AUST MSM

After 23 years, a day of reckoning has arrived for Big Tech

RP from QRes#9280

British web expert Jamie Bartlett was a tech optimist. About a decade ago, that is. The fellow of London think tank Demos grew increasingly worried about what was happening under Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and the rest.

Finally he confessed to a mild panic about the industry and opened his most recent book with these words: "In the coming few years either tech will destroy democracy and the social order as we know it, or politics will stamp its authority over the digital world."

Big Tech has had 23 years to do exactly what Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg urged in his company's old motto: "Move fast and break things."

Because the tech firms haven't just had an unbounded Wild West opportunity to roam and raid unregulated territory. Twenty-three years ago, the US Congress passed a law that actually suspended the normal operation of law so that the tech industry could have unique advantages.

It was section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act that cast a magical protective spell to give the tech companies a special immunity – they're not responsible for what others put on their platforms. Other countries, afraid of seeming uncool and anti-innovation, generally followed America's lead.

So the tech firms moved fast and broke a lot of things and now the governments of the world have had enough. They're no longer quirky, fun, garage start-ups. They are among the biggest and most ruthless corporations on the planet. Google's parent, Alphabet, for instance, has a share market value three times that of entertainment behemoth Walt Disney, six times that of the biggest Australian company, BHP Billiton, and 140 times that of the New York Times Company.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/after-23-years-a-day-of-reckoning-has-arrived-for-big-tech-20190729-p52bpe.html

Federal Government ADMITS to visa deal with Crown Casino so they could draw in high-stakes gamblers from China

RP from QRes#9280

Home Affairs admitted to having a deal with Crown Casinos from 2003 to 2016

The agreement with stakeholders allowed the fast-tracking of short-stay visas

The government maintained that no applicants were given special treatment

By Karen Ruiz For Daily Mail Australia and Aap

Published: 13:26 AEST, 30 July 2019

The Department of Home Affairs has admitted to striking a visa deal with Crown Casinos which allowed the company to lure high-stakes Chinese gamblers to Australia.

The agreement, revealed to have been implemented in 2003, allowed the fast-tracking of short-stay visa applications for a number of big international companies up until 2016.

The government, however, denied the deal involved special treatment to applicants, insisting each case was vetted as usual.

cont.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7299587/Australian-government-admits-visa-deal-Crown-Casino.html

Twat - Australia's Largest Casino Exposed: Chinese Whales Washed Money With Triads & Drug Traffickers

RP from QRes#9281

https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1156066898284556291

Resignations in the Region

RP from QRes#9282

McGuigan's, Passion Pop CEO to resign

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/breaking-news/mcguigans-passion-pop-ceo-to-resign/news-story/d8ed52ecf34c8ff482758ce0d587931c

Crown Resorts Probed After Money Laundering, Visa Claims

RP from QRes#9288

Australian government refers claims to integrity commission. Crown stock declines as extended probe hangs over casino firm.

Crown Resorts Ltd. and Australian officials will be investigated after allegations of money laundering at the firm’s casinos and the fast-tracking of visas for wealthy overseas gamblers.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers, along with the 60 Minutes television program, said at the weekend that a lawmaker and two government ministers had lobbied border-enforcement authorities to speed big-spending Crown gamblers through immigration.

Attorney-General Christian Porter said Tuesday he had referred allegations to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, which will determine whether a further probe is needed. “There are sufficient concerns raised to at least warrant further investigations,” Porter told parliament.

Crown shares fell after Porter’s referral raised the possibility of an extended investigation hanging over the company. It’s another blow to Crown and its biggest shareholder, Australian billionaire James Packer, two years after a Chinese court convicted 19 current and former employees of illegally promoting gambling.

The gaming company said Tuesday it will assist with any investigation, but that it “absolutely rejects” allegations of illegality made in parliament and recent media reports.

“We believe these allegations are ill-informed and an attempt to smear the company,” Crown said in a statement.

Crown shares closed 1.9% lower in Sydney trade, extending yesterday’s 3.2% decline. The company has lost about A$433 million ($300 million) in market value this week.

The wide-ranging reports alleged Crown used junket operators linked to drug traffickers as it sought to attract wealthy Chinese gamblers to Australia. Together with Australian officials, Crown helped hundreds of high-rollers gain entry to Australia each year, and at least one Asian crime syndicate was laundering money through the firm’s casinos, according to the reports.

