedroom”.

 

During Dunlop’s first visit, her two daughters and a son, who were about 8, 10 and 15 at the time, played with the orphanage kids, who “seemed happy and part of a cohesive community”. She was “stunned and appalled” when Daschbach was exposed as a predator: “A lot of foreigners spent time there and it seems none of us suspected a thing. It was totally and utterly a well-kept secret.” She calls it “a betrayal of so many people on so many levels – especially his victims. Some were the same age as my youngest child at the time.”

 

Daschbach shared his considerable knowledge of local music and Dunlop feels her research is now “tainted by association” with the former priest. That includes her doctoral thesis and an award-winning bilingual textbook for the East Timor school syllabus.

 

Nona remembers Daschbach’s bedroom contained a bunk bed, wardrobe and shelves stacked with books and photo albums. A curtain divided the bedroom from his office, which doubled as a dispensary. “Usually, two girls would sleep on the top bunk and the other two with Richard on the bottom,” Nona says. “I thought, ‘What is going on here?’ I didn’t know it was wrong, but I knew it wasn’t normal, because it had never happened to me before.”

 

It seems intrusive and unnecessary to ask Nona how she was abused. In statements to camera posted on the Timorese news website Neon Metin, former Topu Honis girls have alleged masturbation, oral sex and vaginal penetration. Daschbach’s girl victims allegedly were as young as six; he never touched boys, it seems. According to Nona, when she tried to avoid going to his room, female staff members said, “‘Don’t be disrespectful. It’s your turn and he’ll be upset if you don’t sleep with him.’ I was frightened to refuse. We thought he had the power to end your life.”

 

Nona never discussed the abuse with other orphanage girls. “I thought, ‘This must be what everyone has to do to pay for being in this magical place full of opportunities,’” she says. She got away from Topu Honis after a year but asks Good Weekend not to disclose how she left, where she went to, or her real name. Her unease in the presence of men gradually faded and she wears her injustice lightly. But she’s still “traumatised and angry” about her maltreatment when “I didn’t even understand what those parts of the body are for”. (Daschbach’s lawyers in Dili did not respond to Good Weekend’s request for comment.)

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 7:34 p.m. No.13985369   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5401

>>13985361

 

3/7

 

“Priest Assigned to Indonesia – Father Daschbach Ordained Recently” was the headline over a Pittsburgh Press report on March 5, 1966. Daschbach attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. before serving as hospital chaplain at Fort Belvoir army base in Virginia. He was then about 30, the eldest of three children, including a brother, Edwin, who followed him into the priesthood. They belonged to the Society of the Divine Word, known by its Latin initials SVD, the biggest Catholic missionary order with more than 6000 priests in 70 countries.

 

Daschbach spent eight years in Indonesian West Timor before crossing into neighbouring Oecusse after Indonesia annexed Portuguese East Timor in 1975. By 1999, when the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence, Daschbach had earned a regional reputation for his charitable work among the Atoni. His standing grew after he shielded villagers from pro-Indonesian militiamen as they butchered and looted their way across the country in revenge for the referendum result.

 

Tens of thousands of Australians marched in protest against the violence, as well as the inaction by the Howard government, which was forced to commit 5000 Australian troops to lead an international intervention. Australian peacekeepers in Oecusse were sufficiently impressed with Daschbach to give him a Land Cruiser troop carrier when they left.

 

Australian National University anthropologist Michael Rose was a young United Nations adviser to the East Timor government when he first met Daschbach in Oecusse’s tiny seaside capital of Pante Macassar in 2011. Rose returned three years later to do PhD fieldwork and would often hike a steep forest track from the coast to Kutet, where Daschbach was happy to explain whatever ritual speech or agricultural practice Rose happened to observe. “He used to say things like, ‘Everyone is welcome at Topu Honis’ and encourage visitors,” says Rose. “In retrospect, I now think it’s likely that this show of openness was a deliberate ploy to lull outsiders into believing he had nothing to hide.”

 

Over time, Daschbach came to embrace the Atoni indigenous religion based on sacred landscapes and ancestral spirits. Rose recorded that the American would don a ceremonial headdress and lead village elders to make an offering of pig’s liver in order to open a door to the ancestors. To locals, he professed to interpret omens conveyed through the behaviour of birds. Rose says Catholicism has a history of adopting elements of local ritual to its own end, but “Richard Daschbach’s direct participation in divination ceremonies was unusual, if not unique. Together with his long history in the area and rare ability to speak Meto, it gave him a great deal of power.”

 

During the past three years, Daschbach has been dragged down to earth. In November 2018, the Vatican expelled him from the priesthood for what the SVD’s top lawyer, Rome-based procurator general Peter Dikos, called the worst case of child abuse in its 143-year history. Now, Daschbach is fighting criminal charges over the alleged sexual abuse of 14 minors (including Nona), child pornography and domestic violence.

 

Pante Macassar sits under a denuded mountain that tumbles to a fertile river flat along the Savu Sea. Timor television shows Daschbach arriving at the town’s whitewashed, two-storey courthouse.

 

The sprightly, bespectacled American, now 84, looks businesslike with pen and notebook in his shirt pocket as he steps across the portico to face three black-robed judges. Climbing into a vehicle after the court adjourns, he pulls down a blue surgical mask to smile through missing teeth and waves to dozens of tearful well-wishers, mostly women and girls, who line the road as he drives off.

 

Daschbach is the first priest to be charged with a sex offence in East Timor, where many believe a priest should never be doubted, let alone punished, according to Berta Antonieta, founder of Grupu Feminista, a Timorese women’s network. Priests have escaped censure even after fathering children, she says, adding, “Even for me as a Timorese, I still don’t understand the level of tolerance people have for individual priests who commit these acts.”

 

Why the enduring support for Daschbach in Oecusse? Without Topu Honis, its female staff face a dismal future. According to the World Bank, almost half the population of East Timor lives in poverty – and Oecusse is the poorest district of all. Musician Ros Dunlop says orphanage staff clearly enabled Daschbach’s crimes: “Topu Honis was feeding and sheltering all these people and they wanted it to stay that way.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 7:40 p.m. No.13985401   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5413

>>13985369

 

4/7

 

Material factors are not the only explanation. Michael Rose says many in Oecusse attribute illness and ill-fortune to spiritual forces, which makes Daschbach “a very powerful and potentially frightening figure. Many people believe his prayers can both heal and kill.” Officials at the Ministry of Social Solidarity in Dili have described children still at Topu Honis as “brainwashed” and unwilling to speak to ministry representatives, according to SVD records.

 

Internationally, in scandal after scandal, the Catholic Church has sought to cover up child abuse and protect perpetrators. Not so the Vatican in the Daschbach case: it has struggled to extinguish Timorese church support for Daschbach for three years. East Timor is more than 97 per cent Catholic, a higher proportion than anywhere bar the Vatican, and loyalty to Daschbach is not confined to distant Oecusse.

 

The SVD’s Rome headquarters received the first complaint of sexual abuse on March 2, 2018 via Daschbach’s SVD superiors in Dili. That same day, it instructed the congregation’s East Timor head, Yohanes Suban Gapun, to confine Daschbach to the SVD seminary in the capital, Dili. During a March 5 phone conference, Daschbach admitted the sexual assault allegations were “100 per cent true”, according to SVD records. A month later, Rome told Gapun he risked being dismissed if he failed to follow instructions to report Daschbach to civil authorities. Next, Gapun had to be told to keep Daschbach off the internet and not allow him visitors.

 

In December 2019, Dikos, a 52-year-old Slovak, flew from Rome to Dili, where he told Tempo Timor newspaper the former priest had engaged in “systematic abuse of girls on a daily basis…for years and years”. The Holy See’s envoy to East Timor, Marco Sprizzi, a longtime papal diplomat, also sought to dispel persistent doubt about Daschbach’s guilt. “Richard Daschbach himself admitted and pleaded guilty before the church. It looks like he backed down before civil justice, but before the church he never backed down. I want to be clear on this,” Sprizzi told the Portuguese news agency Lusa in 2020.

 

The SVD has appointed a veteran missionary, Melbourne-based William Burt, to liaise with East Timor over the case. “I was in awe of this man. I thought what he was doing with the orphanage was just fantastic,” Burt says. “But the good that he did does not in any way lessen the evil that he did. You can’t quantify the harm he’s done. We don’t know how many kids were involved or how their lives were wrecked.”

 

Daschbach even defied the Vatican’s supreme disciplinary body, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. After it defrocked him, he took a ferry back to Oecusse and performed Mass until police returned him to house arrest. Last year, Daschbach spent six months in jail on remand, but senior clerics worked to exonerate him.

 

In September, the head of the East Timor church’s Justice and Peace Commission, Herminio de Fatima Goncalves, dipped his pen in vitriol to accuse a women’s group and lawyers of forming a “justice mafia” to kidnap Topu Honis orphans and fabricate evidence. His report revealed names and locations of alleged victims including some in hiding after receiving threats. After weeks of outcry, East Timor’s archbishop Vírgilio do Carmo da Silva was forced to sack Goncalves and apologise for the commission’s report.

 

Since then, Daschbach has gained a powerful secular champion in Xanana Gusmão, the 75-year-old former guerrilla commander revered by many Timorese as “Maun Boot” or Big Brother. Gusmão’s sonorous voice seemed to fill East Timor’s airwaves when I last visited the country a decade ago. He was in a seven-year stretch as prime minister and would harangue audiences about Australia’s unfair share of Timor Sea petroleum fields – a dispute eventually resolved to East Timor’s benefit. Gusmão has been president or prime minister for more than 12 of East Timor’s 20 years of self-government. He no longer occupies the PM’s office in the colonial-era Palácio do Governo on Dili’s waterfront, but remains highly influential.

 

Daschbach spent his 84th birthday on January 26 at the spacious Dili home of a senior public servant. He was supposedly under house arrest, a limitation flexible enough to allow him a visitor, Gusmão, who arrived dressed in blue jeans, T-shirt and an olive-green slouch hat over thinning silver hair. He brought along a media contingent, including a TV crew and the government news agency, Tatoli. The resulting footage was unsettling. Big Brother wrapped the defrocked priest in a long embrace, fed him cake, poured wine into his mouth and sang Happy Birthday. Flanked by religious iconography, the pair posed with an illustrated card from the children of Topu Honis. It said they “continue to love Father Daschbach”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 7:42 p.m. No.13985413   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5420

>>13985401

 

5/7

 

The invited media failed to report Daschbach’s defrocking or the child-abuse charges, prompting the Press Council president, Virgilio Guterres, to denounce them as “messenger boys” who aimed to “whitewash” the disgraced former priest. Gusmão’s performance set off a social-media altercation among Timorese and divided his own family. His sons Alexandre, 21, Kay Olok, 18, and Daniel, 16, who live in Melbourne, sent handwritten letters to Daschbach’s accusers, praising their courage and apologising for their father’s stance.

 

Their Australian mother, Kirsty Sword Gusmão, whose 15-year marriage to Xanana ended in 2015, did pioneering work to combat abuse of women and girls in East Timor. She says her sons received “an avalanche of love and appreciation” after she posted the letters on Facebook with a warning that her ex-husband’s intervention had “big implications” for the “psychological wellbeing of the victims” and the outcome of the judicial process.

 

To Fundasaun Mahein, an NGO which works to strengthen the legal system, Gusmão’s intervention was “deeply damaging to the victims of this priest’s crimes and other victims of sexual abuse”. It would cause many to conclude that Daschbach is innocent and that “his victims must be lying or exaggerating”. (Gusmão’s media officer did not respond to Good Weekend’s request for comment.)

 

Swinburne University of Technology professor Michael Leach, a specialist in Timorese politics, notes a point of view in East Timor that Gusmão is supporting Daschbach in order to win the backing of conservative church figures at parliamentary elections due in 2023. “There appear to be powerful figures within the church who fear that if Daschbach is convicted, victims of other priests might come forward and open the floodgates for complaints,” Leach says.

 

Lately, Gusmão has put more than the justice system under strain by running what Leach calls “a very unhelpful line casting doubt on the gravity of COVID-19 and flouting the government’s social-distancing measures”. In late March, Dili went into lockdown to try to crush its first community transmission of COVID. Soon after, severe flooding made tens of thousands of residents homeless. As authorities struggled to respond, Gusmão led a rally of hundreds of people demanding the release of the body of Armindo Borges, 47, recorded as the nation’s second virus fatality.

 

Health Minister Odete Maria de Freitas Belo stood her ground as Gusmão told her he did not believe Borges was COVID-positive. Film of the protest showed him twice slapping a female member of Borges’s family hard in the face (he slapped a male relative of the dead man, too) and telling a female journalist to kneel and tie his shoelaces (she complied). The face-slapping sent “a very poor message in a country where domestic violence is another epidemic,” Leach says.

 

Before Daschbach’s disgrace, Topu Honis was an object of Western curiosity and altruism. Aid workers, academics, ambassadors and journalists negotiated the cratered dirt road from the coast or hiked through the forest to reach it. As word spread and support grew, Topu Honis opened a boarding house on the coast so highland children could attend secondary school.

 

Donors provided university scholarships and a former Topu Honis boy became the first Timorese to graduate from Duntroon Military College in Canberra. Australian and American families adopted several of its children.

 

Jan McColl and Tony Hamilton are among those who saw themselves as patrons of a worthy cause. McColl, who owns a real-estate agency in the central Victorian town of Kyneton, financed an extension to the Topu Honis boarding house and put orphans through university. She and Hamilton, who has a Brisbane manufacturing business and, unlike McColl, is Catholic, donated tens of thousands of dollars and raised additional funds in their communities.

 

“This is so embarrassing. We had so many generous people who helped,” says McColl. The enterprising 65-year-old spent several annual holidays in Oecusse, sometimes sleeping on the crowded deck of the overnight ferry from Dili and walking 16 kilometres up the mountain road after it was washed away by monsoon rain. On one visit, she and her husband Michael brought along their three adult children and partners, plus grandkids, to form a party of 12.

 

“Michael and I are ex-teachers and we thought Topu Honis was a lovely community,” she says. “We’ve shared lots of tears over this. It saddens us deeply to think that this abuse was going on and we didn’t pick it up.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 7:43 p.m. No.13985420   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5430

>>13985413

 

6/7

 

Household mementos now take on a sinister aspect. “Richard loved photography,” Jan says. “Every year, he sent us a calendar and each month had a picture of one of the kids on it.”

 

Hamilton, an affable 61-year-old with a goatee beard below a ragged moustache, says he and his wife Therese, a registered nurse, found Daschbach to be “very knowledgeable and personable, a great conversationalist”. He readily adopted Therese’s suggestions to improve orphanage meals. “Everything we saw and heard was fantastic,” says Hamilton, whose geniality can’t hide a lingering hurt.

 

In April 2018, McColl and Hamilton took a 90-minute Air North flight from Darwin to Dili to investigate rumours that Daschbach had been accused of child abuse. “I expected he would deny it, but at least we would get a feel for what was going on,” Hamilton says. They were unaware that a month earlier, Daschbach had scrawled a handwritten note to the SVD’s then Superior General in Rome, Heinz Kulüke, admitting he’d abused children at Topu Honis from 1991 to “about 2012”. “It’s impossible for me to remember the faces of many of them, let alone the names. Who the victims would be I haven’t the faintest idea,” he wrote. He promised to “comply fully with any measures (penalties) that will be imposed.”

 

McColl and Hamilton have given affidavits to Timorese prosecutors detailing their encounters with Daschbach. Over lunch, McColl asked him, “Are you a paedophile?” She noted: “Without showing any emotion or remorse, he said, ‘Yes’… and he didn’t see it to be a problem. Tony and I got up from the table and left the restaurant. I was shaking.” Hamilton tells Good Weekend, “Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined he would sit there eating his chicken rice and admit to everything.”

 

Next day, in the seminary courtyard, Daschbach told the Australians he had engaged in mutual masturbation and oral sex but no vaginal penetration. To McColl’s question, “Do you realise what harm you’ve done to these girls?“, he replied, “Oh, kids are tough.” When he said, of his prepubescent wards, “I only did it with those who wanted it,” Hamilton walked out of the compound and vomited in the street.

 

Hamilton’s last words to Daschbach were, “Your legacy will be an evil one.” It was the only time, Hamilton remembers, that Daschbach seemed upset. But William Burt, the Melbourne missionary, observes that people kneeled on the road and cried as Daschbach was driven to Oecusse courthouse on the trial’s opening day. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s freed and then, when he dies, they build a statue in his honour,” Burt says.

 

Could Daschbach’s supporters bend the legal system to his advantage? Jan McColl says he told her he wasn’t worried because “the law moves very slowly in Timor-Leste”. After opening in February, the trial was postponed four times at the request of his defence or because of his failure to show up. These were deliberate delaying tactics amounting to “psychological torture” of the victims, says JU,S Jurídico Social, a human rights law firm representing the complainants pro bono. “They have to get mentally prepared and relive the whole trauma in their minds – and then the hearing doesn’t happen,” says JU,S partner Maria Agnes Bere. The latest hearing – a June 7 video-conference session – was halted by technical problems and is due to resume on July 5.

 

Gusmão is listed as a defence witness and was conspicuous in the courtroom on the trial’s opening day. For the Fundasaun Mahein NGO, the case “will determine whether the rule of law really exists in East Timor, or whether the justice process can simply be hijacked for political purposes by powerful leaders”. Swinburne University’s Michael Leach agrees that Gusmão’s involvement “represents a potential challenge to a fair trial and increases the difficulty of witnesses testifying”. Even if Daschbach escapes punishment, he is wanted in the US, for wire fraud linked to one of his US donors.

 

The scandal has prompted efforts to change community attitudes. Photos and video clips of women and men raising placards that condemn sexual abuse of children fill the timeline of a new Facebook page – the first shot in a national education campaign by community groups. Child abuse is “endemic and widespread” and “permeates every layer of Timorese society”, according to JU,S Jurídico Social.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 25, 2021, 7:45 p.m. No.13985430   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13985420

 

7/7

 

Nona hopes the trial will help victims of other abusers to “be brave enough to speak the truth. In the future, some girl will remember how we spoke up and it will give her confidence that maybe she will be believed.” She recalls her visit to Kutet more than three years ago, when she fell into conversation with Daschbach. He asked about her plans and sought advice about his new phone.

 

“After being away for years, I still felt like I owed this man who abused me an explanation of what I’m going to do with my life,” she says. Then a child ran past. “Richard grabbed her and put her on his knee, like he used to do with me and all the other girls. At that point, it just hit me that I needed to speak up for little girls like her.”

 

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

 

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

 

https://www.lifeline.org.au

 

https://www.beyondblue.org.au

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/don-t-be-disrespectful-he-ll-be-upset-if-you-don-t-sleep-with-him-20210622-p58398.html

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 26, 2021, 1:10 a.m. No.13986807   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6813 >>9876

How Ghislaine Maxwell went from high society to being accused of sex trafficking

 

After a family tragedy turned her world upside down, she met Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Allie Yang, James Hill, and Ali Dukakis - 26 June 2021

 

1/8

 

Ghislaine Maxwell was born into fame and fortune. It seemed to suit her.

 

At star-studded events, the glamorous socialite appeared next to A-listers and mingled with heads of state. Then, her world was turned upside down after the sudden death and ensuing scandal of her media magnate father.

 

Soon afterward, she found herself in the company of now-infamous financier Jeffrey Epstein. Their connection reportedly started as a romance but later became a close friendship and business partnership, as well as an alleged sordid scheme for Epstein to sexually abuse multiple young women.

 

Epstein is now dead by suicide after he was arrested for alleged sex trafficking, and Maxwell awaits her trial at a New York prison for charges accusing her of enticing a minor to travel to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, conspiracy to commit both of those offenses, and perjury in connection with a sworn deposition. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

 

Her lawyer says she’s being kept in inhumane conditions and alleges the government wants to “make sure she can’t prepare for trial,” while the government says she is treated equitably and actually has more time than other inmates to prepare. How did she end up here?

 

1961: Ghislaine Maxwell is born in France

 

Ghislaine Maxwell is the youngest of nine children, born on Christmas Day in 1961. Days after her birth, her eldest brother Michael was badly injured in a car crash and was in a coma for seven years.

 

“The whole family were completely shattered because he was in many ways … the leader of the tribe and he was the apple of my parents' eyes,” her brother, Ian Maxwell, told “20/20.” “Ghislaine was, to an extent, really ignored.”

 

Their father, Robert Maxwell, was a flamboyant billionaire, a larger-than-life British icon and a media tycoon in the 1970s and 1980s.

 

“Being with him and around him was always quite tense because he was demanding and difficult,” Ian Maxwell said. “So one tended to be not too close, if one could avoid it.”

 

Ghislaine Maxwell was born into incredible wealth, but her father was not. He was born Ján Ludvík Hoch to a poor Hasidic Jewish family in Czechoslovakia. Many of his family members were killed in the Holocaust.

 

“He was one of nine children himself,” said Ian Maxwell. “They were so poor that they had to share shoes, and they all slept in the same room.”

 

By the time Robert Maxwell was 23 years old, he'd changed his name four times. He earned medals in World War II, where he began to rub shoulders with upper-class British soldiers, and picked up a posh British accent.

 

Ian Maxwell said that despite their father’s brusque personality, he still “spoiled” Ghislaine.

 

“I think I could see that, and maybe it was my parents feeling guilty that they had ignored her, really, for the first few years of her life,” Ian Maxwell said.

 

1983-1991: Ghislaine Maxwell works for her father’s companies

 

Robert Maxwell set his daughter up with a job on one of the soccer teams he owned, Oxford United. At age 22, she was suddenly working among executives at the club. She also did various work for her father’s Mirror Group newspapers.

 

She was given a job at her father’s paper “The European,” but he had ambitions of expanding beyond Europe to the United States. In May 1991, he bought the New York Daily News and Ghislaine Maxwell went with him to the states.

 

Carolyn Hinsey was named the paper’s “communications ambassador” under Robert Maxwell.

 

“When he realized the Daily News didn’t have its own kitchen, he moved us to the Waldorf for $4,000 a night, to a huge suite where he could have many rooms, we could have an office,” Hinsey said. “He had a kitchen, a dining room – the butler could serve him there.”

 

Hinsey said that Ghislaine Maxwell asked to be the Daily News’s fashion editor, not realizing that the paper was more apt to cover crime and sports.

 

“I don't think she was used to being told ‘no,’ because when [Robert] Maxwell told her no, she seemed surprised,” Hinsey said. “Like, ‘But you just bought the paper. Why can't I have this job?’ Because the job doesn't exist and the editor doesn't want you. That's why.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 26, 2021, 1:11 a.m. No.13986813   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6817

>>13986807

 

2/8

 

Nov. 5, 1991: The end of an empire

 

Nine months after Robert Maxwell bought the Daily News, he took his yacht, which he’d named the Lady Ghislaine, to the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco.

 

On the morning of Nov. 5, 1991, his crew couldn’t find him and realized he’d gone overboard during the night. Authorities found his body floating in the water.

 

Theories swirled about whether it was a heart attack, an accident or a suicide. The official cause of death in 1991 was a heart attack combined with drowning.

 

“Ghislaine, however, uniquely in our family, has always thought he was murdered, and she's alone in that,” Ian Maxwell said. “But it's her profound conviction that that is what happened.”

 

Shortly after Robert Maxwell’s death, it was discovered that he had plundered hundreds of millions of dollars from his employee pension funds in the U.K. to prop up his crumbling business empire.

 

His two sons, Kevin and Ian Maxwell, were tried for fraud in connection to the pension money but were acquitted and cleared of any wrongdoing.

 

Robert Maxwell’s empire collapsed and his family had to leave their home in Oxford, England. His possessions were auctioned off.

 

“Ghislaine is the baby of the family and the one who was closest to her father,” her mother, Elisabeth Maxwell, told Vanity Fair in a March 1992 article. “The whole of Ghislaine’s world has collapsed, and it will be very difficult for her to continue.”

 

Less than a year after her father’s death, British photographers spotted her at Heathrow Airport in London with Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Epstein was a Brooklyn native who had previously taught math at a private New York City prep school. He moved into the banking world and climbed through the ranks, eventually opening his own consulting firm, which he claimed catered exclusively to billionaires. In the late 1980s, he managed the financial affairs of billionaire Leslie Wexner, founder of L Brands, which includes Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works.

 

In a 2016 deposition, Ghislaine Maxwell said she met Epstein at some point in 1991 through a mutual friend. Ian Maxwell said he met Epstein briefly but generally had “no knowledge of their life or life that Ghislaine was leading [at the time] in any great detail.”

