8chan/8kun QResearch AUSTRALIA Posts (3)
#13493606 at 2021-04-23 10:05:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition
Resignations in the news
Outspoken Nationals MP George Christensen to quit politics
Rob Harris - April 22, 2021
Nationals MP George Christensen will end his controversial decade-long career in federal Parliament at the next election, warning of the "broken" state of politics and signalling he won't go quietly.
The conservative Queensland MP - who has been outspoken on social issues and spent up to 10 weeks a year in the Philippines and Thailand over a period of four years while a member of parliament - told the Courier-Mail in a statement he would not recontest his Mackay-based seat at the next poll.
He said he had only ever intended to "serve three terms" after first being elected at the 2010 election and only contested the last election to ensure the Coalition held the seat and kept out a "Green-tinged Labor government".
He listed several road projects and the Adani Carmichael mine as his best contributions as an MP. In a video uploaded to his Facebook page, he warned he was concerned about the trend on restrictions on freedoms of speech, abortion, the rights of doctors to promote alternate treatments and the rising of the Chinese Communist government.
The member for Dawson said he wanted to spend more time with his family, including his wife April Asuncion, who were "caught up overseas" due to pandemic border closures.
The pair met in a karaoke bar during one of the MP's 28 trips abroad, spending almost 300 days in the Philippines between 2014 and 2018.
The Australian Federal Police warned Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the time he could be questioned in the Philippines by local police given rising concerns about his payments to women and lengthy stays in "seedy" hotels.
After almost a year of inquiries police found no evidence of illegality but raised concerns he remained an ongoing risk of being compromised.
Mr Christensen, 42, said in a statement that politics had become dominated by an "activist mainstream media along with other leftists cultural institutions" that were disconnected from the public.
"I will have more to say about [the broken politics] down the track," Mr Christensen said.
"While I'm in Parliament until the next election and while there's still breath in me, I'm going to continue speaking out on the issues that matter, without fear or favour, or the need to get re-elected."
Despite the scandal involving his travel to the Philippines, which earned him the nickname the "Member for Manila" among colleagues, Mr Christensen was re-elected during the 2019 election with an 11.2 per cent two-party preferred swing - aided mainly by One Nation voters.
Mr Christensen has threatened on numerous occasions to cross the floor against government legislation since the Coalition came to power and was one of the leading proponents within the ranks to demand a royal commission into the banking sector.
He was a vocal support of former US president Donald Trump and a fierce critic of COVID-19 lockdowns, including directions from the Queensland government to mandate facemasks earlier this year.
Labor won the seat of Dawson under the leadership of Kevin Rudd in 2007 but it was regained by Mr Christensen in 2010, one of several seats won under Tony Abbott to reduce the Gillard government to a minority.
Mr Turnbull revealed in his memoir, A Bigger Picture, last year that he was briefed by then-AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin about Mr Christensen's "unusually complex online presence" and was told he had been spending "substantial sums in Manila bars and nightclubs as well as making many small payments to women there".
"Against the advice of our embassy in the Philippines, he had been staying in seedy hotels in Angeles City, which was not only recklessly unsafe but made him vulnerable to being compromised."
In a sign of the personal and political fury over the matter, Mr Turnbull told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age he received a warning from Mr Christensen about what he might write in his memoir.
"He sent me a message on one of those immediately dissolving messages on Signal, which said: 'remember two words: parliamentary privilege; and two more years of it'," Mr Turnbull said in an interview to promote his book.
Mr Christensen at the time attacked media coverage of his visits to the Philippines as a "vile smear" and insisted he did nothing wrong.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said Mr Christensen has been a tireless fighter for the people of central Queensland and his decision not to contest the next was "personally momentous".
"George's decision to step back, spend time with family and pursue a career after politics is one that he has not taken casually," he said in a statement.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/outspoken-nationals-mp-george-christensen-to-quit-politics-20210422-p57ln7.html
#10315198 at 2020-08-17 06:21:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition
>>10315193
3/3
Mr Keelty said that prior to meeting Mr Roberts-Smith, he had told then-commissioner Andrew Colvin that, "I was asked to reach out to BRS [Ben Roberts-Smith] who was in 'a world of hurt' following public allegations that he was involved in potential improper conduct while deployed overseas."
