Thank you Baker
Faith in Australian governments falls amid corruption concerns
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-20/faith-in-australian-governments-falls-amid-corruption-concerns/10138928
Trust and confidence in all levels of Australian government is continuing to slide as calls intensify for the establishment a national anti-corruption agency.
A global corruption barometer conducted by Griffith University and Transparency International Australia has also flagged concerns about public officials or politicians using their positions to benefit themselves or their families.
A telephone survey of 2,218 adults is the first measure since 2012 gauging the growing impact of corruption on trust and confidence in government.
Project leader Professor AJ Brown of Griffith University said rising citizen distrust in real or suspected corruption underscores the need for a new anti-corruption body to be established by the Federal Government.
For the anon (lb) asking about the south pacific:
Tonga called on Pacific islands to band together against China — then had a sudden change of heart
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-20/tonga-prime-minister-changes-mind-on-china-loan-issue/10138068
On Thursday last week, Tonga's Prime Minister was protesting that his small Pacific Island nation would struggle to pay back the money it owes to China.
Tonga's debt distress was "serious", declared Akilisi Pohiva, "very serious".
But the Prime Minister wasn't just complaining. He had a plan.
Mr Pohiva wanted to join forces with other Pacific Island nations struggling with the same problem.
And they would use the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) — the region's premier diplomatic gathering — as a platform to lobby Beijing for debt relief.
"I think these small countries will eventually come together to find a way out," he told the ABC.
One day later, everything changed.
At around 6:30pm on Friday (Tonga time), Mr Pohiva's office issued a press statement announcing the Prime Minster had changed his mind.
About everything.
"After further reflection, I now believe that the Pacific Islands Forum is not the proper platform to discuss this debt issue," Mr Pohiva's statement said.
"Each Pacific Island country has its particular national conditions and different needs for foreign loan, and it's up to each government to independently seek solutions through bilateral channels."
New tech surveillance laws criticised by Facebook, Google and Twitter lobby
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-08-20/tech-surveillance-laws-labelled-aggressive-by-critics/10128166
New laws that could compel global technology companies to assist Australian spy agencies and police have been strongly criticised by an industry group representing Facebook, Google and Twitter, among others.
If passed, the assistance and access bill would introduce expansive new powers to help law enforcement officers investigate illicit activity online.
Its supporters argue these powers are needed because criminals are increasingly using sophisticated digital methods of communicating to escape detection.
But Digital Industry Group Inc (DIGI) managing director, Nicole Buskiewicz, said the bill's approach could have "devastating implications".
"The reality is that creating security vulnerabilities, even if they are built to combat crime, leaves us all open to attack from criminals," she said in a statement.
"We are extremely concerned at the lack of judicial oversight and checks and balances with this legislation."
Only slightly anti semitic?
We're not trying hard enough anons
Kindergarten under fire after parading children in burkas, AK47s on Indonesian Independence Day
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-20/indonesia-kindergarten-under-fire-over-independence-day-march/10139622
A kindergarten in Indonesia's East Java province has come under fire for dressing children in burkas and having them carry fake assault rifles for a local Independence Day parade.
The pre-schoolers from the TK Kartika — a kindergarten located in an Indonesian military housing complex in Probolinggo — marched on the streets as part of the festivities.
Indonesia celebrated its 73rd Independence anniversary on Friday, marking the end of colonial rule with parades and displays of the national flag.
But over the weekend, footage of the children walking down a street during the celebrations wearing burkas and carrying what appeared to be cardboard cut-outs of AK47 rifles went viral across the country.