 

“You can meet some people [and] you really feel that this is a great guy to have a drink with. I never had that impression,” he said of Epstein. “But he was clearly an intelligent man and he had a charisma.”

 

Theories swirled about the couple’s power through his money and her A-list connections.

 

“My father was an extraordinarily well-connected man. So she had grown up in that world and was able to move in it very freely,” Ian Maxwell said.

 

The couple mingled publicly with Donald Trump, British royals like Prince Andrew and even attended a reception for donors in 1993 at Bill Clinton’s White House.

 

1994: Earliest accusations of grooming and sex abuse

 

Federal prosecutors now say Ghislaine Maxwell first assisted in the sexual exploitation of minor girls by Epstein in 1994. Annie Farmer has publicly identified herself as one of the underage victims at the center of the criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell.

 

In 1995, Maria Farmer was working for Jeffrey Epstein as a receptionist at his New York City townhouse, which is where she says she came to know Ghislaine Maxwell.

 

“Ghislaine was 100% the lady of the house at Jeffrey's. He made that very clear. We knew who was in charge and it was Ghislaine,” Farmer, a 25-year-old aspiring artist at the time, told “20/20.”

 

When Maxwell asked about her family, Farmer said she spoke about her little sister Annie, who was still in high school and would be looking at colleges soon. Farmer said Ghislaine Maxwell suggested she talk to Epstein about it.

 

“What I understood was that Maria had a very wealthy boss and that he might want to help me with school,” Annie Farmer told “20/20.” “I just thought, ‘Wow, this sounds like a great opportunity.’”

 

Annie Farmer said Epstein called her mother to tell her about a supposed program that would include 20 to 25 students from all over the U.S., and that Ghislaine Maxwell would be the chaperone. Believing the offer to be legitimate, Annie Farmer traveled to Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico. When Farmer arrived at the ranch far outside of Santa Fe, she said she realized there were no other students there and seemingly no school program at all. She was alone with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 26, 2021, 1:12 a.m. No.13986817   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6823

>>13986813

 

3/8

 

“It wasn't an immediate alarm. It was just sort of, ‘OK. I guess this is somewhat different than what I must have misunderstood,’” she said. “I remember that I had brought some homework with me that I needed to work on… I think I was actually doing a paper about some British writers.”

 

Annie Farmer described Ghislaine Maxwell as “witty and quick and instantly engaging in conversation,” and said that she “felt quickly comfortable” talking to her about the assignment on British writers.

 

“As a young woman I looked up to her as an older sister type,” Annie Farmer said.

 

Maxwell took her shopping around Santa Fe, Annie Farmer said, and she encouraged her to pick out things she’d liked, including $100 cowboy boots.

 

“The first thing that gave me pause was I remember being in this living room area with Epstein and Maxwell, and Maxwell telling me that Epstein really liked to get foot rubs, and that it would be a good idea for me to learn how to massage his feet,” Annie Farmer said. “I think if Epstein had been suggesting that, I would have been clearly alarmed. But because it was her, I was more open to that… They were really really good at figuring out how to push boundaries so that I didn’t say, ‘No I’m not going to do this.’ I just felt uneasy, but [I] did it.”

 

Annie Farmer said the trio went to see “Primal Fear” at a theater, a movie that contains sexual content and themes of pedophilia.

 

“It was uncomfortable to be exposed to that with him,” she said. “Epstein sat himself next to me, and very quickly started holding my hand and caressing me, and kind of touching my feet and my leg.”

 

In court filings, Annie Farmer said Ghislaine Maxwell repeatedly insisted on giving her a massage.

 

“I was very aware that the door was opened and I could be seen getting a massage, and then at some point she just takes the sheet down, so she exposed my breasts,” Annie Farmer said. “I feel uncomfortable. I feel like Epstein can probably see me right now. She touches me around my chest … blurring the boundaries of normal or not normal… This was such a scary situation for me, so I just needed to just manage that and to go on as if everything was normal.”

 

At only 16 years old, Annie Farmer was completely isolated on the ranch while her family was back home in Arizona.

 

At one point, she said Epstein came into her bedroom, got in bed with her and tried to sexually assault her. Annie says that Epstein physically restrained her and started pressing up against her. And she says she was frozen in fear. She said she remembered getting out of bed, going to the bathroom and shutting the door.

 

“My sister never shared with me anything about what had happened with Ghislaine and Jeffrey. I didn't understand until much later,” Maria Farmer said. “They thought it was OK to touch a 16-year-old, the person that I loved more than anyone in the world, and there is nothing OK about that.”

 

In 2019, Annie Farmer filed a lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein’s estate and Ghislaine Maxwell. She eventually accepted a compensation offer from the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Fund, which required her to drop her lawsuit.

 

Annie Farmer’s story represents one of the first cases in which Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly played a role in grooming and luring underage girls to Epstein. In court filings, Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers say that she denies involvement in any of the activity that Annie Farmer says took place.

 

“Maxwell was a really important part of the grooming process,” Annie Farmer said. “They worked together as a team, I think.”

 

2000: Ghislaine Maxwell manages Jeffrey Epstein’s properties

 

Maxwell moved to a $5 million mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, five blocks south of Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion.

 

In a 2016 deposition, she said she hired assistants, architects, decorators, cooks and cleaners for his properties. She also said that from time to time, she would visit spas.

 

“I would visit professional spas, I would receive a massage and if the massage was good I would ask that man or woman if they did home visits,” she said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 26, 2021, 1:14 a.m. No.13986823   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6828

>>13986817

 

4/8

 

2001: Massage trainees Chauntae Davies and Teresa Helm say they are lured to Jeffrey Epstein’s home

 

Chauntae Davies says she met Ghislaine Maxwell at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Davies was 21 years old and training to be a massage therapist.

 

“[Ghislaine Maxwell] called and offered to have me fly out for the weekend to work as her masseuse in Palm Beach,” Davies said. “I was just bugging out that I was going at all. I had never been on a private plane before. I had barely been anywhere, really.”

 

Around that same time, 22-year-old Teresa Helm was also studying to be a masseuse when she says she was approached by someone with a job offer to work for a wealthy couple and was told to meet Maxwell in New York for an interview.

 

She later filed a lawsuit against Epstein’s estate for her alleged abuse.

 

“It was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; that I would be flying, traveling the world being a personal, private massage therapist,” Helm told “20/20.”

 

Helm said that after arriving at Ghislaine Maxwell’s townhouse, she gave her a massage. Then, she said she was suddenly told to meet Maxwell’s partner as the second part of the “interview.”

 

“That was the first time I had heard anything about meeting anyone else,” Helm said. “She told me to give Jeffrey what he wants because Jeffrey always gets what he wants.”

 

Helm said she walked through an “elaborate door” to Epstein’s mansion on the Upper East Side; he led her to his office, where he asked for a foot massage.

 

“He puts his foot up on my leg and I start giving him a foot massage. … He starts pushing his foot closer and closer to me to the point where his foot is literally pressing up against my body,” Helm said. “He grabbed my chin in his hand and he said to me, ‘I know I can always trust a woman who shows her gums when she smiles.’… I was very scared, so I get up from the couch … and he grabbed me from behind. I just completely froze and he assaulted me in the hallway.”

 

“When I made it to the door, he said to me, ‘Don't do anything that I wouldn't do,’” she added. “I took that as a direct threat.”

 

Davies has a similar story. She said she set up her massage table at Epstein’s Palm Beach home and he came into the room.

 

“[He] gave me a little once over. I started the massage, and he was asking me questions … [like] how I liked massage school,” Davies said. “He flipped over, and he asked if I minded if he touched himself, and I freeze. I remember being so confused. … I didn't know what to say. I said, ‘Sure.’”

 

Helm never spoke to Ghislaine Maxwell or Epstein again, but Davies said she continued to occasionally work for and travel with them. Davies says that Epstein sexually assaulted her on numerous occasions.

 

“I had already come from a background in which I had been taught to accept abuse,” she said. “It just became a situation, where I just got deeper and deeper into it and I didn't know how to pull myself out really.”

 

Davies says Ghislaine Maxwell was “the puppeteer in it all.”

 

“She knew how she was playing me. She knew how she was setting me up. She knew exactly that she was delivering me to the home of a predator,” Helm said. “Ghislaine Maxwell is a master manipulator of human emotion and environment.”

 

Helm accepted a compensation offer from Epstein’s victims fund last year, which required her to withdraw her lawsuit. Davies and Helm are not part of the criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell and they didn’t file lawsuits against her. Maxwell has never formally responded to their claims, but she has broadly denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes or involvement in any illegal activity.

 

“Every allegation should be taken seriously, but that doesn't mean every allegation should be believed without questioning. Without scrutiny,” David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s appellate lawyer, told “20/20.” “Ghislaine [has] never admitted to any wrongdoing because she's not done anything wrong. She's been fighting about this now in civil and criminal litigation saying she's innocent.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 26, 2021, 1:16 a.m. No.13986828   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6833

>>13986823

 

5/8

 

2005: Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged Palm Beach victims come forward

 

A 14-year-old girl came forward to police, saying she’d gone to Epstein’s home to give him a massage and that she was sexually assaulted while there. The Palm Beach police began an investigation, bringing in more victims who alleged that Epstein had offered them money for sexual acts.

 

Each accuser had a similar story: Once inside the house, they would be taken upstairs to Epstein’s bedroom, where he would enter wearing only a towel. They said they’d rub his back or feet and eventually, he’d turn over nude and assault them.

 

Ghislaine Maxwell says she was very rarely in Florida at the time of the police investigation in Palm Beach.

 

“The nature of my work relationship with him changed over time. So, from around 2002, 2003, the work lessened considerably,” she said in a deposition years later. “I ceased to be happy in the job and I ceased to be happy spending time with Mr. Epstein.”

 

Investigators knew Ghislaine Maxwell was closely associated with Epstein, but at the time, Palm Beach police did not consider her a suspect and did not develop any evidence that she was involved in the alleged child sex abuse, according to the depositions given years later by the lead detective on the case.

 

2006: Epstein faces charges in connection to Palm Beach victims

 

Epstein was arrested in Palm Beach and charged by a grand jury with one count of solicitation of a prostitute. The indictment didn’t mention any underage victims or minors.

 

However, after finding multiple alleged victims, Palm Beach police were unhappy with this single charge and contacted the FBI, which continued the investigation and identified additional victims. They also spoke with Maria and Annie Farmer.

 

“The fact that the FBI came to visit me suggested that they were aware that this was a much wider scheme, that this was not limited to what was happening in Florida,” Annie Farmer said.

 

June 30, 2008: Jeffrey Epstein quietly cuts a deal

 

Epstein took a plea deal in state court to avert federal charges. He pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation of prostitution plus one charge of solicitation of a minor and served 13 months in Palm Beach County Jail.

 

Despite his new status as a convicted sex offender, Ghislaine Maxwell didn’t completely cut ties with him. In a deposition she said that even after he was behind bars, she continued to do occasional work at his properties.

 

“I'm a very loyal person and Jeffrey was very good to me when my father passed away,” she said in the 2016 deposition. “I felt that it was a very thoughtful, nice thing for me to do to help in a very limited fashion.

 

Summer 2009: Virginia Roberts Giuffre files a lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein

 

Giuffre filed the lawsuit against Epstein under the pseudonym Jane Doe 102. She alleged that Ghislaine Maxwell had recruited her when she had been working at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's Florida resort, as a changing room assistant. She was a teenager at the time.

 

Maxwell took Giuffre to Epstein, Giuffre alleged in her lawsuit. She says she found him lying naked on a massage table, she was instructed to take off her clothes and both Maxwell and Epstein touched her.

 

Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell carried on with her for years, she alleges, and that they made her their “sex slave.”

 

The lawsuit was the first time Ghislaine Maxwell had been publicly accused of being one of Epstein’s main accomplices.

 

Epstein settled his lawsuit with Jane Doe 102, or Virginia Roberts Guiffre, in 2009.

 

2012-2015: Ghislaine Maxwell does press for nonprofit, then sex trafficking allegations resurface

 

She created TerraMar, an organization to educate people about the ocean and its conservation.

 

She spoke about the organization at the United Nations, in a video series with the Huffington Post, and CNN.

 

Then, in 2015, Giuffre’s allegations came back into the spotlight. In new court filings in a case brought by alleged victims of Epstein challenging his deal with the U.S. Government, Giuffre went into greater detail about Maxwell’s alleged role in Epstein’s sex trafficking.

 

For the first time in court, Giuffre, under the psuedonym Jane Doe 3, claimed that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell had directed her to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions. Maxwell, through an agent, released a statement saying Giuffre’s claims are “obvious lies.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 26, 2021, 1:17 a.m. No.13986833   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6838

>>13986828

 

6/8

 

On behalf of Prince Andrew, Buckingham Palace issued a statement in 2015 emphatically denying that the Prince had had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Giuffre.

 

The Prince himself echoed those denials during a speech a few weeks later in Switzerland.

 

Giuffre's lawyers say their requests for a statement under oath from the Duke, about the allegations, were unanswered.

 

Later in 2015, a Florida judge ruled that Giuffre’s allegations involving Maxwell and other third parties were unnecessary in the case against the government and ordered those accusations stricken from the public record of the case. The court made no ruling on the merit of Giuffre’s allegations.

 

GIuffre subsequently sued Maxwell for defamation. That case settled just prior to the scheduled trial date in 2017 with no admission of wrongdoing.

 

July 2019: Jeffrey Epstein is arrested again

 

On July 6, Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, fresh off a flight from Paris.

 

“I never dreamed that he would be arrested,” Annie Farmer said.

 

Prosecutors charged Epstein with sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy, meaning he didn’t act alone.

 

Aug. 10, 2019: Jeffrey Epstein kills himself behind bars

 

As the news media’s focus shifted to the system’s failure to prevent Epstein’s suicide, it also moved to Ghislaine Maxwell’s alleged role in the scheme.

 

“I just hope … there's justice and I hope there's accountability and I hope there's significant consequence for the behaviors of Ghislaine Maxwell,” Helm told “20/20.”

 

“Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein,” then-Attorney General Bill Barr said on August 12, 2019. “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy. The victims deserve justice, and they will get it.”

 

Maxwell had three passports British, French and American and a fortune of $20 million spread between a list of bank accounts. There were many theories about where in the world she could be.

 

“Epstein is dead… The crimes he was then indicted with in 2019, he never faced. But Ghislaine is not Epstein,” Ian Maxwell said. “The real problem [is] that the media frenzy about her… It's the same old rubbish. So that's all that the public has ever heard. They've never heard the defense to all of this.”

 

In November 2019, Prince Andrew went on BBC’s “Newsnight” in a rare highly-anticipated interview to address his relationship with Epstein.

 

He claimed he was unaware that Epstein was having sex with underage girls and said he had no memory of meeting Giuffre, even suggesting that the photograph of them together may have been faked. He faced severe criticism for the interview and was later forced to resign from royal duties.

 

July 2, 2020: Maxwell is arrested in New Hampshire

 

A year after Epstein’s arrest, the FBI arrived at Maxwell’s door. She had moved to a remote estate in New Hampshire, nicknamed “Tucked Away.”

 

Maxwell had "slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire, continuing to live a life of privilege while her victims continue to live with the trauma inflicted upon them years ago," said Bill Sweeney, the assistant director of the FBI’s New York Field Office, at a news conference announcing Maxwell’s arrest.

 

Her brother refutes that she was hiding, saying her lawyers knew “where she was at all times.”

 

Prosecutors allege that Maxwell didn’t open the door when the agents arrived and moved to an interior room of the house, forcing the agents to breach the door to get inside.

 

“She's arrested with hoopla, with helicopters and the FBI running about. It's pure prejudice,” Ian Maxwell said. “If she was gonna run away with her French passport, her English passport, she could have hopped on a plane any moment. Her lawyers knew exactly where she was at all times.”

 

At the time of her arrest, Maxwell informed authorities that she had been married since 2016 – a surprise revelation to prosecutors, the public and even Maxwell’s own family.

 

“I mean, it was surprising,” Ian Maxwell said. “Ghislaine took the view that she's entitled to a private life and she's going to have it and it's going to be private including from her own family. That's okay. I'm alright with that. I don't see that's so wrong.”

 

Maxwell's spouse, whose name has been redacted from the public version of court filings, told the court in a letter last December advocating for her release on bail that the person described in the federal government's criminal charges is "not the person we know."

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 26, 2021, 1:19 a.m. No.13986838   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6843

>>13986833

 

7/8

 

Audrey Strauss, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, charged Ghislaine Maxwell with helping Epstein to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls from 1994 to 1997.

 

“Maxwell played a critical role in helping Epstein to identify, befriend and groom minor victims for abuse. In some cases, Maxwell participated in the abuse herself,” Strauss said. “Maxwell's presence as an adult woman helped put the victims at ease.”

 

There were three unnamed victims in the initial indictment. Prosecutors allege that Ghislaine Maxwell groomed one girl of about 14 years old to engage in sex acts with Epstein in New York and Florida multiple times. Ghislaine Maxwell encouraged another underage girl in London, the government says, to massage Epstein, knowing that he would engage in sex acts with the girl during the massages.

 

Annie Farmer publicly identified herself as one of the victims and addressed the court via video conference to urge the judge to keep Maxwell detained until trial.

 

“[Maxwell] is a sexual predator who groomed and abused me and countless other children and young women. She has never shown any remorse for her heinous crimes, for the devastating, lasting effects her actions caused,” Farmer told the court during Maxwell’s initial hearing last July.

 

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against her.

 

“These are very serious charges,” Ian Maxwell said. “But at the same time, I also thought this is not my sister. She could not possibly have been involved in this kind of activity.”

 

Maxwell’s defenders contend that the federal government chose to pursue the case against her only after Epstein’s death and the ensuing outcry from his alleged victims and the public.

 

“She wouldn't have even been charged had she not been associated with Epstein,” Markus said. “Epstein died. They need someone. Let's be honest about what's going on here. If there was real evidence, she would have been charged long ago.”

 

Prosecutors have rejected the defense’s argument that Maxwell was targeted as a substitute for Epstein. They say the “driving force” behind the case is that the “victims were sexually abused as minors as a direct result of Ghislaine Maxwell’s actions, and they have carried the trauma from these events for their entire adult lives. They deserve to see her brought to justice at a trial,” according to a government filing last summer.

 

In her attempts to be released on bail pending trial, more than a dozen of Ghislaine Maxwell’s friends and relatives wrote letters to the court as part of her bail application.

 

Despite what Maxwell’s team says was a considerable offer, including relinquishing her citizenship in both Britain and France, she has been denied bail on five separate occasions by the trial court and an appeals court. U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan, who is overseeing Maxwell’s criminal trial, has determined that Maxwell is a flight risk.

 

“People like Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Bernie Madoff, heck, even John Gotti was released on bond [and were] accused of much more serious crimes,” Markus said. “Why do they get the presumption of innocence when a 59-year-old woman accused of much less serious crimes than them has to be detained?”

 

Maxwell is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The Maxwell family built a website where they post information about her and the case.

 

“I visited Ghislaine Maxwell at the jail and anybody who would see the condition she's under would be shocked. She's stuck in a small 6-by-9-foot room,” Markus said. “She's basically kept in solitary confinement unless you count the rats and the cockroaches as roommates.”

 

Ian Maxwell says she’s poorly fed and “has no sleep of any real quality” because of the constant surveillance from guards, including regular flashlight checks of her cell at night.

 

The federal Bureau of Prisons has defended its treatment of Maxwell, saying the regular checks with flashlights are done by pointing the light at the ceiling of the cell. They also said despite forbidding the use of eye masks, Maxwell was allowed to use non-contraband items to cover her eyes, like other inmates.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: dd8410 June 26, 2021, 1:20 a.m. No.13986843   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13986838

 

8/8

 

March 2021: A new indictment against Ghislaine Maxwell

 

Prosecutors filed an additional indictment with an additional underage victim. They say Ghislaine Maxwell interacted multiple times with this fourth victim at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion in the early 2000s.

 

Prosecutors allege Ghislaine Maxwell was present when the girl was nude in Epstein’s massage room, and that Ghislaine Maxwell called her to schedule appointments and encouraged her to recruit other young females to provide sexualized massages to Epstein.

 

Ghislaine Maxwell appeared in a courtroom for the first time since her arrest in July 2020 and her defense attorney entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. Her appearance at the time was in stark contrast to her glamorous image of the past.

 

“That's how frail she is,” Markus said. “No one under those conditions can effectively and adequately prepare for trial.

 

The government has defended Ghislaine Maxwell’s treatment, and said that she has “more time … than any other inmate” in the facility, “13 hours per day, seven days per week,” to review documents from her case. She is also permitted 25 hours of video calls with her attorneys each week, it said.

 

November 2021: Ghislaine Maxwell’s upcoming trial

 

Maxwell’s trial is scheduled to begin in late November, on the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday.

 

Prosecutors have contended in court filings that they have a strong case. They say it will be anchored by the testimony of the four alleged victims, and they say there will be other witnesses and documents confirming that those alleged victims were with Maxwell and Epstein where and when they said they were.

 

"Wait till the trial. People shouldn't make up their mind just yet,” Markus said. “Let's see what people say under oath and after they're cross-examined.”

 

Helm says Ghislaine Maxwell is “not a replacement for Jeffrey Epstein,” and that she too must face the consequences of her alleged crimes.

 

“Not even the slightest bit. Her crimes and her wrongdoing, she has made herself complicit,” she said. “She is a criminal. She's a predator.”

 

Ultimately, the decision of whether Maxwell was involved in these terrible stories of abuse, or whether she’s innocent and just a scapegoat, will lie in the hands of the jury.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/ghislaine-maxwell-high-society-accused-sex-trafficking/story?id=78474060

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 27, 2021, 12:24 a.m. No.13995450   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5492 >>9893

>>13788675

Daniel Andrews releases video message ahead of return as Victorian Premier following back injury

 

'abc.net.au - 27 June 2021

 

The wife of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says she thought her husband might die on the day he broke several ribs and fractured his vertebra.

 

Catherine Andrews was speaking in a video message posted to social media the day before the Premier's return to work.

 

"It was awful because you were going blue," Ms Andrews said.

 

"I was thinking you are going to die here in Sorrento in this holiday house."

 

Flanked by his wife in the video, Mr Andrews said it was one of the hardest periods they had gone through.

 

Mr Andrews suffered at least five broken ribs and an acute compression fracture of the T7 vertebra when he slipped on the steps of a holiday house on March 9. He took the time since off work to heal, leaving James Merlino as Victoria's acting Premier.

 

But unsubstantiated rumours about his fall have been circulating for some time.

 

"We'd been down the beach, having a family weekend," Mr Andrews said.

 

"It was a bit of a chance to have some time together and to make up for the time that summer had been really busy and a holiday that had been planned hadn't happened.

 

"I am making my way to the car and head off to work and it had been raining … as I put my foot on the first step, I knew I was in trouble."

 

Mr Andrews said he didn't connect with the step, but slid right off.

 

"I became airborne almost … and all I could hear was this almighty crunch … when I heard the crunch, I thought, 'This is serious. We are in trouble here.'"

 

Mr Andrews thanked Victoria Ambulance, Victoria Police, the medical staff and the Victorian community for their support.

 

"We have seen some really vile stories being put around what happened," he said.

 

"Politics isn't always like that."

 

Merlino says Premier's return 'a great thing'

 

Acting Premier James Merlino said he was delighted Mr Andrews was "back on his feet" and would return to his role.

 

"We all know what a long and painful recovery it is for anyone who has suffered a serious back injury, and Dan needed that time to fully recover," he said.

 

Mr Merlino said he had been in touch with the Premier over the past few weeks to help prepare him for his return to the role.

 

"I've been in regular contact with Dan on the big issues, but in terms of the day-to-day running of the government, the budget, PAEC [Public Accounts and Estimates Committee] and responding to the pandemic, we wanted him focused on his recovery," he said.

 

"But obviously in recent days and weeks [there have been] more conversations and he'll hit the ground running tomorrow, and that's a great thing."

 

Mr Merlino said he was looking forward to being able to spend some days with his wife and children during the school holiday period.