Crown said it has a “robust process” for vetting junket operators and undertakes regular reviews. It also denied “any allegation that it knowingly exposed its staff to the risk of detention or conviction in China,” according to the statement.

The publication of the claims triggered separate calls by independent lawmakers on Monday for an investigation by a parliamentary committee. The ACLEI, as the agency is known, has the power to apply for search warrants and seize evidence, making it a better-resourced body to investigate, Porter said on Tuesday.

The commission’s main role is to investigate corruption within law enforcement bodies and it also has oversight of several agencies including the department of home affairs, the border force and federal police.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/crown-faces-calls-for-probes-after-reports-triads-laundered-cash

Virgin Australia quietly building a flightschool to train military aged pilots from the People's Republic of China:

RP from QRes#9304

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2019/07/wtf-china-set-take-control-raaf-base/

Crime agency reveals a major investigation into organised crime at casinos as Crown seeks to downplay stories.

RP from QRes#9306

'''Australia’s peak criminal intelligence agency has announced a sweeping investigation into organised crime in Australian casinos amid revelations about Crown Resorts' dealings with junket operators with links to suspected Chinese crime bosses and foreign influence agents.

The Chief of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Agency, Michael Phelan, told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday that investigators across state and federal police and intelligence agencies have uncovered damning “insights into vulnerabilities … within casinos located in Australia”.

Mr Phelan announced that his inquiry, known as the Targeting Criminal Wealth special investigation is probing the operation of agents known as junkets who are responsible for bringing high roller clients into casinos, usually from offshore, to gamble.

https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/crime-agency-reveals-a-major-investigation-into-organised-crime-at-casinos-20190731-p52cnp.html

Senior NSW minister attacks abortion bill as legislation presented to state parliament

RP from QRes#9320

A senior NSW government minister has attacked a bill to decriminalise abortion in the state, and allow conditional late-term terminations, as "unjust" and says "the community won't stand for it".

The criticism by coalition Finance Minister Damien Tudehope, who is anti-abortion, comes ahead of the bill being presented on this morning to the NSW parliament.

Sydney independent MP Alex Greenwich will introduce the Reproductive Healthcare Reform Bill 2019 to the lower house at 10am.

The private member's bill allows for terminations up to 22 weeks and later if two doctors "consider that, in all the circumstances, the termination should be performed".

But, in an opinion piece published in The Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Tudehope says the bill will make abortion legal in NSW "all the way up to birth, with no meaningful restrictions whatsoever".

"This bill represents an unjust and illiberal law," he added.

"I believe the community won't stand for it."

The draft legislation also gives doctors the right to conscientiously object to performing abortions but they must refer patients to another health practitioner who can provide the service.

The bill, which has been backed by Premier Gladys Berejiklian, was originally scheduled to be debated this week but conservative MPs worked behind the scenes to delay debate until next week.

Mr Greenwich said the bill was 119 years overdue.

"My message to the opponents of reform who are currently playing politics with this reform is clear: don't hold women's reproductive rights hostage because you haven't done your homework," he said in a statement.

The draft legislation has sparked a backlash from anti-abortion advocates, including church groups, which have slammed it as a "bad bill" and accused the state coalition government of trying to rush it through parliament.

An anti-abortion 'Rally for Life' will be held outside NSW Parliament on Thursday by Right for Life NSW, Family Voice Australia, Family Life International and We Support Women.

Despite the backlash, it's believed the bill has wide cross-party support amongst the MPs at Macquarie Street.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/abortion-bill-is-abortion-legal-in-nsw-parliament/3542e001-ac3b-4f3a-9762-6939dd0dc799

Australian airline Jetstar with ANOTHER issue

RP from QRes#9324

Crown Resorts takes out newspaper ads in attack on 'deceitful campaign'

RP from QRes#9325

Australian casino giant Crown Resorts (CWN.AX) issued full-page newspaper ads on Thursday describing recent media reports that alleged it pressured officials to fast-track visas for Chinese gamblers as a “deceitful campaign”.

Following the reports by several news outlets, Attorney General Christian Porter said on Tuesday he had referred the allegations to an anti-corruption body that investigates federal agencies, since they related to government officials.