Mr Keelty claimed that "Colvin agreed to the approach and made no reference to current investigations only to say there is 'stuff running around' and that he, Colvin was not in a position to approach BRS". Mr Colvin declined to comment other than stating the case had been referred to the corruption watchdog.
ACLEI confirmed in a statement that the AFP had notified it on June 21, 2018, of allegations that Mr Roberts-Smith had been told sensitive information about the federal police's interest in him. ACLEI said that a week later, on June 27 that year, former Integrity Commissioner Michael Griffin launched a joint covert investigation with the AFP into the alleged leak.
"An eminent Australian"
Asked why Mr Keelty gave welfare support to a person he didn't know and who might be under potential investigation by the policing agency he once led, Mr Keelty said: "You are viewing him [Roberts-Smith] as a [an alleged] war criminal. At the times we met, I was viewing him as an eminent Australian who had been publicly vilified. I was not concerning myself with anything other than welfare."
Referrals to police must be handled secretly to allow proper evidence collection and ensure the safety of complainants.
The AFP war crimes inquiries gathered evidence, including from eyewitnesses, that led to the AFP submitting a brief of evidence against Mr Roberts-Smith earlier this year. The brief alleges Mr Roberts-Smith is involved in the execution of prisoner Ali Jan in September 2012.
There is no suggestion Mr Roberts-Smith did anything wrong in meeting Mr Keelty. He has denied any involvement in war crimes or assaulting a woman and is suing this masthead for reporting the allegations. The Age and Herald are also not suggesting Mr Keelty acted with intent to compromise the AFP inquiry.
Mr Keelty said that he had advised Mr Roberts-Smith "about the AFP process that a referral is not a guarantee of an investigation". Mr Keelty said that while he was told by AFP officers of the three Roberts-Smith referrals, he was not told if they were still in the assessment phase or had progressed to full-blown inquiries.
"No one [from the AFP] ever confirmed to me at any time that the AFP converted those referrals to an investigation of BRS," Mr Keelty said.
"I considered it appropriate to contact the AFP about BRS to ensure that I was not crossing over any current operations by meeting with him. It was solely to de-conflict - it was never to advise BRS anything that you would not tell any person in a similar situation who was complaining that he was being prosecuted in the media but had not yet been spoken to by anyone from either Defence or the AFP."
Multiple sources said that Mr Keelty had fallen out with former commissioner Mr Colvin, ACLEI and serving senior AFP officers over the saga. In his statement, Mr Keelty said: "These matters could have been dealt with very easily at the start by someone [from the AFP] saying to me: 'I think you're going to be too busy to see BRS.' Nothing more needed to be said."
https://www.smh.com.au/national/covert-war-crimes-inquiry-compromised-by-former-afp-chief-mick-keelty-20200812-p55kzj.html
#7574260 at 2019-12-20 21:33:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #6 - YEAR OF THE BOOMERANG Edition
Rachel Noble to become the first woman to lead a major Australian spy agency
The Federal Government has appointed the first woman to lead a major Australian spy agency.
Rachel Noble will become the next director-general of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), which intercepts electronic communications from foreign countries.
She is currently the head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).
Ms Noble replaces Mike Burgess, who is now Australia's spy chief at the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
"Her appointment to this leadership role is a significant step forward for women in the national security sector and we congratulate her," Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said in a statement.
Ms Noble's promotion is the third major security appointment in recent months for the Federal Government, following the retirements of Australian Federal Police boss Andrew Colvin and former ASIO head Duncan Lewis.
The ACSC sits within ASD. Before joining the organisation, Ms Noble was a senior official at the Department of Home Affairs.
Her public sector experience also included stints at the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Immigration and Defence departments.
She was also previously deputy chief of facility at Pine Gap, the highly secretive defence facility in the Northern Territory.
"Ms Noble's deep experience in intelligence strongly positions her to lead ASD in executing its important national security mission," the Government's statement said.
"She has vital technical expertise having previously worked in ASD and has a strong understanding of the role the organisation plays in the national intelligence community."
Ms Noble's role at the ACSC saw her tasked with leading the nation's cyber security capabilities.
She will take on her new job in February 2020.
The Government thanked Lieutenant General John Frewen, the principal deputy director-general, for acting in the director-general role while ASD searched for a replacement for Mr Burgess.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-13/rachel-noble-first-woman-to-lead-australian-signals-directorate/11797046