 

The Deputy Premier's stint in the top job is officially due to come to an end at 10:00pm Sunday night.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-27/victoria-premier-daniel-andrews-return-back-injury/100247608

 

https://twitter.com/CathLAndrews/status/1408996530221060099

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 27, 2021, 12:46 a.m. No.13995522   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9861

Julian Assange plans to marry partner Stella Moris in prison

 

AAP / SBS - 26 June 2021

 

Julian Assange and his partner Stella Moris are planning to get married in prison in the UK, but will have to overcome bureaucratic hurdles to allow the nuptials.

 

Mr Assange, an Australian-born journalist, has spent more than two years in London's high-security Belmarsh prison.

 

His relationship with Ms Moris began during the period Mr Assange spent in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he claimed political asylum.

 

The couple now have two sons, aged four and two-and-a-half.

 

"We're looking into getting married in the prison because we've been engaged since 2016," Ms Moris told dpa ahead of the Wikileaks founder's 50th birthday on July 3.

 

He said the circumstances had not allowed them to go ahead with their plans yet.

 

"And if we get married in the prison, then I don't think that will be the only celebration," she said.

 

"The most likely thing is that we'll get married in the prison and then we'll have another kind of wedding celebration with friends and family once once he's free."

 

She said no date had been set yet but the two were working through the necessary bureaucracy and hoped to marry "soon."

 

"It's quite complicated," she said, noting that the pandemic had made it even more so.

 

"We have spoken to the Belmarsh chaplain services about it and they said they haven't seen a wedding in Belmarsh for as long as they've been there, which is 12 years. So it's not a straightforward thing to do."

 

She said the couple needed certificates from their respective countries to prove they had not been previously married, for example.

 

"So it's quite a long bureaucratic process, but we have started it."

 

Ms Moris said the plans also depended on the prison's governor allowing them to marry in prison, and noted that there could be concerns as Mr Assange is Australian and his visa had expired.

 

It was also unclear whether guests could attend during the pandemic, she said.

 

Technically, Belmarsh could allow Mr Assange out for a day but that planning this would be even more complicated, given the backlog after large numbers of people delayed their marriages during Britain's lockdown.

 

"We're just seeing how it goes."

 

Mr Assange has been accused of conspiring with former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak a trove of classified material in 2010.

 

The secret documents relating to the military engagement of Allied forces in Afghanistan were released on Wikileaks while Mr Assange also collaborated with journalists at prominent news outlets.

 

His supporters and press freedom groups view him as an investigative reporter who has brought war crimes to light.

 

A total of 18 charges have been lodged by Washington, which argues he put the lives of US informants at risk. If found guilty, Mr Assange could be jailed in the US for 175 years.

 

A British judge recently denied an extradition request from the US for Mr Assange to face charges of espionage there, due to concerns about his health.

 

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/julian-assange-plans-to-marry-partner-stella-moris-in-prison

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 27, 2021, 1:02 a.m. No.13995576   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9876

Ghislaine Maxwell loses bid to ban depositions from trial

 

LARRY NEUMEISTER - June 26, 2021

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Two 2016 depositions of Ghislaine Maxwell in a civil case in which she was repeatedly questioned about financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual activities can be used at her criminal trial this year over the objections of her lawyers, a judge ruled Friday.

 

U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan in Manhattan rejected the request that she block prosecutors from using the interviews of Maxwell at her November sex trafficking trial.

 

Lawyers for the British socialite charged with procuring teenage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse had argued Maxwell only participated in the depositions because she was promised they would be kept secret.

 

The judge sealed her opinion explaining her reasoning until lawyers have time to recommend redactions.

 

Maxwell, 59, has been jailed since her arrest last July. The former girlfriend of Epstein has pleaded not guilty to charges that she recruited four teenage girls between 1994 and 2004 for Epstein.

 

Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, killed himself in his cell at a federal Manhattan lockup in August 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial.

 

Judge Nathan has thrice rejected bail requests and a federal appeals court has twice agreed that Maxwell should remain incarcerated despite her willingness to pledge a $28.5 million bail package that would include 24-hour armed guards and an offer to reject her British and French citizenships. She is a U.S. citizen too.

 

Her lawyers had hoped to force the dismissal of two perjury counts stemming from her answers to questions during depositions in April and July of 2016.

 

In one count, she was charged with lying when she said “I don’t know what you’re talking about” when she was asked during the April 2016 deposition whether Epstein had a “scheme to recruit underage girls for sexual massages.”

 

In another count, she was charged with perjury for saying she did not recall whether she was aware of the presence of sex toys or devices in sexual activities at Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, home, and for saying she wasn’t aware whether Epstein was having sexual activities with anyone other than herself.

 

The perjury charges stemmed from Maxwell’s comments during depositions resulting from a since-settled lawsuit brought against her by one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre.

 

Redacted versions of the transcripts of the depositions were released publicly earlier this year by a judge in response to requests by the Miami Herald.

 

In arguing that the depositions be suppressed and unavailable for use at the criminal trial, Maxwell’s lawyers said their client had decided to answer questions during the depositions rather than invoke her privilege against compulsory self-incrimination because a court-approved agreement ensured evidence would stay confidential.

 

The lawyers noted that a judge cited the confidentiality promise in granting a request that Maxwell be forced to answer “highly intrusive questions” related to her own sexual activity and her knowledge of the sexual activity of others at the depositions.

 

Maxwell’s attorneys did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.

 

https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-trials-entertainment-2326e1e32e1b2838469a6dc394d6faf1

 

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

 

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.303.0.pdf

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 27, 2021, 11:28 a.m. No.13998806   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8819 >>9875

China’s terrifying virus warning

 

Warnings of the ‘threat to mankind’ came in Beijing’s declaration to a UN meeting under the Biological Weapons Convention.

 

SHARRI MARKSON and JACK HAZLEWOOD - June 27, 2021

 

1/3

 

The Chinese government admitted research to create man-made viruses posed “a huge latent threat to mankind” – and said “accidental mistakes in biotech laboratories can place mankind in great danger” – in terrifying warnings contained in Beijing’s own declaration to a UN meeting under the Biological Weapons Convention.

 

Chinese authorities also spoke of the “increased threat of biological weapons” and discussed using viruses as “genetic weapons” saying systems biology “can also create the potential for biological weapons based on genetic differences between races”, making the comments in treaty documents unearthed for What Really Happened in Wuhan, a forthcoming book about the origins of Covid-19.

 

The People’s Republic of China’s submission to the Seventh Review Conference of the State Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Biological and Toxin Weapons – dated November 23, 2011 – includes the disclosure that biotechnology research presented challenges complying with the Biological Weapons Convention.

 

China’s submission to the conference, held in Geneva in December 2011, also raises the issue of how research could “significantly increase the destructiveness of biological weapons” by “making biological attacks more stealthy”.

 

The 2011 document is the last detailed submission from China relating to the convention – Beijing lodged a scaled-back paper in 2016 at the next, and last, review.

 

There is no evidence that Covid-19 was a biological weapon, nor that China has carried out a biological attack.

 

The Australian is reporting for the first time that the Chinese government included a discussion about these threats in its official submission to the UN meeting under the Biological Weapons Convention as relevant issues that could affect compliance with the Convention.

 

The discovery of the details of China’s declaration to the meeting comes as Joe Biden’s intelligence agencies probe whether Covid-19 has a natural origin or if it may have originated in a laboratory with links to the Chinese military.

 

Under the terms of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, a major international treaty which prohibits signatories from pursuing biological weapons, review conferences are held every five years to ensure the convention is upheld and examine new scientific developments of concern.

 

China, along with almost every other nation, has acceded to the convention where governments submit declarations on research and relevant developments in science and technology as well as assessments of the state of compliance with the convention.

 

China’s submission discloses the extreme risks of laboratories “synthesising man-made pathogens in the laboratory”.

 

“Accidental mistakes in biotech laboratories can place mankind in great danger,” it states.

 

“Synthetic biology in some civilian biotechnology research and applications may unintentionally give rise to new, highly hazardous man-made pathogens with unforeseeable consequences.”

 

Danger of lab accidents

 

This admission in their own document contradicts claims from scientists aligned with the Wuhan Institute of Virology that an accidental laboratory leak is a conspiracy theory that did not warrant investigation.

 

China’s submission suggests biosafety management controls and regulations should “tighten” especially around the virulent pathogens in laboratories.

 

“State parties should, in keeping with the purposes and principles of the Convention, apportion responsibility and assign tasks for biosafety regulation, constantly tighten biosafety management – especially of virulent pathogens – in their laboratories … and eliminate biosafety risks,” it states.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 27, 2021, 11:29 a.m. No.13998819   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8840

>>13998806

 

2/3

 

Man-made viruses

 

Chin states at the start of its declaration that since the sixth conference, held five years earlier in 2006, “there have been almost daily developments in biotechnology – rapid advances in synthetic biology, genomics, systems biology, drug targeting technology and microbial forensics, for instance – throwing up fresh challenges and opportunities for compliance with the Convention”.

 

The first section in China’s submission is on “synthetic biology enabling the creation of man-made pathogens”.

 

Man-made pathogens can be created through gain-of-function research which results in new viruses that are more infectious to humans than existed previously.

 

Richard Ebright, the board of governors professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University, said only two laboratories had reported conducting gain-of-function research on SARS-related coronaviruses prior to the pandemic: the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the University of North Carolina in the US.

 

The Australian has previously reported China’s coronavirus research was partially funded by the US National Institutes of Health through a sub-grant.

 

China’s submission to the UN conference says “the many technological strands of synthetic biology constitute a new science which is making rapid advances, from the chemical synthesis of the genome to the ability to create man-made living organisms” and notes American research in these fields. It says while this research can help with the development of new drugs, “they also have the potential to be used for evil ends”.

 

“Theoretically speaking, synthetic biotechnology poses a huge latent threat to mankind, as it could be used in the future to create pathogens of even greater toxicity and infectiousness than those currently known, and which are resistant to traditional vaccines and drugs as well as hard to isolate and identify with present day technology,” it reads. Medication to treat such pathogens that have been manipulated and synthesised would be rendered useless, the submission states.

 

“The sequencing of pathogen DNA has opened the way to the development of new diagnostic methods, drugs and vaccines. But the same data can also be used to synthesise new pathogens and modify pathogen antigenicity, infection specificity, toxicity, and resistance to drugs, causing traditional means of dealing with infectious disease to fail and rendering the prevention and control of such disease even harder.”

 

Genetic viruses

 

China’s declaration includes a discussion about a truly terrifying area of research involving weaponising genetic-specific viruses. It states that the Human Genome Project has helped “to reveal population-specific genetic variations across the genome”.

 

It says that there are variations in genes for susceptibility to infectious diseases among different populations.

 

It says this knowledge can “lay the theoretical foundations for an across-the-board improvement in levels of human health, but it can also create the potential for biological weapons based on genetic differences between races.

 

“Once hostile elements grasp that different ethnic groups harbour intrinsically different genetic susceptibilities to particular pathogens, they can put that knowledge into practice and create genetic weapons targeted at a racial group with a particular susceptibility.”

 

Under a section in the submission titled “Increased threat of biological weapons”, Beijing states that the rapid development of biological sciences “may significantly increase the destructiveness of biological weapons”.

 

“One way it may do so is by increasing the virulence of pathogenic micro-organisms … Another way is by rendering traditional medicines and vaccines ineffective,” it states.

 

“A third way is by making the target population more susceptible to pathogenic microbes. RNA interference can make inactive specific genes in the body, inhibit expression of important bodily proteins, disrupt physiological function and heighten the effects of a bioweapon attack.

 

“And a fourth way is by making biological attacks more stealthy. Foreign genes or viruses can be introduced into the target population asymptomatically by means of gene-therapy vectors, enabling a biological weapon attack to be mounted covertly.”

 

China’s declaration begins by noting that modern biological sciences play an “important role in helping mankind combat disease and improve health”.

 

“At the same time, the use of new kinds of biotechnology for hostile purposes, posing a latent threat to human society, is also growing,” it states.

 

It goes on to say: “The ‘dual use’ nature of biotechnology enables it, on the one hand, to pose many challenges to full and strict compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 27, 2021, 11:31 a.m. No.13998840   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>13998819

 

3/3

 

‘Chills up my spine’

 

The existence of China’s submission became known to Miles Yu when he was working for former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo as his top China adviser.

 

Yu came across a paper that featured the research fields China had spoken about in its submission. He raised it with Mr Pompeo and also alerted the State Department’s Arms, Control, Verification and Compliance bureau in December, 2020.

 

Neither Mr Yu nor the State Department were able to locate China’s full, original submission prior to the change of administration. When Mr Biden took office, the Pompeo-authorised State Department investigation into the origins of Covid-19 was shut down.

 

An investigation for What Really Happened in Wuhan led to the discovery of China’s original and full submission.

 

“It sent chills up my spine when I saw the PLA submissions and the type of research China’s biological weapons experts had been working on, as China proudly announced to a world biological weapons convention, right there in black and white,” Yu said the document in an interview for the book. “It bore macabre significance because anything China’s bio-labs do might well be connected to the PLA’s biological weapons of mass destruction of the most lethal and sophisticated kind.”

 

Bio-research road map

 

The US State Department’s former lead investigator into the origins of Covid-19, David Asher, who has previously investigated biological, chemical and nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea, said the submission “essentially laid out a road map of developments in biotechnology pertinent to the biological weapons convention that the Chinese indicated as particularly salient”.

 

“It wasn’t clear from their declaration whether this was for potential offensive use of synthetic biology and other techniques … but it certainly appears to lay out what they felt were going to be the drivers of a more potent offence in the future decade related to biotechnology,” he said.

 

“This is probably the most disturbing thing to note that there could be a type of population-targeting or ethnic targeting using biology, according to the Chinese,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they did it in the case of Covid-19 or anything else but it definitely implied that they were fully aware that this is feasible and possible.”

 

Asked how to interpret the document given China doesn’t specifically admit this is research it is engaged in, Mr Asher said: “They lay out the cookbook and they say ‘What’s the impact of the cookbook?’”

 

“They say (it’s the) increased threat of biological weapons using advanced technology. They talk about increased difficulty complying with the convention,” he said.

 

There is evidence China has been engaged in at least some of the fields of research it raised in its submission.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/covid19-chinas-chilling-warning-on-risks-of-manmade-viruses/news-story/47183702ef0d802c17101e9768715757

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 1:15 a.m. No.14003606   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4011 >>9893

>>13788675

Fall rumours 'vile': Daniel Andrews

 

Benita Kolovos and Callum Godde - JUNE 28 2021

 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has attacked his political opponents for spreading "vile" rumours about the nature of his fall on his first day back in the top job.

 

Mr Andrews held his return press conference at the site of one of his government's signature infrastructure projects, the Metro Tunnel.

 

Sporting a hard hat and hi-vis vest, he began by asking reporters if they were "right to go" - a nod to the 120 consecutive daily press conferences he held during the state's second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Mr Andrews thanked Deputy Premier James Merlino for leading the state during his leave, his family, medical staff and colleagues, as well as the many Victorians who sent well wishes as he recovered.

 

"I am fit, I am back and make no mistake, we're here to get this done," he told reporters on Monday.

 

Mr Andrews fractured his spine and broke several ribs when he slipped and fell while getting ready for work in the Mornington Peninsula on March 9.

 

In his absence, various unfounded rumours circulated online and were fuelled by Shadow Treasurer Louise Staley when she called on Mr Andrews to answer 12 questions about his injury.

 

Asked why he didn't address the rumours surrounding his fall earlier, Mr Andrews replied: "Never get into an argument with a fool".

 

"People who make up their own facts, you're best not really to get into an argument with them. It's very difficult to win those arguments," he said.

 

Mr Andrews refused to mention Ms Staley by name but slammed the opposition for turning the rumours "into a political weapon".

 

"It is very, very hurtful when kids are being taunted at school. It is very hurtful when you see some of this stuff printed," he said.

 

"For people to try and turn that into a political weapon, well, I reckon they'll be judged harshly for that and I reckon they should be. But that's about the extent of the time I spend wasted thinking about people like that."

 

Mr Andrews said he was on a family weekend at a Sorrento holiday rental, which was rented through a private agency and paid for at his own expense.

 

He said he did not socialise with anyone outside of his family and did not have a late night before the accident.

 

Mr Andrews and wife Catherine on Sunday released a video on social media explaining how he slipped and fell.

 

"As I put my foot on to the first step. I knew I was in trouble. I didn't really connect with the step it just slid straight off, I became airborne almost," Mr Andrews said in the four-minute video.

 

"Then all I can hear is just this almighty crunch.

 

"When I heard the crunch, I knew. I thought this is serious, we're in trouble here."

 

Mr Andrews said he couldn't call out to his wife because he couldn't breathe. She found him moments later.

 

"It was awful because you were going blue, and we were looking at each other and I was thinking, you are going to die," Ms Andrews said in the video.

 

"You're looking at me and you felt the same."

 

X-rays revealed Mr Andrews sustained an acute compression fracture of the T7 vertebra and broke several ribs, which caused the lower section of his lungs to collapse.

 

Mr Andrews said he avoided permanent, life-changing spinal cord damage by "1mm".

 

His spine has now healed but it will take another three months for his ribs to do so.

 

The premier said he is no longer on strong painkillers and has been taking daily walks and doing physiotherapy and personal training as part of his recovery.

 

Opposition spokesman David Davis said the opposition's questions on Mr Andrews' fall had been "put to bed" following his press conference.

 

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7315710/fall-rumours-vile-daniel-andrews/

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 1:32 a.m. No.14003656   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3660 >>9861

Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

 

A major witness in the United States’ Department of Justice case against Julian Assange has admitted to fabricating key accusations in the indictment against the Wikileaks founder.

 

Bjartmar Oddur Þeyr Alexandersson and Gunnar Hrafn Jónsson - 26. júní 2021

 

1/5

 

A major witness in the United States’ Department of Justice case against Julian Assange has admitted to fabricating key accusations in the indictment against the Wikileaks founder. The witness, who has a documented history with sociopathy and has received several convictions for sexual abuse of minors and wide-ranging financial fraud, made the admission in a newly published interview in Stundin where he also confessed to having continued his crime spree whilst working with the Department of Justice and FBI and receiving a promise of immunity from prosecution.

 

The man in question, Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, was recruited by US authorities to build a case against Assange after misleading them to believe he was previously a close associate of his. In fact he had volunteered on a limited basis to raise money for Wikileaks in 2010 but was found to have used that opportunity to embezzle more than $50,000 from the organization. Julian Assange was visiting Thordarson’s home country of Iceland around this time due to his work with Icelandic media and members of parliament in preparing the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, a press freedom project that produced a parliamentary resolution supporting whistleblowers and investigative journalism.

 

The United States is currently seeking Assange’s extradition from the United Kingdom in order to try him for espionage relating to the release of leaked classified documents. If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison. The indictment has sparked fears for press freedoms in the United States and beyond and prompted strong statements in support of Assange from Amnesty International, Reporters without borders, the editorial staff of the Washington Post and many others.

 

US officials presented an updated version of an indictment against him to a Magistrate court in London last summer. The veracity of the information contained therein is now directly contradicted by the main witness, whose testimony it is based on.

 

No instruction from Assange

 

The court documents refer to Mr Thordarson simply as “Teenager” (a reference to his youthful appearance rather than true age, he is 28 years old) and Iceland as “NATO Country 1” but make no real effort to hide the identity of either. They purport to show that Assange instructed Thordarson to commit computer intrusions or hacking in Iceland.

 

The aim of this addition to the indictment was apparently to shore up and support the conspiracy charge against Assange in relation to his interactions with Chelsea Manning. Those occurred around the same time he resided in Iceland and the authors of the indictment felt they could strengthen their case by alleging he was involved in illegal activity there as well. This activity was said to include attempts to hack into the computers of members of parliament and record their conversations.

 

In fact, Thordarson now admits to Stundin that Assange never asked him to hack or access phone recordings of MPs. His new claim is that he had in fact received some files from a third party who claimed to have recorded MPs and had offered to share them with Assange without having any idea what they actually contained. He claims he never checked the contents of the files or even if they contained audio recordings as his third party source suggested. He further admits the claim, that Assange had instructed or asked him to access computers in order to find any such recordings, is false.

 

Nonetheless, the tactics employed by US officials appear to have been successful as can be gleaned from the ruling of Magistrate Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser on January 4th of this year. Although she ruled against extradition, she did so purely on humanitarian grounds relating to Assange’s health concerns, suicide risk and the conditions he would face in confinement in US prisons. With regards to the actual accusations made in the indictment Baraitser sided with the arguments of the American legal team, including citing the specific samples from Iceland which are now seriously called into question.

 

Other misleading elements can be found in the indictment, and later reflected in the Magistrate’s judgement, based on Thordarson’s now admitted lies. One is a reference to Icelandic bank documents. The Magistrate court judgement reads: “It is alleged that Mr. Assange and Teenager failed a joint attempt to decrypt a file stolen from a “NATO country 1” bank”.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 1:34 a.m. No.14003660   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3666

>>14003656

 

2/5

 

Thordarson admits to Stundin that this actually refers to a well publicised event in which an encrypted file was leaked from an Icelandic bank and assumed to contain information about defaulted loans provided by the Icelandic Landsbanki. The bank went under in the fall of 2008, along with almost all other financial institutions in Iceland, and plunged the country into a severe economic crisis. The file was at this time, in summer of 2010, shared by many online who attempted to decrypt it for the public interest purpose of revealing what precipitated the financial crisis. Nothing supports the claim that this file was even “stolen” per se, as it was assumed to have been distributed by whistleblowers from inside the failed bank.

 

More deceptive language emerges in the aforementioned judgment where it states: “…he [Assange] used the unauthorized access given to him by a source, to access a government website of NATO country-1 used to track police vehicles.”

 

This depiction leaves out an important element, one that Thordarson clarifies in his interview with Stundin. The login information was in fact his own and not obtained through any nefarious means. In fact, he now admits he had been given this access as a matter of routine due to his work as a first responder while volunteering for a search and rescue team. He also says Assange never asked for any such access.

 

Revealing chat logs

 

Thordarson spoke with a journalist from Stundin for several hours as he prepared a thorough investigative report into his activities that include never before published chat logs and new documents.

 

The chat logs were gathered by Thordarson himself and give a comprehensive picture of his communications whilst he was volunteering for Wikileaks in 2010 and 11. It entails his talks with WikiLeaks staff as well as unauthorized communications with members of international hacking groups that he got into contact with via his role as a moderator on an open IRC WikiLeaks forum, which is a form of live online chat. There is no indication WikiLeaks staff had any knowledge of Thordarson’s contacts with aforementioned hacking groups, indeed the logs show his clear deception.

 

The communications there show a pattern where Thordarson is constantly inflating his position within WikiLeaks, describing himself as chief of staff, head of communications, No 2 in the organization or responsible for recruits. In these communications Thordarson frequently asks the hackers to either access material from Icelandic entities or attack Icelandic websites with so-called DDoS attacks. These are designed to disable sites and make them inaccessible but not cause permanent damage to content.

 

Stundin cannot find any evidence that Thordarson was ever instructed to make those requests by anyone inside WikiLeaks. Thordarson himself is not even claiming that, although he explains this as something Assange was aware of or that he had interpreted it so that this was expected of him. How this supposed non-verbal communication took place he cannot explain.

 

Furthermore, he never explained why WikiLeaks would be interested in attacking any interests in Iceland, especially at such a sensitive time while they were in the midst of publishing a huge trove of US diplomatic cables as part of an international media partnership. Assange is not known to have had any grievances with Icelandic authorities and was in fact working with members of parliament in updating Iceland’s freedom of press laws for the 21st century.

 

On the FBI radar

 

Thordarson's rogue acts were not limited to communications of that nature as he also admits to Stundin that he set up avenues of communication with journalists and had media pay for lavish trips abroad where he mispresented himself as an official representative of WikiLeaks.

 

He also admits that he stole documents from WikiLeaks staff by copying their hard drives. Among those were documents from Renata Avila, a lawyer who worked for the organization and Mr. Assange.

 

Thordarson continued to step up his illicit activities in the summer of 2011 when he established communication with “Sabu”, the online moniker of Hector Xavier Monsegur, a hacker and a member of the rather infamous LulzSec hacker group. In that effort all indications are that Thordarson was acting alone without any authorization, let alone urging, from anyone inside WikiLeaks.

 

What Thordarson did not know at the time was that the FBI had arrested Sabu in the beginning of June 2011 and threatened him into becoming an informant and a collaborator for the FBI. Thus, when Thordarson continued his previous pattern of requesting attacks on Icelandic interests, the FBI knew and saw an opportunity to implicate Julian Assange.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 1:35 a.m. No.14003666   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3672

>>14003660

 

3/5

 

Later that month a DDoS attack was performed against the websites of several government institutions.