After days of issuing brief statements denying wrongdoing, Crown circulated a letter signed by its board late on Wednesday, accusing the papers of waging a “deceitful campaign” that had unfairly attempted to damage its reputation.

“Much of this unbalanced and sensationalized reporting is based on unsubstantiated allegations, exaggerations, unsupported connections and outright falsehoods,” the directors said in the letter.

Signatories included Crown Executive Chairman John Alexander, former finance department head Jane Halton, former communications minister Helen Coonan and Geoff Dixon, the former chief executive of Qantas Airways (QAN.AX).

That statement appeared as full-page advertisements in papers owned by News Corp on Thursday. However, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age newspapers, which published the articles, said they had refused to run the advertisements and instead carried a line-by-line response to Crown’s statement.

“The stories were carefully sourced using Crown’s internal documents, former employees, credible commentators, dozens of sources from the industry, law enforcement and elsewhere, and careful verification,” the newspapers wrote in response to the Crown’s letter.

The papers, owned by Nine Entertainment Co Holdings (NEC.AX), added that they had asked Crown for an interview and sent 63 questions days before the reports, to which Crown responded “with a short statement” declining to comment on individuals.

Crown shares have fallen 6.4% in three trading days since the papers, and Nine’s “60 Minutes” television news program started running the reports.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-crown-resorts/crown-resorts-takes-out-newspaper-ads-in-attack-on-deceitful-campaign-idUSKCN1UR35Q

Xi Jinping's cousin embroiled in casinos and money laundering

The investigation of a TV broadcaster and two newspapers shows the links between Crown Resorts, which specializes in casinos and gambling, and members of the Australian parliament and policemen to facilitate trips for rich Chinese to Melbourne and Perth. The investigation lasted six months. The trips to Australia were organized by Shanghai.

The cousin of Chinese President Xi Jinping (see photo) and other Chinese Communist Party personalities are accused of being part of a scandal involving the Crown Resorts company, specializing in casinos and gambling, along with members of the Australian Parliament and policemen.

A six-month investigation by the "60 Minutes" broadcaster and the newspapers "The Age" and "The Sydney Morning Herald" led to the collection of tens of thousands of documents showing ties between Crown resorts, criminal organizations and figures of the Chinese Communist Party. The investigation revealed that Xi Jinping's cousin, Ming Chai, was among the passengers of a privatel uxury jet, made available to the casino, and that he was inspected by Australian federal agents on suspicion of money laundering.

Police searches found that members of the Victoria State law enforcement agencies were paid by members of the Chinese Communist Party to ensure safety for passengers on luxury jets. The trips were organized by Crown Resorts to bring wealthy Chinese to Melbourne and Perth, to gamble and launder money. Crown also had an office in Shanghai, from where the trips were organised.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Xi-Jinping%27s-cousin-embroiled-in-casinos-and-money-laundering-47634.html

>>7307035

Still amazed that your ID still the same .. mine keeps getting reset, along with my post count .. kek

Tom Cruise is reportedly looking for a home in New Zealand

RP from QRes#9329

1st August 2019

‘According to Radar Online Cruise has already begun scouting for rental housing in the South Island.

A source told the publication, "He already has people scouting for incredible home rentals in the South Island wilderness."

Tom Cruise is reportedly looking for a home in the South Island in New Zealand, for the back-to-back filming of the next two Mission Impossible movies. The actor had just one "caveat": "It must be near a private airport or a chopper pad, because he wants to be able to get to the fancy new Scientology centre up in Auckland."

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/entertainment/entertainmentnews/tom-cruise-is-reportedly-looking-for-a-home-in-new-zealand/ar-AAF8TNM?li=BBqdg4K&ocid=mailsignout

Secret interviews reveal risky business for NAB's top executives

A massive leak of documents has prompted questions about how close the nation's big banks are to their auditors.

RP from QRes#9338

A massive leak of documents from inside National Australia Bank reveals what its top executives and hand-picked consultants really think about its ability to look after its customers.

It was the beginning of winter 2018 and National Australia Bank was reeling from stunning revelations in the banking royal commission about its shoddy treatment of customers and a foot-dragging approach to compensating customers.