 

That deed was done under the watchful eyes of the FBI who must have authorized the attack or even initiated it, as Sabu was at that point their man. What followed was an episode where it seems obvious that Icelandic authorities were fooled into cooperation under false pretenses.

 

Ögmundur Jónasson was minister of interior at time and as such the political head of police and prosecution and says of the US activities: “They were trying to use things here [in Iceland] and use people in our country to spin a web, a cobweb that would catch Julian Assange”.

 

Jónasson recalls that when the FBI first contacted Icelandic authorities on June 20th 2011 it was to warn Iceland of an imminent and grave threat of intrusion against government computers. A few days later FBI agents flew to Iceland and offered formally to assist in thwarting this grave danger. The offer was accepted and on July 4th a formal rogatory letter was sent to Iceland to seal the mutual assistance.. Jónasson speculates that already then the US was laying the groundwork for its ultimate purpose, not to assist Iceland but entrap Julian Assange:

 

“What I have been pondering ever since is if the spinning of the web had already started then with the acceptance of the letter rogatory establishing cooperation that they could use as a pretext for later visits,” says Jónasson.

 

Icelandic policemen were sent to the US to gather further evidence of this so-called imminent danger and Jónasson says he does not recall anything of substance coming out of that visit and no further attacks were made against Icelandic interests.

 

But the FBI would return.

 

Icelandic officials deceived by the US

 

Towards the end of August, Thordarson was being pursued by WikiLeaks staff who wished to locate the proceeds of online sales of WikiLeaks merchandise. It emerged Thordarson had instructed the funds be sent to his private bank account by forging an email in the name of Julian Assange.

 

Thordarson saw a way out and on August 23d he sent an email to the US Embassy in Iceland offering information in relation to a criminal investigation. He was replied to with a call and confirmed that he was offering to be an informant in the case against Julian Assange.

 

The prosecutors and FBI were quick in responding and within 48 hrs a private jet landed in Reykjavik with around eight agents who quickly set up meetings with Thordarson and with people from the Icelandic State Prosecutors office and the State Police Commissioner.

 

Mid day, Mr. Jónasson, then Minister of Interior got wind of this new visit and requested confirmation that this related to the same case as earlier in the summer. “I asked on what rogatory letter this visit was based and if this was exactly the same case”, Jónasson says in an interview with Stundin. “I then found out that this was of a totally different nature than previously discussed”. He says he put two and two together and said it was obvious that the intention was to lay a trap in Iceland for Assange and other staff members of WikiLeaks.

 

Such actions were according to Jónasson way outside the scope of the agreement and thus he ordered that all cooperation with the agents be stopped and that they would be informed they were acting in Iceland without any authority. Only days later he learned that the agents and prosecutors had not yet left the country so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the US embassy with the demand they halt police work in Iceland and leave the country.

 

They did, but left with the new informant and “star witness”, Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson who flew with them to Denmark.

 

Not a hacker but a sociopath

 

Thordarson has been nicknamed Siggi the hacker in Iceland. That is actually an antonym as several sources Stundin has talked to claim that Thordarson's computer ability is menial. This is supported by several chat logs and documents where he is requesting assistance from others doing rather uncomplicated computer jobs. Once he even sought FBI expert help in uploading a video from his own phone.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 1:36 a.m. No.14003672   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3677

>>14003666

 

4/5

 

The meeting in Denmark was the first of a few where the FBI enthusiastically embraced the idea of co-operation with Thordarson. He says they wanted to know everything about WikiLeaks, including physical security of staff. They took material he had gathered, including data he had stolen from WikiLeaks employees and even planned to send him to England with a wire. Thordarson claimed in interviews he had refused that particular request. It was probably because he was not welcomed anymore as he knew WikiLeaks people had found out, or were about to firmly establish, that he had embezzled funds from the organization.

 

After months of collaboration the FBI seem to have lost interest. At about the same time charges were piling up against Thordarson with the Icelandic authorities for massive fraud, forgeries and theft on the one hand and for sexual violations against underage boys he had tricked or forced into sexual acts on the other.

 

After long investigations Thordarson was sentenced in 2013 and 2014 and received relatively lenient sentences as the judge took into account that he changed his plea at court and pleaded guilty to all counts.

 

According to a psychiatric assessment presented to the court Thordarson was diagnosed as a sociopath, incapable of remorse but still criminally culpable for his actions. He was assessed to be able to understand the basic difference between right and wrong, He just did not seem to care.

 

Incarceration did not seem to have an intended effect of stopping Thordarson from continuing his life of crime. It actually took off and expanded in extent and scope in 2019 when the Trump-era DoJ decided to revisit him, giving him a formal status as witness in the prosecution against Julian Assange and granting him immunity in return from any prosecution.

 

The New York Times Problem

 

In the month following Assange's arrest in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on April 11th 2019 a new rogatory letter arrived in the Ministry of Justice in Iceland. This time the request was to take a formal statement from Thordarson in Iceland in the presence of his lawyer. The Ministry had a new political head at the time, who had limited knowledge of the prior history of the case.

 

Although the Department of Justice had spent extreme resources attempting to build a case against Julian Assange during the Obama presidency, they had decided against indicting Assange. The main concern was what was called “The New York Times Problem”, namely that there was such a difficulty in distinguishing between WikiLeaks publications and NYT publications of the same material that going after one party would pose grave First Amendment concerns.

 

President Donald Trump's appointed Attorney general William Barr did not share these concerns, and neither did his Trump-appointed deputy Kellen S. Dwyer. Barr, who faced severe criticism for politicizing the DoJ on behalf of the president, got the ball rolling on the Assange case once again. Their argument was that if they could prove he was a criminal rather than a journalist the charges would stick, and that was where Thordarson’s testimony would be key.

 

In May 2019 Thordarson was offered an immunity deal, signed by Dwyer, that granted him immunity from prosecution based on any information on wrong doing they had on him. The deal, seen in writing by Stundin, also guarantees that the DoJ would not share any such information to other prosecutorial or law enforcement agencies. That would include Icelandic ones, meaning that the Americans will not share information on crimes he might have committed threatening Icelandic security interests – and the Americans apparently had plenty of those but had over the years failed to share them with their Icelandic counterparts.

 

In any event, Assange has never been suspected of any wrongdoing in Iceland. Stundin has seen confirmation of this from the District Prosecutor in Iceland, the Reykjavik Metropolitan Police. Assange has no entry in the LÖKE database of any police activity linked to an individual collected by the Icelandic State Police Commissioner from 2009-2021.

 

Assange's lawyer also inquired in the Icelandic Foreign Ministry if the points in his updated indictment where Iceland is referred to as NATO country 1 meant that his case had any relevance to Icelandic membership to NATO, the bilateral defense agreement between USA and Iceland or any national security interests. All such connections were dismissed in a reply from the defense attache at the Ministry.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 1:37 a.m. No.14003677   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>14003672

 

5/5

 

Immunity and a new crimespree

 

According to information obtained by Stundin the immunity deal between DoJ and Thordarson was presented at the Headquarters of the Reykjavik police where the only role of the Icelandic policeman was to confirm the identity of Thordarson before leaving him alone with his lawyer in the back room where he met the US delegation.

 

It is as if the offer of immunity, later secured and sealed in a meeting in DC, had encouraged Thordarson to take bolder steps in crime. He started to fleece individuals and companies on a grander scale than ever; usually by either acquiring or forming legal entities he then used to borrow merchandise, rent luxury cars, even order large quantities of goods from wholesalers without any intention to pay for these goods and services.

 

Thordarson also forged the name of his own lawyer on notices to the Company House registry, falsely claiming to have raised the equity of two companies to over 800 thousand US dollars. The aim was to use these entities with solid financial positions on paper in a real estate venture.

 

The lawyer has reported the forgery to the police where other similar cases, along with multiple other reports of theft and trickery, are now piling up.

 

When confronted with evidence of all these crimes by a Stundin journalist he simply admitted to everything and explained it away as normal business practice. He has not yet been charged and is still practicing this “business”. Local newspaper DV reported last week that Thordarson had attempted to order merchandise on credit using a new company name, Icelandic Vermin Control. Despite using a fake name and a COVID face mask he was identified and the transaction was stopped. He was last seen speeding away in a white Tesla, according to DV.

 

https://stundin.is/grein/13627/key-witness-in-assange-case-admits-to-lies-in-indictment/

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 1:48 a.m. No.14003717   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9844

>>13922273

Expand terror status to include all of Hezbollah

 

JAMES PATERSON - JUNE 28, 2021

 

In 2020 a NSW man convicted of violent offences escaped being listed a ‘high-risk terrorist offender’ because Australia only lists the External Security Organisation of Hezbollah – and not the whole entity – as a terrorist organisation. The judge in the case said it wasn’t possible to determine whether Ali Haidar merely supported the political wing of the movement.

 

This is just one practical example of why Australia should no longer persist with the fiction that Hezbollah can be neatly divided into discrete entities and should be listed in its entirety as a terrorist organisation, as recommended in a unanimous bipartisan report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security this week.

 

The ESO is responsible for attacks around the world, including a 2012 bombing of an Israeli tourist bus in Bulgaria which killed six people. Last September a dual Australian-Lebanese citizen was convicted in absentia for his role in this attack. That’s why Australia has just listed it for the seventh time since 2003 as a terrorist organisation.

 

But given the ESO’s relationship with Hezbollah leadership, it’s concerning the entire organisation wasn’t listed. Haidar’s case demonstrated the complications of this shortcoming in applying anti-terrorism laws.

 

Experts overwhelmingly reject the idea the ESO operates independently from Hezbollah’s leadership which oversees all the organisation’s activities.

 

Terrorism expert, Emanuele Ottolenghi, claims Hezbollah disseminates funding centrally, indicating a command structure “aware of, and … responsible for, operational costs on the military side.”

 

Australia’s position is isolated internationally. 22 countries and two regional organisations list all of Hezbollah including Five Eyes allies like the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada; like-minded countries including Germany and Japan; and Arab groupings like the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League.

 

The European Union, France and New Zealand at least proscribe the military wing, which provides operational support to terrorist entities like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas’ al Qassam Brigades.

 

While broadening the listing may have implications, agencies like the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation believe it wouldn’t impact their operations. The Australian Federal Police agree the status quo makes it difficult to prosecute someone for terrorism if an organisation isn’t listed.

 

Importantly, international experience show listing all of Hezbollah hasn’t impacted relations with Lebanon. In 2019, the UK listed all of Hezbollah, after previously listing only the ESO like Australia and extending it to the military wing in 2008. Evaluating that decision, then UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the UK’s relationship with Lebanon is as strong as ever.

 

It’s clear Australia can no longer give credence to the superficial notion the ESO is somehow separate from Hezbollah. Hezbollah, in its entirety, should be on Australia’s terror listing.

 

Senator James Paterson is the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security and a Liberal Senator for Victoria.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/expand-terror-status-to-include-all-of-hezbollah/news-story/9e8bc5423f49072cc46814ea915e2f65

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 1:51 a.m. No.14003724   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9882

Opera Australia and tenor sued over child sex offences

 

Kate McClymont - June 28, 2021

 

The nation’s principal opera company and a convicted child sex offender are being sued for the sexual abuse of a former member of the children’s choir, the Supreme Court has heard.

 

Now in her early 40s, the woman was aged 14 and 15 when she was a member of the children’s chorus for Opera Australia in the mid-1990s.

 

Opera tenor David Lewis, then 34, befriended the teenager who confided in him about her traumatic childhood. He then proceeded to groom the girl and to sexually abuse her.

 

The singer was released from jail in December last year after serving a two-year sentence for two counts of sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 16 and three charges of aggravated indecent assault.

 

At his sentencing in 2018, the judge said Lewis had only stopped offending because he had been caught.

 

The first time Lewis touched the teenager, he put his hand inside her underwear as they were standing behind the stage while a performance was going on, the court heard.

 

On one occasion the production’s dance captain saw Lewis receiving oral sex from the teenager in a stairwell at the Sydney Opera House. He said Lewis “immediately took off” in such a hurry he left his shoes behind.

 

According to court documents, the crew member informed the chorus master. Soon after Opera Australia hired a childminder who was told by the company: “The most important thing is that you keep the children away from the adults and the adults away from the children.”

 

The opera company now finds itself being sued for breaching its duty of care to the young singer.

 

Employees at Opera Australia have previously complained to the Herald that concerns about Lewis’s behaviour had fallen on deaf ears. “Opera Australia is like the Catholic Church in miniature,” said one.

 

However, Opera Australia has maintained that when police requested Lewis’s personnel records, his files “did not contain any information relating to any complaints against Mr Lewis during his time with the company”.

 

For 25 years, up until his arrest in 2017, Lewis had been a permanent member of the opera’s chorus.

 

Last week Justice Christine Adamson ordered Lewis to disclose all of his assets. The court heard he had $10,000 in his bank account, a superannuation fund worth about $75,000, a car valued at $12,000, a $5000 camera and a $2500 wine collection.

 

But he failed to inform the court about the $500,000 he had received as his share of his matrimonial home which was sold in November 2018 while he was in jail.

 

Lewis was “plainly in a position” to know what he did with the $500,000, said Justice Adamson but “he has chosen not to disclose this matter.”

 

Lewis was given two weeks to disclose all of his assets worldwide and to account for his share of the proceeds from the sale of his Lewisham home.

 

The matter will return to court on July 15.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/culture/opera/opera-australia-and-tenor-sued-over-child-sex-offences-20210627-p584mb.html

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:01 a.m. No.14003757   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9882

SA pedophile Geoffrey William Moyle voluntarily pays Cambodian former child sex slave $84,000 for abusing her in overseas brothel

 

He was a foreign aid worker, she was a helpless child sex slave – now this SA man has agreed to pay his former victim more than $80,000 compensation.

 

Sean Fewster - June 28, 2021

 

A former child sex slave has been paid $84,000 compensation by the Adelaide pedophile and foreign aid worker who repeatedly abused her – all without having to file a lawsuit.

 

In an Australian legal first, Geoffrey William Moyle has surrendered to a Cambodian woman’s request that he make financial reparations in addition to serving time behind bars.

 

He has voluntarily paid her the equivalent of 259 million Cambodian riel – understood to be the single largest payment made by a foreigner to a child sex slave in that country’s history.

 

On Monday, Heath Barklay SC, for Moyle, asked the District Court to “give great weight” to that payment when determining Moyle’s inevitable prison term.

 

He argued it could be seen as both a sign of Moyle’s remorse and a reason to show mercy to his client – by reducing the length of his non-parole period.

 

“He should get full credit for the steps he has taken to compensate his victim … he really is doing everything he can to rehabilitate himself,” Mr Barklay said.

 

“This court should want to encourage people to take the same course that Moyle has taken and compensate people whenever possible.

 

“It should take the view this compensation was very generous and reflects his contrition, remorse and good prospects for rehabilitation.”

 

Moyle, 47, of Westbourne Park, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing child slaves held in Cambodian brothels over a three-year period.

 

At that time, he worked as a manager in poverty alleviation and economic progress in developing countries.

 

Moyle filmed his acts and then shared them with others online – those videos secured his arrest, identifying him by the distinctive “skin tag” or growth on his inner thigh.

 

In January, the Cambodian woman made legal history by asking the court to order compensation as part of Moyle’s sentence.

 

Though Commonwealth law permits such a decision, no overseas person had ever made such an application.

 

The woman’s lawyers said ordering compensation was preferable to her launching an expensive civil lawsuit, as many Australian victims do after a court case.

 

On Monday, Mr Barklay said Moyle – who consented to the freezing his assets – had “already made” the payment voluntarily.

 

He asked Judge Paul Cuthbertson to unfreeze Moyle’s other assets, now that negotiations with the victim’s lawyers had concluded.

 

“It’s very much to my client’s credit that he did engage with solicitors for the victim and that he did engage with them meaningfully,” Mr Barklay said.

 

“The reparation is very much a matter on which Your Honour can rely, in conjunction with other evidence, to extend mercy to Moyle in the setting of his non-parole period.”

 

Judge Cuthbertson remanded Moyle in custody for sentencing in August.

 

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-sa/sa-pedophile-geoffrey-william-moyle-voluntarily-pays-cambodian-former-child-sex-slave-84000-for-abusing-her-in-overseas-brothel/news-story/7f67c617810faa94d78aa584ba49a8f1

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:05 a.m. No.14003773   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3786 >>9882

Man accused of slavery lived ‘strange’ but not illegal life, court told

 

Sarah McPhee - June 28, 2021

 

1/2

 

A man accused of enslaving a young woman and coercing her into sexual servitude says she was able to take her collar off with an Allen key and had broken her eardrum while he was training her in mixed martial arts, a court has been told.

 

James Robert Davis, 40, was arrested in March in Armidale, in northern NSW, by Australian Federal Police officers and charged with reducing a person to slavery, intentionally possessing a slave, and causing a person to enter or remain in servitude. This allegedly occurred between 2013 and 2015.

 

Mr Davis, a former soldier, styles himself the patriarch of the “House of Cadifor”, a group of women living in a relationship with him. He was living with six women at the time of his arrest.

 

Mr Davis was on Monday refused bail in the NSW Supreme Court by Justice Mark Ierace, who was concerned about an automatic rifle and ammunition police say they discovered on the property he co-owns, concealed under corrugated iron and in a buried trunk.

 

Officers allegedly found an F88 Steyr rifle – property of the Australian Defence Force – an attached sight, nine magazines each containing 30 rounds, a box containing 175 rounds and three smoke grenades. The judge said no charges had been brought in relation to the discovery.

 

Justice Ierace was also concerned about an allegation that Mr Davis had threatened a witness with retribution if that person approached authorities and said the prosecution case was “reasonably strong”, citing evidence in the complainant’s journal.

 

He said the young woman was initially a “willing participant” in the BDSM lifestyle but, over time, alleges the relationship became abusive and she was “often assaulted against her will”.

 

“The journal entries suggest to me that their author was experiencing a significant degree of psychological coercion,” the judge said.

 

Defence barrister Ian Lloyd, QC, had argued that while his client lived a “strange life … there was nothing illegal about it”. He said the polyamorous relationships were “completely consensual”.

 

“The major complainant only years later made her complaints which are now being categorised by the AFP as slavery,” he said. “My client’s defence is that the lifestyle he led with the major complainant … could never have been categorised in law as slavery.”

 

He said the allegation that the woman, who is the subject of the three charges, “was being pimped out” and forced into prostitution would be categorically denied.

 

“There’s no doubt my client was in a relationship with this lady, but she has grossly exaggerated things in her assertions to the court,” Mr Lloyd said.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:08 a.m. No.14003786   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>14003773

 

2/2

 

He said the lengthy statement from the AFP suggested she was forced to wear a “slave collar” that she could not take off but she also stated she removed the collar when she attended work training elsewhere. Mr Lloyd said the collars were “affectations” and “part of play-acting”, and all the women had Allen keys to take them off when they wanted to.

 

He noted that, while Mr Davis was not charged with any assault offences, the complainant alleged she was assaulted and suffered a broken eardrum.

 

Mr Lloyd said that, according to medical notes before the court, a doctor noted the woman “was wrestling with her boyfriend” and his client’s defence would be “he was training her in mixed martial arts”.

 

“She, of course, puts a different spin on this,” he said.

 

Mr Lloyd also said that Mr Davis had been in custody for 3½ months. The barrister did not expect the case to leave the Local Court this year, and anticipated a lengthy trial in 2023.

 

He said a 36-page statement from a journalist referred to 180 hours of filming of Mr Davis, which the defence would want played to the jury “because it shows that none of these ladies were slaves”. At four hours shown a day, the video itself would take nine weeks, the barrister said.

 

Mr Lloyd said Mr Davis’ sister-in-law had offered a surety of $30,000.

 

Crown prosecutor Rebekah Rodger said concerns about Mr Davis’ access to firearms had escalated after the discovery of the items recently hidden or disposed of on the Armidale property.

 

In opposing bail, she said some witnesses who had given signed statements to police since Mr Davis’ arrest, “may be the subject of retribution from the applicant when previously there was no cause or any risk of violence by the applicant towards those witnesses”.

 

She submitted the complainant had been “forced into sex work” by Mr Davis who allegedly retained all the payment for the services.

 

Ms Rodger said there was also evidence of “complete subjugation”, with the woman allegedly held in a cage against her will and required to wait by the front door of the premises until Mr Davis’ return.

 

“The Crown case is that the allegations by [the woman] go well beyond the parameters of what is acceptable in terms of BDSM, in terms of appropriate,” she said.

 

A trial would hear evidence from the BDSM community regarding safe words and red zones, the prosecutor added.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/man-accused-of-slavery-lived-strange-but-not-illegal-life-court-told-20210628-p584vl.html

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:16 a.m. No.14003810   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9882

Sydney couple who kept woman like ‘slave’ will repay $70,000 and face jail time

 

Laura Chung - June 27, 2021

 

A couple who made a Filipina woman feel like a “slave” by making her work almost six days a week as their nanny, maid and in their shop face lengthy jail sentences and will be forced to repay her $70,000.

 

Husband and wife Joshua and Shiela McAleer, from Rockdale in Sydney’s south paid for the woman’s tourist visa - which included a condition that she did not work for three months - flight and passport. She arrived in May 2013 under the impression she would assist around the couple’s home following the birth of their child.

 

Despite her visa conditions, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began working as a cleaner and carer for the family. When her visa expired, the couple told her she was unable to return to the Philippines until she repaid her initial travel costs.

 

Mrs McAleer told the woman words to the effect of: “If you go back before you pay me back I know people in the Philippines in the police and higher up and who I can hire to harm you or your family if you go home early.”

 

The woman continued her duties and, from November 2014, she also began working in the Filipino grocery store owned by the couple.

 

During this time, she was regularly working six to seven days a week. The couple also imposed strict restrictions on her, including limiting her movements and who she socialised with.

 

The woman was paid $580 a month and from that, $480 went to her family overseas. When the victim complained about her workload she was given an additional $200 per month.

 

In October 2016, the woman fled from the Rockdale home and in July 2017, the federal police received a tip-off from Anti-Slavery Australia.

 

The couple was subsequently issued court attendance notices in October 2019. The pair pleaded guilty to charges relating to their treatment of the woman earlier this year, including conducting a business involving the forced labour of another person between November 26, 2014, and October 30, 2016, and harbouring an unlawful non-citizen.

 

Mrs McAleer also pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in conduct causing another person to enter into or remain in forced labour.

 

On Friday, Judge Tanya Smith delivered her judgment in the Sydney Downing Centre in which she said the couple showed little remorse and their motivation was the “enhancement of their lifestyle”.

 

Judge Smith said the seriousness of the charges needed to be reflected in her sentence “to ensure others are deterred”.

 

Mr McAleer will be forced to repay $25,000 to the victim and faces a two-and-a-half-year sentence.

 

Judge Smith ordered a home detention report before she decides whether he will serve the term behind bars or as an intensive corrections order. His matter will return to court on July 30.

 

Mrs McAleer was sentenced to three years and three months with a non-parole period of 14 months. She is required to repay $45,000 to the victim.

 

The couple were given discounted sentences on account of their early guilty pleas and offer to repay the woman.

 

“The harm and impact suffered by victim went so far beyond an economic one and I have taken this harm into account,” Judge Smith said. “The victim was deprived of their free choice to engage in the labour and was denied … the payment for her work which she was legally entitled.”

 

In her victim impact statement, the woman said before coming to Australia, she had been happy, had job security and her family. Since, she felt anxious and did not trust people.

 

“I did not know when I came that I would have to work 24 hours a day. I did not get paid for my work,” the woman said. “I felt like a slave but I didn’t say anything.

 

“I feel it would have been better not to come [to Australia].”

 

Detective Superintendent Paula Hudson of the human trafficking specialist command said while the AFP is the lead agency for investigating modern slavery, everyone has a role to play to stop it from occurring in Australia.

 

For the financial year 2019 to 2020, the AFP received 223 reports of human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like offences. In the same period this year, the AFP has received 208 reports.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-couple-who-kept-woman-like-slave-will-repay-70-000-and-face-jail-time-20210625-p5846q.html

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:20 a.m. No.14003827   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9856

>>13848125

Former defence minister Brendan Nelson backs ‘revered’ Ben Roberts-Smith

 

Michaela Whitbourn - June 28, 2021

 

Former federal defence minister Brendan Nelson has described Ben Roberts-Smith as “the most respected, admired and revered” Australian soldier in more than half a century and accused the media outlets at the centre of the war veteran’s Federal Court defamation case of trying to tarnish his good reputation.

 

Giving reputation evidence, Dr Nelson, a former director of the Australian War Memorial, said he had become “very concerned” about Mr Roberts-Smith’s mental health in the wake of a series of articles starting in June 2018. The newspapers “seemed to be intent on bringing him down,” and the former soldier had become despondent, anxious and introspective, Dr Nelson said in Sydney on Monday.

 

The former Liberal minister gave evidence on the 15th day of Mr Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial against The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald over articles that he says accuse him of war crimes, and an act of domestic violence against a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair. Mr Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier, denies all wrongdoing. The newspapers are seeking to rely chiefly on a defence of truth, but also say he is not identified in some of the articles.

 

An at-times emotional Dr Nelson said “I’ll try not to get angry about this” as he recounted a media conference in 2018 about an exhibition on First Nations Australians’ military service, at which there was “not one single question” on that topic but a string of questions about Mr Roberts-Smith. He was asked if he regretted his support for Mr Roberts-Smith and if the former soldier should have his Victoria Cross removed.

 

“It has been devastating, the impact on him,” Dr Nelson said. He added he was cautioned by a very senior public figure, “not the prime minister”, seemingly about his public association with Mr Roberts-Smith.

 

Dr Nelson said he recognised Mr Roberts-Smith “immediately” in two stories in June 2018 referring to a soldier dubbed “Leonidas”. The articles referred to tattoos and a “fearsome warrior”, Dr Nelson said, and it was clear to him this was a reference to the two-metre-tall Mr Roberts-Smith, a “tall, imposing, warrior-like figure” who has a number of tattoos.

 

Prior to the articles, Mr Roberts-Smith was “the most respected, admired and revered Australian soldier in more than half a century, since Keith Payne, VC, of the Vietnam War”, he said.

 

Dr Nelson recalled that “wherever he went … he was the subject and the object of what I would describe as reverential mobs”, and he witnessed people at the War Memorial “fall into his arms” describing their experiences.

 

He said he was “certainly unaware of any such behaviour” when asked about the allegation of domestic violence, which has been vehemently denied by Mr Roberts-Smith.

 

Dr Parbodh Gogna, formerly chief medical officer and surgeon-general of the Department of Home Affairs and Australian Border Force in Canberra, said via audiovisual link from the Bahamas that there was a “large cloud” hanging over his friend Mr Roberts-Smith since the articles and he had become withdrawn and apprehensive.

 

During re-examination by his own barrister on Monday, Mr Roberts-Smith said he “didn’t ask for any of my medals nor did I expect any recognition” for doing his job, and it was “disgraceful” of the newspapers to challenge the basis for his Victoria Cross in court.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith has taken leave during the trial from his position as general manager of media company Seven Queensland. His employer, Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes, is chairman of the Australian War Memorial and is funding the defamation case.

 

The Federal Court streamed the trial online on Monday after the NSW government imposed a two-week lockdown in Greater Sydney on Saturday following a growing cluster of COVID-19 cases linked to Bondi. The parties and their lawyers remained in court.

 

Barrister Nicholas Owens, SC, for the media outlets, said the “bottom line … with much regret”, was the proceedings would likely need to be halted temporarily within days because most witnesses to be called by the newspapers would be affected by hard border closures or quarantine restrictions in their home states.

 

“As soon as things are open again, we’re ready to go,” Mr Owens said

 

“This case is bedevilled by the virus,” Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Bruce McClintock, SC, said.

 

Justice Anthony Besanko will make a decision about the timetabling of the trial on Tuesday.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/former-defence-minister-brendan-nelson-backs-revered-ben-roberts-smith-20210628-p584v4.html

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:26 a.m. No.14003854   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4005 >>9856 >>9875

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial headed for adjournment due to COVID lockdown

 

Jamie McKinnell - 28 June 2021

 

The defamation trial of war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith is "bedevilled by the virus", his barrister says and appears headed towards an unavoidable adjournment.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Canberra Times, along with three journalists, over a series of articles they published in 2018.

 

But as his legal team closed their case on Monday after three weeks of evidence, the barrister for two of the newspapers, Nicholas Owens SC, told the Federal Court the prospect of their witnesses travelling to Sydney had been complicated by the city's COVID lockdown.

 

"The problem is, although people could get here, there is a prohibition on them returning home or a very great burden placed on them in relation to their travel home," he said.

 

Mr Owens said witnesses from WA, Victoria and Queensland would either be barred completely from returning after being in Sydney or endure various forms of hotel or home quarantine.

 

He accepted it was an "entirely unsatisfactory" position, but one which the court had been "driven to by unforeseen circumstances".

 

Mr Roberts-Smith's barrister, Bruce McClintock SC, said it was "a terrible quandary" and his client very much wanted the case to continue and conclude.

 

"This case is bedevilled by the virus I'm afraid," he said.

 

Mr McClintock said he was not willing to forego the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses in person, making audio-visual link appearances unlikely.

 

Justice Anthony Besanko has adjourned the trial until Tuesday morning to consider the situation.

 

Earlier, former Liberal leader Brendan Nelson told the court Mr Roberts-Smith was "the most respected, admired and revered Australian soldier in more than half a century".

 

Dr Nelson, who was the director of the Australian War Memorial from 2012, was today called as a witness by Mr Roberts-Smith's legal team to give evidence about his reputation prior to the articles.

 

"Ben Roberts-Smith, VC, MG, was the most respected, admired and revered Australian soldier in more than half a century since Keith Payne VC of the Vietnam war," he told the Federal Court in Sydney.

 

"Wherever he went, wherever it was, he was the subject and the object of what I would regard as reverential mobs," he continued.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith has denied all allegations in the stories, including alleged involvement in unlawful killings in Afghanistan, bullying of Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) colleagues, and domestic violence against his then-lover in a Canberra hotel in 2018.

 

Dr Nelson said he "immediately" knew the first article was about Mr Roberts-Smith, despite him not being identified by name, due to references like his tattoos and stature.

 

Dr Nelson explained his concern for Mr Roberts-Smith after noticing changes in him following the publication.

 

"He'd become despondent, he'd become anxious, introspective, much less willing to engage in public events which he had willingly given of himself to previously, and the invitations to do so had declined," Dr Nelson said.

 

The proceedings have moved online in the fourth week of the trial due to Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown, with members of the public excluded from the city's Law Courts building.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-28/ben-roberts-smith-brendan-nelson-defamation-trial/100248658

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:34 a.m. No.14003895   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3901 >>9844

Secret notes claim Bob Hawke ‘informed’ for US government

 

JAMIE WALKER - JUNE 28, 2021

 

1/2

 

Bob Hawke acted as an “informer” to the US government while boss of the Australian trade union movement and president of the ALP, a new study of declassified diplomatic cables claims.

 

Cameron Coventry, a researcher at Federation University in Ballarat, sheds light on how the man who was to later become a Labor prime minister fed intelligence to the Americans about labour movement figures and Australian government policy, even tip-offs that a secretive US military installation was to be targeted by union militants.

 

He was considered by Washington to be a “bulwark” against anti-US sentiment in the 1970s.

 

When the Whitlam government hit the skids, Mr Hawke floated with US diplomats the possibility he would abandon the ALP to pursue a British-style national unity government to face a deepening economic crisis in Australia, according to the documents accessed by Mr Coventry.

 

In conversation with diplomats from the US embassy in Canberra in late 1974, he recounted receiving “several feelers about political realignment” including one from his lifelong friend, Sir Peter Abeles, described in the subsequent cable to Washington as the “controversial industrialist who is a financial supporter of the Labor Party but whose personal philosophy fits him within the Liberal Party context”.

 

After the dismissal of the Labor government in 1975, Mr Hawke briefed US diplomats that he would “move over” from the ACTU to replace Gough Whitlam as leader. NSW Labor powerbroker John Ducker, another alleged informant for the Americans, later told them that the “cabal conspiracy” to install Mr Hawke failed because the plotters made “a bad mistake to tip their hand prematurely”, according to an American cable cited by Mr Coventry.

 

A tutor and PhD candidate at Federation University who worked on the political staff of former South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, he turned up the tranche of confidential diplomatic communications from 1973-79 held by the US National Archives and Records Administration.

 

His paper, The “Eloquence” of Robert J. Hawke: United States Informer, is published in the Australian Journal of Politics and History.

 

“Evidently, Hawke was an informer to the allied foreign power in the 1970s,” Mr Coventry writes. “Conversations he had with United States diplomats involved information that was pertinent to the preservation of American interests in Australia.

 

“As a well-placed insider in the ACTU and Labor, Hawke offered greater leverage in the pursuit of these interests, including the protection of multinational corporations operating in Australia.”

 

But Labor elder Stephen Loosely, a former ALP national president and senator, said it was “nonsense” to describe Australia’s longest-serving Labor prime minister as an informer. After entering parliament in 1980, the late Mr Hawke was PM from 1983-91, presiding over four election victories and a reform program that shaped modern Australia.

 

“He was an Australian first, last and always, as was John Ducker,” said Mr Loosely, a senior visiting fellow at the US Studies Centre, University of Sydney.

 

“For someone half a century later to label these people informants, when they can’t defend themselves, simply doesn’t hold water. Anyone who has ever been active at any level of politics or unionism understands that.”

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:35 a.m. No.14003901   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>14003895

 

2/2

 

In Mr Hawke’s time as a US “informer”, Mr Coventry alleges he divulged sensitive information about the 1972-75 Whitlam government, Malcolm Fraser’s 1975-83 Coalition government, the Labor Party and trade union movement touching on industrial relations policy, the economy and foreign policy.

 

In 1974, a cable had him leaking to US ambassador Marshall Green details of a union campaign to target American multinationals, such as carmaker Ford; a year earlier, the US labour attache in Canberra had contacted Mr Hawke about a possible industrial dispute at the North West Cape military base in Western Australia, a highly-classified communications station for the US nuclear submarine fleet.

 

According to the cable cited by Mr Coventry, Mr Hawke “volunteered to intervene informally” and expressed “concern and surprise” at the militancy of the workers concerned.

 

In another exchange with the labour attache in December 1974, he predicted the Whitlam government would fall inside a year, having confided that Australia’s stagflation-hit economy was “on the verge” of collapse.

 

At other times, Mr Hawke expressed his desire for an “independent non-aligned Australia” while privately telling the Americans he wanted to expand the ANZUS co-defence pact beyond a “purely military alliance”.

 

The US embassy in Canberra reasoned this “duality” was to garner left-wing support for his preselection for a seat in federal parliament.

 

The cables show the US was a “discreet advocate” encouraging Mr Hawke as early as August 1974 to pursue “tripartism” between unions, employers and the government, laying the groundwork for his Labor government’s signature accord on wages with the union movement.

 

Mr Hawke told US diplomats in 1974 that, contrary to his public protestations as ACTU president, union wage demands were driving the rampant inflation that had choked the Australian economy, delivering counter-cyclic lows in growth.

 

One example of how Mr Hawke, working with Mr Ducker, the president of the NSW Labor Party and ACTU vice-president, eased “heightened anti-American sentiment” came during Frank Sinatra’s 1974 tour after the US crooner launched his “hookers of the press” sexist diatribe at several women journalists.

 

In retaliation, unions grounded Sinatra’s private jet in Melbourne, demanding he apologise. The popular view was that Mr Hawke engaged in protracted, boozy negotiations with Oil’ Blue Eyes to reach a settlement.

 

The cables say the US embassy reached a deal with Mr Hawke to end the standoff, no apology was sought from Sinatra and that most of Mr Hawke’s time was spent with the singer’s lawyer.

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/secret-notes-claim-bob-hawke-informed-for-us/news-story/84cc958a7093f0764ad5b6d2a2c8c501

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 2:41 a.m. No.14003916   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

>>13979916

‘You can count on us’: WA consul general spruiks Japanese relationship as China tensions grow

 

Hamish Hastie - June 28, 2021

 

Tokyo’s diplomat in Western Australia has trumpeted the shared values between Australia and Japan, saying they could be counted on for stable trade relations.

 

In the face of escalating trade and diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Australia, WA’s Japanese consul general Toru Suzuki stressed his home nation was one of Australia’s earliest – and still one of WA’s most important – trade partners, offering stability and certainty.

 

“Stability is a key word in terms of Japan and WA,” he said.

 

“You can count on us and we count on you.”

 

Mr Suzuki, who has been in Perth for 2½ years after stints as a diplomat in Finland, Norway and Hawaii, said this stability came from shared values which differed from China’s.

 

“Japan and Australia share the same values, rule of law is most important, and democracy and freedom of speech and human rights and free trade are most important. So it is easy for us,” he said.

 

“Australia is a natural partner.”

 

Much of the trade focus over the past 12 months has been on Australia’s biggest export customer, China, and certain sectors such as meat, grain and wine that have been caught in the crosshairs of a an escalating dispute after the federal government called for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 in May last year.

 

According to Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation statistics, Japan is WA’s second-largest trading partner with trade totalling $20.4 billion in 2020, making up more than 9 per cent of the state’s total trade for that year.

 

That figure still pales in comparison to trade with China, which was valued at $109.7 billion, or 50 per cent of WA’s total.

 

In 1989, Japan became the state’s first LNG customer and remains the largest, taking 47 per cent of LNG production ahead of China’s 30 per cent.

 

Mr Suzuki said Japan’s investment in WA, particularly in LNG, demonstrated the country’s commitment to the state.

 

“You look at iron ore, sure, over 80 per cent goes to China and the money comes from China to WA but as we said, our relations are long term and long term commitments and stable,” he said.

 

Mr Suzuki said co-operations didn’t stop at trade and the country’s shared values leached into defence, with the Pacific ocean a common asset.

 

Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, Defence Minister Peter Dutton and their Japanese counterparts held bilateral talks on foreign affairs and defence issues where they discussed the security of the Indo-Pacific region and denounced “coercive and destabilising behaviour” in the East China Sea.

 

Mr Dutton has previously said conflict with China should not be discounted as the superpower increasingly flexed its military muscles over Taiwan.

 

Mr Suzuki said a major area of opportunity for new trade was hydrogen, with Japan committing to carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

He said he had already discussed opportunities with the WA government.

 

“You have a huge land and there is a lot of sun and vicinity to Asian market,” he said.

 

“It is interesting to see just a few years ago when I arrived here, nobody discussed hydrogen.

 

“Japanese businessmen at that time didn’t want to discuss hydrogen but now everyone is keen to promote it.”

 

Mr Suzuki was also confident that when international borders reopened Japanese airline ANA would restart its direct Perth to Tokyo route that began in 2019 but was scrapped because of COVID-19.

 

He said he expected tourism to grow when the flights came back online thanks, in part, to quokkas.

 

“The quokka is now very popular in Japan, when I met [former tourism minister Paul] Papalia, he was in charge of tourism I just proposed the idea that the quokka can be a good ambassador to promote tourism,” he said.

 

“Now quokka is very popular in Japan and many people want to come to Perth.”

 

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/western-australia/you-can-count-on-us-wa-consul-general-spruiks-japanese-relationship-as-china-tensions-grow-20210618-p582by.html

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 3:09 a.m. No.14003983   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3987 >>2112 >>9875

Australian scientist, the sole foreign researcher at the Wuhan lab, speaks out

 

Michelle Cortez - June 28, 2021

 

1/4

 

Danielle Anderson was working in what has become the world’s most notorious laboratory just weeks before the first known cases of COVID-19 emerged in central China. Yet, the Australian virologist still wonders what she missed.

 

An expert in bat-borne viruses, the Victorian is the only foreign scientist to have undertaken research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s BSL-4 lab, the first in mainland China equipped to handle the planet’s deadliest pathogens. Her most recent stint ended in November 2019, giving Anderson an insider’s perspective on a place that’s become a flashpoint in the search for what caused the worst pandemic in a century.

 

The emergence of the coronavirus in the same city where institute scientists, clad head-to-toe in protective gear, study that exact family of viruses has stoked speculation that it might have leaked from the lab, possibly via an infected staffer or a contaminated object. China’s lack of transparency since the earliest days of the outbreak fuelled those suspicions, which have been seized on by the US. That’s turned the quest to uncover the origins of the virus, critical for preventing future pandemics, into a geopolitical minefield.

 

The work of the lab and the director of its emerging infectious diseases section – Shi Zhengli, a long-time colleague of Anderson’s dubbed “Batwoman” for her work hunting viruses in caves – is now shrouded in controversy. The US has questioned the lab’s safety and alleged its scientists were engaged in contentious gain-of-function research that manipulated viruses in a manner that could have made them more dangerous.

 

It’s a stark contrast to the place Anderson describes, in this first interview where she shares details about working at the lab.

 

She says half-truths and distorted information have obscured an accurate accounting of the lab’s functions and activities, which were more routine than how they’ve been portrayed in the media.

 

“It’s not that it was boring, but it was a regular lab that worked in the same way as any other high-containment lab,” Anderson says. “What people are saying is just not how it is.”

 

Life-long goal

 

Now at Melbourne’s Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Anderson began collaborating with Wuhan researchers in 2016, when she was scientific director of the biosafety lab at Singapore’s Duke-NUS Medical School. Her research – which focuses on why lethal viruses like Ebola and Nipah cause no disease in the bats in which they perpetually circulate – complemented studies under way at the Chinese institute, which offered funding to encourage international collaboration.

 

A rising star in the virology community, Anderson, 42, says her work on Ebola in Wuhan was the realisation of a life-long career goal. Her favourite movie is Outbreak, the 1995 film in which disease experts respond to a dangerous new virus – a job Anderson says she wanted to do. For her, that meant working on Ebola in a high-containment laboratory.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 3:10 a.m. No.14003987   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4003

>>14003983

 

2/4

 

Anderson’s career has taken her all over the world. After obtaining an undergraduate degree from Deakin University in Geelong, Australia, she worked as a lab technician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, then returned to Australia to complete a PhD under the supervision of eminent virologists John Mackenzie and Linfa Wang. She did post-doctoral work in Montreal, before moving to Singapore and working again with Wang, who describes Anderson as “very committed and dedicated,” and similar in personality to Shi.

 

“They’re both very blunt with such high moral standards,” Wang says by phone from Singapore, where he’s the director of the emerging infectious diseases program at the Duke-NUS Medical School. “I’m very proud of what Danielle’s been able to do.”

 

On the ground

 

Anderson was on the ground in Wuhan when experts believe the virus, now known as SARS-CoV-2, was beginning to spread. Daily visits for a period in late 2019 put her in close proximity to many others working at the 65-year-old research centre. She was part of a group that gathered each morning at the Chinese Academy of Sciences to catch a bus that shuttled them to the institute about 30 kilometres away.

 

As the sole foreigner, Anderson stood out, and she says the other researchers there looked out for her.

 

“We went to dinners together, lunches, we saw each other outside of the lab,” she says.

 

From her first visit before it formally opened in 2018, Anderson was impressed with the institute’s maximum biocontainment lab. The concrete, bunker-style building has the highest biosafety designation, and requires air, water and waste to be filtered and sterilised before it leaves the facility. There were strict protocols and requirements aimed at containing the pathogens being studied, Anderson says, and researchers underwent 45 hours of training to be certified to work independently in the lab.

 

The induction process required scientists to demonstrate their knowledge of containment procedures and their competency in wearing air-pressured suits. “It’s very, very extensive,” Anderson says.

 

Entering and exiting the facility was a carefully choreographed endeavour. Departures were made especially intricate by a requirement to take both a chemical shower and a personal shower –the timings of which were precisely planned.

 

Special disinfectants

 

These rules are mandatory across BSL-4 labs, though Anderson noted differences compared with similar facilities in Europe, Singapore and Australia where she’s worked. The Wuhan lab uses a bespoke method to make and monitor its disinfectants daily, a system Anderson was inspired to introduce in her own lab. She was connected via a headset to colleagues in the lab’s command centre to enable constant communication and safety vigilance – steps designed to ensure nothing went awry.

 

However, the Trump administration’s focus in 2020 on the idea the virus escaped from the Wuhan facility suggested that something went seriously wrong at the institute, the only one to specialise in virology, viral pathology and virus technology of the some 20 biological and biomedical research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

 

Virologists and infectious disease experts initially dismissed the theory, noting that viruses jump from animals to humans with regularity. There was no clear evidence from within SARS-CoV-2’s genome that it had been artificially manipulated, or that the lab harboured progenitor strains of the pandemic virus. Political observers suggested the allegations had a strategic basis and were designed to put pressure on Beijing.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 3:13 a.m. No.14004003   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4029

>>14003987

 

3/4

 

And yet, China’s actions raised questions. The government refused to allow international scientists into Wuhan in early 2020 when the outbreak was mushrooming, including experts from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, who were already in the region.

 

Beijing stonewalled on allowing World Health Organisation experts into Wuhan for more than a year, and then provided only limited access. The WHO team’s final report, written with and vetted by Chinese researchers, played down the possibility of a lab leak. Instead, it says the virus probably spread via a bat through another animal, and gave some credence to a favoured Chinese theory that it could have been transferred via frozen food.

 

Never sick

 

China’s obfuscation led outside researchers to reconsider their stance. Last month, 18 scientists writing in the journal Science called for an investigation into COVID-19’s origins that would give balanced consideration to the possibility of a lab accident. Even the Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says the lab theory hadn’t been studied extensively enough.

 

But it’s US President Joe Biden’s consideration of the idea – previously dismissed by many as a Trumpist conspiracy theory – that has given it newfound legitimacy. Biden called on America’s intelligence agencies last month to redouble their efforts in rooting out the genesis of COVID-19 after an earlier report, disclosed by the Wall Street Journal, claimed three researchers from the lab were hospitalised with flu-like symptoms in November 2019.

 

What the world wants China to disclose

 

Anderson says no one she knew at the Wuhan institute was ill towards the end of 2019. Moreover, there is a procedure for reporting symptoms that correspond with the pathogens handled in high-risk containment labs.

 

“If people were sick, I assume that I would have been sick – and I wasn’t,” she says. “I was tested for coronavirus in Singapore before I was vaccinated, and had never had it.”

 

Not only that, many of Anderson’s collaborators in Wuhan came to Singapore at the end of December for a gathering on Nipah virus. There was no word of any illness sweeping the laboratory, she says.

 

“There was no chatter,” Anderson says. “Scientists are gossipy and excited. There was nothing strange from my point of view going on at that point that would make you think something is going on here.”

 

The names of the scientists reported to have been hospitalised haven’t been disclosed. The Chinese government and Shi Zhengli, the lab’s now-famous researcher, have repeatedly denied that anyone from the facility contracted COVID-19. Anderson’s work at the facility, and her funding, ended after the pandemic emerged and she focused on the novel coronavirus.

 

‘I’m not naive’

 

It’s not that it’s impossible the virus spilled from there. Anderson, better than most people, understands how a pathogen can escape from a laboratory. SARS, an earlier coronavirus that emerged in Asia in 2002 and killed more than 700 people, subsequently made its way out of secure facilities a handful of times, she says.

 

If presented with evidence that such an accident spawned COVID-19, Anderson “could foresee how things could maybe happen,” she says. “I’m not naive enough to say I absolutely write this off.”

 

And yet, she still believes it most likely came from a natural source. Since it took researchers almost a decade to pin down where in nature the SARS pathogen emerged, Anderson says she’s not surprised they haven’t found the “smoking gun” bat responsible for the latest outbreak yet.

 

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is large enough that Anderson says she didn’t know what everyone was working on at the end of 2019. She is aware of published research from the lab that involved testing viral components for their propensity to infect human cells. Anderson is convinced no virus was made intentionally to infect people and deliberately released – one of the more disturbing theories to have emerged about the pandemic’s origins.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 3:27 a.m. No.14004029   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>14004003

 

4/4

 

Gain of function

 

Anderson did concede that it would be theoretically possible for a scientist in the lab to be working on a gain of function technique to unknowingly infect themselves and to then unintentionally infect others in the community. But there’s no evidence that occurred and Anderson rated its likelihood as exceedingly slim.

 

Getting authorisation to create a virus in this way typically requires many layers of approval, and there are scientific best practices that put strict limits on this kind of work. For example, a moratorium was placed on research that could be done on the 1918 Spanish flu virus after scientists isolated it decades later.