NAB chairman Ken Henry, still five months off his disastrous commission appearance, was in a meeting room at the bank’s head office with senior staff from consultants EY (formerly Ernst & Young).

They were there to talk risk - more specifically the NAB board’s appetite for it.

The EY team needed to know what Henry thought so it could help the bank prepare a report, required by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), that would assess NAB’s performance on risk management and culture.

Startlingly, the chairman said he was "confident" the bank was still selling products that would trigger compensation for customers in the future. Confidential minutes of the interview said he "highlighted an example of SMSF [self managed super fund] borrowing to invest in managed funds".

The minutes of that June 13, 2018, interview form part of an extraordinary trove of documents leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age by a whistleblower who felt the royal commission had glossed over important problems.

Underlining the whistleblower's concern was that much of what was discovered in that review, including what Dr Henry and others said in meetings with EY, did not make it into EY’s draft report.

Nor did a raft of other detail about poor systems and governance. It is not clear if the final report contained any of this information.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/secret-interviews-reveal-risky-business-for-nab-s-top-executives-20190801-p52czf.html

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison enjoys post-election surge in Newspoll’s 53-47 result

RP from QRes#9350

Scott Morrison has cemented his place as Australia’s preferred Prime Minister, according to Newspoll.

In the first post-election Newspoll released on Sunday night, the Liberal Party has increased its two-party preferred result by 1.5 per cent since May 18 to lead the ALP 53 to 47.

Newspoll, published by The Australian, was rocked by its failure to accurately predict the election result after consistently predicting a Labor win under Bill Shorten’s leadership.

The poll is the first time Newspoll has been published since the election and the recriminations over the accuracy of the polling that erupted after the shock result.

It suggests new Labor leader Anthony Albanese has a long way to go to get the ALP back into a winning position.

Despite long-running complaints that Mr Shorten was not popular enough to win an election, Newspoll finds that Mr Albanese is just one in three voters’ preferred prime minister on 31 per cent.

The result is a seven-point dive from Mr Shorten’s last poll result of 38 per cent, but Mr Albanese’s 31 per cent rating as preferred PM is the third highest debut for a new Opposition after Kevin Rudd (36) and Alexander Downer (38).

Mr Morrison’s approval rating has also soared to 51 per cent, up five points since the election. His disapproval rating is down nine points to 36 per cent.

By contrast, Mr Albanese’s approval rating is relatively steady at 39 per cent, down two points compared to Mr Shorten.

His disapproval rating has taken a big dive and is down 13 points to 36 per cent.

The Liberal and National Party’s primary vote is up 2.6 per cent since the election.

As a result, Mr Albanese is the first opposition leader to receive a net positive in the approval ratings since 2015.

Labor’s primary is steady at a rock-bottom 33 per cent.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/07/28/scott-morrison-post-election-surge-newspoll/

>>7333014

I am starting to like this Imam more and more .. kek

Former Australian diplomat has his conviction for child pornography quashed after judge ruled drawings of school boys engaging in penetrative sex was 'art'

RP from QRes#9384

Police seized 21 colour drawings of young boys engaging in sexual activities

Robert Michael Scoble was convicted of possessing child abuse material in 2017

The 70-year-old later appealed the decision and had his conviction overturned

A former Australian diplomat who was caught with drawings of school boys engaging in penetrative sex has had his conviction quashed.

Police raided Robert Michael Scoble's home in 2017 where they seized 21 colour drawings of young boys engaging in sexual activities.

The 70-year-old appeared in the NSW Local Court in September last year where he was convicted of possessing child abuse material.

The images show teenage boys engaging in group sex at school. The boys are in various states of undress and some show penetrative sex, genitals and ejaculation.

Dr Scoble, who served as a deputy ambassador in Hanoi in the 1980s, later appealed the decision where District Court Judge Robert Weber overturned the conviction after finding him not guilty.

The court heard that Dr Scoble was given the images while he was researching a book on French author Roger Peyrefitte who wrote about 'love between school boys'.

Dr Scoble had purchased a copy of the book in 2002 but after ditching his project he left the book on a shelf and did not go back to it.

Both Judge Weber and trial magistrate Daniel Covington failed to find that the images were used for any sexual gratification.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7318655/Australian-diplomat-Robert-Michael-Scoble-conviction-child-pornography-quashed.html