 

Even if such a gain of function effort got clearance, it’s hard to achieve, Anderson says. The technique is called reverse genetics.

 

“It’s exceedingly difficult to actually make it work when you want it to work,” she says.

 

Anderson’s lab in Singapore was one of the first to isolate SARS - CoV - 2 from a COVID patient outside China and then to grow the virus. It was complicated and challenging, even for a team used to working with coronaviruses that knew its biological characteristics, including which protein receptor it targets. These key facets wouldn’t be known by anyone trying to craft a new virus, she says. Even then, the material that researchers study – the virus’s basic building blocks and genetic fingerprint – aren’t initially infectious, so they would need to culture significant amounts to infect people.

 

Despite this, Anderson does think an investigation is needed to nail down the virus’s origin once and for all. She’s dumbfounded by the portrayal of the lab by some media outside China, and the toxic attacks on scientists that have ensued.

 

One of a dozen experts appointed to an international taskforce in November to study the origins of the virus, Anderson hasn’t sought public attention, especially since being targeted by US extremists in early 2020 after she exposed false information about the pandemic posted online. The vitriol that ensued prompted her to file a police report. The threats of violence many coronavirus scientists have experienced over the past 18 months have made them hesitant to speak out because of the risk that their words will be misconstrued.

 

The elements known to trigger infectious outbreaks – the mixing of humans and animals, especially wildlife – were present in Wuhan, creating an environment conducive for the spillover of a new zoonotic disease. In that respect, the emergence of COVID-19 follows a familiar pattern. What’s shocking to Anderson is the way it unfurled into a global contagion.

 

“The pandemic is something no one could have imagined on this scale,” she says. Researchers must study COVID’s calamitous path to determine what went wrong and how to stop the spread of future pathogens with pandemic potential.

 

“The virus was in the right place at the right time and everything lined up to cause this disaster.”

 

https://bit. ly/3dnpO5D

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 3:31 a.m. No.14004038   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9875

Australia's COVID-19 response team holds urgent meeting amid outbreak

 

Renju Jose - June 28, 2021

 

SYDNEY, June 28 (Reuters) - Australia's COVID-19 response committee is due to hold an emergency meeting on Monday as outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant across the country prompted a lockdown in Sydney and renewed restrictions elsewhere.

 

More than 20 million Australians, or around 80% of the population, are now under some form of lockdown or COVID-related restrictions as officials grapple with COVID-19 flare-ups in almost every state or territory.

 

"I think we are entering a new phase of this pandemic, with the more contagious Delta strain," federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Monday, adding Australia was facing a "critical time" in its fight against COVID-19.

 

The national security committee, chaired by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, would be briefed by the country's chief medical officer later on Monday, Frydenberg said.

 

Sydney, Australia's most populous city and the capital of New South Wales (NSW) state, began a two-week lockdown over the weekend.

 

Eighteen new local cases were reported in NSW on Monday, compared with 30 a day earlier, taking the total infections in the latest outbreak to 130 since the first case was detected nearly two weeks ago in a driver for overseas airline crew.

 

"We have to be prepared for the numbers to bounce around and we have to be prepared for the numbers to go up considerably," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

 

"With this strain, we are seeing almost 100% transmission within households."

 

An initial two-day lockdown in the northern city of Darwin, scheduled to end on Tuesday, was extended to Friday after the Delta variant of the virus was found in a fly-in, fly-out mine worker.

 

Queensland and South Australia reintroduced mandatory masks and restricted home gatherings, following a similar move by Western Australian officials for state capital Perth. Restrictions remain in place in Victoria state capital Melbourne and national capital Canberra.

 

Queensland reported two new locally acquired cases while Western Australia and Northern Territory detected one each.

 

A health alert was issued over the weekend for hundreds of passengers after an infected Virgin Australia cabin crew member worked on five flights covering Brisbane, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

 

Australia has so far fared much better than many other developed countries in tackling the spread of the coronavirus, with just over 30,500 cases and 910 deaths.

 

Lockdowns, tough social distancing rules and swift contact tracing have helped suppress prior outbreaks but the fast-moving Delta variant has alarmed authorities.

 

NSW police fined 44 people for breaching stay-at-home orders, including a pair of naked sunbathers who became lost in a national park after being startled by a deer.

 

"Not only did they require assistance from police to rescue them, they also both received a ticket for A$1,000 ($759)," NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told reporters.

 

($1 = 1.3180 Australian dollars)

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/queensland-tightens-covid-19-curbs-amid-australian-outbreak-2021-06-28/

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 3:42 a.m. No.14004059   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4068 >>9870

>>13914986

Perth’s billion-dollar train deal linked to exploited Uighur workers in China

 

Marta Pascual Juanola - June 28, 2021

 

1/2

 

A billion-dollar train deal between Western Australia and manufacturing giant Alstom is the latest government contract in Australia to face scrutiny for its use of Chinese suppliers linked to exploited Uighur workers.

 

It comes weeks after revelations Melbourne’s transport authority advised the Victorian government to continue buying parts from a contractor using Uighur labour to avoid additional costs and delays in its $2.4 billion train project.

 

However, Alstom is adamant its supply chain is free of exploitation and has updated its contracts with suppliers and contractors to include modern slavery clauses.

 

The McGowan government signed a $1.3 billion contract with Alstom to build and maintain Perth’s next fleet of trains in December 2019 in what was hailed as a milestone for its flagship Metronet project.

 

It has since been revealed the French multinational will build the network’s C-Series railcars using parts produced by a Chinese firm which sourced workers from Xinjiang through a controversial government program to re-educate minorities.

 

KTK Group is a major supplier of train fittings headquartered in Changzhou, near Shanghai, and supplies parts to projects in Victoria, NSW, and Queensland.

 

The company was blacklisted by the US Commerce Department last year for its role in China’s “campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labour, and high technology surveillance against Uighurs, Kazakhs and other members of Muslim minority groups”.

 

In correspondence with Bombardier, another train manufacturer that has since merged with Alstom – obtained by WAtoday under Freedom of Information laws – KTK confirmed it had acquired almost 80 workers from Nilka province in Xinjiang between 2018 and 2019 for its factory in Jiangsu, about 4000 kilometres away, through Beijing’s Xinjiang Aid program.

 

But it claimed the workers had voluntarily signed contracts that complied with China’s labour laws.

 

“KTK has employed one dedicated cook in order to respect and satisfy the tradition of Muslim food and provided new decorated dormitories to them free of charge,” the supplier said.

 

The number of workers from Xinjiang currently employed by KTK is unclear and the company did not respond to requests for comment from this masthead.

 

Researchers estimate about 80,000 members of persecuted minorities have been moved out of their homes or detention camps in Xinjiang to work at factories under the program, which has been marketed as a “poverty alleviation” initiative for re-educated Uighurs.

 

In March last year, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank published a world-leading study that found Alstom, along with 82 companies including Nike and BMW, was benefiting from the forced labour of Uighur people. The report found KTK employed about 40 Uighur workers in 2019.

 

According to the study, the workers often lived in segregated dormitories, underwent Mandarin and ideological training, were constantly under surveillance and barred from practicing their religion.

 

Chinese state media claims participation in the program is voluntary, but workers who have fled the country described living in fear of being sent back to detention while working at the factories.

 

The Chinese constitution does not explicitly ban slavery, forced labour, and human trafficking but it recognises a citizen’s right to freedom, work, and rest. However, workers’ exploitation often goes unreported due to the government’s role in programs like Xinjiang Aid.

 

(continued)

Anonymous ID: 0605e0 June 28, 2021, 3:46 a.m. No.14004068   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>14004059

 

2/2

 

The documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show Alstom carried out an investigation into the matter and determined KTK had not used forced labour.

 

But China experts are questioning whether Australian companies are able to appropriately determine the veracity of KTK’s claims given the lack of transparency in Xinjiang.

 

The issue was recently highlighted by UN-appointed human rights experts in a letter to KTK chairman Jinkun Yu, where they claimed multinational companies were not allowed to freely access Chinese factories to check no human rights abuses were being committed.

 

“We are concerned these workers who are allegedly forcefully relocated across the country are subjected to forced labour as part of what the government describes as development and poverty alleviation policy,” it read.

 

Alstom, which has updated its contract with suppliers to include specific modern slavery clauses, directed all queries to the WA Public Transport Authority.

 

A PTA spokeswoman said the agency had received assurances from Alstom “they are confident in the integrity of their supply chain and the conduct of their suppliers”.

 

“Under its contract with the state government, Alstom is obligated to comply with the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018,” she said.

 

The Act requires companies with a turnover of $100 million or more to publish annual statements outlining the risk of forced labour in their supply chains but does not impose financial penalties.

 

But human rights and trade advocates say the current legislation doesn’t go far enough and argue Australia should appoint an anti-slavery commissioner in line with other jurisdictions like the UK, which recently rolled out additional requirements on companies buying goods from Xinjiang.

 

A review of the Act is set to take place later this year but it is unclear whether any significant changes will be made, and a bill by Senator Rex Patrick to ban goods produced in the Uighur-majority region has since fallen through.

 

WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said she was aware of Alstom’s plans to use KTK components to manufacture Metronet railcars but an independent audit commissioned by the company last year had identified no forced labour issues that “necessitate a change in supplier”.

 

“We have learnt from the approach of other states and the Public Transport Authority has been proactive in seeking assurances from Alstom on the integrity of their supply chain,” she said.

 

“I have asked the Public Transport Authority to closely monitor the situation and continue to work with Alstom to ensure all suppliers uphold the high standards expected by the WA community.”

 

Half of the components used to build the new C-Series railcars at Metronet’s Bellevue facility will be sourced locally in WA, while the remaining parts will be brought in from overseas.

 

It is not the first time a public transport project in WA has been in the headlines over issues tied to China.

 

Last year the McGowan government was forced to dump a $206 million mobile data deal with Chinese telco Huawei after a US trade ban on the company meant it couldn’t finish the job.

 

The company has since been linked to exploited Uighurs through its use of components manufactured by at least five companies using thousands of workers transferred from Xinjiang.

 

https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-s-billion-dollar-train-deal-linked-to-exploited-uighur-workers-in-china-20210616-p581id.html

Anonymous ID: 8a5408 June 28, 2021, 11:22 a.m. No.14006907   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7558 >>9875

Australian researcher’s stunning Covid origin find

 

James Morrow - June 27, 2021

 

A team of Australian researchers have published a scientific paper proving that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus appears to be best adapted to attack human cells, raising even more questions about the pandemic’s origins.

 

The scientists from Flinders University and La Trobe used powerful computers to model the protein receptors in a number of animal species to see how the coronavirus’s spike protein attached itself to them.

 

The theory was that if the coronavirus attached itself readily to an animal like a bat or a pangolin, it would have likely been the species that the bug used to make its leap into the human population.

 

However, the modelling found that the coronavirus’s spike protein was best suited to attacking protein receptors in humans.

 

“The computer modelling found the virus’s ability to bind to the bat ACE2 protein was poor relative to its ability to bind human cells,” said Flinders University epidemiologist and vaccine researcher Professor Nikolai Petrovsky.

 

“This argues against the virus being transmitted directly from bats to humans.

 

“Hence, if the virus has a natural source, it could only have come to humans via an intermediary species which has yet to be found,” he said.

 

While the researchers also found that the coronavirus could attach relatively easily to pangolins, as well as domestic animals like cats and dogs, the findings will add weight to the increasingly repeated charge that the coronavirus escaped the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology in an accident involving “gain of function” research.

 

“Overall, putting aside the intriguing pangolin ACE2 results, our study showed that the COVID-19 virus was very well adapted to infect humans,” Prof Petrovsky said.

 

Studies such as this one are also being increasingly looked at in light of what appears to have been an orchestrated campaign to suppress any science that would implicate the Wuhan lab.

 

Early on in the pandemic, a number of scientists signed an open letter to one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, The Lancet, attacking what they called ‘conspiracy theories suggesting that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin’.

 

The letter was used by media organisations as well as internet platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to justify censoring any discussion of the so-called “lab leak” theory as misinformation or fake news.

 

However it was later revealed that one of the letter’s chief organisers was British scientist Peter Daszak, who ran a New York-based health organisation that was responsible for funnelling millions of dollars to researchers in China, including at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, to examine bat coronaviruses.

 

The paper, In silico comparison of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-ACE2 binding affinities across species and implications for virus origin, appears in the journal Scientific Reports.

 

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/coronavirus/australian-researchers-stunning-covid-origin-find/news-story/f15deec77f1655701575dd9995038b91

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92388-5

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92388-5.pdf

Anonymous ID: 6a099f June 28, 2021, 12:47 p.m. No.14007558   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>14006907

>“The computer modelling found

 

No, no, NO!

Did we forget Garbage in Garbage out?

Did we forget the US alone was to have over 2 million deaths based on computer models?

Anonymous ID: 8a5408 June 28, 2021, 11:54 p.m. No.14012112   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9875

>>14003983

Chinese Consulate General in Sydney Tweet

 

The accusation of "Wuhan laboratory leaking the novel coronavirus" has no factual basis.

 

“I do not believe the virus was manmade.” said #Australia's Dr. Danielle Anderson, the #Wuhan Institute of Virology's last foreign scientist, about the Institute.

 

https://twitter.com/ChinaConSydney/status/1409704171658350594

 

https://twitter.com/business/status/1409530275982282753

Anonymous ID: b850fd June 29, 2021, 12:22 a.m. No.14012226   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9856

>>13848125

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial halted for a month because of Sydney's COVID-19 outbreak

 

Jamie McKinnell - 29 June 2021

 

The high-stakes defamation trial of war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has been paused for at least a month due to Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown.

 

Justice Anthony Besanko today adjourned the case for mention in three weeks, with a view to the trial starting again one week later.

 

It comes after the Federal Court heard three weeks of evidence and Mr Roberts-Smith's legal team closed his case on Monday.

 

The court has been told defence witnesses due to travel to Sydney would either be barred from returning home or endure quarantine impediments.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times and three journalists over reports published in 2018 which contained serious allegations about his deployments to Afghanistan.

 

The Victoria Cross recipient has denied allegations of unlawful killings in Afghanistan, bullying of his former soldier colleagues in the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) and committing an act of domestic violence against his then-lover in 2018 at a Canberra hotel.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith's legal team closed his case on Monday after three weeks of evidence, about a third of which he spent under tense cross-examination in the witness box.

 

But Nicholas Owens SC, the barrister for two of the newspapers, yesterday said the lockdown meant interstate defence witnesses would either be barred from returning home or face quarantine impediments if they travelled to Sydney.

 

The judge agreed the real issue was not the expiry of Sydney's stay-at-home orders, but the hard borders with other states and self-isolation requirements.

 

"In my opinion, it would not be a fair or proportionate exercise to enforce the attendance of these witnesses in the circumstances and at this point in time," Justice Besanko told the court today.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith's barrister, Bruce McClintock SC, yesterday conceded the adjournment was "a tragedy", but said he wasn't willing to cross-examine over video link and witnesses had a right for their lives not to be "completely upended".

 

Publisher Nine Entertainment is relying on a truth defence and will call 21 former or current SAS operatives, Mr Roberts-Smith's ex-wife Emma Roberts, and the woman with whom he had an affair.

 

A group of people known as "the Afghan witnesses" will also give evidence over video link from Afghanistan at some point in the proceedings.

 

Mr Owens today said the security situation in Afghanistan was "deteriorating rapidly" and Nine is concerned to have the evidence of the witnesses, currently in Kabul, heard as soon as possible.

 

They are expected to speak about the death of a farmer named Ali Jan, who Mr Roberts-Smith is accused of interrogating, handcuffing and kicking over a cliff during a 2012 mission in the village of Darwan.

 

Nine alleges he then entered into an agreement with other soldiers that Ali Jan be executed, before covering up the conduct by making it look like he was shot during a legitimate engagement.

 

Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, has told the court a man shot dead during that mission was a suspected Taliban "spotter" who had been hiding in a cornfield.

 

The adjournment will cause a blowout in the trial's lengthy duration, which was already estimated to take up to 10 weeks.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-29/ben-roberts-smith-defamation-trial-paused-due-to-covid-outbreak/100251262

Anonymous ID: b850fd June 29, 2021, 12:27 a.m. No.14012249   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9870

Calls rise for Australia to rethink hostile approach to China as losses mount

 

Hostile actions lead to great economic loss: businesses

 

Chu Daye and Xiong Xinyi - Jun 28, 2021

 

Calls for the Australian government to pursue in-depth communication with China based on mutual understanding are rising among business communities and local officials in Australia, as Canberra's hostile approach to bilateral ties with China continues to inflict pain on local businesses.

 

The calls came as some in Australia continue to advocate decoupling from China as the two countries continue to spar over trade disputes at the WTO. Tension between the two countries has and will continue to seriously hurt the Australian economy, businesses warned.

 

Australia's move to tear up the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) pact with Victoria State in April has blocked direct foreign investment in the state, which would definitely affect employment and infrastructure development in Victoria, Alex Lim, president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Victoria (CCCV), told the Global Times in an interview on Monday.

 

Lim said that the COVID-19 pandemic has already left the economy in Victoria in a state of limbo for a long time, and a perceived decline in direct foreign investment as a result of the move would greatly affect the economy of Victoria and even Australia.

 

The Chinese community in Australia believes that more efforts should be done for the two countries to discuss the bilateral issues, with more patience and understanding being put into the discussion and practice, Lim said.

 

Australian exporters are also seeking to retain positive relationships with China, as China remains a critical trade partner for Australian businesses in several key sectors.

 

A spokesperson from Woodside Energy, one of Australia's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, said that Woodside is maintaining strong business-to-business relationships with its Chinese customers, who are continuing to buy Australian LNG.

 

In a statement sent to the Global Times on Thursday, the company said that it has very productive ongoing relationships in China.

 

"We see China as a key strategic partner for the development of Australia's - and Woodside's - resources and firmly believe such partnerships deliver value for all. Woodside expects its strong relationships with Chinese counterparties to remain important into the future," read Woodside's statement.

 

Together with iron ore, LNG is the most valuable commodity export of Australia. Relatively stable trade of the two commodities has helped ensure Australia's exports to China stay at a high level despite growing trade disputes that engulf a long list of goods.

 

Calls for the Australian federal government to reflect on its China strategy also came from local officials.

 

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan has urged the federal government to stop antagonizing China, as China remains Australia's top trade partner, Reuters reported on June 15.

 

The growing calls came as losses for Australian businesses continue to mount.

 

A strained China-Australian diplomatic relationship has gravely affected Australian exports to China, especially wine and seafood, said Lim, adding that the group's members who own wine export businesses have experienced losses close to 50 percent, and losses for seafood exporters have reached 50-90 percent.

 

Members with hospitality businesses including hotels, student accommodation, rentals, restaurants and other services supporting the student community have had to close or scale down the size of their operations, said Lim, noting that rentals in Melbourne have fallen 20-30 percent.

 

The education sector has been significantly affected, with the number of students from China being reduced, which has affected businesses not only linked to the Chinese community but also across the economy.

 

Lim said that Australian universities have had to roll back spending and cap the number of employees due to the decrease in student enrollment, which is reducing tuition income, as the number of Chinese students dropped significantly amid tense bilateral relations.

 

Australia has repeatedly taken discriminatory measures against Chinese companies, politicized trade and investment, and heightened cross-border investment reviews based on so-called national security concerns.

 

China has harshly criticized the Australian government's unreasonable provocations against China and stressed that Canberra must rectify its mistakes to improve bilateral ties.

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday that the Australian side bears full responsibility for successive setbacks in China-Australia relations over the past several years.

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202106/1227301.shtml

Anonymous ID: b850fd June 29, 2021, 12:37 a.m. No.14012285   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9875

‘We’ll take it’: Countries line up to take CSL’s AstraZeneca vaccine

 

Emma Koehn - June 28, 2021

 

Biotechnology giant CSL says its Australian-made AstraZeneca vaccines will not go to waste with other countries eager to take its finished doses after the government restricted the jab to people over 60.

 

The $130 billion biotech will finish its 50 million dose run of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the first months of 2022 and then plans to turn its focus to big investments that will help support the nation through future pandemics.

 

Senior vice president of operations at CSL’s vaccine arm Seqirus, Chris Larkins, said even though the government’s latest advice to restrict the vaccine to those over 60 had reduced demand in Australia, he expected the doses would be used overseas.

 

He said governments of other nations had been calling to say “we’ll take it”.

 

“This product will be manufactured, it will go to other countries who probably need it more than we do anyway and it will go to save lives in those countries,” Mr Larkins said.

 

The Australian government has the final say in where surplus doses are distributed.

 

Once CSL finishes production, it will turn its focus to other investments that could help support the country during future health crises.

 

The company’s planned $800 million cell-based vaccine plant at Tullamarine in Melbourne is on track to open in the middle of 2026. It will produce cell-based influenza vaccines, which have significant production advantages over CSL’s current egg-based doses, which have to be planned more than 18 months in advance.

 

Mr Larkins said there were no plans to build production capacity for mRNA vaccines at the site at the moment. However, CSL is in talks with government and is considering whether it could “potentially provide something that could be valuable for Australia” in the mRNA area.

 

Once the Tullamarine site launches in 2026, it could also be used to produce other pandemic products, including booster shots for coronavirus if they are still needed.

 

“That plant is really looking for the next pandemic, not necessarily the one we’re currently in at this period in time,” Mr Larkins said.

 

While CSL has been firmly in the spotlight due to its involvement in COVID vaccines, it has also spent the past year working on billion-dollar projects to boost the core of its business, which is the production of blood plasma products and the development of new drugs.

 

These include its new “base fractionation” facility at Broadmeadows in Victoria, which is a $900 million project that will allow the company to process 9.2 million litres of blood plasma each year when fully operational, preparing the raw materials for its life-saving medicines.

 

Also, the ASX-listed giant will bring the firm’s laboratories and office spaces together in a $341 million project in Melbourne’s Elizabeth Street as part of a new research precinct set to open in 2023.

 

While the firm has not developed its own COVID vaccine product, Mr Larkins said CSL’s technology could still be used in coronavirus projects. CSL has a proprietary adjuvant, or substance added to boost the immune response of vaccines, called MF59, which it had hoped to use in the University of Queensland’s now-shelved coronavirus project.

 

CSL has already been in talks with a range of other companies about using MF59 in other projects, including COVID vaccines. “It definitely has a potential and a future,” Mr Larkin said. CSL shares were ahead 1.1 per cent in mid afternoon trading to $288.01.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/we-ll-take-it-countries-line-up-to-take-csl-s-astrazeneca-vaccine-20210625-p5847j.html

Anonymous ID: 5c5e06 June 29, 2021, 8:42 a.m. No.14014121   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Hello AusAnons, UK bread here.

We have dated ALL of the Q London pics to Christmas 2013, one of them to Christmas Day (+/- 1 day).

We are asking for all anons' help. If you know of any persons of interest from FVEY countries who visited London around Christmas 2013.

 

CURRENT DATING OF LONDON PICS:

LisaMI6/TrafCam pics: Christmas Day2013

RED BUS: mid-NOV to Jan5

PICCADILLY: mid-DEC to Jan5

CORINTHIA: poss same as TrafCam/Lisa

WINTER WONDERLAND: 2013 season

 

Please drop us a line if you have any info on persons visiting London during Christmas 2013. Thanks very much. Cheers fam.

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:14 p.m. No.14019831   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Notables

are not endorsements

 

#16 - Part 1

Australian Politics and Society - Part 1

>>13741392 Australian intelligence suspect 500 incidents of foreign meddling in Australian politics, society

>>13741393 Threat of major cyber attack on critical infrastructure real, Home Affairs Department secretary Mike Pezzullo warns

>>13741399 Senate President Scott Ryan tells estimates hearing that Parliament was hit by brute force 'attack' in March 2021

>>13741464 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post: Holding Down the Fort - Do you know where the U.S. embassy is located in Australia? U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, perform embassy reinforcement drills with Marines role playing as notional potential enemy combatants at Kangaroo Flats Training Area, NT, Australia

>>13748743 Australian Embassy in Kabul packs up as troops prepare to leave

>>13748794 Right-wing terror threat still on the rise, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess tells Senate estimates hearing

>>13748898 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post: U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force - Darwin provided a color guard to carry the national colors and Marine Corps colors for the Battle of The Coral Sea Commemorative Service in Darwin, NT, Australia

>>13756589 US eyes Top End military build-up to combat China threat - US wants to store munitions and defence equipment in Australia’s Top End

>>13764310 Video: ADF ‘crucial’ as criminal groups seek to ‘exploit’ confidential health information - Sky News Australia

>>13773516 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet - Honoured to meet with Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP at Parliament House earlier today.

 

>>13780408 U.S. says looking at Quad meeting in fall focused on infrastructure

>>13780479 Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews Tweet: #ransomware is a significant cyber threat to Australia and was a key topic of discussion in my recent meeting with US AG Merrick Garland.

>>13780479 U.S. Department of Justice - Readout of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s Call with Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews, May 28, 2021

>>13788675 Before Dan Andrews slipped and suffered serious injury, he was one Australia's most prominent politicians. But he's only been seen TWICE since… and it's fuelling sinister conspiracies about what REALLY happened

>>13797905 Caroline Kennedy in running for Ambassador to Australia: reports

>>13798146 Australian spies using cutting-edge technology to foil the next terror attack with the nation on alert amid a rise in radicalisation

>>13798261 Video: 'Act of stupidity and extremely disrespectful': Five charged after Sydney WWI Cenotaph vandalised

>>13798266 Video: Men arrested after disrespecting Martin Place Cenotaph - 9 News Australia

>>13798383 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: Today is Memorial Day in the United States. We express our deepest gratitude for the courageous Americans who have given their lives in military service.

>>13798383 U.S. Department of Defense Tweet: Today we commemorate Memorial Day and honor the sacrifices of all those who ensured the freedom we enjoy today. We will never forget. #HonorThem

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:15 p.m. No.14019838   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 2

Australian Politics and Society - Part 2

>>13805301 Department of Defence Tweet Australia's largest warfighting exercise, #TalismanSabre, is back! International forces will arrive gradually, ahead of the exercise commencing on 14 July 2021

>>13805305 TalismanSabre Tweet: We are back! International forces participating in #TalismanSabre will arrive into Australia throughout June and July for mandatory quarantine, ahead of the exercise!

>>13805305 TalismanSabre Tweet: #TalismanSabre is critical in maintaining #YourADF’s preparedness and combat readiness however due to #COVID19, #TS21 will look a bit different from previous years.

>>13805309 Department of Defence Press Release: International forces to arrive ahead of Exercise Talisman Sabre

>>13805319 Exercise Talisman Sabre 21 - The largest bilateral combined training activity between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and United States (US) military

>>13805319 Talisman Sabre -MAGIC SWORD- https://qanon.pub/?q=Operation%20Specialists - https://qanon.pub/?q=magic

>>13812169 Scott Morrison and US President Joe Biden likely to meet at G7-plus next week

>>13819311 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: Honoured and delighted to catch up with Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP at Australian Minerals Industry Parliamentary Dinner

>>13819343 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post: U.S. Marines, Sailors, Australian Defence Force, the U.S Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and Australia's Department of Foriegn Affairs and Trade conducted Exercise Crocodile Response 2021, demonstrating our shared ability to provide disaster relief to nations in the Indo-Pacific region.

>>13833109 Washington Post Live - The Path Forward: Global Education with Julia Gillard, Former Australian Prime Minister & Board Chair, Global Partnership for Education

>>13833109 Q Post # 2401 - How many articles has the WASH POST released attacking the 'Q' movement? - https://qanon.pub/?q=washingtonpost - https://qanon.pub/?q=wapo

 

>>13833433 Video: Unprecedented co-operation between Australian and US law enforcement brings down Sydney drug lord, Zhen Tao Qi

>>13833648 U.S. Navy to christen USS Canberra littoral combat ship on Saturday, 5 June 2021

>>13833655 U.S. Department of Defense Press Release - Navy to Christen Littoral Combat Ship Canberra

>>13833661 Video: Austal USA - USS Canberra (LCS 30) Launch - Austal USA

>>13841161 Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her Australian economic policy adviser Sean Turnell will both face Supreme Court without legal representation

>>13845713 Video: Police in Victoria ‘crossed a very dangerous and scary line’ - Rowan Dean, Sky News Australia

>>13848153 Qantas infiltrated by organised criminals, says intelligence report

>>13848187 US Navy christens only warship named for a foreign capital - new littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30)

>>13848191 USS Canberra a shiny new symbol of US-Australia relations

>>13848196 Video: Austal USA hosts christening ceremony for the future USS Canberra - fox10tv.com

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:17 p.m. No.14019841   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 3

Australian Politics and Society - Part 3

>>13855012 Video: Organised crime dealt ‘heavy blow’, says PM, after global police sting cracks open ‘encrypted’ app, AN0M

>>13855034 Video: Operation Ironside: AFP, FBI take down mafia, bikie members in ‘sting of the century’

>>13855171 Operation Ironside Part 1: How Australian Federal Police and the FBI busted organised criminals on AN0M app

>>13855187 Operation Ironside Part 2: 96 seconds that saw the Australian criminal underworld implode under Operation Ironside

>>13855206 Operation Ironside Part 3: Criminal ‘influencers’ who took the AFP and FBI bait by using the AN0M app

>>13855451 Japanese troops join US, Aust forces in Darwin for military exercises

>>13855659 Video: Operation Ironside: Inside the operation that busted the Anom criminal network wide open - Terry Goldsworthy

>>13862138 FBI, Europol, AFP react to global take down of mafia, bikie members in ‘sting of the century’

>>13869260 Scott Morrison set to go to Washington later this year for Quad talks with US, India & Japan

>>13869348 Push for Hezbollah terrorism listing gains boost from ASIO

>>13877053 Scott Morrison eyes September trip to US to mark ANZUS anniversary

>>13877062 Queen to make rare appearance at G7 summit before meeting with Scott Morrison

 

>>13877073 Video: Australia welcomes more US troops at naval bases - 9 News Australia

>>13877087 Video: Push to boost number of US marines in the Top End - Sky News Australia

>>13877358 Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo wants to tackle cybercrime like the British Navy fought pirates

>>13877365 ‘This is what bad looks like’: Major company ignored Australia’s cyber spy agency after hack - Australian Signals Directorate director-general Rachel Noble

>>13889054 Video: Scott Morrison holds historic meeting with US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at G7 summit

>>13890952 High Commissioner to the UK George Brandis Tweet: Today, the Prime Minister visited St Illogan Cemetery to lay a wreath for the 8 Australians remembered there. You can learn their stories here - http://bit. ly/3gffqPm

>>13901857 Video: arrested - Latest chapter in the Friendly Jordies (Jordan Shanks) vs. John 'Bruz' Barilaro legal battle - friendlyjordies

>>13907688 Scott Morrison raises the alarm about escalating cyber attacks with British intelligence chiefs

>>13907733 ‘A new dawn’: Australia and Britain agree on historic trade deal

>>13907765 New federal laws introduced to protect people from extreme online abuse, trolls

>>13907815 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: Great to exchange candid views with Defence Minister @PeterDutton_MP on how to further strengthen (Japan and Australia) defence cooperation.

>>13915005 Scott Morrison, Boris Johnson agree in-principle to free trade deal

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:18 p.m. No.14019844   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 4

Australian Politics and Society - Part 4

>>13915354 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post: #MATESHIP

>>13915354 Video: 9 News Darwin - The unshakable mateship between we Aussies and the Americans stretches back more than a century. And today there's no better place to illustrate this great military alliance turned love affair than Darwin.

>>13915358 U.S. Marines, Australians, Japanese kick off trilateral Exercise Southern Jackaroo

>>13915359 TalismanSabre Tweet: #YourADF is gearing up for #TalismanSabre by honing the skills of Australia’s amphibious force on Exercise Sea Explorer! The tiered training program coordinates the insertion of sailors, soldiers and vehicles by air and sea.

>>13915363 Exercise explores all options: Exercise Sea Explorer - Captain Dan Mazurek - defence.gov.au

>>13915368 Video: Capturing the beachhead - Exercise Sea Explorer - Department of Defence Australia

>>13922273 ‘Hate speech’: More right-wing extremist groups could be declared terrorist organisations after Labor and Liberal MPs unanimously back listing of neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division

>>13922430 Former Australian spy 'Witness K' pleads guilty to conspiring to reveal classified information

>>13922539 Arthur Sinodinos leads US tribute to wartime air crew - Bakers Creek Memorial Observance - 40 American soldiers killed on June 14, 1943 after plane crash 8km south of Mackay, Queensland

>>13922542 Mackay community holds ceremony to mark 78th anniversary of wartime Bakers Creek crash

>>13922572 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post: “Enter Exercise Southern Jackaroo”

>>13922572 Video: 9 News Darwin - Almost 800 Aussie diggers, U-S Marines and Japanese self-defence experts will join together over the next fortnight for some serious Top End training.

 

>>13929660 Witness K speaks for first time in open court as he pleads guilty to breaching secrecy laws

>>13929767 United States Consulate General in Melbourne Tweet: We’re flying the BLM flag today in celebration of Juneteenth, in recognition of the continuing struggle for equity, and with the genuine determination to make things right. - CG Mike Kleine #Juneteenth2021

>>13933956 The Gympie, Queensland, Australia pyramid.

>>13934173 Gladys Berejiklian dating high-profile lawyer Arthur Moses

>>13936589 Witness K: Australian spy avoids jail in East Timor espionage scandal

>>13936670 Video: NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team arrests Sydney man who allegedly supports the Islamic State terrorist organisation

>>13949332 PM Scott Morrison in cyber defence push with Britain’s MI6

>>13956029 ‘The game is back on’: How does spying work in Australia? What do our spies do, and who are their bosses?

>>13962479 U.S. Marines Tweet: Today, @MrfDarwin #Marines, Australian Defence Force @DeptDefence soldiers and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force @Japan_GSDF soldiers began Exercise Southern Jackaroo 2021 in Australia. This exercise increases the capacity to mutually support one another during combined operations.

>>13962495 U.S. Department of Defense Tweet: Back together with the mates. @MrfDarwin Marines arrive at Nhulunbuy, Australia to kick off exercise Darrandarra to increase interoperability with @DeptDefence and train/reinforce embassies to respond to crises & contingencies in the Indo-Pacific region.

>>13963472 Alleged Asian drug syndicate kingpin Tse Chi Lop fighting extradition from Netherlands to Australia

>>13979955 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin Facebook Post: From June 11-24, U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, participated in Exercise Southern Jackaroo at Mount Bundey Training Area, NT, Australia. The Marines teamed up with the Australian Army and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force

>>14003717 Expand terror status to include all of Hezbollah: Senator James Paterson

>>14003895 Bob Hawke acted as an “informer” to the US government while boss of the Australian trade union movement and president of the ALP, a new study of declassified diplomatic cables claims

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:19 p.m. No.14019849   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 5

Australian and Regional Resignations

>>13949437 Sony Music Australia CEO and chairman Denis Handlin departs company abruptly amid investigation into workplace culture, allegations of bullying and harassment

 

#16 - Part 6

Malka Leifer Extradition and Prosecution

>>13773137 Malka Leifer’s lawyers want medical records of one of her accusers

>>13773142 Former Israeli Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman to be prosecuted for intervention in Malka Leifer extradition

 

#16 - Part 7

Australian Government Sexual Assault Allegations

>>13748811 19 alleged incidents of misconduct involving federal MPs, staff reported to Australian Federal Police - 12 identified as “sensitive investigations”

>>13826855 Ex-Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins admitted to hospital over mental health concerns

>>13949411 ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold to consider police brief on Brittany Higgins case

 

#16 - Part 8

George Papadopoulos Tweets, Alexander Downer and SPYGATE Revelations

>>13773218 Debstar @DbBourke Tweet: Treasonous @AlexanderDowner is now famous for all the wrong reasons. Bring on #Nuremberg2 trials for #CrimesAgainstHumanity

>>13773218 Alexander Downer Tweet: Replying to @DbBourke - Two possibilities here. One, I’m a secret lefty trying to destroy the Democratic world or two Papa is a wing nut!

>>13890929 George Papadopoulos Tweet: US spy boss James Robert Clapper Jr makes secretive visit to Australia - ABC News (Keep this story in mind. Will make sense shortly)

>>13890929 (2016) US spy boss James Robert Clapper Jr makes secretive visit to Australia

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:20 p.m. No.14019853   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 9

Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry and Ben Roberts-Smith Defamation Trial - Part 1

>>13748711 Ben Roberts-Smith wiped laptop days after being told to retain documents, court told

>>13748743 Australian Embassy in Kabul packs up as troops prepare to leave

>>13805129 Ben Roberts-Smith’s old comrade ordered to hand documents to media

>>13812141 War crimes investigators to monitor Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial

>>13812152 National security concerns likely to keep Ben Roberts-Smith trial offline

>>13819262 Ben Roberts-Smith's lawyers say ex-wife leaked photos of soldiers drinking from prosthetic leg

>>13819270 Ben Roberts-Smith ‘extremely paranoid and obsessive’ over inquiry, courts hears

>>13826910 Peter Dutton's war crimes meddling risks truth telling: researcher Dr Samantha Crompvoets

>>13826954 Ben Roberts-Smith launches proceedings against ex-wife on eve of trial

>>13848125 ‘Corrosive jealousy and lies’ behind Ben Roberts-Smith war crime claims, court told

 

>>13848138 Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial told soldiers drank beer from dead Afghan man's prosthetic leg

>>13855419 Court told Ben Roberts-Smith to seek huge payout after reputation ‘smashed and destroyed’

>>13855472 Afghan translators for Australian diggers now targets of Taliban threats

>>13862445 Ben Roberts-Smith's case against ex-wife complicated after judge raises 'relationship' with lawyer, Monica Allen

>>13869304 Ben Roberts-Smith’s claims ‘inherently implausible’ media’s barrister tells court

>>13869327 Ben Roberts-Smith: veteran launches attack on ex-colleagues

>>13877222 Ben Roberts-Smith tells defamation trial he did not kick handcuffed man off cliff

>>13884615 Australia owes Afghani interpreters for their combat bravery - former SAS team commander Harry Moffitt

>>13884625 Video: Scott Morrison gives strongest indication yet that Afghan interpreters will be offered protection

>>13907636 Ben Roberts-Smith tells defamation trial he's disgusted by domestic violence claims

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:21 p.m. No.14019856   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 10

Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry and Ben Roberts-Smith Defamation Trial - Part 2

>>13907649 Roberts-Smith hired investigator to check woman was having an abortion

>>13915189 Ben Roberts-Smith used pre-paid phones due to phone hacking fears, defamation trial hears

>>13922371 Ben Roberts-Smith tells defamation trial soldiers were allowed to use 'whatever force was necessary'

>>13929610 Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case: Elite soldiers ‘covered up’ cliff execution, court told

>>13929643 PDF: MP Andrew Hastie set to testify on allegedly ‘blooded’ rookie soldier in Ben Roberts-Smith case

>>13936569 Video: Media’s barrister circles Ben Roberts-Smith, campaign by campaign

>>13949295 Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial resumes after war veteran tests negative for COVID

 

>>13955973 Ben Roberts-Smith denies murdering Afghan prisoner and watching execution of elderly man, court hears

>>13979274 Ben Roberts-Smith in fiery exchange with Channel 9 lawyer - calling accusations he cheated on bravery medal to cover up killing teenager “disgusting”

>>13979328 Ben-Roberts Smith punched woman in face in Canberra hotel room, court told - ‘The whole story is a fabrication,’ soldier says

>>13979455 Afghan translators who helped military flown to Australia on protection visas

>>13984690 There are two versions of the facts at Ben Roberts-Smith's defamation trial. Neither is kind to the SAS

>>14003827 Former defence minister Brendan Nelson backs ‘revered’ Ben Roberts-Smith

>>14003854 Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial headed for adjournment due to COVID lockdown

>>14012226 Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial halted for a month because of Sydney's COVID-19 outbreak

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:22 p.m. No.14019861   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 11

Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition

>>13883003 PDF: Julian Assange case: UK lawmakers ask Biden to drop charges against WikiLeaks founder

>>13907606 ‘Slow motion murder’ in family’s desperate race to free Julian Assange

>>13922224 Julian Assange’s family speaks out on Tucker: He committed ‘no specific crime at all’

>>13943323 Incarceration ‘grotesque’: Assange partner Stella Moris

>>13984451 Assange's fiancée urges Biden to free WikiLeaks founder to show U.S. has changed

>>13995522 Julian Assange plans to marry partner Stella Moris in prison

>>14003656 Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson - Major witness in United States’ Department of Justice case against Julian Assange admits to fabricating key accusations in the indictment against Wikileaks founder

 

#16 - Part 12

Cardinal George Pell and Vatican Financial Scandal Allegations

>>13779858 Australia’s Holy See ambassador Chiara Porro under fire for saying she wants to change ‘narrative’ away from George Pell

>>13826883 Australian media companies fined a combined $1.1m for contempt of court breaches in Cardinal Pell conviction reports

>>13855510 Cardinal Pell Represents the Life of the Church in Our Age: Father Raymond J. de Souza

>>13862203 Cardinal Pell: in prison I forgave my accusers, faith kept me alive

>>13862252 CARDINAL PELL’S LEGACY: Raymond J. de Souza

>>13869104 EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Pell calls for better fiscal accountability at the Vatican

>>13922290 Cardinal Pell at 80 - George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:23 p.m. No.14019863   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 13

Australia / China Tensions - Part 1

>>13741432 United States Consulate General in Melbourne Tweet: Thanks to the Uyghur Association of Victoria for hosting us over the weekend. We’re proud to stand by our Uyghur friends and speak out for those arbitrarily detained in Xinxiang Province. - CG Mike Kleine

>>13748272 Latest research by ‘bat woman’ shows novel coronavirus closer to pangolins, 'unlikely from Wuhan lab' - Leng Shumei - globaltimes.cn

>>13748489 Mike Pompeo Tweet: The CCP was actively engaged in viral research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Every piece of evidence points to a leak from this laboratory. The CCP has done everything to cover up and deflect blame, even blaming the U.S. Prove it. They must be held accountable.

>>13748562 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 24, 2021

>>13748782 ‘A matter of time’: New Zealand’s foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta warns China ‘storm’ could be coming

>>13748789 Video: Jacinda Ardern says differences with China becoming 'harder to reconcile' - Guardian News

>>13756731 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 25, 2021

>>13756806 Backstage manipulators: Western press’ guide to creating anti-China rumors on hot issues, or out of nothing - Bai Yunyi - globaltimes.cn

>>13757012 Carping about Port of Darwin sends anti-investment message: Landbridge CEO Mike Hughes

>>13764382 Sarah Zheng Tweet: police check the credentials of the Australian ambassador to China Graham Fletcher before he seeks to enter the Beijing court where Chinese Australian writer Yang Hengjun will be tried in closed court today

 

>>13764382 Sarah Zheng Tweet: Video: Fletcher denied access to the trial, told it’s because of Covid-19 but the foreign ministry earlier told them it’s because the case involves national security. He says this is “deeply regrettable and concerning and unsatisfactory.”

>>13764410 Lijian Zhao Tweet: Video: The smear campaign against #Xinjiang is based on nothing but lies. (Australian Strategic Policy Institute)

>>13764416 Video: The Chinese Forced Labor Lie Collapses - Redacted Tonight / Lee Camp

>>13764427 Alleged Chinese agent of foreign interference Huifeng 'Haha' Liu wins reprieve in court fight to stay in Australia

>>13773025 Eight reasons I think Covid escaped from the lab - Peter Jennings, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

>>13773035 Has NZ chosen China trade over mateship with us? - Mark Watson, Bondi Partners

>>13773053 Closed-door trial of Yang Jun’s espionage case ‘a common practice,’ Canberra urged not to interfere: FM - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn

>>13773056 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 27, 2021

>>13773154 American support for Australia is a mirage - Bruce Haigh - globaltimes.cn

>>13773196 Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defence says Australia’s Taiwan comments ‘provocative’

 

>>13773196 China slams Australia for its provocative actions on Taiwan-related issues - Wang Xinjuan - eng.chinamil.com.cn

>>13773348 Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd Speaks at China Trade Forum - Daniel Y. Teng - theepochtimes.com

>>13773357 RCEP Regional Development Media Think Tank Forum was held in Haikou - China Daily - cn.chinadaily.com.cn

>>13779799 Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison to build bridges over China

>>13780035 Don't take on China alone, says ex-Australia PM Kevin Rudd

>>13780350 Foreign Minister Marise Payne labels Dr Yang Hengjun’s trial a case of arbitrary detention

>>13790460 NZ to back Australia in WTO China tariff dispute

>>13793285 Taiwan wants FTA with Australia amid rising tensions with Beijing: Edward Tao, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brisbane

>>13793334 Australian Yang Hengjun proclaims his innocence after Chinese espionage trial

>>13797457 GT Voice: NZ doesn’t need a lesson in China trade from Australia - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:23 p.m. No.14019865   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 14

Australia / China Tensions - Part 2

>>13797481 Has Kevin Rudd betrayed China-Australia relations?: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13797769 China trying to drive a wedge between Australia and NZ, Scott Morrison says

>>13797794 Jacinda Ardern stresses New Zealand, Australia are in lockstep on China

>>13797852 Australia, New Zealand Call On China to Let UN Visit Xinjiang

>>13804841 China blasts Scott Morrison, Jacinda Ardern over ‘irresponsible remarks’

>>13804843 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on May 31, 2021

>>13804852 Wellington continues its pragmatic policy despite Canberra pressure - Ning Tuanhui - globaltimes.cn

>>13804899 ‘No concrete proof’ of espionage: Malaysia on verge of Huawei 5G deal

>>13805144 Chinese diplomat Wang Xining says he has no information on the secretive trial of Australian writer Yang Hengjun

>>13807098 China's population crisis, interview with Wang Xining, and the stand-up comedy scene | China Tonight - ABC News In-depth

 

>>13827244 Geoff Wade Tweet: Former PM Kevin Rudd speaks via video at General Assembly of Beijing's 2021 International Finance Forum Spring Meetings in late May (see 6:44 to 17.30)

>>13827244 INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL FORUM 2021 SPRING MEETINGS - BEIJING, CHINA - 2021.05.29-30 - SPEAKERS: Kevin Rudd, Jacob Rothschild - https://qanon.pub/?q=Rothschild - https://qanon.pub/?q=ROTHS

>>13848320 New Zealand Supreme Court Clears Way for Murder Suspect’s Extradition to China

>>13862167 Beijing’s Pressure Drives Alliance Push by Australia at G-7

>>13869043 Japan and Australia affirm importance of peace across Taiwan Strait

>>13869046 Japan, Australia raise concerns about reported abuses in China

>>13869047 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on June 9, 2021

>>13869159 ‘Not complicated’: Dutton says China will never share deep military ties with Australia

>>13869222 West Australian Premier Mark McGowan canes PM’s ‘mad’ rhetoric on China

>>13881984 Warning of Beijing ‘grey zone’ threat in Australian waters

 

>>13882053 CSIRO terminates ocean research collaboration with China’s top marine science institute following ASIO warning

>>13884673 Wolves in the weeds as Beijing’s harsh diplomacy backfires

>>13884812 China accuses Australia of ‘abuse’, says world trade rules designed to protect western interests

>>13884815 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on June 10, 2021

>>13898754 G7 Summit: Allies rally to Scott Morrison’s call on China

>>13899550 ‘The Last G7’: Satirical cartoon mocking bloc’s attempt to suppress China goes viral - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>13907700 Political boycott of scientific cooperation set to further harm Australia - Yu Lei - globaltimes.cn

>>13915015 Elite universities submit 4000 foreign deals for Marise Payne to scrutinise and possibly cancel

>>13915145 Emmanuel Macron tells Scott Morrison ‘we’re by your side’ on China

>>13915148 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on June 15, 2021

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:24 p.m. No.14019870   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 15

Australia / China Tensions - Part 3

>>13915160 Video: Former UK High Commissioner Alexander Downer: China 'incredibly aggressive' towards Australia - Sky News Australia

>>13922338 Video: PM Morrison says Australia ‘working hard’ to avoid war with China

>>13922510 ‘Utter nonsense’: CSIRO blasted for dropping Chinese climate partner

>>13922524 Beijing backs Mark McGowan’s ‘constructive’ criticism of Scott Morrison

>>13922524 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on June 16, 2021

>>13929830 Video: The China files: how Morrison persuaded Europe to talk tough

>>13936688 Federal government takes China to WTO over wine tariffs

>>13942023 Morrison’s China list left leaders shocked and appalled

>>13955828 China-led UNESCO ‘ambush’ on health of the Great Barrier Reef - World Heritage Committee concerned reef protection has been insufficient

>>13955847 Fifteen Coalition MPs demand Josh Frydenberg impose tougher controls on the half-Chinese owned Port of Newcastle

 

>>13955899 Video: 9 News Facebook Post - Australian navy ships are preparing to send a message to Beijing by sailing through the South China Sea

>>13963401 China warning: Joyce calls on MPs to prepare for end of Pax Americana

>>13963447 WA government appointed two pro-Beijing community leaders to new paid advisory council before Premier Mark McGowan escalated his criticism of the Morrison government’s handling of the China relationship

>>13963499 Chinese less favorable to Australia amid strained ties: GT poll - Chen Qingqing, Zhao Yusha, Xie Jun and Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn

>>13979916 Japan will stand by Australia on complex issues in Asia Pacific: Japanese Ambassador Shingo Yamagami

>>13979937 Committee for Economic Development of Australia Tweet: Video - "When push comes to shove, you will know who is your real friend, and this is the kind of moment Australia needs real friends - and Japan is hereby standing with Australia." - Japan's Ambassador to Australia, @YamagamiShingo, on tensions with China. #SoN2021

>>13984301 Greg Hunt orders review into risky Wuhan research - CSIRO and several Australian universities engaged in at least 10 joint projects with Wuhan Institute of Virology in the past decade

>>14003916 ‘You can count on us’: WA consul general spruiks Japanese relationship as China tensions grow

>>14004059 Perth’s billion-dollar train deal linked to exploited Uighur workers in China

>>14012249 Calls rise for Australia to rethink hostile approach to China as losses mount - Chu Daye and Xiong Xinyi - globaltimes.cn

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:25 p.m. No.14019872   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 16

Coronavirus / COVID-19 Pandemic, Australia and Worldwide - Part 1

>>13748583 Masks, social restrictions return to Australia’s Melbourne after fresh outbreak - May 25, 2021

>>13762807 Victoria to enter seven-day lockdown as COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne grows

>>13764021 Video: Victoria plunged into seven-day lockdown from midnight - Sky News Australia

>>13764361 Coronavirus lab leak theory not ruled out by Australian officials

>>13764363 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 26, 2021

>>13764374 China’s trial of Yang Hengjun begins with Australia’s ambassador denied access

>>13773095 Video: 'There is no immune cloak for a nation': Health Minister Greg Hunt urges vaccine uptake - Sky News Australia

>>13779177 Anthony Fauci backed virus experiments ‘despite pandemic risk’ - Sharri Markson - theaustralian.com.au

>>13779414 Enough of Fauci’s lies!: Miranda Devine

>>13805067 Australian newspaper NT News praised for Covid-19 vaccine front page - 'JUST GET THE DAMN JAB'

 

>>13811944 How it ends for the anti-vaxxers - Jack The Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>13814754 Bombshell emails over what Anthony Fauci knew - informed as early as February 2020 that Covid-19 exhibited unusual viral characteristics potentially engineered in lab

>>13827031 Army chief Lieutenant General John Frewen selected to push national COVID-19 vaccine rollout - 7NEWS Australia

>>13832164 US paid Chinese People’s Liberation Army to engineer coronaviruses - Sharri Markson - theaustralian.com.au

>>13833540 Scott Morrison appoints Lieutenant-General John Frewen to lead powerful new national Covid-19 vaccination taskforce under “Operation Sovereign Borders” model

>>13869394 Covid-19: when governments started lying to us - Adam Creighton - theaustralian.com.au

>>13884837 Scott Morrison makes G7 pledge that Australia will provide coronavirus jabs to SE Asia and Pacific region

>>13890900 Dan Andrews Tweet: If you can, you must. Let's beat this, Victoria.

>>13890902 Andrews government secretly negotiating permanent pandemic laws to replace state of emergency

>>13890958 G7 leaders discuss Wuhan lab leak theory and back new investigation

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:26 p.m. No.14019875   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 17

Coronavirus / COVID-19 Pandemic, Australia and Worldwide - Part 2

>>13890985 Chinese Consulate General in Sydney Tweet: Proponents of the theory that the virus which causes #COVID_19 was created in and escaped from #China's Wuhan Institute of Virology imply that new evidence has emerged to support it, but in fact none has: Australian Citizens Party.

>>13890985 Still no evidence for COVID-19 leak from Wuhan lab: media - xinhuanet.com

>>13890985 Still no evidence for COVID ‘lab leak’ theory - Richard Bardon, Australian Alert Service - citizensparty.org.au

>>13895726 Video: WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Footage proves bats were kept in Wuhan lab - Sky News Australia -

>>13898710 Video: Wuhan live bat video contradicts WHO investigation - Sharri Markson - theaustralian.com.au

>>13907925 Wuhan bat video shows much of pandemic origin information was ‘Chinese disinformation’ - Sky News Australia / Fox News / Tucker Carlson

>>13914986 Victoria continued to use Uighur labour firm to avoid delays on $2.4b rail project

>>13929552 Video: Bombshell Evidence: Live Bats in Wuhan Lab & “Intense Clashes” Between China & France - Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng

>>13929580 Video: (Google Translation) Record the construction and research team of Wuhan P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences - zmkxj.cas.cn

>>13929743 Coronavirus: WA, Qld Covid check-in data accessible to foreign authorities

 

>>13949295 Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial resumes after war veteran tests negative for COVID

>>13984301 Greg Hunt orders review into risky Wuhan research - CSIRO and several Australian universities engaged in at least 10 joint projects with Wuhan Institute of Virology in the past decade

>>13998806 China’s terrifying virus warning - Warnings of the ‘threat to mankind’ came in Beijing’s declaration to a UN meeting under the Biological Weapons Convention

>>14003854 Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial headed for adjournment due to COVID lockdown

>>14003983 Australian scientist Danielle Anderson - the sole foreign researcher at the Wuhan lab speaks out

>>14004038 Australia's COVID-19 response team holds urgent meeting amid outbreak

>>14006907 PDF: Australian researcher’s stunning Covid origin find - "coronavirus appears to be best adapted to attack human cells" - Professor Nikolai Petrovsky

>>14008034 9 News National Vaccine Rollout coverage: Total Doses Administered: 7,364,666

>>14012112 Chinese Consulate General in Sydney Tweet: Video: The accusation of "Wuhan laboratory leaking the novel coronavirus" has no factual basis. “I do not believe the virus was manmade.” said #Australia's Dr. Danielle Anderson, the #Wuhan Institute of Virology's last foreign scientist, about the Institute.

>>14012285 ‘We’ll take it’: Countries line up to take CSL’s Australian-made AstraZeneca vaccine

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:27 p.m. No.14019876   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 18

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

>>13756942 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell seeks to dismiss new indictment, cites prosecutors' overreach

>>13764341 PDF: Alan Dershowitz Suing Netflix Over Jeffrey Epstein Series - law professor takes issue with how 'Filthy Rich' presented rape accusation against him

>>13819175 Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail for fifth time in one-page order issued by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals

>>13832974 PDF: Maxwell Request for Sex-Abuse Accuser’s Teenage Diary Denied

>>13877238 Video: Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell | Official Trailer - Peacock / NBCUniversal

>>13915233 Revealed: Epstein and Maxwell implicated in multiple UK abuse claims over a decade - Channel 4 News investigation

>>13915238 Video: Revealed: Epstein and Maxwell implicated in multiple claims of abuse in UK over a decade - Channel 4 News

 

>>13922477 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell objects to raw sewage, nosy guards in NY jail

>>13922496 Video: Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre testifies against modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel - nbcnews.com

>>13929696 Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tweet: Scotland Yard to review UK Ghislaine Maxwell trafficking claims. There’s no running now Maxwell, your wanted in 2 Countries for your crimes against children.Keep her locked up & your children safe.

>>13929696 Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre testifies against modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel. Stand with me once again my warrior friends! Only United can we win! If not for yourself then for the voiceless & the future of our children. #TimesUp #Help

>>13929696 Jean- Luc Brunel victims resource for speaking out about his abuse, which spans decades. The time is NOW to speak out. Only together can we make this world a better place.

>>13929696 Police nationale Tweet: [#SeekingInformation] The French national police are seeking French/international witnesses with regards to the Epstein investigation.

>>13986807 Video: How Ghislaine Maxwell went from high society to being accused of sex trafficking - After a family tragedy turned her world upside down, she met Jeffrey Epstein

>>13995576 PDF: Ghislaine Maxwell loses bid to ban two 2016 civil depositions from trial

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:27 p.m. No.14019877   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 19

Child Exploitation, Pedophilia, Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking Investigations - Part 1

>>13748832 Father Anthony William Peter Caruana - Catholic priest charged with indecent assault wanted to change ‘feeling towards young boys’, court told

>>13773170 Convicted pedophile and former Catholic priest Finian Egan fails in Federal Court appeal to retain his Australian citizenship

>>13773485 Ron Brierley told police child abuse images in his possession were ‘perfectly OK’

>>13788732 David Welsh, victim of notorious paedophile Kevin Lynch to sue Brisbane Grammar School for $30 million

>>13788781 Former Wesley College student David Kay demands justice over ‘tag-team attack’ - sexually assaulted by two teachers, John McMillan and Stewart Heywood

>>13789137 The Filipino mothers selling their children for online sexual abuse - Australian Federal Police assisting the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC)

>>13798166 ‘Vile’ pedophile blasted by judge for describing relationship with mother who helped him abuse her child as ‘adventurous’

>>13804930 Calls to urgently fix ‘flawed’ legislation after child sex victim of notorious paedophile Kevin Lynch loses last-ditch bid to reopen damages claim against Brisbane Grammar School

>>13812104 Naomi Gwyn, Lauren Burrows and Nina Kiriakidis - The three women who brought paedophile Jimmy Patsan to justice

>>13819175 Ex-priest and former Labor Party Cabramatta branch president Peter Andrew Hansen faces sentencing for possessing child abuse material

 

>>13827063 Former ALP official and Catholic priest Peter Andrew Hansen jailed for 17 years over child abuse tourism

>>13827064 Sydney priest Father Joseph Kolodziej and an unnamed police officer charged with possessing child abuse material following investigation by Police Professional Standards Command

>>13830203 Australian Football League child sexual abuse scandal widens to include paedophile coach at Carlton Football Club, John Dennis Morice

>>13833707 Retired WA police officer Garry Burton jailed for more than 10 years for abusing boys aged 11 to 16

>>13833785 Federal MP Craig Kelly's chief of staff Frank Zumbo to fight charges of alleged sexual misconduct against three women, teenage girl

>>13848219 Sandy Bay Tasmania eBay vendor pleads guilty to importing child sex doll parts from China

>>13848229 The disgraced priest, the children’s shelter and a fight for justice in East Timor - self-confessed pedophile Richard Daschbach

>>13862367 Catholic priest's evidence in abuse trial - Anthony William Peter Caruana

>>13862427 Vile paedophile Alex Chak Lau finally pleads guilty to offences against eight children

>>13862557 ‘A moral responsibility to act’: NSW to create anti-slavery commissioner

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:28 p.m. No.14019882   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 20

Child Exploitation, Pedophilia, Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking Investigations - Part 2

>>13884300 Denis "Chrysostom" Alexander, former monk at Fort Augustus Abbey, Scotland, admits abuse after victim Hugh Kennedy's eight-year fight for justice

>>13884340 Former Christian Brother Ted Bales (aa Edward Dowlan) admits to abusing another 19 children in Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong

>>13884365 Bryan Michael Grange: nightmarish details of Sydney child rapist's baby attack detailed in court

>>13915213 Alleged Australian child abuser Adam James Fox (aka Guy Christopher Weymouth) arrested after six months on the run in Thailand

>>13955954 Women plead guilty to planning female genital mutilation of two-week-old baby girl in Perth

>>13963394 Adelaide father jailed over ‘gross’ images showing his son, other minors being sexually violated

>>13971048 New report finds vulnerable children within Victoria’s residential care system are being targeted by paedophile rings

 

>>13979074 Kimberley child sex offender and former fugitive Charles Batham pleads guilty to 34 charges

>>13979138 Nicholas Emmanuel Athans: South Australian DJ jailed for ‘persistent’ grooming of underage girls on social media

>>13979186 University of Adelaide rocked by damning sexual harassment report

>>13985350 ‘Don’t be disrespectful. He’ll be upset if you don’t sleep with him’ - Missionary Richard Daschbach ran an orphanage providing refuge for some of East Timor’s most needy children. He has since admitted to sexually abusing countless young girls – yet locals still support him

>>14003724 Opera Australia and tenor David Lewis sued over historic child sex offences

>>14003757 SA pedophile Geoffrey William Moyle voluntarily pays Cambodian former child sex slave $84,000 for abusing her in overseas brothel

>>14003773 James Robert Davis, accused of enslaving a young woman and coercing her into sexual servitude, lived ‘strange’ but not illegal life, court told

>>14003810 Joshua and Shiela McAlee, Sydney couple who kept woman like ‘slave’ will repay $70,000 and face jail time

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:29 p.m. No.14019884   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 21

Qanon / Conspiracy Theory Hit Pieces, Australia and Worldwide - Part 1

>>13756846 Chef Pete Evans another traveller down the dark road of misinformation - Jack The Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>13764297 Ron Watkins Is Done With Q and Has Moved On to Aliens (alienleaks.org) - Lucas Ropek - gizmodo.com.au

>>13811944 How it ends for the anti-vaxxers - Jack The Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>13818968 ABC bosses pull Four Corners episode linking PM to QAnon figure - Zoe Samios - smh.com.au

>>13822172 ABC managing director David Anderson blocks Four Corners episode about alleged association between Scott Morrison and a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory - James Madden - theaustralian.com.au

>>13826637 ‘Deeply offensive’: Prime Minister slams Four Corners’ QAnon probe - Zoe Samios and Lisa Visentin - smh.com.au

>>13826647 Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejects 'offensive' link to QAnon - Daniel McCulloch - 7news.com.au

>>13826675 Scott Morrison labels ABC Four Corners program on QAnon ‘disappointing’ and ‘poor form’ - Amanda Meade - theguardian.com

>>13827112 ABC Media Watch Tweet: Video - Prime Minister responds to a question about the @4corners QAnon story

>>13832718 Australia's Prime Minister Has an Alarming QAnon Connection - David Gilbert - vice.com

 

>>13840854 Cautious or craven? The saga of Four Corners program on Morrison and QAnon has laid bare fractures within the ABC - Margaret Simons - theguardian.com

>>13840988 Dan Andrews surfaces online for the second time in four days after Daily Mail Australia questioned his six-week silence amid rumours about what REALLY happened when he slipped down stairs - but we still haven't seen his face - Sam McPhee and Levi Parsons - dailymail.co.uk

>>13848071 Four Corners staff have denied they are “at war” with ABC bosses in the wake of an episode about QAnon being pulled - Samantha Maiden - news.com.au

>>13848080 Four Corners pushes to air QAnon episode within weeks - Lisa Visentin and Zoe Samios - smh.com.au

>>13848083 ABC Four Corners episode linking Scott Morrison to QAnon ‘may very well air’ - Finn McHugh - theaustralian.com.au

>>13848087 A Cancelled ‘Four Corners’ Episode Linking Scott Morrison To QAnon Will Now Be Aired - Claire Keenan - junkee.com

>>13848404 Scott Morrison and QAnon: What we already know about the prime minister’s connection to a conspiracy theorist - Christopher Knaus - theguardian.com

>>13848460 Victorian opposition accused of spreading conspiracies about Dan Andrews’ injury - Calla Wahlquist - theguardian.com

>>13848460 Victorian Liberal Party Press release - PREMIER OWES VICTORIANS SOME SIMPLE ANSWERS - Louise Staley, Shadow Treasurer

>>13849249 Premier Dan Andrews can end the assault speculation now - Editor - cairnsnews.org

 

>>13855312 Video: Premier Daniel Andrews releases ambulance call-out information in bid to quell false rumours about his fall - Shannon Deery and Mitch Clarke - heraldsun.com.au

>>13855312 Ambulance Victoria Statement regarding Premier Daniel Andrews - 8 June 2021

>>13855340 Video: ABC Media Watch - ABC QAnon - ABC Managing Director David Anderson explains why he’s reviewing a Four Corner’s story about QAnon and the Prime Minister.

>>13855572 Video: ‘These questions need answering’: Victorian Liberal frontbencher probes Andrews’ absence - Sky News Australia

>>13862278 ‘Q’ Hasn’t Posted In Six Months—But Some QAnon Followers Still Keep The Faith - Jack Brewster - forbes.com

>>13869394 Covid-19: when governments started lying to us - Adam Creighton - theaustralian.com.au

>>13876941 CONTROVERSIAL FOUR CORNERS EPISODE ON QANON TO FINALLY AIR AFTER BEING DELAYED - tvblackbox.com.au

>>13876948, >>13876952 Video: ABC FOUR CORNERS - Trailer: The Great Awakening: a family divided by QAnon - Monday 14th June at 8.30pm

>>1387704 Dan Andrews’ injury: inside the conspiracy theory around the premier’s fall - Michael McGowan - theguardian.com

>>13882298 Did Trump destroy evangelical Christianity? - Greg Sheridan - theaustralian.com.au

>>13848408 Q Post #3310 - Threat to Controlled Narrative. Other than POTUS, can you name a group more attacked than ‘Q’ by the FAKE NEWS media. Multiple tactics deployed including framing for crimes (think bridge, mob boss, etc etc). DESPERATION. Reconcile using logic. THINK FOR YOURSELF. DIVIDERS will FAIL.

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:30 p.m. No.14019889   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 22

Qanon / Conspiracy Theory Hit Pieces, Australia and Worldwide - Part 2

>>13883702 The QAnon conspiracy - An American conspiracy theory about a Satanic child sexual abuse ring has gained a foothold in Australia - Richard Cooke - thesaturdaypaper.com.au

>>13890900 Dan Andrews Tweet: If you can, you must. Let's beat this, Victoria.

>>13891350 Dan Andrews Instagram Post: I’ve got some good news to share. My vertebra has almost fully healed and my ribs are well on track. The team taking care of me has given me the all clear to get back to work soon.

>>13898968 QAnon follower Tim Stewart's an old friend of Scott Morrison. His family reported him to the national security hotline - Louise Milligan, Jeanavive McGregor and Lauren Day - abc.net.au

>>13899396 Video: Scott Morrison hits out at Four Corners ahead of QAnon report - Scott Morrison has accused the ABC’s Four Corners program of a “politically motivated slur” over a highly-anticipated QAnon report tonight - Samantha Maiden - news.com.au

>>13902165 Video: This family reported their son to national security authorities over QAnon | Four Corners - ABC News In-depth

>>13902294 (2019) Exclusive: FBI document warns conspiracy theories are a new domestic terrorism threat - Jana Winter -

>>13902382 ABC accuses Scott Morrison of validating a 'QAnon' conspiracy theory at the behest of his good mate during his apology to the victims of child sexual abuse' - Levi Parsons and Michael Pickering - dailymail.co.uk

>>13907179 PDF: FBI warns lawmakers that QAnon 'digital soldiers' may become more violent - Zachary Cohen and Whitney Wild - cnn.com

>>13907223 Video: QAnon conspiracy theorists may become more violent, FBI report warns - 9News Staff - 9news.com.au

 

>>13907315 Kevin Rudd Tweet: Morrison has questions to answer on his personal relationship with a leading activist of the same extremist religious/conspiracy group that stormed the US Capitol. His wife worked for Morrison.His family have reported him to the National Security Hotline

>>13907330 Video: ABC News Australia - Why do people buy into conspiracy theories like QAnon? Dr Mathew Marques from La Trobe University says QAnon is a good example of a politically-motivated conspiracy theory.

>>13907352 What happened to QAnon, the conspiracy group linked to Scott Morrison? - Josh Butler and Samantha Dick - thenewdaily.com.au

>>13907427 All The Wildest Revelations We Learned From The ABC’s Investigation On QAnon And Scott Morrison - Millie Roberts - junkee.com

>>13907463 Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen Tweet: Qanon is a conspiracy driven cult. And the Prime Minister has serious questions to answer. Watch my brief speech in Parliament

>>13907476 Labor accuses Scott Morrison of ‘shocking lack of judgment’ over QAnon claims - Finn McHugh - news.com.au

>>13907510 ‘Incredibly creepy’: Labor claims ‘national security’ risk over PM’s QAnon link - Josh Butler - thenewdaily.com.au

>>13907531 OPINION - Skipping the Q: How to handle your conspiracy-loving friends - Julie Szego - smh.com.au

>>13907563 Elise Thomas Tweet: I'm really glad that @Milliganreports and the @4corners team put the damage which QAnon does to lives & families front and centre in the episode, and to have played a small part in it myself. Conspiracy theories are a public health issue, and we should recognise them as such.

>>13907563 Sally Neighbour Tweet: Great work by you @elisethoma5 documenting the impact of QAnon’s poisonous politics

Anonymous ID: 6e4921 June 29, 2021, 11:31 p.m. No.14019893   🗄️.is 🔗kun

#16 - Part 23

Qanon / Conspiracy Theory Hit Pieces, Australia and Worldwide - Part 3

>>13907563 Louise Milligan Tweet: Just want to thank the Stewarts for their candour, their decency, their restraint. #4Corners

>>13907799 Kevin Rudd Tweet: Great speech by Chris Bowen on Morrison and his close personal relationship with an activist from QAnon - the far right, extremist, religious conspiracy group that stormed the US Capitol.

>>13907837 Bill Shorten Tweet: My 11-year-old daughter calls this flexing. 'Have anyone from QAnon stay with you ever? [laughing]

>>13907883 FBI WARNS OF ‘REAL-WORLD VIOLENCE’ FROM QANON FOLLOWERS IN NEW REPORT - Eden Gillespie - sbs.com.au

>>13910760 ‘Ritual abuse’ in sex abuse royal commission report, despite claims QAnon inserted it to Scott Morrison’s speech - Richard Ferguson and James Madden - theaustralian.com.au

>>13915261 Four Corners misses the big stories on QAnon - Jack The Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>13915288 Video: CNN Newsroom -John Berman to former QAnon follower Jitarth Jadeja: How could you believe that?

>>13915294 Lucy Turnbull Tweet: I am worried about how widespread these crazy ideas are. Was walking down a street in the neighborhood late last year and a tradie shouted out to @TurnbullMalcolm and me ‘Hi paedophiles’. It was truly bizarre. It really shook me. The guy was very snarky and weird.

>>13915294 Lucy Turnbull Tweet: By the way @TurnbullMalcolm was a little further away and did not hear what he said. I sure did. It was loud and clear and really disturbing.

>>13922164 Kevin Rudd Tweet: Could you imagine any other Australian PM refusing to answer questions about inviting an extreme, far-right religious cultist to Kirribilli House? What about accepting his help to write a speech to parliament? His own family reported him to the National Security Hotline.

 

>>13922171 Video: Did the PM try to keep his ties with a QAnon supporter secret? | 7.30 - ABC News Australia

>>13922180, BRISSC (Brisbane Rape and Incest Survivors Support Centre) - RITUAL ABUSE - What is Ritual Abuse? - Who Perpetrates Ritual Abuse? - Impact on Survivors - Support for Ritual Abuse Survivors

>>13922193 Q Post #1735 - There is nothing more precious than our children. Evil has no boundaries. The choice to know will ultimately be yours. These people are SICK! To those who are courageous enough to speak out - we stand with you! You are not alone in this fight. God bless. Q

>>13929518 OPINION: I’m more likely to believe in aliens than claims about PM’s QAnon ties - Charles Wooley - themercury.com.au

>>13936516 OPINION: ABC duped by Four Corners Scott Morrison QAnon conspiracy report - Joe Hildebrand - news.com.au

>>13945690 Key ABC witness Peter Alexander “Eliahi” Priest is a serial conspiracy theorist - Stephen Rice - theaustralian.com.au

>>13949256 PM does not want QAnon friend 'cancelled' - Daniel McCulloch - northerndailyleader.com.au

>>13949269 Scott Morrison says he doesn’t back QAnon and refuses to ‘cancel’ supporter friend - Paul Karp - theguardian.com

>>13955774 Video: CNN New Day - Former Counselor to President Obama John Podesta describes being targeted by QAnon in the group's early years

>>13995450 Daniel Andrews releases video message ahead of return as Victorian Premier following back injury

>>13995492 Dan Andrews Tweet: Before I come back to work tomorrow, I thought I would share what happened. In my own words.

>>14003606 Fall rumours 'vile': Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews