8chan/8kun QResearch Posts (19)
#18185501 at 2023-01-21 03:56:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #22300: This... Is... 8KUN! Edition
Mutual admiration as billionaire Gates meets PM Albanese in Sydney
Anthony Galloway - January 21, 2023
Billionaire Bill Gates had never met Anthony Albanese before Saturday, but he thought he'd drop in on the Australian prime minister to talk vaccines, energy and climate change.
Gates, who is in the country with his foundation and representatives from his company, Breakthrough Energy, has made it his mission to ensure world leaders are ready for the next pandemic.
Standing at 177cm, the Microsoft founder didn't have the physical stature of Albanese's last celebrity drop-in, the 216-centimetre former basketballer Shaquille O'Neal, but the conversation was much bigger.
Sitting in the living room of Kirribilli House, the two men discussed climate action, the energy transition, international development and health, and the need for Australian innovation to help solve global challenges.
Albanese told Gates he was "very welcome here".
"We haven't met before. But I've admired your work and your contribution, not just financially, but in raising debates, including the need to deal with health issues," Albanese said.
"We've just been through the pandemic, but we need to prepare for future health challenges, and the work that's being done on eradicating malaria and other diseases in our region is very important."
Albanese told Gates that his government had been "elected on the platform of taking climate change seriously", which was backed up by its emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030, and net zero by 2050.
"That's fantastic," Gates replied.
He thanked Albanese for the Australian government's increased commitment to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
"As you say, the preparedness for the next pandemic is still a discussion that hasn't been figured out," Gates said.
"You know, malaria in the long run, we want to do the same thing we're doing with polio, which is eradicated regionally, and then eradicated all over the world."
Gates has also influenced previous Australian prime ministers.
Albanese's predecessor, Scott Morrison, was inspired to commit to a 2050 net-zero emissions target after reading the billionaire's book, How to Avoid A Climate Disaster. Morrison regularly quoted large slabs of the book to advocates and critics of stronger action on climate change.
Gates also met then-prime minister Julia Gillard and foreign minister Bob Carr on a trip to Australia in 2013.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/mutual-admiration-as-billionaire-gates-meets-pm-albanese-in-sydney-20230121-p5cef2.html
#16477991 at 2022-06-20 17:10:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #20846: Traitors Preparing For The Big Steal Edition
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/economics/ex-australian-minister-urges-assanges-freedom
Ex-Australian Minister urges Assange's freedom
Former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr demanded on Monday that the US abandon its prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Last week, Britain's Priti Patel approved the extradition of Assange to the US, causing a global uproar.
Amnesty International warned that the extradition of Assange would put him at great risk and send a chilling message to journalists around the world.
Read more: Assange to fight UK approval of extradition to US
Carr stated in an op-ed for the Sydney Morning Herald that Assange's conviction contrasted sharply with the US pardoning of former military intelligence officer Chelsea Manning, who provided the classified information to Wikileaks.
Carr stated that this was newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's "most potent argument" for Assange's release.
According to Carr, "If Albanese asks, my guess is America will agree."
"Our new prime minister can say: 'We're not fans of the guy either, Mr. President, but it's gone on long enough. We're good allies. Let this one drop.'"
During his campaign, Albanese is reported to have said "enough is enough," adding that he could not "see what purpose is served" by the ongoing saga against Assange.
Australia's previous conservative government did not openly lobby for Assange's release for much of the last decade.
The long-running legal saga began in 2010 after Assange published more than 500,000 documents classified in the US regarding war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Stella Morris, the wife of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, had told ABC radio that the Australian government has discussed the case with its US counterparts.
"My understanding is that the Australian government is raising it and that is extremely welcome news," she stated.
#15597195 at 2022-02-10 23:51:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #19723: George Soros owns "Dominion" Edition
Gladys Berejiklian takes job with telco giant OPTUS in VERY surprising career move after quitting politics amid corruption probe - and the ex-NSW premier could be in for a huge payday
Gladys Berejiklian has accepted a new job at telco giant Optus four months after her shock resignation as NSW premier.
Ms Berejiklian, 51, will join Optus in the newly-created role of Managing Director of Enterprise and Business, the company said on Friday.
'I am excited and proud to join an organisation that impacts the lives of millions of Australians every day and prides itself in providing outstanding customer service,' she said in an official Optus statement.
How much she will make in her new role is unclear, but it will likely rival the $200,000 a year in superannuation she is set to receive when she turns 55.
In October, she stepped down as NSW leader over an ICAC corruption probe into her doomed relationship with disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire.
The move will come as a surprise to those who tipped her to follow in the footsteps of previous premiers and start a new role at the 'millionaire factory' - Macquarie Bank.
Locals in her powerbase on Sydney's north shore said she was ready to start a new job at Macquarie and follow the career path of previous ex-NSW premiers, Bob Carr and Mike Baird.
The decision proved to be financially lucrative for both men.
Baird moved into finance with NAB in 2017 after stepping aside as NSW premier and was paid a reported $500,000 to work in their investment division.
At the time, Baird said he was quitting politics for good to spend more time with his family.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10500457/Gladys-Berejiklians-shock-new-job-revealed-huge-payday-expected.html
#15563425 at 2022-02-06 23:13:57 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #19680: All Eyes On Ottawa Edition
AEC cracks down on Twitterati, lets breaches by major political parties slide
While the AEC has been blocking its critics on Twitter, it is not so diligent when it comes to policing myriad breaches by the major political parties. Stephanie Tran reports.
The once-a-year data dump by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) often conceals more than it reveals, as the major parties are afforded loopholes such as high disclosure thresholds and the enigmatic "other receipt" which serve to conceal the true nature and extent of their political funding.
Year after year, political parties receive tens of millions of dollars in "dark money".
This week, The Centre for Public Integrity, published research showing over $1.38 billion (29.5%) of political party funding since the 1998-99 financial year is of unexplained origin. In the 2020-21 financial year, some $68 million (38.6%) of party income was of unexplained origin.
You won't see who has been funding this year's federal election as the donations data only happens once a year. By the time the February disclosures come along they are already at least 7 months old. We won't see this until next February.
Despite the poor disclosure laws and - this to be revealed shortly - rampant compliance failures by political parties, the AEC has been blocking its critics on social media this week. The independent government agency has come under fire for an alleged lack of independence. We won't go into the detail of the Twitter spat but suffice to say blocking critics on social media is an unusual step for a government agency.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/aec-cracks-down-on-twitterati-lets-breaches-by-major-political-parties-slide/
Aus gov is on the ropes
Bob Carr doubles down on Dutton comments
Former NSW premier Bob Carr has doubled down on his claim that Defence Minister Peter Dutton is the cabinet minister who called the Prime Minister a "complete psycho" in a text message.
Mr Dutton has denied the allegation and last night labelled Mr Carr's social media post "baseless" and "untrue".
This morning, the former Labor premier and ex-foreign minister fired off another tweet.
"Only one way Peter Dutton can win his case: get another colleague to admit that they were the source for comments about the Prime Minister," he wrote.
"If not you, Mr Dutton, which of your colleagues? Until then, who has the most to gain from undermining further a flailing PM?"
Earlier today, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg described Mr Carr as "suffering from a bad bout of relevance deprivation syndrome". Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has questioned what a former Labor politician would know about a sitting Liberal MP's text messages.
Mr Carr was NSW premier between 1995 and 2005. He also served as Australia's foreign minister during Julia Gillard's prime ministership.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-barnaby-joyce-text-fallout-continues-nation-s-total-covid-19-cases-continue-to-grow-20220207-p59u9d.html
Josh Frydenberg responds to Bob Carr after former Labor leader suggested Peter Dutton was behind 'complete psycho' texts
The Treasurer suggested former NSW Labor leader Bob Carr "suffers from a bad bout of relevance deprivation syndrome" after he claimed Peter Dutton was the alleged minister behind the character assassination text message exchange of Scott Morrison with Gladys Berejiklian.
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/josh-frydenberg-responds-to-Bob-Carr-after-former-labor-leader-suggested-peter-dutton-was-behind-complete-psycho-texts/news-story/d9835560bd58384714e1b40d64b8ae13
#14942435 at 2021-11-07 05:42:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #18902: Heart Attacks can be Deadly at Satanic/Ritual Concerts Edition
>>14942400
BIG NAMES. Mostly Australian
Scott Morrison
Paul Keating
Kim Beazley Snr*
Bob Hawke
Kim Beazley Jr
Alan Jones
John Singleton
John Laws
Kerry Packer
Gordon Moyes
George Pell
Rupert Murdoch
Ray Hadley
Bob Carr
John Avery
Dr Neville Davis
Richie Benaud
Frank Kennett
Bruce Spence* - the fucking worst of the lot probably. Keep him away from a katana.
Rosalind Croucher
John Gittenger*
Paul Wilson
Dr Leonas Petrauskas*
Tony Bean
Dr Antony Kidman* - Nicole Kidmans father
Justice David Yeldham
Roger Climspon
Molly Meldrum
Frank Houston*
Don Talbout
Scott Volkers
Rolf Harris
Alexander Downer
Ron Woodham
Clarence Osborne
Kevin Lynch
Gough Whitlam
Neville Wran
John Kerr
Robert Hughes
Michael Kirby
Roger Rogerson
John Bell
Don Bourke
Graham Kennedy
Bert Newton (just died)
Don Lane
Lionel Murphy
Stuart Wagstaff
Marcus Einfield
John Marsden
Robert (Bob) Menzies
*Names specifically mentioned in the Candy Girl documentary (from memory).
#9623227 at 2020-06-15 19:12:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #12317: Price of White on Rice from China Coming To A Theatre Soon Edition
Hawkish, Gov't Funded Think Tank Behind Twitter Decision to Delete Thousands of Chinese Accounts
Twitter's decision came after close collaboration with a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank that has been denounced by Australia's former ambassador in Beijing as "the architect of the China threat theory in Australia."
Social media giant Twitter announced yesterday that it had shut down over 170,000 accounts favorable to the Chinese Communist Party, as well as more than 1,000 Russian and 7,340 Turkish accounts it claimed were parroting Putin and Erdogan propaganda. Is this evidence of massive Chinese infiltration and control over Western social media? Not quite. Not making the headlines was the fact that virtually all the accounts communicated in Chinese dialects exclusively and the vast majority (95 percent) had fewer than eight followers, with nearly four in five having no followers whatsoever.
Twitter accused the accounts of "spreading geopolitical narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China," pushing "deceptive narratives" on the Hong Kong protests, praising China's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and "antagonizing" the U.S. If this is the basis for removal, it sets a potentially very dangerous precedent.
Despite the impression given in mainstream media, the medical community has effusively lauded Beijing's "leadership" and "commitment to transparency," in the World Health Organization's words. "I have never seen the scale and commitment of an epidemic response at this level in terms of all of government," said the organization's Chief Executive Director for Health Emergencies, Michael Ryan, "The challenge is great, but the response has been massive and the Chinese government deserve huge credit." Likewise, the editors of The Lancet, the world's most prestigious medical journal, published a statement saluting the "diligent," "effective" and "rapid" Chinese response and "strongly condemn conspiracy theories" pushed by U.S. officials like Senator Tom Cotton, that the virus' origin was man-made. Likewise, only around 58 percent of Hong Kong residents support the protests, with that number being far lower in Mainland China. Is taking a different line on the protests or China's COVID response to the Trump administration a violation of the rules? In the case of Facebook and Instagram and the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the platforms explicitly said it was, and deleted a great number of posts and accounts.
Pushing "a new Cold War with China"
Twitter worked closely with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in making yesterday's decision. ASPI is a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank based in Canberra, and was denounced by Australia's former ambassador in Beijing as "the architect of the China threat theory in Australia." Senator Kim Carr claimed ASPI was working hand-in-hand with Washington, trying to push "a new Cold War with China." Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr (no relation), agreed, saying it pushed a "one-sided, pro-American view of the world." This certainly seems to be the case, judging by their website, which appears uniformly dedicated to demonizing China.
Perhaps most notable, however, is that ASPI is also funded by a myriad of weapons companies, including Raytheon Australia, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, all of whom would greatly benefit from a war with China. And as The Grayzone's Ajit Singh pointed out, ASPI is headed by ultra-hawkish defense official Peter Jennings, who defended the Iraq War, supports regime change in other Middle Eastern states, and argued that "the West is setting the bar for military response too high".
https://www.mintpressnews.com/hawkish-think-tank-twitter-decision-delete-chinese-accounts/268524/
#9588470 at 2020-06-12 18:34:41 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #12272: WE ARE UNITED. WE WILL PREVAIL. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
Hawkish, Gov't Funded Think Tank Behind Twitter Decision to Delete Thousands of Chinese Accounts
Twitter's decision came after close collaboration with a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank that has been denounced by Australia's former ambassador in Beijing as "the architect of the China threat theory in Australia."
Social media giant Twitter announced yesterday that it had shut down over 170,000 accounts favorable to the Chinese Communist Party, as well as more than 1,000 Russian and 7,340 Turkish accounts it claimed were parroting Putin and Erdogan propaganda. Is this evidence of massive Chinese infiltration and control over Western social media? Not quite. Not making the headlines was the fact that virtually all the accounts communicated in Chinese dialects exclusively and the vast majority (95 percent) had fewer than eight followers, with nearly four in five having no followers whatsoever.
Twitter accused the accounts of "spreading geopolitical narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China," pushing "deceptive narratives" on the Hong Kong protests, praising China's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and "antagonizing" the U.S. If this is the basis for removal, it sets a potentially very dangerous precedent.
Despite the impression given in mainstream media, the medical community has effusively lauded Beijing's "leadership" and "commitment to transparency," in the World Health Organization's words. "I have never seen the scale and commitment of an epidemic response at this level in terms of all of government," said the organization's Chief Executive Director for Health Emergencies, Michael Ryan, "The challenge is great, but the response has been massive and the Chinese government deserve huge credit." Likewise, the editors of The Lancet, the world's most prestigious medical journal, published a statement saluting the "diligent," "effective" and "rapid" Chinese response and "strongly condemn conspiracy theories" pushed by U.S. officials like Senator Tom Cotton, that the virus' origin was man-made. Likewise, only around 58 percent of Hong Kong residents support the protests, with that number being far lower in Mainland China. Is taking a different line on the protests or China's COVID response to the Trump administration a violation of the rules? In the case of Facebook and Instagram and the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the platforms explicitly said it was, and deleted a great number of posts and accounts.
Pushing "a new Cold War with China"
Twitter worked closely with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in making yesterday's decision. ASPI is a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank based in Canberra, and was denounced by Australia's former ambassador in Beijing as "the architect of the China threat theory in Australia." Senator Kim Carr claimed ASPI was working hand-in-hand with Washington, trying to push "a new Cold War with China." Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr (no relation), agreed, saying it pushed a "one-sided, pro-American view of the world." This certainly seems to be the case, judging by their website, which appears uniformly dedicated to demonizing China.
Perhaps most notable, however, is that ASPI is also funded by a myriad of weapons companies, including Raytheon Australia, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, all of whom would greatly benefit from a war with China. And as The Grayzone's Ajit Singh pointed out, ASPI is headed by ultra-hawkish defense official Peter Jennings, who defended the Iraq War, supports regime change in other Middle Eastern states, and argued that "the West is setting the bar for military response too high".
https://www.mintpressnews.com/hawkish-think-tank-twitter-decision-delete-chinese-accounts/268524/
#8282282 at 2020-02-29 12:38:05 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #10603: DDOS, Yeah, We Hatin! Edition
>>8282267
It wouldn't surprise me if the Chicoms helped a great deal to put Kevin Rudd into government
He loves the Chinese
They probably gave shit-loads of dirty cash to the Labor party & still do probably
Sam Dastyari: the Chinkys were grooming him to be a mole/spy
Bob Carr: ex Premier of NSW is in the pockets of the Chicoms as well
Then there is that Chinese woman in the Coalition, whose obvious loyalty is to China, I forget her name
the list is endless !!!!
#4046439 at 2018-11-27 10:07:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #5149: Comfy Night Shift Edition
>>4046415
Yes, agree with close to Labor Senator Bob Carr, and both points.
It's very frustrating knowing that they're dirty, but not having found the linking evidence (yet, yet, yet).
So many of these pos politicians seem to be all liars and cheats and thieves, evil wolves preying on the public. Two-faced vampires.
Something's going to click and break it wide open soon I hope—
#4046415 at 2018-11-27 09:58:31 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #5149: Comfy Night Shift Edition
>>4046374
He wa also very close to Bob Carr in their uni days if im correct. He was an elitist and a commie but he had that well hidden from the public….the commie part at least.
#3897340 at 2018-11-14 10:17:05 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4956: WTF Is That? Edition
>>3897252 Australia- Turnbull
>>3897270 "Shadiest of the shady fuckers"
Yes. Was it $100-200m for an email program that he financed with a $500K loan in 1994?
Something like that.
I think Rudd is even shadier through Theresa Rein, his wife.
Bob Carr is dodgy as shit, and his beloved wife is Chinese (good possibility a spy/controller like Murdoch's.)
#3897235 at 2018-11-14 09:45:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4956: WTF Is That? Edition
>>3897209
Father was military
She is on on board of vaccine company. Turdball introduced the no jab no play policy to benefit her
From what I can find she is his handler. She was introduced to Turdball through Bob Carr on a "chance" meeting.
#3457797 at 2018-10-13 01:34:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4384 Night Crew Filing In, Jazz Music Resumes Edition
>>3457786
(contd)
He named Kerry Packer, Bob Carr, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Robert Menzies, Alan Jones (radio announcer), Bernard King (cook), Molly Meldrum (TV presenter), Elton John (musician), John Kerr (Whitlam and Kerr were homosexual lovers) and Justice Lionel Murphy.
She also recalls being at Bohemian Grove. On one occasion she was in a pink bubble room and raped. On another occasion she had to participate in "Teddy Bear's Picnic" a child rape hunt party, where children were hunted like animals and raped (as also happened to Kathy Collins and Cathy O'Brien).
Read: Australian Judge: Incest & Pedophilia 'May be Accepted' by Society
http://humansarefree.com/2014/07/australian-judge-incest-pedophilia-may.html
Witness at a Satanic Ritual in Bathurst, NSW, Australia, 1985
In this video (embedded above), Barrett talks about being present at a real Satanic ritual with some of Australia's famous people - Kim Beazley (later to become Australian Labour Party and Opposition leader) and Richie Benaud (famous Australian cricket captain and sports commentator).
She reveals how Beazley and Benaud started the ritual by worshipping their Satanic gods, chanting "Baal", "Lucifer", "Satan", "Son of the Morning" and other such appellations.
Fiona Barrett exposing the Satanic Pedophilia Network and horrific ritual at Bathurst.
She then witnessed them ceremoniously killing a pregnant mother (a "breeder" to the Satanists) in the center of the circle.
After that, they pulled out the unborn child, chopped it up with a knife, put it on a gold platter, and proceed to do a type of dark communion or Eucharist.
(Barrett mentions here that the Catholic Church communion is based on this older Satanic version of a communion - in line with my article Are Parts of Organized Religion Satanic?)
After that, she states that several hypnotized children came forward like robots, who were probably mind controlled or completely dazed. Benaud came forward with a samurai sword and sliced off the head of each child.
Then, the entire crowd of Satanists, who were sexually aroused by everything that had just taken place, broke out into a bloody orgy. They had whipped everyone up into a frenzy, and then they drunk the adrenalized blood of the woman and child. (Satanists are addicted to and get high from adrenaline in human blood.)
Lastly, Beazley forced her to take a bite of one of the decapitated heads ...
Read: The Truth About Easter, Satanism and the Secret Worship of the Anunnaki
Why the Satanic Pedophilia Network?
Some may wondering at this point why I and many others are calling this the "Satanic Pedophilia Network" and not just the "Pedophilia Network". The answer is simple: Satanism is most definitely involved in it - in fact, it is the driving force behind it.
Fiona herself mentions in this interview that some of the criminals who abused and raped her were "just" pedophiles, and she puts former Aussie PM Gough Whitlam in this category.
Others, however, worship a dark religion called Satanism which involves the summoning of dark forces (most probably the Reptilians and/or Archons, but that is the subject of other articles) through channeling and twisted rituals, allowing these dark forces to overtake them and use them.
Then, filled with this Satanic energy (such as during rituals at Bohemian Grove), these adherents commit all sorts of perverted acts such as rape, necrophilia, torture, murder, sacrifice and cannibalism.
Banned Discovery Channel Documentary Exposes: Highest US Government Officials are Part of Pedophilia Ring
http://humansarefree.com/2014/03/banned-discovery-channel-documentary.html
The Satanic Hierarchy
Fiona explains how the Satanic hierarchical pyramid works.
Roughly speaking, at the lowest level, you have street gangs; next, you have organized crime and the mafia; next, you have recruits into the elite club; then, above that, you have "just" pedophiles (those who rape children but who have no Satanic connection); finally, at the very top, you have the elite VIPs who are full-fledged Satanists.
Fiona states that only bloodliners can make it to the top. These people come from the 13 or so Illumanti bloodlines (as exposed by Fritz Springmeier, David Icke and other researchers).
These bloodlines are revered as demigods; and the roughly 300 bloodlines or so below that can never make it to the top echelon. (Probably because they don't have pure blood, i.e. "royal" or reptilian DNA, but again, subject for another article.)
The OTO, the Freemasons, Scientology, Catholic Church, the CIA, the Australian military and many many others are all branches of the same Satanic Pedophilia Network. It lies at the heart of the international child trafficking ring and the New World Order.
#3457786 at 2018-10-13 01:32:52 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4384 Night Crew Filing In, Jazz Music Resumes Edition
https://www.place4free.com/Watamula/Watamula_Ritualen2.htm
Ritualen 2
Satanic Pedophilia Network Exposed in Australia -
It Starts at the TOP, Just Like in the USA and UK
The New World Order cult that rules the world administers a Satanic Pedophilia Network, including top-level politicians like Australian Prime Ministers and US Presidents.
The Satanic Pedophilia Network which underlies the New World Order was again exposed in the last few months by another brave whistleblower. Australian woman Fiona Barrett showed a ton of courage in going public at a Sydney press conference in October 2015 and naming names.
Fiona, a former victim of Satanic ritual abuse and part of an international VIP pedophile ring, not only exposed the existence of the Satanic pedophilia network and its international child trafficking ring, but actually named 3 former Australian Prime Ministers and 1 former US President as perpetrators.
She reveals that this network, composed of famous actors, celebrities, judges, politicians and other high-flyers, has infiltrated all the key organizations and institutions in Australia - just as it has in the US and Britain.
Warning: what follows is graphic and requires a great deal of maturity to swallow, but if you're interested in the real truth of what's going on in the world, read on.
Fiona saw it all - Satanic ritual, rape, torture and murder - but actually says "the way I've been treated for reporting the crimes I've witnessed and experienced has been far worse than my original abuse experiences."
That speaks volumes about people's collective denial and amnesia, doesn't it?
Pedophiles Running Rampant Down Under
Fiona proclaims that Australia is a pedophile haven. She explains how Australia took in a large number of Nazi war criminals, including her own step-grandparents. She was introduced by her own family to an international child trafficking pedophile ring based in Sydney.
Some victims are kidnapped off the street, some are "bred" for it (without ever getting birth certificates - more on this later) and some are brought into it through multi-generational abuse. These latter ones are trained and expected to become the perpetrators and future administrators of it.
Fiona has had flashbacks to being abused as young as the age of 2. Later on, when she was still a little girl, she was dropped off at VIP parties, instructed to say "the starchild is here", then watch as famous politicians, actors and celebrities snorted cocaine, raped her, had sex with each other, then pretended to drown her in a pool.
She wasn't just sexually abused and raped; she also suffered Satanic ritual abuse in the form of torture (e.g. suffering cattle prodding electroshock to cause disassociation).
She reveals how this pedophile ring goes to the highest levels, and included orgies at Parliament House (in Canberra) itself.
Naming the Names
Fiona names the names of the people who sexually assaulted, raped and tortured her:
- Antony Kidman (actress Nicole Kidman's father) (Nicole Kidman is a victim of the ring too, but was nasty towards fellow victim Fiona);
- Dr. John Gittinger (Lithuanian Nazi concentration camp guard and CIA agent);
- Former US President Richard Nixon;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating;
- Former Australian Opposition Leader Kim Beazley;
- Former NSW Premier Bob Carr;
- US Evangelist Pastor Billy Graham;
- Ted Turner (CNN).
Barrett also mentions the brave Aussie politician Franca Arena, who got up in Parliament under parliamentary privilege and said there is a large pedophile ring involving politicians, judges, doctors and media moguls.
#2630995 at 2018-08-16 19:22:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #3321: Patriots In Control Edition
Satanic Pedophilia Network Exposed in Australia (Just like in the USA)
The Satanic Pedophilia Network
which underlies the New World Order was again exposed in the last few months by another brave whistleblower. Australian woman Fiona Barrett showed a ton of courage in going public at a Sydney press conference in October 2015 and naming names. Fiona, a former victim of Satanic ritual abuse and part of an international VIP pedophile ring, not only exposed the existence of the Satanic pedophilia network and its international child trafficking ring, but actually named 3 former Australian Prime Ministers and 1 former US President as perpetrators. She reveals that this network, composed of famous actors, celebrities, judges, politicians and other high-flyers, has infiltrated all the key organizations and institutions in Australia - just as it has in the US and Britain.
Naming the Names
Fiona names the names of the people who sexually assaulted, raped and tortured her:
- Antony Kidman (actress Nicole Kidman's father) (Nicole Kidman is a victim of the ring too, but was nasty towards fellow victim Fiona);
- Dr. John Gittinger (Lithuanian Nazi concentration camp guard and CIA agent);
- Actor Bruce Spence;
- Former US President Richard Nixon;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating;
- Former Australian Minister of Education Kim Beazley Sr.;
- Former NSW Premier Bob Carr;
- Former Australian cricketer Richie Benaud;
- US Evangelist Pastor Billy Graham;
- Ted Turner (CNN).
Barrett also mentions the brave Aussie politician Franca Arena, who got up in Parliament under parliamentary privilege and said there is a large pedophile ring involving politicians, judges, doctors and media moguls. He named Kerry Packer, Bob Carr, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Robert Menzies, Alan Jones (radio announcer), Bernard King (cook), Molly Meldrum (TV presenter), Elton John (musician), John Kerr (Whitlam and Kerr were homosexual lovers) and Justice Lionel Murphy.
https://freedom-articles.toolsforfreedom.com/satanic-pedophilia-network-exposed-australia/
#1955520 at 2018-06-29 09:45:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #2465: We Are The Majority Edition
Naming the Names
Fiona names the names of the people who sexually assaulted, raped and tortured her:
- Antony Kidman (actress Nicole Kidman's father) (Nicole Kidman is a victim of the ring too, but was nasty towards fellow victim Fiona);
- Dr. John Gittinger (Lithuanian Nazi concentration camp guard and CIA agent);
- Former US President Richard Nixon;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke;
- Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating;
- Former Australian Opposition Leader Kim Beazley;
- Former NSW Premier Bob Carr;
- US Evangelist Pastor Billy Graham;
- Ted Turner (CNN).
Barnett also mentions the brave Aussie politician Franca Arena, who got up in Parliament under parliamentary privilege and said there is a large pedophile ring involving politicians, judges, doctors and media moguls.
He named Kerry Packer, Bob Carr, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Robert Menzies, Alan Jones (radio announcer), Bernard King (cook), Molly Meldrum (TV presenter), Elton John (musician), John Kerr (Whitlam and Kerr were homosexual lovers) and Justice Lionel Murphy.
Fiona has drawn her abuse pictures here.
She also recalls being at Bohemian Grove. On one occasion she was in a pink bubble room and raped. On another occasion she had to participate in "Teddy Bear's Picnic" a child rape hunt party, where children were hunted like animals and raped (as also happened to Kathy Collins and Cathy O'Brien).
The World is Run by a Satanic Cult
It's a tough and bitter pill to swallow, but we have to face the cold hard truth: the world is run by a Satanic cult, whose members have infiltrated the top layers and power centers of Australian, American and British society (and those of numerous other countries).
They are inter-related, and they are bound together by bloodlines and Satanism - with pedophilia, rape, murder, war and genocide to follow.
Fiona warns that every organization in Australia has been infiltrated, including hospitals, psychiatry, politics, child advocacy groups - everything.
The Satanists have even created a False Memory Foundation, a fake organization set up by pedophiles, to stop true victims from coming forward with their stories, by convincing people they didn't really experience what they experienced.
Satanic black magic rules the world. Only when enough of us truly grasp the enormity, horror and shock of this fundamental truth - now exposed by a mountain of evidence and a ton of whistleblowers and victims - can we hope to heal it by bringing these psychopaths to justice and restoring some semblance of honesty, peace and freedom to our world.
http://humansarefree.com/2016/02/satanic-pedophilia-network-exposed-in.html
https://pedophilesdownunder.com/hang-on-for-the-ride-abuse-drawings/
#1643585 at 2018-06-05 23:17:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #2067: Autonomous Anonymous
>>1643502
well, this is a hell of a note!
NK has an embassy in Australia! circa 2013
https://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2013/01/16/n-korea-to-re-open-embassy-in-australia/
it reopened about a week after schmidt and richardson left NK
5 eyes anyone?
Australia says North Korea is planning to re-open its embassy in the nation's capital, five years after closing it for financial reasons.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr on Wednesday said he welcomes the move. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation it would allow Australia to express its "very deep concerns" about what he called North Korea's "catastrophic" rights abuses.
Carr did not comment on why the reclusive state made the decision to re-open its embassy in Canberra.
The two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1974, although ties have often been strained. Australia imposed sanctions against North Korea following its steps to develop nuclear weapons.
Australia has been critical of human rights violations in the communist state. On Wednesday, Carr described what he called a "gulag and a network of concentration camps" in North Korea that is estimated to hold 200,000 prisoners in poor conditions.
Observers have looked for signs that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who took power last year following the death of his father, is willing to implement political or economic reforms in the largely isolated country.
In a New Year speech, Mr. Kim promised "great creations and changes" in 2013, saying the building of an economic giant is an important task for his country in the new year.
#612950 at 2018-03-10 17:47:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #757: Spectacular Saturday Edition
HRC was in Australia on 11/11/2012
2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/11/200374.htm
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Perth and Adelaide, Australia; Singapore; Bangkok, Thailand; Rangoon, Burma; and Phnom Penh, Cambodia November 11-20, 2012.
On November 11, Secretary Clinton will travel to Perth, Australia to join U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, and Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith for the annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) to discuss security cooperation and other regional and global issues. In Perth, Secretary Clinton will meet with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Bob Carr. She will also visit the new Western Australia - United States & Asia Centre (USAC). She will then travel to Adelaide where she will meet with Australian business leaders as well as visit Techport Australia, Australia's largest and most advanced shipbuilding facility.
Secretary Clinton will travel to Singapore on November 16-17 to meet with senior government officials, including Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Foreign Minister Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam, on a wide range of issues.
On November 17, Secretary Clinton will travel to Bangkok, Thailand. She will join President Obama and his delegation on November 18 for meetings with Prime Minister Yingluck and other senior Thai officials to underscore our strong alliance and discuss shared priorities and regional issues in advance of the ASEAN East Asia Summit.
Secretary Clinton will accompany President Obama to Burma on November 19, and join his meetings with Burmese President Thein Sein and Chair of the National League for Democracy and Member of Parliament Aung San Suu Kyi.
Secretary Clinton will also accompany President Obama on his travel to Phnom Penh, Cambodia November 19-20 to attend the U.S.-ASEAN Leaders Meeting and the East Asia Summit.
#88581 at 2018-01-19 04:04:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #105 - NEW-Q-OP #FISAGATE & #RELEASETHEMEMO GO GO GO!! EDITION
AUSTRALIA
Possible link with Australia's PM and the UN Security council with the CF tied in:
>We can take you to New York now where Australia is pushing for that spot on the UN Security Council.
>Richard Marles is Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Richard how is the Prime Minister doing?
>RICHARD MARLES: The Prime Minister has been ill, as people know, but I think she is getting up and about. She did participate in the Clinton Foundation function today.
http:// ministers.dfat.gov.au/marles/transcripts/Pages/2012/rm_tr_120925.aspx?ministerid=4
>What's cuter is, you'll be delighted to know the Australian taxpayer is also listed as tipping in somewhere between $10 million - $25 million to the Clinton Foundation thanks to Julia Gillard. Your hard earned dollars thrown around like confetti by Gillard for her close mate.
>http:// www.zanettisview.com/story/hillary-clinton-muslims-have-nothing-to-do-with-terrorism/1466
>Announced by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton, and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, CHARGE's commitments will focus on five key areas in global girls education which include: …
http:// www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140924005892/en/British-Council-Oando-Foundation-Announce-Clinton-Global
>AusAID was brought under the umbrella of DFAT shortly before Bob Carr was parachuted into the Foreign Affairs portfolio.
http:// www.pickeringpost.com/story/gillard-gave-10-25-million-to-clintons/5088
>Bingo! US Internal Revenue Service to investigate the Clinton Foundation - Australian Government's problems begin
http:// www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/07/bingo-us-internal-revenue-service-to-investigate-the-clinton-foundation-australian-governments-probl.html
8chan/8kun QResearch AUSTRALIA Posts (81)
#20098565 at 2023-12-19 10:50:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #34: UNITED AGAINST THE INVISIBLE ENEMY OF ALL HUMANITY Edition
>>20098559
2/2
A Corrective Services NSW spokesperson has previously said the state "does not use" solitary confinement although they conceded Duggan was housed in a one-person cell with a small outside yard.
The spokesperson said the department "does not have the authority to release unsentenced inmates to home detention". The department otherwise declined to comment on Duggan's request.
In his letter, Duggan said former NSW premier Bob Carr had raised his case with the corrections minister, Anoulack Chanthivong, who advised him the corrections commissioner was "the person who is empowered" to release him into home detention.
Chanthivong declined to comment when contacted by Guardian Australia. Carr was unavailable to comment.
As well as a team of lawyers, Duggan has hired communications agency pCOMZ to manage publicity for his case, which hinges on counterclaims of a political conspiracy as well as a public pressure campaign featuring his family.
US authorities say emails, travel and payment records led them to believe Duggan provided unauthorised defence services to Chinese pilots by training them at a controversial test flying school in South Africa.
They argue Duggan was aware of the legal restrictions on the export of US defence services before he allegedly breached them by providing training services to the Chinese military.
US authorities almost missed the five-year statute of limitations during which they could file charges against Duggan who was indicted by a grand jury in 2017.
The indictment says Duggan breached arms control laws by training Chinese fighter pilots and that his "co-conspirators" bought a T-2 Buckeye aircraft from a US dealer to use for the training by providing false information.
The indictment also says Duggan gave a presentation in China in 2011 entitled "The Fighter Pilot's Guide to Mission Success".
Lawyer and Australian Army veteran Glenn Kolomeitz, who is acting as an advocate for the Duggan family, said it was "common" for former military personnel to give presentations of the kind Duggan allegedly gave in China.
Kolomeitz said Duggan worked at the South African flying school "providing training for Chinese civilian pilots" and "had no reason to believe otherwise".
The federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has approved Duggan's extradition request, meaning Duggan will be handed over to the US unless his legal team can prove his extradition is unlawful.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/19/daniel-duggan-home-detention-appeal-pilot-flight-risk
#20098526 at 2023-12-19 10:33:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #34: UNITED AGAINST THE INVISIBLE ENEMY OF ALL HUMANITY Edition
Labor MPs break ranks to accuse Israel of 'domination' of Palestinians
Michael McGowan - December 19, 2023
1/2
Dozens of high-profile Labor figures, including members of the Albanese, Minns and Allan governments, have signed an open letter declaring the human rights of Palestinians have been "grossly violated" and accusing Israel of policies aimed at "the domination of one people over another".
The letter, co-ordinated by the NSW Labor MP Anthony D'Adam and Greens MP Jenny Leong, calls for a "permanent ceasefire and a just and lasting peace" in Gaza, and urges the Albanese government to recognise Palestine as a state "entitled to be free of occupation" and "examine" its relationship with Israel.
Signed by 11 members of Chris Minns' government and three federal Labor MPs, Maria Vamvakinou from Victoria and WA senators Louise Pratt and Fatima Payman, as well as former NSW premier and foreign affairs minister Bob Carr, it accuses Israel of an ongoing "military occupation, illegal settlement expansion, land theft, violence, discrimination, restrictions on movement and the subjugation of the Palestinian people".
"It is beyond dispute that Israel is committed to policies designed to entrench the domination of one people over another in the territories of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories," the letter states.
"Attempts to deny this, or smear those who allege it, are an attempt to defy truth and reality.
"These events and policies have involved the destruction of Palestinian society and the denial of the legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinian people."
Israel's air and ground assault on Gaza, launched in response to Hamas' attack in southern Israel on October 7, has caused the deaths of more than 18,700 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory. In Australia, the conflict has spurred a wave of pro-Palestinian protest in capital cities including Sydney and Melbourne.
Last week the Albanese government announced a surprise shift in its previous stance on the conflict by breaking with the United States to support an immediate ceasefire at the United Nations General Assembly.
But the letter challenges Australia's vocal support for Israel and urges the Commonwealth to view the conflict within a broader historical context.
While it condemns the "horrific acts of Hamas on 7 October" it urges the Albanese government to "recognise Palestine as a state that is entitled to be free of occupation" and argued that violations against Palestinian rights began with the "violent displacement of some 700,000 Palestinians from their homeland" when Israel was founded in 1948.
The "military occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza by Israel since 1967, the letter states, involved ongoing "illegal settlement expansion, land theft, violence, discrimination, restrictions on movement and the subjugation of the Palestinian people".
The signatories argue that context has meant that "for too long the human rights of the Palestinian people have been grossly violated".
(continued)
#19822096 at 2023-10-29 05:02:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
#32 - Part 45
Indigenous Voice To Parliament Referendum - Part 9
>>19561705 Don't be distracted by 'controversy bombs', Pearson urges Yes campaign - The Yes camp will use rallies for 50,000 people and concerts in capital cities on Sunday to try and draw a line under a messy opening fortnight, after the Voice referendum campaign became mired in a verbal crossfire about racism and the impact of colonisation. Voice co-architect Noel Pearson said at a Yes23 rally in Sydney's Redfern that the campaign would need to avoid "controversy bombs" over the remaining four weeks to referendum day on October 14, as he dismissed comments by Coalition frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price that British colonisation had no lasting negative impacts on Indigenous Australians.
>>19561768 Why the Indigenous voice to parliament is a Thatcher-esque project - "Earlier this week I received an email from a constituent named Les. Les is a retiree and shared with me how he is being squeezed with rising medicine, food and power costs. He didn't hold back in asking me why I was advocating for the voice when so many Australians were hurting financially. It was a legitimate question to ask. I think many Australians are asking: why should we vote Yes in this referendum when the economy is so tight? Surely there are better priorities. My answer to Les, and the many who share his view, is that the voice gives us the means to tackle the economic challenges facing so many Indigenous communities. By tackling these challenges we also can make our economy and the budget stronger." - Julian Leeser, Liberal member for Berowra in Sydney - theaustralian.com.au
>>19566036 'History is calling us': Yes campaign ramps up as thousands join in rallies across Australia - Thousands of supporters of the Voice to Parliament have taken to the streets across the country, with a crucial message for Aussies that "history is calling us" ahead of the October referendum. Supporters of the Yes campaign turned out in record numbers on Sunday afternoon across major cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. It marks one of the biggest campaign pushes for the Yes vote since the referendum date was announced. Minister for Indigenous Australians told a roaring crowd in Melbourne's CBD that "history is calling us" and that "each and every one of you can help answer the call from generations of Indigenous people."
>>19566045 Video: Leading No campaigner Warren Mundine claims a treaty process will be more successful if No vote wins - Leading No campaigner Warren Mundine has backed a treaty process, claiming it's more likely to succeed if the No vote is successful. Mr Mundine, a Bundjalung man, also called for the date of Australia Day to be changed. Speaking on the ABC's Insiders program, Mr Mundine said there should be multiple, individual treaties, recognising Aboriginal nations. "We've got to recognise Aboriginal culture, Aboriginal culture is our First Nations and the first thing we learn about life is one nation cannot talk about another nation's country," he said.
>>19566056 OPINION: The movie that erased my doubts about the Voice - "I had reservations about the Voice until seeing a movie. I've long opposed a charter of rights because it might steer policymaking away from parliament and into courts. If there was someone on the Labor side who might have needed assurance the Voice would not do this, it might have been me. But not after the opening scene of High Ground. This 2020 movie, directed by Stephen Johnson, is set in Arnhem Land in the early 1920s. It is about race relations on the Australian frontier. It opens with Aboriginal people at a waterhole, an oasis of palms and running water. This peace is shattered by fire from repeater rifles. When it stops, the only sound is the flight of waterfowl and the buzzing of flies around black corpses. Blood runs in the sand. My response to the terrifying scene that opened High Ground went like this: "The survivors of this are saying that all they want is a pipeline to parliament called the Voice. That's all? Only access? Just give it to them. No argument. No delay." Metaphorically, the gunshots still echo. Only one group suffered massacres and now it's time to make amends. High Ground's footage is dramatised, but it's not fake. Doubters might stream it on SBS On Demand, where they can also find Rachel Perkins' The Australian Wars. It's time to let kindness have its day in public policy." - Bob Carr, former foreign affairs minister and NSW's longest serving premier - theage.com.au
#19822075 at 2023-10-29 04:56:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
#32 - Part 36
AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 9
>>19606895 AUKUS consensus is collapsing under weight of Labor blunders - "Committing to Morrison's AUKUS is the most consequential decision of the Albanese government. The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates it will cost $50bn between 2027 and 2033 alone. Our navy, already under-resourced, will have to make painful savings. Splintering a bottle of champagne over the snout of an Attack-class French sub in the early 2030s would plainly have been a simpler option with less stress for other defence assets. The whole fleet would have been a bargain at a trifling $90bn compared with the half-trillion-dollar price tag for the Loch Ness monster alternative arriving in the 2050s." - Bob Carr, longest-serving premier of NSW and former Australian foreign minister - theaustralian.com.au
>>19805035 'All downhill from here, my darling': PM's one regret about US state dinner - The White House was adorned with a large Australian flag. The decor inside was inspired by the shared landscapes of both countries. And guests arrived to a band playing an instrumental version of Crowded House's hit Don't Dream It's Over. Five months after abruptly cancelling a much-anticipated trip to Australia to deal with a looming debt crisis in Washington, US President Joe Biden gave Prime Minister Anthony Albanese the highest diplomatic honour reserved for an ally: a lavish state dinner. After a day filled with ceremony and diplomacy - a 21-gun salute on the White House south lawn; a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office - the two world leaders reconvened in the evening for a glitzy black-tie event with more than 300 guests to celebrate their enduring alliance. And as the leaders prepared to give a toast before dinner was served, Albanese joked that he "only had one regret about tonight, which is I'm not quite sure how I top this for date night with Jodie, at any time, anywhere in the future". "It's all downhill from here, my darling," he told her.
>>19805051 Albanese and Biden stress importance of AUKUS pact amid global tensions - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden have presented a united front amid current global uncertainty after holding talks in Washington. Albanese arrived at the White House on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) as a military band played and 4000 guests watched from the South Lawn. The pair later held a press conference during which they reiterated the importance of the Australian-United States alliance in what Biden said was a difficult time, with ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It was part of a state visit intended to bolster American ties in the Pacific against the backdrop of fighting between Israel and Hamas. The US President said AUKUS was not a threat to China but about maintaining stability in the Indo Pacific region. "It is about maintaining stability, stability in the straits, the Indian Ocean, the whole area. "It is going to increase the prospects for long-term peace rather than anything else."
>>19805059 Albanese quotes Biden's late son in White House speech - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has backed the "moral clarity" of United States President Joe Biden in his response to the conflict in the Middle East, in an address at the White House that amplifies Australian support at a time of American concern about the rise of China. Albanese cited words spoken by Biden's late soldier son to highlight the strength of the alliance between the two countries, two weeks before he visits Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Quoting an American talking about his time in the Iraq war, Albanese cited a soldier saying: "You know when there's an Australian with you, they'll always have your back." He will then tell the crowd at the White House that the remark came from Major Beau Biden. The president's son died of cancer in 2015, at the age of 46. Biden told the story of his son's remark when he visited Australia as vice-president in 2016.
#19821981 at 2023-10-29 04:34:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
#32 - Part 10
Australian Politics and Society - Part 10
>>19706457 Bob Carr attacked for Palestine posts - Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council national chair Mark Leibler has condemned former foreign minister Bob Carr for saying Palestinians had a right to resist an illegal occupation and would suffer a "disproportionately huge retaliation" from Israel. Mr Carr, a key critic of Israel and prominent supporter of Palestinian recognition, responded to the Hamas terrorist attack in which more than 700 Israelis have been killed – including more than 250 people at a music festival in southern Israel - by saying Hamas had won a "tactical ?success". "Will be very short-lived. It will draw disproportionately huge retaliation directed at civilians and indifferent to children," he posted on X. "Between the suicidal instincts of Hamas and the dominance of Israeli air power the losers will be long-suffering Palestinians in what is the world's largest refugee camp. Palestinians have a right to resist an illegal occupation, the spread of settlements all illegal and apartheid laws - but resist peacefully. Mainstream moderate Palestinians committed to a negotiated solution deserve world attention and support, now more than ever." Mr Leibler responded, asking: "Bob - just how far does your hatred for Israel and the Jewish people go? You did not even condemn the sickening attack by Hamas against Israel's civilian population. Shame on you!"
>>19706509 Video: PM calls for calm as concerns grow for safety of Australians in Israel - Hamas has warned it is ready to dig in for a long war as Israel prepared to escalate its response to the Palestinian militant group's shock weekend attacks, mobilising hundreds of thousands of troops and pelting Palestinian targets with aerial bombardments. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he remained concerned about the fate of Australians in Israel because there were so many of them visiting or living in the country, flagging the possible evacuation of Australian citizens in Israel if required. "We are working on a range of contingency arrangements that I won't detail publicly for obvious reasons, but we do work on these contingencies," he told the ABC. Defence Minister Richard Marles said there were no reports of Australians having been killed or hospitalised as a result of the attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address: "What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations." Speaking to local officials near Israel's border with Gaza, Netanyahu said: "What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible; we are already in the campaign and we are just getting started."
>>19712756 At a celebration of slaughter, Labor looks the other way - "More than once since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel last weekend and slaughtered hundreds of innocent men, women and children in their homes, at a music festival and on the streets, I have felt grateful to call Australia home. It's deeply distressing for anyone following these events to see vision of mothers and their babies being kidnapped by barbarians and held hostage. But for Jewish Australians this horrifying depravity has felt incredibly personal - even though seemingly a world away from our sparkling way of life here in Australia. A world away, that is, until Monday evening, when the NSW government allowed the barbarians who had murdered entire families in Israel to be celebrated on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. Absurdly, NSW police urged Jews to stay in their homes, not to come into the CBD, to keep away from the Opera House and the Town Hall, saying it wasn't safe to walk the city's streets. That's the inexplicable path the NSW government took as pro-Palestinian protesters, chanting "Death to Jews" and "Gas the Jews" and burning the Israeli flag, celebrated the slaughter of innocent Israeli civ?ilians. It was clearly hate speech: unlawful behaviour that drives a terrifying wedge between Australians when we're supposedly embracing inclusivity. For a Jewish Australian walking down the street, there's now a discernible feeling of fear and worry. Should we take our children to school, having just seen these people - our fellow citizens - chant "Kill the Jews" and "Gas the Jews" on the streets we love? These are the questions I am now seriously asking myself in the city in which I was born and raised, and where I have always felt safe. In allowing this hateful, divisive, anti-Semitic protest to go ahead, the NSW Labor government, the police and the Greens are fostering an atmosphere of fear and distrust in our beautiful, peaceful country." - Sharri Markson - theaustralian.com.au
#19706457 at 2023-10-10 09:44:32 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
>>19699368
Bob Carr attacked for Palestine posts
JOE KELLY - OCTOBER 9, 2023
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council national chair Mark Leibler has condemned former foreign minister Bob Carr for saying Palestinians had a right to resist an illegal occupation and would suffer a "disproportionately huge retaliation" from Israel.
Mr Carr, a key critic of Israel and prominent supporter of Palestinian recognition, responded to the Hamas terrorist attack in which more than 700 Israelis have been killed - including more than 250 people at a music festival in southern Israel - by saying Hamas had won a "tactical ?success".
"Will be very short-lived. It will draw disproportionately huge retaliation directed at civilians and indifferent to children," he posted on X. "Between the suicidal instincts of Hamas and the dominance of Israeli air power the losers will be long-suffering Palestinians in what is the world's largest refugee camp. Palestinians have a right to resist an illegal occupation, the spread of settlements all illegal and apartheid laws - but resist peacefully. Mainstream moderate Palestinians committed to a negotiated solution deserve world attention and support, now more than ever."
Mr Leibler responded, asking: "Bob - just how far does your hatred for Israel and the Jewish people go? You did not even condemn the sickening attack by Hamas against Israel's civilian population. Shame on you!"
Anthony Albanese told 2GB radio Hamas' actions were "unprecedented ... completely unacceptable".
"The idea that you would have people launching essentially indiscriminate shooting at random, just trying to cause as much harm as possible, is just an atrocity that deserves condemnation," the Prime Minister said.
Mr Albanese also said a pro-Palestine protest march planned for the Opera House on Monday evening should not go ahead, and urged people not to attend "just out of respect for the loss of life".
He said Israel had a "right to defend itself and in these circumstances it will".
Foreign Minister Penny Wong also defended her language after she was criticised by the Coalition for saying "Australia urges the exercise of restraint".
"I think it is always the right thing for Australia to urge restraint and the protection of civilian lives," Senator Wong said. "Are people suggesting that we ought not be in any conflict calling for the protection of civilian lives? Of course we should."
Peter Dutton said the Coalition would not ask Israel to show restraint, arguing it was "completely and utterly the wrong time for that sort of language".
"When the attacks took place in New York and across the US in the 9/11 attacks, John Howard ... prime minister at the time, stood shoulder to shoulder with President Bush in the United States. It wasn't a time for restraint. It was a time to make sure that, firstly, people are secure and further attacks can be prevented."
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/Bob-Carr-attacked-for-palestine-posts/news-story/86520350dfe4282f90b76f7c9671d507
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1710939485725495470
https://twitter.com/LeiblerMark/status/1710945032843543037
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1711498445423566890
#19606897 at 2023-09-25 11:04:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
>>19606895
2/2
Shoebridge frets about what Americans could think of us when they realise we've put little towards the package. This anxiety is an Australian pathology. But the US embassy must be aware federal Labor has told Labor figures in the Illawarra that any decision about an east coast submarine base at Port Kembla won't be started till the 2030s and take 10 years anyway. Selecting a site for the storage of highly enriched uranium could take more than a decade. A nuclear-waste repository in South Australia was as emphatically rejected by Liberals as Labor.
There was another signal that the right of Australian politics is now dissenting from the AUKUS consensus. It came from Sharri Markson on Sky, who may have collected insights from senior figures in the Coalition and right-wing US circles. On September 19 she said there are politicians in Washington "jeopardising the AUKUS deal".
That "jeopardising" is as far as anyone has gone in assessing congressional grumpiness over the prospect of selling precious subs to Australia. Yet when Speaker Kevin McCarthy's caucus is rebellious on other fronts, it might be a correct reading. Pat Conroy's "appeasers" have Bobbed up behind the lines.
Markson said this was one reason the US ambassador Caroline Kennedy was in the US so often. When Biden, Rishi Sunak and Albanese solemnised AUKUS in San Diego with hands on hearts, there had been no hint of wobbles in Washington.
Committing to Morrison's AUKUS is the most consequential decision of the Albanese government. The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates it will cost $50bn between 2027 and 2033 alone. Our navy, already under-resourced, will have to make painful savings. Other defence platforms will be "cannibalised". The verb is Sheridan's.
Splintering a bottle of champagne over the snout of an Attack-class French sub in the early 2030s would plainly have been a simpler option with less stress for other defence assets. The whole fleet would have been a bargain at a trifling $90bn compared with the half-trillion-dollar price tag for the Loch Ness monster alternative arriving in the 2050s.
And waving off HMAS Attack from the Adelaide dock to plough its deterrent firepower in our northern reaches would have been a lethal statement about our regional strength, and easily enough to have baptised Labor with the national security good housekeeping seal of approval.
Bob Carr was the longest-serving premier of NSW and Australian foreign minister.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/aukus-consensus-is-collapsing-under-weight-of-labor-blunders/news-story/30b88fb3daa62779c3a98c42582832d5
#19606895 at 2023-09-25 11:02:55 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
>>19505163
AUKUS consensus is collapsing under weight of Labor blunders
Bob Carr - SEPTEMBER 25, 2023
1/2
When Anthony Albanese addressed his federal electoral council on July 6 he rebutted criticism of AUKUS by saying Labor governments always have to prove themselves on national security.
This was an explanation for Labor acquiescing in the Scott Morrison plan in 2021. It was the justification for not reopening the issue eight months later when Labor won government.
This instinct that Labor must always underline its national security credentials was on display in parody version at Labor's national conference in Brisbane. Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry, branded AUKUS doubters "appeasers".It was language that might have been lifted from Bob Santamaria's TV broadcasts during the Vietnam War. But it's not working.
The right in Australia has withdrawn its goodwill towards the Albanese government on national security. Linking Labor and AUKUS won't cut it. In any case, the bicephalous US political system makes it unwise to talk up the three-nation deal. It is now risky to boast about it.
Three days after the conference there were reports of a congressional research paper that concluded AUKUS could worsen the US Navy's shortfall of nuclear-powered subs. This report decisively strengthened the hand of the US Republicans who commissioned it and who are threatening to block the sale of subs to Australia. This will feed into local scepticism eroding the Canberra consensus about AUKUS and its grandiose reach.
That scepticism was captured last week in a seminal article by foreign editor Greg Sheridan in which he effectively withdrew support for Defence Minister Richard Marles - unfairly, because all his defence imbroglios have been inherited. But it reframed the AUKUS debate: "There's every chance AUKUS could turn out to be the enemy of Australian defence self-reliance, or of any defence capability at all. Worse, it could ultimately go the way of the French submarines. People will lose faith in it because it's not remotely on track to deliver anything at all in a meaningful time frame."
Over 40 years Sheridan has been the vanguard of US-aligned commentary in Australia. But he is now saying the symbolism of AUKUS subs won't buy the government dominance in the national security space. His argument that we are the only country to adopt nuclear subs without increasing defence spending is difficult to answer.
An article appearing the same day in the Australian Financial Review, by former ASPI director Michael Shoebridge, confirms this withdrawal of support for Labor from supporters of US-Australia strategic integration. Shoebridge confirmed the US congressional resistance now has to be taken seriously. He writes: "US congress continues to debate Pentagon plans to transfer US Virginia-class submarines to Australia in the early 2030s, as America's own domestic debate about its military capabilities and its submarine industrial base challenges gathers momentum."
It probably won't be Joe Biden but his successor who will make the decision whether to sell us Virginia-class subs or preserve them for American's own order of battle. He or she will take office, Shoebridge says, "...with fresh eyes about America's own defence and what value AUKUS brings to the US, at what costs and pains."
The US Navy will then have its lowest number of attack submarines, 46 instead of 66. That's when the AUKUS deal has the US handing over at least two to Australia.
It might not even be a decision for the next president but the president inaugurated on January 20, 2029. Donald Trump junior? Vivek Ramaswamy? Gretchen Whitmer? Gavin Newsom? Each capable of being persuaded old Joe got it wrong when he promised US assets to a far-off ally.
(continued)
#19566065 at 2023-09-17 09:49:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
>>19566056
2/2
As a former Australian foreign affairs minister, I was honoured to meet 14 Caribbean nations in New York and ask them to vote for us in the 2012 ballot for the United Nations Security Council. They approved what I said about the marine environment, climate, banning small arms. But their spokesperson added, unprompted, that they liked Australia because of "the Apology". The 14 Caribbean states voted for us. Kevin Rudd's apology had added lustre to our international reputation.
How is our international reputation going to look if the Australian people are seen to vote down the mildest of constitutional tweaks on behalf of our First Nations?
As premier of NSW, I had the support of all parties when in June 1997 I presented the first apology to the stolen generations delivered by an Australian parliament. When, last year, we celebrated the 25th anniversary, I again met people who had been torn from their mothers and stuck in institutions. One talked of his attempt at escape, walking a stretch of railway line to return to his mother. There is only one racial category of Australians who systematically received that treatment.
If you heard someone on radio talking about being wrested from his mum and stuck in a boys' home, then escaping and following a railway line in the hope of finding his way home, you would know that it was an Indigenous Australian.
Now, all these peoples request is a guaranteed Voice to the parliament, with their ideas able to be endorsed or rejected.
Think of the seizing of their land and the savagery that went with it. It's a triumph of the spirit of reconciliation that a Voice is all they seek.
Metaphorically, the gunshots still echo. Only one group suffered massacres and now it's time to make amends. High Ground's footage is dramatised, but it's not fake. Doubters might stream it on SBS On Demand, where they can also find Rachel Perkins' The Australian Wars.
It's time to let kindness have its day in public policy.
Bob Carr is a former foreign affairs minister and was NSW's longest serving premier.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-movie-that-erased-my-doubts-about-the-voice-20230912-p5e439.html
#19566056 at 2023-09-17 09:46:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
>>19529127
OPINION: The movie that erased my doubts about the Voice
Bob Carr, Former NSW premier and former Australian foreign affairs minister - September 17, 2023
1/2
I had reservations about the Voice until seeing a movie. I've long opposed a charter of rights because it might steer policymaking away from parliament and into courts. If there was someone on the Labor side who might have needed assurance the Voice would not do this, it might have been me. But not after the opening scene of High Ground.
This 2020 movie, directed by Stephen Johnson, is set in Arnhem Land in the early 1920s. It is about race relations on the Australian frontier.
It opens with Aboriginal people at a waterhole, an oasis of palms and running water. This peace is shattered by fire from repeater rifles. When it stops, the only sound is the flight of waterfowl and the buzzing of flies around black corpses. Blood runs in the sand.
That scene - inspired by the Gan Gan police massacre of 1911 - confirms the power of visual media in dramatising what the law calls mass-atrocity crimes. Think of Steven Spielberg's 1993 Schindler's List. Or Ken Burns' documentaries, The West, The Vietnam War and The US and the Holocaust. There is Rachel Perkins' documentary The Australian Wars, broadcast on SBS in 2022 and backed by the work of two dozen historians. It detailed the forcible displacement of Aboriginal people to make way for expansion of grazing - a violent displacement.
My response to the terrifying scene that opened High Ground went like this: "The survivors of this are saying that all they want is a pipeline to parliament called the Voice. That's all? Only access? Just give it to them. No argument. No delay."
I have no romantic view of pre-1788 Australia. The story of colonisation is no single narrative. It's jostling counter-narratives. Some are happy, such as the triumph of our British-derived civic culture or our success at merinos and mines. A lot of good things arrived with the First Fleet. I support January 26 as Australia Day, believing it can be re-imagined by First Nations as a triumph of Indigenous resilience; they can rebaptise it Survival Day.
Yet since historian Henry Reynolds first pointed to the massacres, the evidence has slowly, steadily mounted. Professor Lyndall Ryan at Newcastle University, after 10 years of research, estimates 400 massacres of Indigenous people, 12 of whites. Dr Pam Smith, an archaeologist at one site in the Kimberley, has interred bones that had been burnt for six days to disguise the crime.
If there were no other reason to vote Yes on October 14, the cruelty of the Indigenous displacement - like nothing else in our history - would give us one.
Paul Keating's words from his 1992 Redfern speech say it all: "… it was we who did the dispossessing. We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion."
John Howard and Tony Abbott, the best debaters in the Liberal camp, argue that the Voice will divide us by race, entrenching race in the Constitution. To this there is a simple reply. The racial divide was decreed by official, uniformed Australia with the vote of our colonial and, later, state legislatures. It was Australian state authority that resolved there were two categories of Australians.
One racial category was to have its land removed without treaty or bargain. One category, defined by race, could be marched in neck braces to jail or massacre sites. Only Indigenous people were classed by museums, as late as 1938, as Australian fauna.
(continued)
#19487508 at 2023-09-04 09:59:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition
#31 - Part 17
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition - Part 1
>>19243381 Key Assange supporter says Wikileaks founder could cut deal to secure freedom - One of federal parliament's leading supporters of Julian Assange says the WikiLeaks founder could cut a deal with prosecutors and plead guilty to "whatever nonsense" necessary to secure his release from prison. Labor MP Julian Hill, the member for Bruce, tried unsuccessfully to visit Assange in Belmarsh prison, where he has been held since 2019, during a private trip to Europe recently. "The reality is that Australia cannot force the United States to [release Assange], and if they refuse, then no Australian should judge Mr Assange if he chooses to just cut a deal and end this matter," said Hill.
>>19243388 OPINION: If Albanese's such a buddy of Biden's, why is Assange still in jail? - "Julian Assange is in his fourth year in Britain's Belmarsh prison. If the current appeal fails, he will be shackled and driven off in a prison van and flown across the Atlantic on a CIA aircraft for a long trial. He faces likely life imprisonment in a federal jail, perhaps in Oklahoma. I don't believe the president can shake his head and say, "nope", given all we have gifted - the potent symbolism of B52s, nuclear subs and bases on the east and west coast. It would look like we have sunk into the role of US territory, as much a dependency as Guam or Puerto Rico. If Assange walks out the gates of Belmarsh into the arms of his wife and children it will show we are worth a crumb or two off the table of the imperium. If it's a van to the airport, then making ourselves a more likely target has conferred no standing at all. We are a client state, almost officially." - Bob Carr, former foreign affairs minister of Australia and longest-serving premier of NSW - theage.com.au
>>19257022 Assange supporters call for release ahead of US talks - Julian Assange supporters are urging Australia's senior ministers to push for the WikiLeaks founder's release from prison when they meet officials from the United States. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined his defence and foreign affairs ministers at meetings with the US secretary of state and defence secretary in Brisbane on Friday. Further meetings will take place over the weekend. The brother for Mr Assange, Gabriel Shipton, said the talks were one of the last face-to-face meetings between the ministers before the 51-year-old faced extradition from England to the US. "Julian is inches away from extradition to the USA," Mr Shipton said in a statement. "The meeting between the secretary of state and the prime minister could be the last chance to put a stop to Julian's nightmare."
>>19262537 Julian Assange case has 'dragged on for too long', Australia's Wong says - Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday the long-running case of imprisoned Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had gone on too long and needs to be completed. Speaking alongside Defence Minister Richard Marles, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Wong said representations had been made on behalf of Assange in public and private but there were limits on what could be done until his legal proceedings concluded.
#19487367 at 2023-09-04 09:00:44 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #31: MAGIC SWORD - IN THE FACE OF EVIL Edition
#31 - Part 17
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition - Part 1
>>19243381 Key Assange supporter says Wikileaks founder could cut deal to secure freedom - One of federal parliament's leading supporters of Julian Assange says the WikiLeaks founder could cut a deal with prosecutors and plead guilty to "whatever nonsense" necessary to secure his release from prison. Labor MP Julian Hill, the member for Bruce, tried unsuccessfully to visit Assange in Belmarsh prison, where he has been held since 2019, during a private trip to Europe recently. "The reality is that Australia cannot force the United States to [release Assange], and if they refuse, then no Australian should judge Mr Assange if he chooses to just cut a deal and end this matter," said Hill.
>>19243388 OPINION: If Albanese's such a buddy of Biden's, why is Assange still in jail? - "Julian Assange is in his fourth year in Britain's Belmarsh prison. If the current appeal fails, he will be shackled and driven off in a prison van and flown across the Atlantic on a CIA aircraft for a long trial. He faces likely life imprisonment in a federal jail, perhaps in Oklahoma. I don't believe the president can shake his head and say, "nope", given all we have gifted - the potent symbolism of B52s, nuclear subs and bases on the east and west coast. It would look like we have sunk into the role of US territory, as much a dependency as Guam or Puerto Rico. If Assange walks out the gates of Belmarsh into the arms of his wife and children it will show we are worth a crumb or two off the table of the imperium. If it's a van to the airport, then making ourselves a more likely target has conferred no standing at all. We are a client state, almost officially." - Bob Carr, former foreign affairs minister of Australia and longest-serving premier of NSW - theage.com.au
>>19257022 Assange supporters call for release ahead of US talks - Julian Assange supporters are urging Australia's senior ministers to push for the WikiLeaks founder's release from prison when they meet officials from the United States. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined his defence and foreign affairs ministers at meetings with the US secretary of state and defence secretary in Brisbane on Friday. Further meetings will take place over the weekend. The brother for Mr Assange, Gabriel Shipton, said the talks were one of the last face-to-face meetings between the ministers before the 51-year-old faced extradition from England to the US. "Julian is inches away from extradition to the USA," Mr Shipton said in a statement. "The meeting between the secretary of state and the prime minister could be the last chance to put a stop to Julian's nightmare."
>>19262537 Julian Assange case has 'dragged on for too long', Australia's Wong says - Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday the long-running case of imprisoned Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had gone on too long and needs to be completed. Speaking alongside Defence Minister Richard Marles, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Wong said representations had been made on behalf of Assange in public and private but there were limits on what could be done until his legal proceedings concluded.
#19243393 at 2023-07-26 10:45:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #31: MAGIC SWORD - IN THE FACE OF EVIL Edition
>>19243388
2/2
Apart from the titanic strategic favours, two killer facts help our case. One, former US president Barack Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who had supplied Assange with the information he published. The Yank is free, the Aussie still pursued.
Two, the crimes Manning and Assange exposed involved US troops on a helicopter gunning down unarmed civilians in Baghdad. They are directly comparable to the alleged Australian battlefield murders in Afghanistan we are currently prosecuting.
An initial refusal from Biden is only an invitation to ask a second time, in a firmer voice.
It's possible to imagine an Australian PM - Fraser, Hawke, Keating, Howard or Rudd - being appropriately forceful with a US president. There would be an inflection point in their exchange - prime minister to president - when the glint-eyed Australian says, "Mr President, it's gone on too long. Both sides of our politics are united. Your old boss commuted Chelsea Manning, an American, in the same case."
A pause. A beat. Then the killer summation. "Mr President, I speak for Australia."
Surely this counts.
I don't believe the president can shake his head and say, "nope", given all we have gifted - the potent symbolism of B52s, nuclear subs and bases on the east and west coast. It would look like we have sunk into the role of US territory, as much a dependency as Guam or Puerto Rico.
US counter-intelligence conceded during court proceedings there is no evidence of a life being lost because of Assange's revelations. Our Defence Department reached the same view.
If Assange walks out the gates of Belmarsh into the arms of his wife and children it will show we are worth a crumb or two off the table of the imperium. If it's a van to the airport, then making ourselves a more likely target has conferred no standing at all. We are a client state, almost officially.
Bob Carr is a former foreign affairs minister of Australia and was the longest-serving premier of NSW.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/if-albanese-s-such-a-buddy-of-biden-s-why-is-assange-still-in-jail-20230721-p5dqci.html
#19243388 at 2023-07-26 10:44:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #31: MAGIC SWORD - IN THE FACE OF EVIL Edition
>>19243381
OPINION: If Albanese's such a buddy of Biden's, why is Assange still in jail?
Bob Carr - July 26, 2023
1/2
Julian Assange is in his fourth year in Britain's Belmarsh prison. If the current appeal fails, he will be shackled and driven off in a prison van and flown across the Atlantic on a CIA aircraft for a long trial. He faces likely life imprisonment in a federal jail, perhaps in Oklahoma.
In 2021, then opposition leader Anthony Albanese said, "Enough is enough. I don't have sympathy for many of his actions, but essentially, I can't see what is served by keeping him incarcerated."
As prime minister, Albanese said he had already made his position clear to the Biden administration. "We are working through diplomatic channels," he said, "but we're making very clear what our position is on Mr Assange's case."
So we can assume that at one of his seven meetings with US President Joe Biden he has raised Assange, even on the fringes of the Quad or at one of two NATO summits. Or perhaps in San Diego when they launched AUKUS, under which Australia will make the largest transfer of wealth ever made outside this country. This $368 billion is a whopping subsidy to American naval shipyards and to the troubled, chronically tardy British naval builder BAE Systems.
But it clinches Australia's reputation as a deliriously loyal, entirely gullible US ally. It gives President Biden the justification for telling Republicans or Clinton loyalists in his own party that he had no alternative but to end the pursuit of Assange. "Those Aussies insisted on it. They're doing us all these favours ... we can't say no."
In addition to the grandiose AUKUS deal, Biden could list other decisions by the Albanese government that render Australia a military stronghold to help US regional dominance while materially weakening our own security.
Candid words, but they aren't mine. They belong to Sam Roggeveen of the Lowy Institute in this month's edition of Australian Foreign Affairs. In a seminally important piece of analysis, Roggeveen nominated Australia's decision to fully service six American B52 bombers at RAAF Tindal, in the Northern Territory, as belonging on that list. It is assumed these are aimed at China's nuclear infrastructure such as missile silos. "It is hard to overstate the sensitivity involved in threatening another nation's nuclear forces," Roggeveen writes.
In his article, he reminds us we've also agreed to host four US nuclear subs on our west coast at something to be called "Submarine Rotational Force-West". Their mission would be destroying Chinese warships or enforcing a blockade of Chinese ports.
The east coast submarine base, planned most likely for Port Kembla, will also directly support US military operations. It's another nuclear target. As Roggeveen says, all these locations raise Australia's profile in the eyes of the Chinese military planners designing their response in the event of war with the US.
In this context, I can't believe the US president is not on the point of agreeing to the prime minister's request to drop charges against Assange.
(continued)
#19231918 at 2023-07-24 11:56:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #31: MAGIC SWORD - IN THE FACE OF EVIL Edition
>>19026316 (pb)
>>18960157 (pb)
>>19188991
Doug Cameron warns Anthony Albanese of contest over nuke subs, Palestine at conference
BEN PACKHAM, GREG BROWN and JOANNA PANAGOPOULOS - JULY 24, 2023
1/2
Left-wing former senator Doug Cameron has warned Anthony Albanese he faces a contest at the ALP national conference over nuclear submarines and Palestine.
Anthony Albanese has warned Labor's powerful policy forum he wants the AUKUS nuclear submarine plan to go unchallenged at the ALP national conference, as hard-Left figures prepare to attack the government's cornerstone national security policy.
Federal Labor MPs are working to head off disunity on AUKUS and Left-wing demands for a timeline on recognising Palestine, in line with the Prime Minister's directions this month to Labor's national policymaking committee.
Mr Cameron said he would be "gobsmacked" if national delegates listened to the PM's calls not to challenge the issues when they meet in Brisbane next month.
"The ALP Left have a proud history of challenging bad policy at ALP Nat Conference," Mr Cameron tweeted.
"Would be gobsmacked if nuclear subs, regressive tax cuts and Palestine are not debated. Political discipline does not mean the Left subjugate themselves to leadership decrees on what can be debated."
Union members from Victoria, including members from ?construction, manufacturing, electrical and public transport, are planning to revisit the challenge when national delegates meet in Brisbane next month.
The move comes amid criticism of the AUKUS pact by senior party figures including Paul Keating, Bob Carr and Gareth Evans, who have argued the nuclear subs plan is ill-conceived, overpriced, and will bind Australia's strategic fate to America's.
A hostile motion on AUKUS would be embarrassing for Mr Albanese, who stood beside US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in March to announce Australia would buy three to five US Virginia-class subs and build eight new UK-designed boats in Adelaide.
Any change to the party's position on Palestine would also represent a challenge to the Prime Minister's authority, and that of Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Supporters of Israel are concerned the government's reluctance to debate AUKUS on the floor of the national conference could result in a deal in which the party calls on the government to recognise the Palestinian state within this term of parliament.
A similar motion passed at the Victorian ALP conference in a factional deal under which an anti-AUKUS motion pulled from the agenda at the last minute.
The withdrawn motion would have called on the federal government to "suspend any further involvement in the AUKUS pact, including the development of nuclear-powered submarines".
A Victorian Labor source said "categorically" that a similar motion would be moved in Brisbane next month. There are concerns some Queensland delegates could also speak out against the nuclear submarine deal.
The state's ALP conference in June voted down a motion "congratulating" the Albanese government on the AUKUS pact, with Queensland Labor president John Battams and two state MPs - Ali King and Jonty Bush - among those who voted against it.
Fears of policy brawls over AUKUS and Palestine have been compounded by the factional make-up of national conference delegates, with the Left to have a clear majority on the floor for the first time in decades.
However, the dynamics of the summit are difficult to predict, as Mr Albanese and Senator Wong are both key figures within the Left faction. Senior Left-aligned MPs are also working hard to keep a lid on potential policy challenges.
(continued)
#18185491 at 2023-01-21 03:54:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
Mutual admiration as billionaire Gates meets PM Albanese in Sydney
Anthony Galloway - January 21, 2023
Billionaire Bill Gates had never met Anthony Albanese before Saturday, but he thought he'd drop in on the Australian prime minister to talk vaccines, energy and climate change.
Gates, who is in the country with his foundation and representatives from his company, Breakthrough Energy, has made it his mission to ensure world leaders are ready for the next pandemic.
Standing at 177cm, the Microsoft founder didn't have the physical stature of Albanese's last celebrity drop-in, the 216-centimetre former basketballer Shaquille O'Neal, but the conversation was much bigger.
Sitting in the living room of Kirribilli House, the two men discussed climate action, the energy transition, international development and health, and the need for Australian innovation to help solve global challenges.
Albanese told Gates he was "very welcome here".
"We haven't met before. But I've admired your work and your contribution, not just financially, but in raising debates, including the need to deal with health issues," Albanese said.
"We've just been through the pandemic, but we need to prepare for future health challenges, and the work that's being done on eradicating malaria and other diseases in our region is very important."
Albanese told Gates that his government had been "elected on the platform of taking climate change seriously", which was backed up by its emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030, and net zero by 2050.
"That's fantastic," Gates replied.
He thanked Albanese for the Australian government's increased commitment to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
"As you say, the preparedness for the next pandemic is still a discussion that hasn't been figured out," Gates said.
"You know, malaria in the long run, we want to do the same thing we're doing with polio, which is eradicated regionally, and then eradicated all over the world."
Gates has also influenced previous Australian prime ministers.
Albanese's predecessor, Scott Morrison, was inspired to commit to a 2050 net-zero emissions target after reading the billionaire's book, How to Avoid A Climate Disaster. Morrison regularly quoted large slabs of the book to advocates and critics of stronger action on climate change.
Gates also met then-prime minister Julia Gillard and foreign minister Bob Carr on a trip to Australia in 2013.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/mutual-admiration-as-billionaire-gates-meets-pm-albanese-in-sydney-20230121-p5cef2.html
#17453474 at 2022-08-28 07:29:33 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition
#25 - Part 14
Australia / China Tensions - Part 3
>>16736623 China increasingly expected to drop ban on Australian coal as nation's economic woes deepen
>>16736843 Scott Morrison accuses Xi Jinping of steering China down a more autocratic path in speech at Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul
>>16736872 The ball is in Australia's court when it comes to mending relations with China - Global Times
>>16737054 Peter Dutton questions Labor's commitment to AUKUS - Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he fears Labor might be crab walking away from parts of the AUKUS security pact as he rejects Defence Minister Richard Marles' declaration that climate change is the greatest threat to the Pacific
>>16743853 Xi Jinping visits China's Xinjiang region amid criticism of mass detention - Chinese leader Xi Jinping has visited China's Xinjiang region, where his government is widely accused of oppressing predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities
>>16749428 Dutton: We can't talk while China amasses nukes - Peter Dutton says the government must hold China to account over human rights abuses and call for it to wind back its rapid military expansion if bilateral relations continue to thaw
>>16749434 Video: Dutton backs China talks on proviso Beijing takes 'concrete actions' - Sky News Australia
>>16755986 Liberal warriors don't want a China reset: The raucous opponents of the Albanese government resetting the relationship are playing a dangerous game with Australia's foreign policy and ambitions for a peaceful, prosperous and stable region - Craig Emerson - afr.com
>>16755990 Craig Emerson Wikipedia - Craig Anthony Emerson (born 15 November 1954) is an Australian economist and former Australian Labor Party politician. He served as the Australian House of Representatives Member for the Division of Rankin in Queensland from 1998 until 2013.
>>16755998 OPINION - Australia can safely improve its relations with China. Here's how - Bob Carr, the longest-serving premier of NSW and a former foreign minister of Australia - smh.com.au
>>16756024 Richard Marles as bad as 'extremely anti-China' Peter Dutton claims Beijing
>>16756027 Willing to be a US plug-in? Canberra plays a very dangerous game: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>16756108 Calls to ban social media app TikTok over concerns it is harvesting data used by Beijing
>>16756147 TikTok's 'alarming', 'excessive' data collection revealed - Viral video-app TikTok collects "excessive" amounts of data, according to new analysis of its source code, raising alarm about the volume of information and its security following an admission that staff in China can access the data of millions of Australian users
>>16756168 PDF: IT'S THEIR WORD AGAINST THEIR SOURCE CODE - TIKTOK REPORT - Internet 2.0
>>16756225 Video: TikTok users warned the platform is harvesting personal data - A new technical analysis by Australian company Internet 2.0, has found the Chinese-owned company requests almost complete access to the contents of a phone while the app is in use - abc.net.au
>>16761553 Video: Former Sydney councillor Vincenzo Badalati tells ICAC inquiry a Chinese developer paid for his escort in China and secretly filmed him with the woman to "blackmail" him
>>16761573 Australia urged to reshape approach to China, act to improve bilateral ties: FM - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>16761573 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on July 18, 2022
>>16767745 Video: Bribes, blackmail, lies and escorts: Former Sydney councillor Vincenzo Badalati confesses at ICAC inquiry
#16940832 at 2022-07-31 10:55:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition
'Unprecedented, foolish, dangerous': Keating attacks Pelosi's planned trip to Taiwan
Eryk Bagshaw - July 25, 2022
Singapore: Former prime minister Paul Keating has accused US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of inflaming tensions with Beijing and risking a military conflict by planning to visit Taiwan next month.
Pelosi, who sits behind President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in American political seniority, would be the highest-level serving US official to visit Taiwan since the White House established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979.
Keating said in a statement on Monday evening that it was hard to imagine "a more reckless and provocative act".
"Across the political spectrum, no observer of the cross-straits relationship between China and Taiwan doubts that such a visit by the Speaker of the American Congress may degenerate into military hostilities," he said.
"If the situation is misjudged or mishandled, the outcome for the security, prosperity and order of the region and the world (and above all for Taiwan) would be catastrophic."
China views neighbouring Taiwan as a province of the mainland even though it has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. It has vowed to unify the island with China by 2049 and has engaged in a decades-long campaign of hybrid warfare to undermine the country's defence systems. On Monday, Taiwan ran air raid drills in Taipei to guard against missile strikes - one of hundreds of measures it takes each year to prepare for the threat of invasion from the mainland.
Keating has been critical of US and Australian policy toward Beijing, arguing that Taiwan's future was a civil matter for China, and it was not "a vital Australian interest". But that argument has been resisted by the Coalition, Labor and Taipei which have developed stronger unofficial ties in the past decade through trade offices, while officially maintaining Australia's "one-China policy".
Due to the sensitivity of travelling to Taiwan - which neither America nor Australia officially recognises diplomatically, no serving president, vice president or prime minister has visited the democratic island of 24 million people.
Biden last week publicly rebuked Pelosi's plans for the trip. "The military thinks it is not a good idea right now," he said.
Keating said a visit by Pelosi would be "unprecedented - foolish, dangerous and unnecessary to any cause other than her own".
"Over decades, countries like the United States and Australia have taken the only realistic option available on cross-strait relations. We encourage both sides to manage the situation in a way that ensures that the outcome for a peaceful resolution is always available," he said.
"But that requires a contribution from us - calm, clear and sensitive to the messages being sent. A visit by Pelosi would threaten to trash everything that has gone before."
The Financial Times, which first reported Pelosi's plans to travel to Taiwan last week, said the Biden administration had been warned privately by Chinese officials about a potential military response to her visit. Pelosi has not publicly confirmed her plans, despite members of Congress being invited to travel with her.
There has been no official comment from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen or Foreign Minister Joseph Wu since the potential visit by Pelosi was first reported, highlighting the sensitivity of the situation.
Wu told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in January that he expected China's military incursions to become "more intimidating than ever" this year, but that Taiwan was prepared to defend itself.
"If you bow or if you show weakness, the Chinese will come with more pressure until you break," he said.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/unprecedented-foolish-dangerous-keating-attacks-pelosi-s-planned-trip-to-taiwan-20220725-p5b4g4.html
—
Bob Carr Tweet
PJK is right. Pelosi visit challenges the cross-Strait status quo that kept the peace. The West "acknowledges" the Chinese claim & does not recognise Taiwan as a country. China commits to reunification by peaceful means only. This is diplomacy. Diplomacy beats missiles every time
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1551773780426764288
#16756001 at 2022-07-18 11:11:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition
>>16755998
2/2
Second, we re-tool our rhetoric, or at least some of it. Continue the language used up until now criticising the mistreatment of Uighurs and the end of Hong Kong's legal autonomy. These are the formulae used by all Western countries anyway. Likewise on the South China Sea. China should not expect anything else.
But continue to shun the primitive "drums of war" rhetoric of Peter Dutton and department head Mike Pezzullo. Note the interesting fact that Chinese-background voters punished this overkill by delivering Labor four seats and majority government.
On the other hand, don't apologise for excluding Huawei. Just say it was done for "the security and resilience of our network" not defining it, as Malcolm Turnbull did, as a pro-alliance gesture to impress the US.
Neither side should make diplomacy through headlines or get tripped-up by them.
This month Foreign Minister Wang Yi's four points were a moderate restatement of Chinese positions. In fact, they represented a retreat from "wolf-warrior" boilerplate. And they came on top of the Chinese ambassador Siao Qian last month disassociating himself from the earlier 14 Chinese grievances about Australia that had come from his predecessor.
Still, a journalist asked our prime minister his response to Chinese "demands." The next headline had Albanese "rebuffing" the Chinese. "Demands" and "rebuffs" were media shorthand. Neither country used the language. Both sides need to levitate above media caricature. Wong's formula about having "no intention of amplifying differences" might have been useful.
Three, Australia should pursue creative middle-power diplomacy on Taiwan - as if our lives depended on it.
Taiwan is not Ukraine. The west "acknowledges" China's claim that Taiwan is a province of China, not an independent country. Ukraine, by contrast, is recognised as a sovereign state.
Asked about Taiwan, we can resort to good, all-weather diplomatic words. We can say we welcome the fact senior US security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Communist Party Politburo Member Yang Jiechi have had hours of talks.
This US-China diplomacy is about peace and security. Among other things, it is laying down guard rails to avoid war over the Taiwan Strait. We can add that with all of Asia, Australia supports a return to a cross-strait status quo, like the one that preserved the peace for 60 years.
An Australian diplomatic campaign to avoid war can engage friends like Japan, New Zealand, Canada and the 10 ASEAN states. War over Taiwan, as Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University Hugh White argues, Carries a serious possibility of the US being defeated. This is not in Australia's interests, especially if it means a US retreat from Asia or, 57 years after Hiroshima, a danger the war becomes nuclear.
In the panic and terror of its opening phase we can barely guess which missiles would be flung where. But US facilities in Australia would be almost certain targets. The blast zones and lethal plumes of fallout Carried by high-altitude winds would put an end to our national story in a flurry of radioactivate destruction.
Winston Churchill once urged "jaw jaw" as an alternative to war. All sides might ponder that the creative words and boring talk of diplomacy were invented to give peace a chance.
Bob Carr is the longest-serving premier of NSW and a former foreign minister of Australia
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-can-safely-improve-its-relations-with-china-here-s-how-20220717-p5b261.html
#16755998 at 2022-07-18 11:10:55 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition
>>16493387 (pb)
>>16704938
>>16755986
OPINION - Australia can safely improve its relations with China. Here's how
Bob Carr - July 18, 2022
1/2
In 2012, the then-prime minister of Vanuatu Sato Kilman, was passing through Sydney Airport. Without warning, the Australian Federal Police swooped and arrested his Australian secretary on charges of tax evasion. Kilman was furious a staffer had been "kidnapped" and, back in Port Vila, threatened to tear up the agreement under which Australia trained his police, and invite China to take over.
As foreign minister, I was relieved when our intelligence reported the Chinese had considered this offer but declined. They had calculated Vanuatu (population 250,000) could offer China little compared with the trade and diplomatic opportunities with rich Australia, population 25 million.
Chinese wariness about offending us was vindicated in 2015 when then-prime minister Tony Abbott presided over the apogee of Australia-China relations by ratifying a free trade agreement, joining the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and praising Xi Jinping for his reference to democracy in a speech to the Australian parliament.
Since then, China became the world's biggest economy. It has become more authoritarian and assertive. All Western nations had to reassess their relations with Beijing. But from 2017, Australia deliberately swung behind hardening US attitudes hostile to China's rise. Peter Dutton, defence minister in the Morrison government, even implied war was coming.
Australia became unique among American allies in not having any official contact. Being able to pick up the phone to Chinese leaders, as the US does and as we can now manage, is an improvement.
"Stabilising the relationship", to quote Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong, is the goal: perhaps to the point at which China would pull back from its Pacific adventurism because it would threaten a more substantial relationship with us.
Here are three notions for the next steps. None sacrifices our values.
First, both sides should focus on trade. Canberra should propose that Trade Minister Don Farrell visit Shanghai to talk to Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao about lifting the barriers applied in 2020 to $20 billion in Australian exports.
In return, we can review the anti-dumping actions we initiated against China. We can also say, like New Zealand, we won't block China's entry to the sprawling trade pact (the CPTPP) that has taken the place of the Trans-Pacific Partnership the US originally sponsored but now won't join.
Saying his farewells, Farrell can hand over a letter from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to President Xi Jinping proposing we follow this "win-win" on trade with the quiet release of the two Australian hostages, Dr Yang Hengjun and Cheng Lei.
Farrell flies home to Adelaide to wave off the first crates of wine sent to China since 2020 with barley, coal, beef, dairy and seafood to follow.
(continued)
#16702074 at 2022-07-10 01:46:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition
'Stop hiding behind the legal excuse': Australia can act to free Julian Assange, Andrew Wilkie says
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has rejected claims that Australia has limited ability to intervene in the case of Julian Assange, who is fighting an extradition request from the United States over leaks of classified documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
AAP, SBS - 8 July 2022
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has hit back at claims Australia had no legal grounds to intervene in the case of Julian Assange.
Mr Wilkie, a former intelligence analyst and a prominent advocate for Mr Assange, says the matter could be solved quickly at a political level.
"Governments and politicians have got to stop hiding behind the excuse of the Julian Assange matter being a legal matter," he told AAP.
"It has always been an intensely political matter."
The comments came after former attorney-general George Brandis said Australia had no legal grounds in Mr Assange's case.
"Australia wasn't a party to the proceedings and had no standing to intervene in the proceedings," Mr Brandis told the ABC.
"It was legal proceedings in a British court between the government of the United States and a private citizen. We would not intervene in those proceedings."
The WikiLeaks founder and Australian journalist has appealed to the High Court in London to block his extradition to the US to face criminal charges in the latest step of a legal battle that has dragged on for more than a decade.
Mr Assange, 50, is wanted by US authorities on 18 counts, including a spying charge, relating to WikiLeaks' release of vast troves of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables, which US officials have said put lives in danger.
Last month, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved his extradition, with her office saying UK courts had concluded his extradition would not be incompatible with his human rights, and that he would be treated appropriately.
However, Mr Wilkie said the matter could be solved with a phone call from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the US or UK.
"This has gone on long enough, it's time to put it to an end," he said.
"I don't doubt that Australia has enough influence to bring this to an end, we underestimate ourselves to think otherwise, and we are close allies of both countries."
The independent MP said he was still optimistic about there being a change in the outcome for Mr Assange following the change of government in Australia at May's federal election.
"We hold out hope that with a change of government we see some progress on this," Mr Wilkie said.
Mr Albanese has said he didn't see the purpose of the "ongoing pursuit" of Mr Assange.
But he said the government would deal with the matter through diplomatic channels.
Former foreign minister Bob Carr said on Friday the government should tell the US "the Australian people want the Assange extradition quietly set aside", just as the US had commuted the sentence of whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
Mr Brandis, who oversaw consular assistance for Mr Assange when he was Australia's high commissioner in London, said he had made a point for staff to always be made available to meet the journalist's "reasonable requests".
"I instituted a practice of writing to him every month to ask him if there was anything more he needed," Mr Brandis said.
"Most of those letters were unresponded to, but there has not been a complaint that I'm aware of, from Mr Assange or his surrogates, that the Australian High Commission did not provide an appropriate level of consular support."
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/stop-hiding-behind-the-legal-excuse-australia-can-act-to-free-julian-assange-andrew-wilkie-says/e328tvlfd
#16701796 at 2022-07-10 01:26:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition
#23 and #24 - Part 26
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Pandemic, Australia and Worldwide
>>16376882 Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' department told to release COVID-19 pandemic surveys in the 'strong interest' of the Victorian public
>>16395617 Canberra Airport threatens ACT's chief health officer with legal action if immediate action is not taken to end the airport face mask mandate
>>16395641 Pandemic response shrinks as COVID-19 pressure builds - Victorian government dismantling its central pandemic bureaucracy as the health system confronts a deadly surge of COVID-19 and influenza inflections - workforce of 1500 people reduced to 260 full-time positions by the end of June 2022
>>16439673 'Immunity is waning': Andrews seeks fourth shot for hospital workers - Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will push the federal government for all healthcare workers in hospitals across Victoria to get a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine, amid concerns over waning immunity
>>16461204 Australia to deliver 200,000 paediatric vaccines to Solomon Islands
>>16481901 Melbourne man Dennis Basic jailed for more than two years over assaults at anti-lockdown protests
>>16487769 'Very appealing': US COVID-19 vaccine giant Novavax looks to amp up Australian trials, including further research to develop its combined coronavirus and influenza vaccine
>>16499826 Chinese Ambassador says trade tariffs were in response to Morrison's 'nonsense' calls for inquiry into coronavirus origins - China's ambassador to Australia has blamed former prime minister Scott Morrison's call for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 as the reasoning behind the strict trade sanctions currently imposed
>>16513912 Australia's vaccine advisory panel considers delaying a recommendation that more people get a fourth COVID booster shot until a better Omicron-targeting vaccine is available
>>16573236 'No time to wait': Virus experts push for fourth COVID booster shots - Australia should approve a fourth COVID-19 booster shot for the entire adult population within months if the wait for vaccines that target new Omicron variants drags on, epidemiologists say
>>16580078 'Increasing pressure' nationally to return to masks amid worsening COVID wave - Queensland Chief Health Officer, John Gerrard
>>16580095 Bob Carr Tweet: A relief. But as the speaker at an event yesterday I sat at main table and was only one wearing mask and insisting on elbows not hands. Today one of the guests advises they have tested positive. Why this resistance to basic precautions? Why aren't we all wearing masks?
>>16586791 COVID-19 vaccination requirements to be scrapped for international arrivals into Australia
>>16594090 Too late for mask mandates as Omicron continues to drive high case numbers - Nation reaches Grim milestone of 10,000 Covid-related deaths since the virus landed here in January 2020, but experts say Australia has done relatively well in terms of controlling case numbers
>>16656037 Australia expands fourth COVID dose rollout amid fresh Omicron threat
>>16656069 Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas will not rule out mask mandates and working from home orders as COVID-19 cases surge
#16701716 at 2022-07-10 01:20:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition
#23 and #24 - Part 14
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition - Part 1
>>16349835 Julian Assange's family says federal election result brings renewed hope for WikiLeaks founder's release and return to Australia
>>16379305 Pressure on Anthony Albanese to stick to his word on Julian Assange
>>16384784 Labor backbenchers urge Albanese to 'stay true to his values' on Julian Assange trial
>>16395713 Spanish Court Demands Pompeo Testify on Apparent Plot to Kill Assange - Donald Trump's former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been ordered to appear in a Spanish court to explain a possible U.S. government plot to kidnap and assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
>>16413438 Julian Assange's wife Stella Moris reveals how they raise children together while he is in jail waiting an extradition decision - Stella Moris - abc.net.au
>>16460849 UK orders extradition of Julian Assange to United States - Julian Assange will be extradited to the United States to face spying charges over the WikiLeaks publication of classified documents more than a decade ago
>>16465020 Mike Pompeo Tweet: Good on UK Home Secretary @pritipatel for approving extradition of indicted hacker Julian Assange, whose goal was always to imperil American security through his non-state hostile "intelligence" service. One step closer to protecting the young men and women who protect America.
>>16466287 'Assassination bid' part of Assange appeal - Claims made in a media report of CIA plans to assassinate Julian Assange will feature in an appeal against his extradition to the US, his brother says.
>>16466361 Andrew Wilkie urges government to intervene after UK approves Julian Assange's extradition - Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has called for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to lobby the leaders of the US and the UK to stop the extradition of Julian Assange.
>>16466361 Statement: Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs - UK decision to extradite Julian Assange
>>16466417 Video: Julian Assange's wife, Stella Assange, appeals to Anthony Albanese over extradition - SBS News
>>16466464 Video: FPA Press Conference: Priti Patel discloses decision for Assange's extradition - Join Stella Moris & Tim Dawson live at the Free Press Association press conference - Dont Extradite Assange Campaign
>>16466517 'Crushed' Julian Assange on medication after stroke - Gabriel Shipton reveals his brother has lingering effects of a mini-stroke suffered during the WikiLeaks founder's extradition fight, as the family finds hope in US congress
>>16471693 Australia won't conduct 'megaphone diplomacy' on Julian Assange amid calls to intervene - Labor government urged to do more to stop Australian WikiLeaks co-founder's extradition to US from UK
>>16471705 'Resolve this with appropriate urgency': New independent ACT Senator David Pocock steps into Julian Assange case
>>16471718 Federal government lobbying US counterparts behind the scenes to secure the freedom of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
>>16476606 'Strong action' needed to free Julian Assange: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie - Anthony Albanese has been urged to take "strong action" rather than "whispers and secret handshakes" to free Julian Assange
>>16476675 OPINION - If Albanese asks for Assange's freedom, Biden has every reason to agree - Bob Carr, longest-serving premier of NSW and former foreign minister of Australia - smh.com.au
>>16476698 (2019) Fairweather foe: Bob Carr changes tack on Assange - Bob Carr now lauds Julian Assange for "delivering on our right to know". But when he could do something about Assange's treatment, he had a very different view - Bernard Kean - crikey.com.au
>>16476757 (2013) Bob Carr: Washington's man in Australia - Bob Carr may have been Foreign Affairs Minister for only 12 months, but he started talking to United States diplomats about internal Labor politics nearly 40 years ago - Philip Dorling - theage.com.au
#16655211 at 2022-07-07 08:53:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #24: TRUMP CARD COMING Edition
#23 - Part 25
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Pandemic, Australia and Worldwide
>>16376882 Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' department told to release COVID-19 pandemic surveys in the 'strong interest' of the Victorian public
>>16395617 Canberra Airport threatens ACT's chief health officer with legal action if immediate action is not taken to end the airport face mask mandate
>>16395641 Pandemic response shrinks as COVID-19 pressure builds - Victorian government dismantling its central pandemic bureaucracy as the health system confronts a deadly surge of COVID-19 and influenza inflections - workforce of 1500 people reduced to 260 full-time positions by the end of June 2022
>>16439673 'Immunity is waning': Andrews seeks fourth shot for hospital workers - Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will push the federal government for all healthcare workers in hospitals across Victoria to get a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine, amid concerns over waning immunity
>>16461204 Australia to deliver 200,000 paediatric vaccines to Solomon Islands
>>16481901 Melbourne man Dennis Basic jailed for more than two years over assaults at anti-lockdown protests
>>16487769 'Very appealing': US COVID-19 vaccine giant Novavax looks to amp up Australian trials, including further research to develop its combined coronavirus and influenza vaccine
>>16499826 Chinese Ambassador says trade tariffs were in response to Morrison's 'nonsense' calls for inquiry into coronavirus origins - China's ambassador to Australia has blamed former prime minister Scott Morrison's call for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 as the reasoning behind the strict trade sanctions currently imposed
>>16513912 Australia's vaccine advisory panel considers delaying a recommendation that more people get a fourth COVID booster shot until a better Omicron-targeting vaccine is available
>>16573236 'No time to wait': Virus experts push for fourth COVID booster shots - Australia should approve a fourth COVID-19 booster shot for the entire adult population within months if the wait for vaccines that target new Omicron variants drags on, epidemiologists say
>>16580078 'Increasing pressure' nationally to return to masks amid worsening COVID wave - Queensland Chief Health Officer, John Gerrard
>>16580095 Bob Carr Tweet: A relief. But as the speaker at an event yesterday I sat at main table and was only one wearing mask and insisting on elbows not hands. Today one of the guests advises they have tested positive. Why this resistance to basic precautions? Why aren't we all wearing masks?
>>16586791 COVID-19 vaccination requirements to be scrapped for international arrivals into Australia
>>16594090 Too late for mask mandates as Omicron continues to drive high case numbers - Nation reaches Grim milestone of 10,000 Covid-related deaths since the virus landed here in January 2020, but experts say Australia has done relatively well in terms of controlling case numbers
#16655180 at 2022-07-07 08:41:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #24: TRUMP CARD COMING Edition
#23 - Part 13
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition - Part 1
>>16349835 Julian Assange's family says federal election result brings renewed hope for WikiLeaks founder's release and return to Australia
>>16379305 Pressure on Anthony Albanese to stick to his word on Julian Assange
>>16384784 Labor backbenchers urge Albanese to 'stay true to his values' on Julian Assange trial
>>16395713 Spanish Court Demands Pompeo Testify on Apparent Plot to Kill Assange - Donald Trump's former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been ordered to appear in a Spanish court to explain a possible U.S. government plot to kidnap and assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
>>16413438 Julian Assange's wife Stella Moris reveals how they raise children together while he is in jail waiting an extradition decision - Stella Moris - abc.net.au
>>16460849 UK orders extradition of Julian Assange to United States - Julian Assange will be extradited to the United States to face spying charges over the WikiLeaks publication of classified documents more than a decade ago
>>16465020 Mike Pompeo Tweet: Good on UK Home Secretary @pritipatel for approving extradition of indicted hacker Julian Assange, whose goal was always to imperil American security through his non-state hostile "intelligence" service. One step closer to protecting the young men and women who protect America.
>>16466287 'Assassination bid' part of Assange appeal - Claims made in a media report of CIA plans to assassinate Julian Assange will feature in an appeal against his extradition to the US, his brother says.
>>16466361 Andrew Wilkie urges government to intervene after UK approves Julian Assange's extradition - Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has called for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to lobby the leaders of the US and the UK to stop the extradition of Julian Assange.
>>16466361 Statement: Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs - UK decision to extradite Julian Assange
>>16466417 Video: Julian Assange's wife, Stella Assange, appeals to Anthony Albanese over extradition - SBS News
>>16466464 Video: FPA Press Conference: Priti Patel discloses decision for Assange's extradition - Join Stella Moris & Tim Dawson live at the Free Press Association press conference - Dont Extradite Assange Campaign
>>16466517 'Crushed' Julian Assange on medication after stroke - Gabriel Shipton reveals his brother has lingering effects of a mini-stroke suffered during the WikiLeaks founder's extradition fight, as the family finds hope in US congress
>>16471693 Australia won't conduct 'megaphone diplomacy' on Julian Assange amid calls to intervene - Labor government urged to do more to stop Australian WikiLeaks co-founder's extradition to US from UK
>>16471705 'Resolve this with appropriate urgency': New independent ACT Senator David Pocock steps into Julian Assange case
>>16471718 Federal government lobbying US counterparts behind the scenes to secure the freedom of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
>>16476606 'Strong action' needed to free Julian Assange: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie - Anthony Albanese has been urged to take "strong action" rather than "whispers and secret handshakes" to free Julian Assange
>>16476675 OPINION - If Albanese asks for Assange's freedom, Biden has every reason to agree - Bob Carr, longest-serving premier of NSW and former foreign minister of Australia - smh.com.au
>>16476698 (2019) Fairweather foe: Bob Carr changes tack on Assange - Bob Carr now lauds Julian Assange for "delivering on our right to know". But when he could do something about Assange's treatment, he had a very different view - Bernard Kean - crikey.com.au
>>16476757 (2013) Bob Carr: Washington's man in Australia - Bob Carr may have been Foreign Affairs Minister for only 12 months, but he started talking to United States diplomats about internal Labor politics nearly 40 years ago - Philip Dorling - theage.com.au
#16619051 at 2022-07-06 10:55:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16601722
Wong open to meeting with China at G20
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the opportunity for talks with her Chinese counterparts is on the table at the G20 meeting in Bali this week.
Andrew Brown and Paul Osborne - July 6 2022
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says she remains open to discussions with her Chinese counterparts during upcoming G20 talks.
Senator Wong is set to travel to Bali for the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting beginning on Thursday.
While recent years have seen a diplomatic freeze between Australia and China, Senator Wong said she and other cabinet ministers would welcome talks.
"Obviously, these arrangements are very fluid, but that stance of being open to engagement, that willingness to engage remains our position, including at the G20," she told reporters in Singapore during a joint press conference with Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
"Australian ministers remain open to engage, and that extends to the G20."
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles held talks in June with China's defence minister in Singapore, one of the highest-level discussions between the two countries in three years.
Senator Wong said the new federal government would remain calm and considered in terms of its relationship with China.
"We were upfront that there are obviously challenges in that relationship, it's a complex and consequential relationship," she said.
"We believe that both countries have a interest in stabilising the relationship."
However, the foreign minister indicated Australia still had concerns about trade sanctions imposed by China on Australian products such as meat, wine and coal.
Trade Minister Don Farrell had requested a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of a World Trade Organisation conference in June, but the talks did not eventuate.
However, Senator Farrell said an offer was open to "sit down any time".
Former foreign minister Bob Carr said to have China remove the tariffs, the Australian side should offer to ease off its anti-dumping actions at the WTO.
"(We should) conduct a review of the anti-dumping actions so that we can present to the Chinese a win-win," he told Sky News on Wednesday.
Mr Carr, who has met with China's ambassador to Australia, said the government should also look at ways to extend the existing free trade deal with China, given that Australia already sends 40 per cent of its exports there.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7810077/wong-open-to-meeting-with-china-at-g20/
#16580095 at 2022-07-02 11:49:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16580078
Bob Carr Tweet
A relief. But as the speaker at an event yesterday I sat at main table and was only one wearing mask and insisting on elbows not hands. Today one of the guests advises they have tested positive. Why this resistance to basic precautions? Why aren't we all wearing masks?
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1542747119865712641
#16499671 at 2022-06-24 13:21:00 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16499508
We can 'get relationship back on track': China ambassador Xiao Qian says
HEIDI HAN - JUNE 24, 2022
Beijing's Envoy to Australia said China hoped the relationship can get "back on the right track at an early date" and he remained "optimistic", despite being repeatedly interrupted by protesters during his first public speech.
At least five protesters, including anti-Chinese Communist Party activist Drew Pavlou, led several intervals at the beginning of Xiao Qian's speech at a hybrid event hosted by the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, causing streaming of the event to be temporarily halted multiple times. The protesters, who were Carrying signs and shouting "Free Tibet, Hong Kong" and "Stop genocide" against Uyghurs, were removed before Mr Xiao pressed on his speech.
Mr Xiao urged Australia to respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, political system, and development mode, and suggested China was "an opportunity, not a so-called threat to Australia".
"There is every reason for China and Australia to be friends and partners, rather than adversaries, or even the so-called enemies," he said.
"China's policy towards Australia remains unchanged," Mr Xiao said, adding China hoped the Labor government could "join a considerate effort" and "bring our bilateral relations to the right track".
"We are having some problems now. That doesn't mean we have to negate the past 50 years, " said Mr Xiao, referring to the 50th Anniversary of the diplomatic relation by the end of the year and suggesting China is "ready to discuss" a temporary note to a joint celebration.
On China's trade ban against Australian export, Mr Xiao said "it all started" from the former Morrison government, and attributed the tariff to "Chinese businesses' complaints" and "reactions of the Chinese public" to "policies, actions, and rhetorics by some people in Australia".
Responding to questions around the prolonged detention of UTS alumnus Dr Yang Hengjun and Australian journalist Cheng Lei, the ambassador called to respect China's jurisdiction system, as the host, Director of ACRI James Laurenceson pressed concerns.
Mr Xiao this week met ALP national secretary Paul Erick?son, former Prime Minister John Howard, and former foreign minister Bob Carr. Before that, he visited some of the largest miners of the country including BHP, Rio Tinto, FMG, and Chinese new materials company Tianqi Lithium, and shook hands with a media mogul, dancers, educators, politicians, and CEOs during an intensive four-day journey to Western Australia early this month.
Praising WA as a "role model" and "pacesetter" in promoting co-operation between the two countries, Mr Qian gave a thumb-up to Premier Mark McGowan's "long-term adherence to an objective and rational view of China and active promotion of co-operation with China" when the two met in Perth. He also met WA governor Kim Beazley and his successor Chris Dawson, president of the upper house Alanna Clohesy, speaker of the lower house Michelle Roberts, influential former WA politician Julie Bishop, and newly elected Malaysian-Australian MP Sam Lim.
When he met former Chairman of the Seven West Media Kerry Stokes, the ambassador spoke highly of the group's "long-standing objective and balanced" coverage around China and thanked Mr Stoke's contribution to "enhancing friendly exchanges and cooperations over the years" before taking a private tour of the billionaire's art collections.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Mr Stokes used the front page of The West Australian newspaper to call on then Prime Minister Scott Morrison to "mend relations with China" amid Australia's push for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/we-can-get-relationship-back-on-track-china-ambassador/news-story/7636482d98a7a58d17b27ba6544ac754
https://www.facebook.com/thewestaustralian/photos/in-tomorrows-paper-a-must-read-interview-with-billionaire-businessman-kerry-stok/10158423331484439
#16493387 at 2022-06-23 11:21:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16430199
(Google translation)
Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia
Ambassador Xiao Qian meets with former Australian Foreign Minister Carr
2022-06-23
On June 22, Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian met with former Australian Foreign Minister and University of Technology Sydney professor Bob Carr in Sydney. The two sides exchanged views on China-Australia relations and international and regional issues.
Ambassador Xiao said that the Australian federal election will produce a new government, and China-Australia relations are facing possible opportunities for improvement. There is no "autopilot" model for improving China-Australia relations, and a restart requires practical action. Only by looking at China and China-Australia relations rationally and positively, respecting each other, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and properly handling differences, can the relations between the two countries be brought back on track.
Carr expressed the hope that Australia and China will strengthen communication, enhance understanding, properly manage and resolve differences, continue to expand areas of cooperation, expand common interests, and promote the stable development of bilateral relations.
http://au.china-embassy.gov.cn/chn/sghdxwfb/202206/t20220623_10708664.htm
—
Ambassador Xiao Qian meets with former Australian Prime Minister Howard
2022-06-23
On June 22, Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian met with former Australian Prime Minister Howard in Sydney. The two sides exchanged views on China-Australia relations and international and regional issues.
Ambassador Xiao said that the Australian federal election will produce a new government, and China-Australia relations are facing possible opportunities for improvement. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Australia. China is willing to work with Australia to promote the healthy and stable development of China-Australia relations based on the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win results. There is no "autopilot" model for improving China-Australia relations. Restarting requires practical actions, which is in line with the aspirations of the two peoples and the trend of the times.
Howard said that the mutually beneficial and stable development of Australia-China relations conforms to the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples.
http://au.china-embassy.gov.cn/chn/sghdxwfb/202206/t20220623_10708661.htm
#16493320 at 2022-06-23 10:53:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16460849
>>16487997
>>16455215
Outcry for Assange oddly absent for those held by China
JUSTIN BASSI - JUNE 23, 2022
1/2
As the Julian Assange extradition case proceeds through Britain's justice system, the publicity of his supporters is constant and loud with its demand the Australian government intervene in another democratic country's legal process. The hypocrisy is even louder.
Allegra Spender, shortly after becoming the new member for Wentworth, took to Twitter to demand Anthony Albanese call President Joe Biden to "urge him to intervene so Julian Assange isn't unjustifiably imprisoned". Spender joins the calls from the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group, chaired by Andrew Wilkie, and former parliamentarians including George Christensen, Bob Carr and Craig Kelly, who are demanding the US drop the case and, in some inst?ances, implying or stating the US legal proceeding is politically motivated.
Supporting Assange is everyone's right but the freedom to criticise the US, and in this case make demands of Britain, is not a freedom that is applied equally around the world - not by the business community, our universities or parliament. There are those such as Carr who argue that Chelsea Manning, the former US Army private who admitted to passing classified information to WikiLeaks, is no longer in jail so Assange shouldn't be either. These comparisons are a stretch given Manning went through a trial, at which she was found guilty and would later have her sentence commuted. Assange and his supporters do not only claim innocence but also that the justice system should not be allowed to test that. Assange is therefore above the law.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles has said, correctly, it "is a matter for the United Kingdom". But calls to intervene in other countries' democratic judicial systems show the extent of the hypocrisy when we deal with our biggest trading partner.
It boils down to this: global fear of being punished by China for any criticism versus the confidence that the US and Britain will rationally engage. Punishment could include more economic coercion against Australia or a death sentence being Carried out. So much for freedom and sovereignty when it is available only with those countries that aren't constantly threatening us.
The hypocrisy is matched by many Muslim-majority countries that have the freedom to criticise Israel in relation to its treatment of Palestinians but are too scared or don't care about Muslim minorities in China.
Forty-seven countries recently signed a UN Human Rights Council statement expressing concern about human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Albania was the only member of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation to join. The rest chose silence or joined China's counterstatement that Xinjiang should be off limits to international discussion.
What's the difference between Muslims in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific? Money and power.
(continued)
#16476757 at 2022-06-20 12:06:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16476698
Bob Carr: Washington's man in Australia
Philip Dorling - April 8, 2013
Bob Carr may have been Foreign Affairs Minister for only 12 months, but he started talking to United States diplomats about internal Labor politics nearly 40 years ago.
Previously secret US embassy and consulate reports incorporated into a new searchable database unveiled by WikiLeaks on Monday reveal that Mr Carr was a source for US diplomats seeking information on the Whitlam government and the broader Labor movement in the mid-1970s.
Then a rising star in NSW Labor, Mr Carr was quick to join in criticism of prime minister Gough Whitlam as the federal Labor Government encountered growing political and economic difficulties after the May 1974 federal election.
In August 1974, the US Embassy in Canberra reported at length on what it described as "a pervasive sense of gloom and anxiety" as the Whitlam government "struggle[d] in [a] disorganised fashion to stem growing inflation".
Together with NSW Labor president John Ducker, Mr Carr candidly told the US consul-general in Sydney that "economic policy has never been Whitlam's bag" and criticised the prime minister's "tendency to delegate practically everything".
A former Australian Young Labor president and then education officer with the NSW Labor Council, Mr Carr later "expressed deep concern to [the US] consul general over [the] impact of Labor disputes on the prospects of [the] Labor Government".
Asked about his 1970s contacts with US diplomats, Senator Carr said on Monday: "I was in my 20s. I could have said anything."
The once-confidential cables also suggest that US diplomats turned to Mr Carr as a source of background information on Labor political figures: for example Mr Carr explained that a speaker at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in 1975 - left-wing Labor parliamentarian George Petersen - was "a NSW equivalent of Victoria's [Bill] Hartley".
Senator Carr has long been a very strong supporter of Australia's alliance with the United States and has a keen interest in US politics and history.
In his early conversations with US officials, he appears to have followed the lead of Mr Ducker, his NSW Labor right faction mentor, who advised the US on industrial relations issues and internal Labor politics, and dismissed critics of the US alliance as being engaged in "emotional, silly expression lacking in substance and characteristic of the silly left-wing fringe of the ALP".
US embassy cables leaked to WikiLeaks in 2010 revealed that another senior NSW Labor right faction leader, former Senator Mark Arbib, was a more recent "protected" US embassy source providing inside information and commentary on Labor politics.
About 11,000 cables from the US embassy in Canberra and consulates in Sydney and Melbourne between 1973 and 1976 are part of a massive trove of more than 1.7 million electronic documents that were transferred to the US National Archives and Records Administration in 2006.
However the records have been largely neglected by historians, owing to the absence of an effective search engine.
WikiLeaks has incorporated a copy of the entire electronic archive into an easily searchable database that also includes the more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables leaked by United States Army private Bradley Manning.
With more than two million documents and more than a billion words, WikiLeaks's Public Library of US diplomacy is the largest electronically searchable diplomatic archive available to historians, journalists and other researchers.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/Bob-Carr-washingtons-man-in-australia-20130408-2hgut.html
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1974CANBER05670_b.html
https://file.wikileaks.org/oc/2474.2/118153.pdf
#16476698 at 2022-06-20 11:49:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16460849
>>16476675
Fairweather foe: Bob Carr changes tack on Assange
Bob Carr now lauds Julian Assange for "delivering on our right to know". But when he could do something about Assange's treatment, he had a very different view.
BERNARD KEANE - OCT 14, 2019
Here's one for the "if only they'd ever been in a position to do something about it" files: former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and former foreign minister Bob Carr expressing concern about the United States trying to prosecute Julian Assange for Wikileaks' exposure of war crimes and misconduct in Iraq and Afghanistan.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/barnaby-joyce-joins-calls-to-stop-extradition-of-assange-to-us-20191013-p53080.html
Assange currently faces extradition to the US from the UK for Wikileaks' publication of material exposing US crimes provided by Chelsea Manning, under charges of conspiring with Manning to obtain and publish classified information.
Bob Carr described Assange as "in trouble because he delivered on our right to know". "We have an absolute right to know about American war crimes in a conflict that the Australian government of the day strongly supported - we wouldn't know about them except for Assange," Carr said.
That marks quite a turnaround for Carr from his position when he was foreign minister under Julia Gillard. Back then, Carr argued Assange hadn't delivered on our right to know. In 2012, he accused Assange of releasing "secrets ... for the sake of being released without inherent justification".
https://www.crikey.com.au/2012/06/25/Bob-Carr-in-full-flight-from-the-facts-on-assange/
In dismissing any public interest in what Wikileaks revealed, Carr also attacked comparisons of Assange with Daniel Ellsberg. It was "not like Daniel Ellsberg's Pentagon Papers which revealed huge American deception, huge deception by the American government of the American public". Too bad Ellsberg himself disagreed.
https://web.archive.org/web/20210328030343/https://www.ellsberg.net/public-accuracy-press-release/
That was the time when Carr also derided - in the face of extensive evidence - the idea that the Americans would try to extradite Assange, saying "there's not the remotest evidence that that's the case. There was one allegation that appeared somewhere of something called a sealed indictment. No US figure has confirmed that to us."
Evidently Carr has had a change of heart since he actually boasted in his memoir Diary of a Foreign Minister about trolling Assange. In his entry for June 2, 2012, Carr writes:
"Another consular issue rears its head: Julian Assange. And I decide to take this one head-on. Fed up with complaints from his family suggesting he hasn't been supported by Australia and the opposition spokesperson saying the same thing, I stride out of an Estimates Committee in the morning-tea break to do a press conference and point out that he has had more consular support in a comparable time than any other Australian. Strictly speaking, I don't know whether this is the case. But it is a broad, healthy truth that I don't think anyone could disprove. I do it to needle his self-righteousness. Let him go to Sweden and face questioning for sexual assault and rape.... Sure enough, my needling has an effect."
Funnily enough, Carr doesn't mention that the Manning material outed him as a US intelligence source in the 1970s.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/Bob-Carr-washingtons-man-in-australia-20130408-2hgut.html
https://www.crikey.com.au/2019/10/14/fairweather-foe-Bob-Carr-changes-tack-on-assange/
#16476678 at 2022-06-20 11:40:32 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16476675
2/2
In any case, Biden and his advisers might conclude, it's time all the baggage of Afghanistan and Iraq were let go. Afghanistan was America's longest war undertaken to eliminate al-Qaeda and, later, drive out the Taliban. After 20 years of squandered blood and treasure, the Taliban are firmly in control and al-Qaeda again claims the wretched country as haven.
The Iraq War proved only the paradox of unintended consequences, unleashing Islamic State on the world and delivering a boon to Iranian power projection. Pursuing Assange makes it look like the unfinished business of these wars devolves on the pursuit of one shackled Australian, even as if snatching Assange is the last expression of American frustration at the battlefield defeats by ragged insurgents. It's time the restless giant closed the books on the disasters unloosed by George W. Bush.
Last week Bill Clinton said for the first time he feared for the future of America as a "constitutional democracy". He was referring to laws enacted by Republican state governors that make it harder to vote and easier for state officials to overturn the popular vote. And the return of Trump. Fifty per cent of Americans think their country is headed for civil war; a similar number think their country will end up a dictatorship.
Yet as it sinks lower on the list of democracies published by Freedom House, the battered American republic can teach the world a thing or two about its First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Its claim to be a nation of laws is stronger if Assange, this dissident publisher, has the threat of extradition lifted. If he were sentenced to die in jail, The New York Times and Washington Post would suffer a precedent against them anytime they might want to expose bad wars and the atrocities that follow in their wake.
The military in the US and Australia have had to admit no lives were lost because of Assange. But we wouldn't have heard of serious war crimes in a counterproductive war were it not for the haggard prisoner in Belmarsh.
Our new prime minister can say: "We're not fans of the guy either, Mr President, but it's gone on long enough. We're good allies. Let this one drop."
And if Albanese asks, my guess is America will agree.
Bob Carr is the longest-serving premier of NSW and a former foreign minister of Australia.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/if-albanese-asks-for-assange-s-freedom-biden-has-every-reason-to-agree-Bob-Carr-20220619-p5autd.html
#16476675 at 2022-06-20 11:40:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16460849
OPINION - If Albanese asks for Assange's freedom, Biden has every reason to agree: Bob Carr
Bob Carr - June 20, 2022
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Two years ago at my local ALP branch, I moved a motion urging the party to support dropping extradition proceedings against Julian Assange. Maroubra ALP is not inner city. It might be regarded as a bastion of the right. The motion was Carried, near unanimously. After the debate, one member came up and said: "I think Assange is probably a narcissistic bastard but he's ours."
That is, he's an Australian.
It was the Trump administration - probably at the insistence of then-CIA chief Mike Pompeo - that pursued Assange's extradition. The Morrison government declined even the faintest whinny of protest. It was as if we were not a sovereign government but some category of US territory like Puerto Rico and an Australian passport holder didn't rate protection from the vengeful anger of one corner of the American security apparatus. A France or Germany - a New Zealand - would not have been as craven.
Here lies Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's most potent argument as he proceeds to winkle out of the Biden administration a decision to quietly drop its pursuit of Assange, even after Britain announced on Friday that it had approved his extradition to the US. Albanese can say that, to Australian public opinion, it looks like one rule for Americans, another for citizens of its ally.
Albanese can gently remind Washington that President Barack Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning. That is, he lifted her sentence for gifting to Assange the material that he published on Wikileaks in 2010. This was the collateral murder video that showed soldiers in a US Apache helicopter mowing down civilians with their automatic weapons in Iraq in 2007. The video exposed America's lack of rules of engagement but, more than that, tore away the justification for the neocon high adventure of the Iraq war.
Manning, the American who slipped the material to Assange, goes free while the Australian who published it faces extradition, trial in Virginia and the rest of his life in cruel confinement in a high-security prison, likely on the plains of Oklahoma.
Albanese doesn't have to state - because the Americans know it - that we are a darn good partner. A request on Assange is small change in such an alliance relationship. We host vital US communication facilities that likely make Australia a nuclear target. We host ship visits, planes and marines, about which the same baleful point could be made. And, as the capstone, we are spending about $150 billion purchasing US nuclear submarines.
We've elected a new prime minister who within hours set off for a meeting of the Quad - the US, Japan, India and Australia - talking continuity in Australian policy on the so-called Indo-Pacific. He arrived in Tokyo with positive policies on climate - music to Biden's ears - and commitment on the South Pacific. A re-elected Morrison would have turned up with surly, shop-worn, adversarial rhetoric on China - welcome enough to the US, but adding no more value than a poodle yapping at its master's heels.
Put like this, the US can barely say no - that is, to an Australian prime minister who makes it known with firmness and confidence he believes, as he said in December about Assange, "Enough is enough." That is, it's enough he suffered the three years in Belmarsh prison, sometimes with arms and legs shackled as if Hannibal Lecter, on top of eight years of self-imposed exile in the Ecuadorian embassy.
In the context of Australia's role as an ally - the heft we deliver for the US empire - a decision to let Assange walk free rates about five minutes of President Biden's Oval Office attention. And our ambassador in Washington should be deputed to trot up and down the Senate corridors telling Republicans that, if they value our friendship, they might lay off the president for listening to Canberra on this one.
(continued)
#16471718 at 2022-06-19 11:52:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
>>16460849
Federal government lobbying behind the scenes for Assange's freedom
James Massola and Latika Bourke - June 19, 2022
1/2
The federal government is lobbying US counterparts behind the scenes to secure the freedom of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, after the United Kingdom's decision to approve his extradition to the United States.
The Trump administration brought charges against Assange under the Espionage Act relating to the leaking and publication of the WikiLeaks cables a decade ago.
The UK Home Office announced late on Friday (AEST) that "after consideration by both the Magistrates Court and High Court, the extradition of Julian Assange to the US was ordered".
"In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange.
"Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health."
Assange's legal team has 14 days to appeal the decision to the High Court and will do so while he remains in Belmarsh prison.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, while still opposition leader in December, said "enough is enough" and that it was time for Assange to be returned to Australia.
Asked about Assange's extradition on Saturday, he told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age that he stood by the comments he made in December.
At the time, Albanese said "he [Assange] has paid a big price for the publication of that information already. And I do not see what purpose is served by the ongoing pursuit of Mr Assange".
Albanese met US President Joe Biden at the Quad meeting in Tokyo in late May, days after the federal election, but there has been no indication that he raised the Assange matter with him during their meeting.
A source in the federal government, who asked not to be named so they could discuss the matter, has confirmed to The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age that Assange's case has been raised with senior US officials.
Former foreign minister Bob Carr said the discussions over Assange's release would be "governed by sensitive, nuanced alliance diplomacy appropriate between partners".
"I trust the judgment of Prime Minister Albanese on this, given his recent statement cautioning against megaphone diplomacy and his comments last December," he said.
But Carr predicted that "in the end the Americans can't say no [to his release], given that President Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning for exposing the very war crime that Assange went on to publicise worldwide".
"The Yank has had her sentence commuted; the Aussie faces an extradition and a cruel sentencing."
(continued)
#16086236 at 2022-04-16 10:04:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition
>>16086235
2/2
Former Labor leader Mark Latham, now leader of One ?Nation in NSW, said Mr Albanese's "main activity wasn't working as a policy adviser in Canberra, it was a young Labor organiser".
"Albanese worked in his (Uren's) electorate office, he was an electorate staffer," he said.
"Albanese spent most of his time in Sydney organising Young Labor numbers in the inner city."
During the 80s, Mr Latham worked for Gough Whitlam, the Labor Party head office and later for Bob Carr.
"I was making speeches on the other side of the debate from Albanese," he said. "He was the standard bread-and-butter leftie opposing Keating's reforms at every turn. The stereotypical leftie from central casting."
A senior Labor figure, who declined to speak publicly, recalled Mr Albanese's work at the time was heavily factional for the Left.
"Albo was one of the leaders in their hardline activities on policy and in stacking the branches and use of the union movement to ?attack the government that then became the modus operandi federally," he said.
"Albanese was a very minor figure and worked out of the Granville office for a lot of the time, organising. I always thought he was an electorate officer."
The Labor figure said that at the time Uren "was a very minor figure of no consequence in Canberra and that was reflected in his frustrations and ongoing attacks on the Hawke-Keating governments."
During his time working for Uren, Mr Albanese engaged in factional Labor Party activities and also conducted research for the minister on economic policies.
The Labor Left regarded itself equally opposed to the Hawke government's policies as the conservative opposition parties.
Uren was not in cabinet and was one of the strongest opponents to the Hawke-Keating economic reforms of the period. His policy views were regarded as entirely irrelevant and a cause for ?annoyance by the senior figures in the Hawke government, particularly treasurer Paul Keating.
Mr Keating was reportedly furious when Hawke ruled that he needed to win support from the full ministry, not just the cabinet, for tax reform in September 1985.
"He had to endure opposition from left-wing ministers Tom Uren and Arthur Gietzelt, amid a marathon debate," author Troy Bramston wrote in the biography Paul Keating: The Big Picture Leader.
Mr Keating, Bramston wrote, "was turning away from redistributive economics, class warfare and an 'us and them' mentality".
Mr Keating voiced his frustration with the Left faction's views in an attack at state conference.
"The Balmain Lefties ... were all in good restaurants quaffing wine till 3.30 in the afternoon. That's what aways galled me," Mr Keating said in his speech.
Mr Albanese did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/albanese-was-electorate-officer-not-ministerial-adviser-to-hardleft-mp-tom-uren/news-story/86301b36c8f982d665b6baeacfdf5efd
#16040663 at 2022-04-09 05:21:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition
#21 - Part 17
Australia / China Tensions - Part 3
>>15795597 US sees Ukraine war as China test run, says Australian Liberal Senator James Paterson
>>15802873 PM's chilling warning to Australia on 'arc of autocracy' amid China, Russia tensions
>>15802887 Video: Scott Morrison says China must push Russia for peace in Ukraine
>>15802915 Kim Bowei Lee, Gold Coast accountant allegedly involved in plot to traffic military hardware from Russia to China is "shocked and distressed" over being charged by police - His lawyer claims he is neither a "smuggler nor a spy"
>>15802935 Heroic act of police officer Kelly Foster, who drowned when attempting to help Chinese woman Jennifer Qi, brings Australian, Chinese families together - xinhuanet.com
>>15810390 Australia cannot afford overreaching on Taiwan question - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15810400 China should be on alert over Australia's future nuclear-submarine base: experts - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn
>>15812783 China accuses Australia of 'sinister' plot - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi casts Australia as the US's most loyal accomplice in a "sinister" strategy to constrain the rising power with an "Indo-Pacific version of NATO"
>>15812847 Chinese-owned, consistently loss-making Port of Darwin continuing to trade as a "going concern" only thanks to a fresh letter of financial support from its Chinese government-backed owner, the Shandong Landbridge Group - "Its non-current borrowings at balance date were $666m."
>>15827045 Marise Payne meets China's new ambassador Xiao Qian
>>15836505 Ambassador Xiao Qian meets with former Australian politicians and well-known scholars - Paul Keating, John Howard, Bob Carr and James Laurenceson - au.china-embassy.org
>>15836540 Australia's military buildup 'controlled by US,' risks nuclear contamination - Leng Shumei - globaltimes.cn
>>15842310 China's Defence Ministry says Australia will "suffer the worst consequences" if it offers military support to Taiwan
>>15842328 Video: Chinese defense spokesperson Senior Colonel Tan Kefei: Australia has no business interfering Taiwan question
>>15852724 Australia's vaccine diplomacy in Pacific islands wards off Beijing - PM Morrison
>>15859676 China's foreign policy verges on catastrophic - Alexander Downer - afr.com
>>15889856 Dutton presses Xi to lean on Putin, as he foreshadows conflict in Asia-Pacific
>>15889886 Video: PM says China supplying weapons to Russia an 'abomination' - 9 News Australia
>>15889889 Morrison clamors for China sanctions, but ignores abomination of Australia - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15911774 Creation of an Australian Space Force opens up a new frontier, says Peter Dutton
>>15911815 Defence Minister Peter Dutton flags future US-style Space Force for Australia
>>15916612 Chinese, Russian space capabilities 'scare' new Australian space commander
>>15924286 Australia's north open to attack: US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral John Aquilino says Australia's north is under threat amid the most concerning security challenge in the region in recent years
>>15924299 US Indo-Pacific Command leader Admiral John Aquilino says China has fully militarized islands in the disputed South China Sea
>>15924338 China must engage Australia to boost CPTPP chances, trade minister Dan Tehan says
>>15924342 GT Voice: Australia undermines CPTPP in desperate pursuit of talks with China - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15932351 Australia sets up space command against China, a 'political show risks arms race' - Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan - globaltimes.cn
>>15932355 Does Australia's Defence Space Command want to confront China? - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15932366 China's Ambassador Xiao Qian is seeking friendship again but its Foreign Ministry still rails against Australia
>>15939896 Solomon Islands and China in military pact - A draft security co-operation agreement between China and the Solomon Islands would allow Chinese military forces to be deployed in the Pacific Island nation
#16040582 at 2022-04-09 05:06:54 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition
#21 - Part 17
Australia / China Tensions - Part 3
>>15795597 US sees Ukraine war as China test run, says Australian Liberal Senator James Paterson
>>15802873 PM's chilling warning to Australia on 'arc of autocracy' amid China, Russia tensions
>>15802887 Video: Scott Morrison says China must push Russia for peace in Ukraine
>>15802915 Kim Bowei Lee, Gold Coast accountant allegedly involved in plot to traffic military hardware from Russia to China is "shocked and distressed" over being charged by police - His lawyer claims he is neither a "smuggler nor a spy"
>>15802935 Heroic act of police officer Kelly Foster, who drowned when attempting to help Chinese woman Jennifer Qi, brings Australian, Chinese families together - xinhuanet.com
>>15810390 Australia cannot afford overreaching on Taiwan question - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15810400 China should be on alert over Australia's future nuclear-submarine base: experts - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn
>>15812783 China accuses Australia of 'sinister' plot - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi casts Australia as the US's most loyal accomplice in a "sinister" strategy to constrain the rising power with an "Indo-Pacific version of NATO"
>>15812847 Chinese-owned, consistently loss-making Port of Darwin continuing to trade as a "going concern" only thanks to a fresh letter of financial support from its Chinese government-backed owner, the Shandong Landbridge Group - "Its non-current borrowings at balance date were $666m."
>>15827045 Marise Payne meets China's new ambassador Xiao Qian
>>15836505 Ambassador Xiao Qian meets with former Australian politicians and well-known scholars - Paul Keating, John Howard, Bob Carr and James Laurenceson - au.china-embassy.org
>>15836540 Australia's military buildup 'controlled by US,' risks nuclear contamination - Leng Shumei - globaltimes.cn
>>15842310 China's Defence Ministry says Australia will "suffer the worst consequences" if it offers military support to Taiwan
>>15842328 Video: Chinese defense spokesperson Senior Colonel Tan Kefei: Australia has no business interfering Taiwan question
>>15852724 Australia's vaccine diplomacy in Pacific islands wards off Beijing - PM Morrison
>>15859676 China's foreign policy verges on catastrophic - Alexander Downer - afr.com
>>15889856 Dutton presses Xi to lean on Putin, as he foreshadows conflict in Asia-Pacific
>>15889886 Video: PM says China supplying weapons to Russia an 'abomination' - 9 News Australia
>>15889889 Morrison clamors for China sanctions, but ignores abomination of Australia - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15911774 Creation of an Australian Space Force opens up a new frontier, says Peter Dutton
>>15911815 Defence Minister Peter Dutton flags future US-style Space Force for Australia
>>15916612 Chinese, Russian space capabilities 'scare' new Australian space commander
>>15924286 Australia's north open to attack: US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral John Aquilino says Australia's north is under threat amid the most concerning security challenge in the region in recent years
>>15924299 US Indo-Pacific Command leader Admiral John Aquilino says China has fully militarized islands in the disputed South China Sea
>>15924338 China must engage Australia to boost CPTPP chances, trade minister Dan Tehan says
>>15924342 GT Voice: Australia undermines CPTPP in desperate pursuit of talks with China - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15932351 Australia sets up space command against China, a 'political show risks arms race' - Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan - globaltimes.cn
>>15932355 Does Australia's Defence Space Command want to confront China? - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15932366 China's Ambassador Xiao Qian is seeking friendship again but its Foreign Ministry still rails against Australia
>>15939896 Solomon Islands and China in military pact - A draft security co-operation agreement between China and the Solomon Islands would allow Chinese military forces to be deployed in the Pacific Island nation
#15842310 at 2022-03-11 22:40:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition
>>15708079
>>15812783
>>15836505
Beijing threatens Australia with 'the worst consequences'
WILL GLASGOW - MARCH 12, 2022
China's Defence Ministry said Australia will "suffer the worst consequences" if it offers military support to Taiwan in a tirade launched the day after Xi Jinping's top envoy in Australia told Foreign Minister Marise Payne he wanted to push relations "along the right track".
In a remarkable instance of two-pronged diplomacy, Beijing's outburst was delivered at the end of a week in which China's new ambassador Xiao Qian spoke of "mutual respect" in separate meetings in Sydney with former prime ministers Paul Keating and John Howard, Foreign Minister Payne and former foreign minister Bob Carr.
The fresh lashing was given late on Thursday four days after Defence Minister Peter Dutton said Australia would do "whatever we can" to deter China from "acts of aggression" in the Taiwan Strait.
Denouncing Mr Dutton's "Cold War mentality" and "ideological bias", a spokesman for China's powerful Ministry of National Defence said "no one and no force" could stop Beijing from bringing Taiwan under its control.
"Anyone who makes trouble on the Taiwan question will suffer the worst consequences in the end," said Senior Colonel Tan Kefei days after Beijing raised defence spending by more than 7 per cent.
"The Chinese People's Liberation Army is always in full readiness to thwart resolutely any interference from external forces and any 'Taiwan independence' plot by separatist forces," Colonel Tan said.
In a second attack, the Chinese spokesman said - without evidence - that Canberra had lied about a Chinese warship's use of a laser last month off Australia's north coast.
The Taiwan tirade came days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi cast Australia as an "acolyte" in a "sinister" American-led plot to constrain China's rise.
China's top diplomat dubbed the strategy Washington's "5432 posture", listing the pillars of Australia's security framework: the Five Eyes intelligence group, the four member Quad, the three member AUKUS security partnership and America's bilateral engagement with allies, such as AUSMIN with Australia.
At the high-profile event at Beijing's annual rubber stamp parliament, the National People's Congress, Mr Wang said that China's relations with Russia remained "rock solid" despite its invasion of Ukraine.
The day earlier, President Xi Jinping instructed a group of political advisers to note the "chaos in the West".
During a separate session at the National People's Congress, Defence Minister Wei Fenghe, said the People's Liberation Army faced "high pressure" and "high risks".
"Against the backdrop of the decline of the West and the rise of the East, confrontation between major powers is unprecedented and we need to focus on responding to containment and suppression from the outside," General Wei said.
Back in Australia, Mr Xi's new envoy has been attempting a charm offensive with Chinese characteristics.
Before this week's meetings with Mr Keating, Mr Howard, Senator Payne, Mr Carr and the head of the Australia-China Relations Institute James Laurenceson, Mr Xiao met separately with Fortescue billionaire Andrew Forrest, former foreign minister Julie Bishop, Howard government minister Warwick Smith and the president of the Australia China Business Council David Olsson.
He has also requested a meeting with Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong.
In those private meetings, the new Chinese envoy attempted a conciliatory tone - in contrast to the anger in Beijing.
"It is hoped that the two sides will work together to review the past and look into the future," Mr Xiao told his influential interlocutors.
"[We should] adhere to the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and make joint efforts to push forward China-Australia relations along the right track," he said, according to the Chinese embassy.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/beijing-threatens-australia-with-the-worst-consequences/news-story/62b28829747222c1b4a0838c26d41cac
#15640346 at 2022-02-16 08:58:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition
>>15631870
>>15640316
Who is Chau Chak Wing? The alleged 'puppeteer' behind foreign interference plot
Anthony Galloway - February 15, 2022
1/2
There are few political donors better connected or more controversial than Chinese-Australian businessman Chau Chak Wing.
Mr Chau has often made headlines for his generous donations but serious accusations have been made against him a number of times in Federal Parliament, most recently on Monday when Labor senator Kimberley Kitching claimed he was the "puppeteer" behind a foreign interference plot.
He responded on Tuesday, labelling the claim "baseless" and inviting Senator Kitching to repeat her comments outside Parliament.
"I am shocked and disappointed at the baseless and reckless claim made by Senator Kimberley Kitching during a Senate Estimates hearing on Monday," he said.
"It is always unfortunate when elected representatives use the shield of parliamentary privilege as a platform to vilify and attack Australian citizens without producing a shred of evidence.
"I am a businessman and philanthropist. I have never had any involvement or interest in interfering with the democratic election process in Australia."
In 2019 Nine, owner of this masthead, was ordered to pay Mr Chau $225,000 in damages after a Federal Court judge found he was defamed in an article on The Sydney Morning Herald's website that went online in October 2015. Last year, Nine and the ABC were ordered to pay Mr Chau $590,000 in damages for a joint investigation with Four Corners that aired in June 2017. The subsequent reimbursement of Mr Chau's legal expenses, plus paying their own expenses to defend the cases, cost the media outlets millions of dollars.
The outlets were found to have erred in suggesting Mr Chau paid "bribes" in the form of political donations and for imputations that he Carried out the work of the Chinese Communist Party's secret lobbying arm, the United Front Work Department. The media outlets' defences that their reporting was in the public interest were rejected by the courts.
Since then, barely a word has been written about Mr Chau. Until this week.
Senator Kitching's accusation in a Senate estimates hearing relates to foreign interference whereby the "puppeteer" hired an employee to begin identifying and bankrolling candidates likely to run for Labor in the federal election.
The head of Australia's counter-espionage agency ASIO, Mike Burgess, told the same hearing that ASIO stepped in to foil the plot and that no current Labor candidates were of any concern to his agency. He said it was critical that Australia did not let the fear of foreign interference undermine stakeholder engagement or stoke community division, as that would have the "same corrosive impact on our democracy as foreign interference itself".
Mr Chau has long been a well-connected businessman with ties to both major parties. He has donated more than $4 million to Australia's major political parties since 2004 - although it is believed they have stopped taking money from him. He has also donated more than $45 million to Australian universities, making him one of the biggest donors in Australian history.
Politicians who have previously met Mr Chau include former prime ministers John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard, as well as former foreign affairs ministers Julie Bishop and Bob Carr.
But there is a now wide gap between what Australian politicians are prepared to say about Mr Chau within the Federal Parliament and outside its walls.
Speaking at the opening of the Chau Chak Wing Museum on November 16, 2020, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the institution at the University of Sydney had risen "thanks to the generosity of the man whose name that it bears", as well as three other philanthropists.
"Four great philanthropists. We should not take that for granted - their generosity," Mr Albanese said at the event, which Mr Carr and former Liberal leader Brendan Nelson also attended, but not Mr Chau.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age has seen an invitation to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to attend the same event, which was declined by his office.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton appeared to be pointing this out in Parliament on Tuesday, when he said "we don't hang out in a museum with Bob Carr … and other murky figures".
Asked why he attended the event, a spokesperson for Mr Albanese said: "As an alumnus, Mr Albanese regularly attends events at Sydney University."
(continued)
#15600564 at 2022-02-11 11:32:31 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition
>>15600547
'Reckless and desperate': Malcolm Turnbull savages Peter Dutton for claiming China is backing Labor
Former Liberal prime minister says defence minister has undermined national security 'purely for crass political advantage'
Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst - 11 Feb 2022
Peter Dutton has doubled down on his controversial claims that China would like Labor to defeat the Morrison government at the upcoming federal election, prompting Malcolm Turnbull to warn that such "reckless" comments had "no basis in fact" and harmed Australia's national security.
The defence minister said on Friday there was "no doubt in [his] mind" about what he described as a "statement of the obvious" regarding China's preference of Labor. He claimed he based Thursday's inflammatory allegation on "open source and other intelligence".
The Morrison government, struggling in the polls, is increasingly seeking to weaponise its perceived advantage on national security issues before the 2022 election, despite Labor's bipartisan cooperation against China's aggressive stance in the Asia-Pacific region.
In question time on Thursday, Dutton claimed that the Chinese Communist party had "made a decision about who they're going to back in the next federal election ... and that is open and that is obvious, and they have picked this bloke [Anthony Albanese] as that candidate".
The personal attack on the Labor leader was echoed by Scott Morrison, who claimed that "those who are seeking to coerce Australia" knew that "their candidate" in the election was "the leader of the Labor party".
Turnbull told ABC radio that Dutton's claim was "reckless" because it "undermines Australian security" and "uses matters of grave national security purely for crass political advantage".
The former Liberal prime minister accused Dutton of seeking to wedge both Labor and Morrison by "rushing off to the right" with the inflammatory claim.
"We should not be turning the debate about China and national security into some kind of reds-under-the-beds scare," Turnbull said. "The proposition that Albanese is under influence of the CCP is ludicrous. It's just a sign of desperation."
Asked how ugly he thought the election campaign could get, Turnbull said he was "worried it's going to get uglier" and the China accusation was "really bad".
"Morrison should try to pull Dutton back in on that. It has no basis in fact and all that will do is undermine our prospects of being united in face of pressure from other countries."
But Dutton defended the claim, telling ABC radio there was "open-source information reported over a long period of time" that China and Russia exerted political influence in Australia and other democracies, including the US and the UK.
China and Russia sought to influence "young members [of political parties] who are on the rise" and "pick somebody who will be influential within that party in years to come", he said.
"If you look at the facts, in this case, I think certainly, from what I see, both open source and other intelligence that I see it's a statement of the obvious," Dutton said, without producing any evidence to substantiate the claim about Albanese.
Instead, Dutton cited "relationships going back to" former the Labor senator Sam Dastyari and the former New South Wales premier Bob Carr, who he said was "obviously very close still to Beijing".
"There's no doubt in my mind about the statement that I made yesterday. And I think there needs to be greater awareness, frankly, particularly from the Labor party about the engagement of people who don't have our national interests [at heart]."
Labor has supported the government's diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, criticised the Chinese government's human rights record, and gone further than the Coalition in calling for targeted sanctions to oppose Uyghur forced labour.
In November Albanese rebuffed the former Labor prime minister Paul Keating for arguing for a return to the engagement policies of the 1990s. The opposition leader has also said he stands with Taiwan against Chinese aggression.
The director general of the Office of National Intelligence, Andrew Shearer, has said national security "is rightly bipartisan in a more partisan world" and his dealings with Albanese and senior Labor colleagues during private security briefings have been "cordial, constructive and professional".
In his threat assessment speech on Wednesday evening, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, said "attempts at political interference are not confined to one side of politics".
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/11/reckless-and-desperate-malcolm-turnbull-savages-peter-dutton-for-claiming-china-is-backing-labor
#15600547 at 2022-02-11 11:24:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition
>>15592354
Chinese spies in plot to install ALP candidates at coming federal election
BEN PACKHAM - FEBRUARY 11, 2022
Chinese spies sought to bankroll the campaigns of hand-picked NSW Labor candidates in the upcoming federal election in a plot foiled by ASIO.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess referred to the case earlier this week, without identifying the political party involved or the nation behind the plot, saying a wealthy "puppeteer" had worked with a local "cut-out" to try to secure the election of sympathetic candidates.
Multiple national security and ALP sources have confirmed to The Australian that the case involved an attempt to subvert Labor's NSW federal preselection process last year.
Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison were briefed on the conspiracy.
Mr Albanese on Friday said he met with Mr Burgess regularly, but was unable to comment on the contents of those briefings.
However, he said he had received assurances that ASIO had no concerns about any preselected Labor candidates.
"I have spoken to Mr Burgess today and he has reaffirmed he has not raised concern about any of my candidates. I can't be clearer than that," Mr Albanese said.
In a statement on Thursday, NSW Labor Party general secretary Bob Nanva said the state branch had not been briefed on the matter by ASIO.
"NSW Labor can confirm that no national security agency has ever raised these alleged matters with the parliamentary leadership or the organisational wing of the NSW Branch," he said.
Revealing the spy plot in his annual threat assessment on Wednesday, Mr Burgess said the agency was on high alert for political interference.
"I can confirm that ASIO ?recently detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to an election in Australia," he said.
"I'm not going to identify the jurisdiction because we are seeing attempts at foreign interference at all levels of government, in all states and territories."
Mr Burgess said case involved a "wealthy individual with direct and deep connections with a foreign government and its intelligence agencies", who
"I'll call this person 'the puppeteer', although it's important to ?remember that while the puppeteer pulled the strings, the foreign government called the shots."
The "puppeteer" provided hundreds of thousands of dollars through an offshore bank account to run foreign-interference operations through a third party with ?direct links to politicians, political staff and journalists
"This agent of interference has roots in Australia but did the bidding of offshore masters, knowingly and covertly seeking to advance the interests of the foreign power and, in the process, undermine Australia's sovereignty," Mr Burgess said.
The confirmation that the plot targeted potential Labor MPs came as Defence Minister Peter Dutton doubled down on his claim that China has decided to back Labor at the federal election.
He said there was "intelligence" and open source information of links between China and the ALP.
"I think there's no doubt that there are elements within the Communist Party that would be very happy to see the back of our government," he said.
"From what I see, both open source and other intelligence that I see, it's a statement of the obvious, and there are relationships going back to Sam Dastyari and Bob Carr is still very close to Beijing, and there are many others."
Mr Albanese said the suggestion China favoured Labor was "just desperate". He said he taken a strong stand against foreign interference, and been clear in his rejection of Chinese trade bans against Australia and Beijing's repression of Uighurs and citizens of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
"I'm not going to sit back and cop the sort of nonsense that has been put forward, from a government that sat back, while the port of Darwin was sold to interests of a company directly engaged with, directly connected to, the government of the People's Republic of China," he said.
Mr Dutton's attack followed his claim to parliament on Thursday that it was "open and obvious" that China was backing Labor to win the election.
"We now see evidence that the Chinese Communist Party has also made a decision about who they're going to back in the next federal election ... and that is open and obvious," Mr Dutton said.
"And they have picked this bloke (Mr Albanese) as their candidate," he added.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull told ABC Radio the Mr Dutton's attack was "a sign of desperation".
"(His comments) were purely for crass political advantage," he said.
"We've got to stand our ground (against China), but we've got to do so in a measured way. There has got to be nuance and diplomacy."
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/chinese-spies-in-plot-to-install-alp-candidates-at-coming-federal-election/news-story/f917096d91d83d449bfad778e4685f5a
#15592256 at 2022-02-10 08:43:24 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition
#20 - Part 8
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>15180162 China's response to Aukus deal was 'irrational', Peter Dutton says - Defence minister accuses Beijing of 'bullying' over criticisms of Australia's pact with the US and UK
>>15180167 Video: Dutton: China's reaction to AUKUS was 'irrational' - Sky News Australia
>>15185171 Video: Australia to acquire new weapons under billion-dollar defence deal with South Korea - Defence Minister Peter Dutton touted the deal as a boost for Australian firepower and security in the Indo-Pacific
>>15201098 Huawei 'helped create' tech for China's state surveillance and 're-educating' of Uighurs
>>15201101 Australia's 5G Huawei ban 'the right move' for security: US tech billionaire Michael Dell, founder and chief executive of Dell Technologies
>>15206664 Royal Australian Navy expects new Evolved Cape Class patrol boats could be delayed by up to nine months, costing extra $44 million, after poor-quality aluminium was imported from China
>>15206972 Chinese Spies Accused of Using Huawei in Secret Australia Telecom Hack - Software update loaded with malicious code is key evidence in years-long push to block Huawei, U.S. government officials say
>>15225175 Hong Kong election has Five Eyes seeing red - Five Eyes nations issue joint statement expressing "grave concerns" over outcome of Hong Kong's first legislative elections since Beijing dictated only so-called patriots could govern the city
>>15225175 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Statement - Joint Statement on Legislative Council elections
>>15229800 China accuses Australia of 'violent' interference in Five Eyes response to Hong Kong election - Allies voice grave concerns about 'erosion of democratic elements' after overhaul of electoral system
>>15229805 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - "China firmly opposed and strongly condemned the joint statement made by the Australian Foreign Minister, together with the other four Foreign Ministers of the Five Eyes Alliance countries"
>>15229812 Five Eyes with blurred vision unwilling to see Hong Kong back on the right track: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15229820 Trump calls for China tariffs as he preaches to the converted on 'History Tour' - "US tariffs on Chinese goods should be increased "very substantially" as reparation payments for the chaos unleashed by Covid-19, according to Donald Trump"
>>15235841 China-Australia diplomatic ties may worsen due to anti-China rhetoric for 2022 Aussie election: experts - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn
>>15241429 Peter Dutton accuses Beijing of playing war games in space - Defence Minister accuses China of pursuing aggressive plan to militarise space to undermine warfighting abilities of western nations including Australia
>>15241432 Bob Carr defends speech to China forum - Former foreign minister defends decision to speak at seminar organised by Chinese-Australian billionaire Chau Chak Wing attended by Xi Jinping
>>15243088 Solomons turns to China for riot help - Solomon Islands government announces that Chinese police officers and equipment will be installed to help train members of the Solomon Islands police force
>>15247159 Free-trade deal to speed exports to India - Australian wine, coal and grain producers targeted by Chinese sanctions are on track to have greater access to Indian markets from next year
>>15271334 Defence Department review finds no national security grounds sufficient to recommend government intervention in lease of Port of Darwin to Chinese company Landbridge
>>15271371 Beijing ducks and weaves on trade tension allegations - Chinese officials accuse Australia of putting trading relationship at risk in aggressive written response to Australian queries at World Trade Organisation forum
>>15301826 Australia's nuclear submarine deal sets off 'very big alarm' in China, says Taiwanese MP Wang Ting-yu, senior representative of Taiwan Foreign Affairs and National Defence committee
>>15325254 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on January 5, 2022
>>15325257 Japan-Australia defense, security treaty will inflame regional tensions - China warns of countermeasures if bottom line touched - Liu Xin and Zhang Changyue - globaltimes.cn
>>15325270 Video: 'Groundless accusations': China's fury over joint statement from Australia and Japan - Sky News Australia
>>15325274 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - "The joint statement of the Australia-Japan leaders' meeting, in total disregard of the facts, makes groundless accusations against China"
#15592184 at 2022-02-10 08:23:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition
#20 - Part 8
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>15180162 China's response to Aukus deal was 'irrational', Peter Dutton says - Defence minister accuses Beijing of 'bullying' over criticisms of Australia's pact with the US and UK
>>15180167 Video: Dutton: China's reaction to AUKUS was 'irrational' - Sky News Australia
>>15185171 Video: Australia to acquire new weapons under billion-dollar defence deal with South Korea - Defence Minister Peter Dutton touted the deal as a boost for Australian firepower and security in the Indo-Pacific
>>15201098 Huawei 'helped create' tech for China's state surveillance and 're-educating' of Uighurs
>>15201101 Australia's 5G Huawei ban 'the right move' for security: US tech billionaire Michael Dell, founder and chief executive of Dell Technologies
>>15206664 Royal Australian Navy expects new Evolved Cape Class patrol boats could be delayed by up to nine months, costing extra $44 million, after poor-quality aluminium was imported from China
>>15206972 Chinese Spies Accused of Using Huawei in Secret Australia Telecom Hack - Software update loaded with malicious code is key evidence in years-long push to block Huawei, U.S. government officials say
>>15225175 Hong Kong election has Five Eyes seeing red - Five Eyes nations issue joint statement expressing "grave concerns" over outcome of Hong Kong's first legislative elections since Beijing dictated only so-called patriots could govern the city
>>15225175 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Statement - Joint Statement on Legislative Council elections
>>15229800 China accuses Australia of 'violent' interference in Five Eyes response to Hong Kong election - Allies voice grave concerns about 'erosion of democratic elements' after overhaul of electoral system
>>15229805 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - "China firmly opposed and strongly condemned the joint statement made by the Australian Foreign Minister, together with the other four Foreign Ministers of the Five Eyes Alliance countries"
>>15229812 Five Eyes with blurred vision unwilling to see Hong Kong back on the right track: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15229820 Trump calls for China tariffs as he preaches to the converted on 'History Tour' - "US tariffs on Chinese goods should be increased "very substantially" as reparation payments for the chaos unleashed by Covid-19, according to Donald Trump"
>>15235841 China-Australia diplomatic ties may worsen due to anti-China rhetoric for 2022 Aussie election: experts - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn
>>15241429 Peter Dutton accuses Beijing of playing war games in space - Defence Minister accuses China of pursuing aggressive plan to militarise space to undermine warfighting abilities of western nations including Australia
>>15241432 Bob Carr defends speech to China forum - Former foreign minister defends decision to speak at seminar organised by Chinese-Australian billionaire Chau Chak Wing attended by Xi Jinping
>>15243088 Solomons turns to China for riot help - Solomon Islands government announces that Chinese police officers and equipment will be installed to help train members of the Solomon Islands police force
>>15247159 Free-trade deal to speed exports to India - Australian wine, coal and grain producers targeted by Chinese sanctions are on track to have greater access to Indian markets from next year
>>15271334 Defence Department review finds no national security grounds sufficient to recommend government intervention in lease of Port of Darwin to Chinese company Landbridge
>>15271371 Beijing ducks and weaves on trade tension allegations - Chinese officials accuse Australia of putting trading relationship at risk in aggressive written response to Australian queries at World Trade Organisation forum
>>15301826 Australia's nuclear submarine deal sets off 'very big alarm' in China, says Taiwanese MP Wang Ting-yu, senior representative of Taiwan Foreign Affairs and National Defence committee
>>15325254 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on January 5, 2022
>>15325257 Japan-Australia defense, security treaty will inflame regional tensions - China warns of countermeasures if bottom line touched - Liu Xin and Zhang Changyue - globaltimes.cn
>>15325270 Video: 'Groundless accusations': China's fury over joint statement from Australia and Japan - Sky News Australia
>>15325274 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - "The joint statement of the Australia-Japan leaders' meeting, in total disregard of the facts, makes groundless accusations against China"
#15241432 at 2021-12-23 08:18:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition
Bob Carr defends speech to China forum
BEN PACKHAM - DECEMBER 23, 2021
Former foreign minister Bob Carr has defended his decision to speak at a seminar organised by Chinese-Australian billionaire Chau Chak Wing that was attended by Xi Jinping.
Dr Chau, who was named in parliament as a Chinese Communist Party influencer and conspirator in a UN bribery scandal, hosted his Imperial Springs Forum in Guangzhou this month.
Mr Carr, who employed Dr Chau's daughter Winky when he was NSW premier, joined other participants including former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, former British prime minister Gordon Brown, former New Zealand prime minister Jenny Shipley, and former US president George HW Bush's son, Neil Bush.
"I was honoured to have been in such company," he said.
Mr Carr - a vocal critic of the Morrison government's China policies - said he spoke briefly, and virtually, on the global challenge posed by climate change.
"I praised China for decarbonising its Belt and Road Initiative, and bringing forward its peaking of coal," he said.
The theme of the summit was Multilateralism 2.0: Global Co-operation in the Post-Pandemic Era. Mr Carr said he focused on the joint Chinese-American statement on climate co-operation at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.
"I honed in on what that agreement said about the collaboration ?between the two on measuring methane in the atmosphere," the former Labor premier said.
"I said this was one example of international co-operation under the architecture of a global agreement. It embodies the idea of co-operation between the US and China, and has bilateral and multilateral implications."
Dr Chau was identified by the now-Assistant Defence Minister Andrew Hastie under parliamentary privilege in 2018 as the head of a business group that was "essentially a creature of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front program", which runs the CCP's overseas influence operations.
Mr Hastie told parliament at the time that Dr Chau - a prominent political donor and philanthropist - was a co-conspirator known as "CC-3" in a bribery scandal that rocked the UN in 2015. The case hinged on $1.7m in bribes paid to former UN General Assembly president John Ashe by Chinese businessmen.
"We know that CC-3 was willing to participate in the bribery of the 68th United Nations president of the General Assembly in 2013," Mr Hastie said. "We also know that ... CC-3 was in close contact with the United Front, the influence arm of the Chinese Communist Party in 2007.
"During discussions with US authorities, I confirmed the long-suspected identity of CC-3. It is now my duty to inform the house and the Australian people that CC-3 is Dr Chau Chak Wing."
Dr Chau has denied the allegations. He successfully sued the ABC, receiving a $590,000 payout earlier this year, after a judge found "substantial" injury to his reputation from a report which Carried imputations he was a CCP member, that he paid large sums to secure influence, and that he paid a $200,000 bribe to the president of the UN General Assembly.
He also won a $280,000 defamation case against The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age over a 2015 article by journalist John Garnaut that suggested Mr Chau had bribed a UN official and could be extradited to the US if he returned from China to Australia.
Mr Carr has been a leading advocate for closer Australian engagement with China, particularly after his appointment as head of the Australia China Relations Institute at the University of Technology in Sydney in 2014. He has since stepped down from the role.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/Bob-Carr-defends-speech-to-china-forum/news-story/2b46f841092f797910342d2d58f3b8d0
#15025428 at 2021-11-18 06:59:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition
>>15025425
2/2
Last week Mr Morrison railed against Covid vaccine mandates, saying anti-vaxxers should not be demonised for 'making their own choices'.
The Prime Minister made the comments in a TV interview after former NSW premier Bob Carr called for anti-vaxxers to be stripped of their Medicare reimbursements if they need Covid treatment.
'We don't have a mandatory vaccine policy as a Federal Government. It's not something we've done, we respect people's choices,' Mr Morrison told Seven's Sunrise.
Unvaccinated people are roughly 20 times more likely to spread Covid than vaccinated people, according to University of Melbourne professors Christopher Baker and Andrew Robinson.
'We live in a country where we are not going to go around demonising those who want to make their own choices. It think that's very important. That's not how my Government sees it,' Mr Morrison said last week.
'Of course we want people to get vaccinated but we are not going to take that heavy-handed approach which the Labor party always seems to like doing, whether it's Bob Carr or many of the others who have come down with those types of views.
'It's not our approach'.
The comments contrast with Mr Morrison's rhetoric last year when he said in a 3AW interview in August 2020: 'I would expect it [the Covid jab] to be as mandatory as you can possibly make it.
'There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds but that should be the only basis,' he said.
The next day the Prime Minister rolled back, telling 2GB: 'Can I be really clear to everyone? It's not going to be compulsory to have the vaccine, OK?'
'We can't hold someone down and make them take it.'
In a 3AW interview last month Mr Morrison said businesses can chose to ban anti-vaxxers.
'Businesses have that right to say who can come into their premises. That's what the law says. And that doesn't fall foul of discrimination laws,' he said.
In 2016 as social services minister he masterminded the 'no jab no play' policy which stopped anti-vaxxers accessing taxpayer funded Child Care Benefits, the Child Care Rebate and the Family Tax Benefit.
Mr Carr, a former Labor foreign minister under Julia Gillard and NSW premier from 1995 to 2005, said Australia should follow Singapore which announced it will stop paying coronavirus medical bills of those who are unvaccinated by choice from next month.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10214777/Scott-Morrison-demands-states-like-Queensland-drop-Covid-19-vaccine-mandates.html
#15012759 at 2021-11-16 17:47:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition
>>15001898
China meddling 'staggering', makes case for interference laws
BEN PACKHAM - NOVEMBER 16, 2021
Australians would be "staggered" at the amount of intelligence gathered by national security agencies on Chinese Communist Party ?activities in Australia, Peter Dutton says, adding that policies against foreign interference are "backed by the evidence".
The Defence Minister told Sky News host Peter Stefanovic for the broadcaster's two-part China ?Rising program that Australia wanted peace in the region, but the nation's previously cordial ?relationship with China had "changed quite dramatically".
"Clearly we receive intelligence and we have formed judgments over a period of time, which have been backed up by the evidence," Mr Dutton said in part one of the program, aired on Tuesday. "I think people would be quite staggered by the amount of intelligence, and the very clear direction that China is now taking."
He said the 2018 move to ban Chinese telcos Huawei and ZTE from participating in Australia's 5G network had "aggravated the communist party", but was "absolutely the right decision to take".
Former prime minister Tony Abbott also backed the 5G decision, saying China would not contemplate having Telstra run its domestic communications network. "I think a good rule of thumb, particularly when dealing with authoritarian governments, dictatorships, is to say if we couldn't do it in their country, they certainly shouldn't be able to do it in our country," Mr Abbott said.
Former foreign minister Bob Carr was critical of Malcolm Turnbull's handling of the 5G ?decision, saying it was "like he was a poodle waiting to have his tummy tickled" by then-US president Donald Trump.
He said Australia's management of the ?relationship had been flawed. "We don't use diplomacy. Australia is a bunch, in diplomatic terms ... (of) bogans," he said. "We are ripping around in a Monaro, giving a rude signal outside the window, as a writer said recently."
Former prime minister John Howard said the biggest change in the China relationship since he was in office was "in the attitude of the Chinese leadership".
"It has become more aggressive," he said. "It is more difficult now than it has been for 30 years."
The program, which continues on Wednesday night, follows Mr Dutton's comments to The Weekend Australian that it was "inconceivable" that Australia would not become involved in a war over Taiwan if the US committed forces to such a conflict.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/china-meddling-staggering-makes-case-for-interference-laws/news-story/430068c45b6421fdec47f598c5e1febf
#14870985 at 2021-10-28 07:15:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition
>>14852889
Julian Assange ignores Australian government's calls as whistleblower gears up for tense trial
Helena Burke - October 28, 2021
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has revealed that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has rejected the Australian government's attempts to contact him, allegedly ignoring the government's calls on 29 occasions.
Mr Assange, 50, is currently in London's Belmarsh Prison awaiting the outcome of the US government's appeal to have him extradited to America on charges of Espionage.
If convicted, he will be given the option to return to Australia to serve his sentence.
But the Australian government has been criticised for not provided sufficient support to the famous whistleblower throughout his decade-long legal battle with US authorities.
In 2019, former Labor leader Bob Carr said Senator Payne "needs to protect herself from the charge that she's failed in her duty to protect the life of an Australian citizen".
"Not to do so would leave the Minister exposed to withering criticism that they did not take all appropriate action that might have made a difference, mainly before the British court makes a decision," he said.
But Senator Payne defended her handling of the situation when confronted in Senate Estimates on Thursday, insisting she had done everything she could to support Mr Assange.
"I have consistently sought to assure myself of Mr. Assange's position in terms of the legal processes to which he is subject," Senator Payne said.
"I have consistently encouraged my consular staff to engage on his case and to seek to provide him with consular assistance or assistance with medical support.
"This has been met with rejection or no answer (from Mr Assange) for 29 occasions so far."
Mr Assange will face his second day of trial in Britain's High Court on Thursday, as the US attempts to overturn the court's decision not to grant his extradition on 17 counts of Espionage.
In January, the judge blocked the US government's original extradition request due to concerns for Mr Assange's mental health and risk of suicide in a US Prison.
Supporters of Julian Assange gathered outside court to defend the whistleblower on Wednesday, holding up signs reading "no extradition", and "free Julian Assange".
Mr Assange appeared via video link to the legal proceedings, with his partner later confirming he was "thin and very unwell".
If his extradition is approved, Mr Assange's convictions under US law will Carry a maximum sentence of 175 years imprisonment.
https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/julian-assange-ignores-australian-governments-calls-as-whistleblower-gears-up-for-tense-legal-trial/news-story/667fc493e3f893924d042e797782d090
#14563608 at 2021-09-12 06:44:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition
>>14563605
2/2
In October last year, Professor Chen shared details of the WeChat group, called FD group - FD standing for "fair dinkum" - with the ABC's Background Briefing.
Members of the chat group said it was totally harmless.
Today, Professor Chen still maintains that he has not done anything wrong and is not a risk to Australia's national security.
"It was alleged that I was in a WeChat group and pressure was exerted for foreign interference," he said.
"Whoever in their right mind would ... use [a] WeChat group chat to exert political interference?
"I am just speechless and shocked."
His comments come almost a year after ABC Investigations reported on search warrants issued against the prime suspect, John Zhang.
The warrants identified at least another nine people in connection to the investigation, including Professor Chen and Mr Li.
According to search warrants served on Mr Zhang in June 2020, the AFP suspects he was part of a group of foreign agents secretly collaborating with the United Front Workers Department and China's leading spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), to influence Mr Moselmane.
The warrants allege the group may have broken Australia's foreign interference laws by trying to influence the politician covertly in a "private social media chat group and other fora," and by concealing their alleged collaborations with the Chinese state.
The AFP declined to comment on the ongoing investigations.
Professor Chen and Mr Li are both well-known academics in their fields.
Over his career, Professor Chen has attended events with former foreign minister and NSW premier Bob Carr, and was the translator for former prime minister Bob Hawke on his 1994 trip to China.
Professor Chen is a prominent commentator on Australian relations in the Chinese state media tabloid, the Global Times.
His academic specialty is analysing the work of Nobel-prize-winning Australian author Patrick White.
His colleague Li is a Peking Opera lover and his PhD is about Australian literature from the 1950s and 1960s.
In the letter, Professor Chen outlined his academic work, including his position as director of his university's Australian Studies department, editing journals, and running an annual contest for university students to test their knowledge of Australia.
He said he made candid comments about bilateral relations between Australia and China.
He said while he was sometimes critical of some of Australia's policies, his intention was to "eliminate misunderstanding".
"I am well known in China as one of the most vocal promoters and advocators of understanding of and friendship with Australia.
"I have a deep fondness of Australia as a country, a society and a culture. I have done nothing and will do nothing to act as a risk to Australia's security."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-12/chinese-academic-hits-out-at-australian-government/100442592
#13741344 at 2021-05-24 09:31:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition
#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
#13741284 at 2021-05-24 09:11:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition
#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
#13577336 at 2021-05-04 06:59:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition
>>13515337
Conflict with China a 'high likelihood', says top Australian general
Nick McKenzie and Anthony Galloway - May 4, 2021
1/2
One of the nation's top military commanders told his troops that Beijing is already engaged in "grey zone" warfare against Australia and they must plan for the high likelihood this may spill over into actual conflict in the future.
The candid and confidential briefing by Major-General Adam Findlay to Australia's special forces soldiers last year gives the most detailed insight yet made public into how the nation's top military planners view the threat of China.
The then-special forces commander, who has since stepped down but who still advises the Australian Defence Force, highlighted the steps Australia's military was taking to prevent war but also described a "high likelihood" that actual conflict could break out due to the unpredictable nature of foreign affairs.
"Who do you reckon the main [regional] threat is?" General Findlay asked his troops and officers before answering: "China".
"OK, so if China is a threat, how many special forces brigades in China? You should know there are 26,000 Chinese SOF [Special Operations Forces] personnel."
Details of the April 2020 briefing have been obtained by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald from multiple sources who have requested to remain anonymous because they are not authorised to speak publicly. They say General Findlay told his troops that, if the threat of conflict was realised, the ADF needed to rely not only on traditional air, land and sea capabilities but also on Australia's ability to use cyber and space warfare.
He also highlighted the need for the ADF to reassert its presence and play "first grade" in south-east Asia and the south-west Pacific, describing how the military had uncovered information showing China was seeking to exploit "our [Australia's] absence" in the region.
"We need to make sure we don't lose momentum … get back in the region," General Findlay said, highlighting Australia's close ties to Indonesia.
In the past week the Australian government's language on China has hardened. Defence Minister Peter Dutton has said a war over Taiwan could not be discounted, that Australia was "already under attack" in the cyber domain and that he wants to have a "more frank discussion with the public" about China's intentions. Mr Dutton said the Australian government's first priority was "continued peace in our region", but warned the country needed to be able to defend its waters to the north and west as a priority.
Influential public servant Michael Pezzullo, the Department of Home Affairs secretary, warned the "drums of war" were beating.
However, former prime minister Kevin Rudd has said the escalating rhetoric "serves zero national security purpose" and risked inflaming tensions with Beijing. Former foreign minister Bob Carr wrote in The Age and Herald that "Australian diplomacy ought to be identifying the off-ramps that will avoid this nightmare" of war over Taiwan.
(continued)
#13555545 at 2021-05-01 06:43:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition
>>13555541
2/2
When hardliners like those in ASPI say we are on the eve of a war over Taiwan, they won't concede participation is still a choice for Australia. As they see it, in the words of the 1915 recruiting song, Australia Will Be There. Japan's not making that mistake, nor Canada nor New Zealand nor the ASEAN states.
The Cold Warriors don't acknowledge former Liberal prime minister Robert Menzies deliberately steered us away from commitment and Alexander Downer said in 2004 that, on Taiwan, the ANZUS Treaty did not apply. And the Cold Warriors never define how they see the war being won. Nor do the hawks in Washington who want to see the first explicit security guarantee made to the island.
Professor Hugh White asks if America is prepared to lose Los Angeles in a nuclear exchange - even as US missiles reduce Shenzhen and Shanghai to hot, radioactive rubble.
Henry Kissinger warned in November of "a catastrophe comparable to World War I".
Nationalists in China and the US need to understand that a horrendous war fought over which political order prevails in Taiwan is not worth this price. The issue will solve itself in 50 or 100 years without a blood sacrifice of millions and near-ruin of half the planet.
Australian diplomacy ought to be identifying the off-ramps that will avoid this nightmare. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, writing in Foreign Affairs last month, advanced ideas for enlarging co-operation between China and America, for example, on North Korea, global financial stability, pandemic management and climate. He also urged the kind of crisis communication that the US and the USSR set up after the near-death experience over Cuba in 1962.
Promoting this through quiet diplomacy would cast Australia as creative middle power edging forward our own interest and the world's.
Lawrence H. Summers, former US treasury secretary, said of China relations: you can be strong and resolute without being imprudent and provocative. Getting China wrong, he said, "is the greatest threat to America's national enterprise over the next quarter century".
There may be no adults. There will be no winners.
Bob Carr is a former Australian foreign affairs minister and was NSW's longest-serving premier. He is industry professor of climate and business at the University of Technology Sydney.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/where-are-the-grown-ups-all-this-loose-talk-about-china-and-war-is-dangerous-20210430-p57np4.html
#13555541 at 2021-05-01 06:42:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition
>>13515337
OPINION: Where are the grown-ups? All this loose talk about China and war is dangerous
Bob Carr - May 1, 2021
1/2
"So what's the plan?" asked an investor after I had spoken at the Lonsec Symposium about Australia-China relations. Days earlier, Defence Minister Peter Dutton talked war over the Taiwan Strait. His former department head said our "warriors" were ready to go fight.
The Foreign Affairs Minister announced she was tearing up two anodyne memorandums of understanding between Victoria and China over the Belt and Road instead of letting them gather mould in Daniel Andrews' cabinet. The government hinted at a take-over of the Port of Darwin - in reality a wharf, and over which Canberra in any case enjoys total control. Not even in Washington is there talk as loose as this.
"There are no grown-ups," a priest once told French novelist Andre Malraux.
What's the plan? Truth is, there is none. Not for resuscitating the bilateral relationship - say, to the level that other United States allies such as Japan or the Europeans manage with China.
Nor for salvaging the lost markets. Since December 2019, barley has been totally lost. Coal is down 98 per cent, wine 97 per cent, crustaceans 89 per cent and beef 47 per cent. But as Professor James Laurenceson has demonstrated, the share of China's markets enjoyed by other Five Eyes countries has expanded.
And US sales of food and beverage to China have risen. As another Frenchman, General Charles de Gaulle, put it, great powers are "cold monsters".
What threat to our sovereignty was averted by the showy diplomacy that accompanied Australia's exclusion of Huawei - a phone call to Donald Trump from then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull boasting the decision, a leak from our security agencies to let the world know we were campaigning to have the ban adopted by the all other Five Eyes nations? An alternative line was to say we've made a decision to protect resilience and security in our network and left it at that.
The international inquiry into the handling of COVID-19 might have been secured without our Foreign Affairs Minister's flamboyant talk of "weapons inspectors". Martin Parkinson, former head of the Prime Minister's Department, asked: "What whiz kid dreamt up those talking points?" Did a Young Liberal plop that zinger into the minister's notes and sit back to watch the explosion? Parkinson also said the contest between China and the US presented us not with a question of choice but of balance.
Diplomacy was invented so we could pull off challenges like this one: managing an alliance with the US in which we host bases, buy its F-35s and send troops to its "forever wars" while negotiating a booming trade with China, which soon will be the world's biggest economy, pulling 850 million of its citizens into the middle-class, able to buy our beef and wine from their supermarkets and come here as our biggest-spending tourists.
Working at the balance, and not being fixated on the choice, wouldn't have required us to moderate our language on China's repression of Uighurs or the extinction of legal autonomy in Hong Kong. But Canberra gives the impression it wants to turn day-to-day management of a bilateral relationship into an existential crusade, urged on by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think tank partially funded by the US, from which commentary on China has become more and more blood-curdling.
(continued)
#13529854 at 2021-04-28 07:09:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition
>>13517916
'Drums of war' warnings spread across the world to British news
Sky News Australia
28 Apr 2021
Australia's Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo warned the "drums of war" were beating louder, which spread across the planet and featured on the front page of The Times in Britain.
Secretary Mike Pezzullo wrote a message to the Home Affairs Department for Anzac Day in which he warned the global "drums of war" are beating and Australia should prepare itself for a possible conflict.
The story was picked up by the The Times after the comments made waves in the Australian political and media environment.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison skipped over the issue when he was asked by Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell whether he agreed with the secretary.
"Our objective is to pursue peace," Mr Morrison said.
"All of the agency that we have as a country and as a government is designed to achieve that".
Meanwhile former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr weighed in on the issue slamming Mr Pezzullo for "itching for a showdown in the Taiwan Strait".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohuSR0kQc1g
#13485169 at 2021-04-22 08:15:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition
>>13485072
>>13485075
>>13485161
Chinese pageant winner Jean Dong's meteoric journey to influence
DAMON JOHNSTON, REMY VARGA and RACHEL BAXENDALE - MAY 28, 2020
1/3
"We've now reached the most exciting part of the competition - we are about to award the crown of Miss Chinese Cosmos Pageant 2011, and the winner is ... contestant No 5, Dong Jin."
The Crown casino ballroom in Melbourne erupts and the newly crowned queen radiates confidence, waving and soaking in the adulation. A sash, tiara and a giant $10,000 cheque are handed to Dong Jin, the young woman who, the hosts note, prevailed after an exhaustive five rounds of questions that "definitely weren't easy".
As the victor, she would go on to represent Australia in the Asia-Pacific finals of the pageant in New Zealand. Dong Jin's crowning glory was an important step in her transformation into Jean Dong, who in 2011 was getting ready to embark on a self-proclaimed "journey of influence".
It's a road that in the past week has seen her emerge as a central figure in the political row over Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews's decision to sign up to China's Belt and Road Initiative.
The Chinese-born former Adelaide University commerce student always seemed destined for bigger things. Her vanity biopic on YouTube says she started playing the piano at the age of three, and was soon playing at the "highest level".
By 11, she was, by her account, challenging old Chinese media rules and opening the doors "for thousands of youth to raise their voices".
And at 21, Dong says she was an emerging figure within consultancy PwC and "convinced the PwC Australian leadership to consider Asia growth as a priority strategy".
Intelligence, drive, dynamism and relentless networking were Jean Dong's door-openers as she moved to Melbourne and rapidly made her dream of becoming a successful businesswoman and influencer come true.
She easily rubbed shoulders with political leaders, including Malcolm Turnbull and former NSW premier Bob Carr, during this period.
Among the opportunities that winning the 2011 pageant afforded the 24-year-old was a return ticket to the following year's event to hand over the crown to the next winner.
New alliances
In 2012, as she sat in the audience as the reigning pageant queen, Dong was in the company of two other Chinese Australians emerging in Victorian politics - Mike Yang and Gladys Liu.
Yang was the China adviser to then opposition leader Daniel Andrews.
He held the job from 2011-13, and is credited with being the architect of the now Premier's strong and enduring - and now controversial - bond with the Chinese communist government.
The next year, Yang would accompany a youthful Andrews on an official trip to China, the pair photographed smiling on The Great Wall.
Liu, now the federal Liberal MP for the eastern Melbourne seat of Chisholm, was then an adviser to Victorian premier Ted Baillieu.
Two years later, while Liu was working for Baillieu's successor, Denis Napthine, Dong would describe herself in a profile for the October 2014 Australia-China Youth Dialogue as being "heavily involved in advising (the) Victorian state government on Australian-Chinese engagement".
(continued)
#13485166 at 2021-04-22 08:13:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition
>>13485161
2/2
Ms Dong's profile when she attended the Australia-China Youth Dialogue in Beijing with Mr Yang in 2014 said she had "enjoyed a rich experience as the editor of Youth newspaper (China) and national reporter for CCTV television station (China)".
China Central Television is the predominant network in mainland China, owned and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
It is not clear which newspaper Ms Dong was describing in her reference to "Youth". Asked whether she was referring to the China Youth Daily - run by the Communist Youth League of China - a spokesman for Ms Dong played down her role. "Jean has never been a career journalist," he said. "She was briefly a volunteer reporter for a high school student newspaper before she came to Australia as a teenager."
Ms Dong studied commerce at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 2009, and gained employment with consulting firm PwC.
"At the age of 21 I presented and convinced the PwC Australian leadership to consider Asia growth as a priority strategy and to achieve a clear advantage over its competitors," Ms Dong says in her video as photos are displayed of her with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, then Tasmanian Liberal premier Will Hodgman and former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr.
"At the age of 26 I successfully facilitated a mutual and long-term economic collaboration agreement through China-Australia free-trade agreement for both countries," she says as a photo appears of then prime minister Tony Abbott, Mr Xi and then trade minister Andrew Robb signing ChAFTA. The Australian has established that in 2014 Ms Dong entered the orbit of Mr Yang. The two emerging influential figures in the Chinese-Australian community were delegates at the 2014 Australia-Chinese Youth Dialogue in Beijing.
Mr Yang worked for Mr Andrews while he was opposition leader, from 2011 to 2013, and is credited with being the architect of the now Premier's pro-China strategy. There were only 30 delegates to the Beijing conference.
While it is unclear if the pair interacted during the conference, it is the first known association between Ms Dong and someone close to the Andrews camp.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/dan-andrews-and-chinas-aussie-influencer/news-story/1e1763bf4fd699f3eecafa7d27830913
#13254635 at 2021-03-19 08:32:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition
>>13254571
Andrew Robb quits China-linked firm before foreign interference law kicks in
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker - February 19, 2019
1/2
Former trade minister Andrew Robb has quietly ceased his controversial $880,000 per annum consultancy with a company closely linked to the Chinese government, as the deadline looms for lobbyists for overseas state interests to sign up to Australia's new foreign influence register.
Mr Robb's consultancy with the leaseholder of the Darwin Port, Landbridge, was trumpeted by the Chinese-government aligned company in 2016, but became intensely controversial when an investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Four Corners revealed his fee, and that he had joined the company straight after quitting parliament.
It's estimated that Mr Robb pocketed more than $2 million plus expenses from Landbridge. A company document revealed that Mr Robb's consulting contract was so vague and ill-defined he would be paid even if he did nothing.
Mr Robb has confirmed that he has left Landbridge for the time being because, "at this stage, Landbridge has no other projects relevant for me to assist".
"I had been commissioned by Landbridge for well over a year to prepare a comprehensive report on ways that Australia's world class health industry could assist with a major improvement of China's public health system," Mr Robb wrote in answer to questions.
"Just before Landbridge had an opportunity to formally present my report to Chinese authorities, they were advised not to bother because the relationship between the Australian and Chinese governments 'had become so toxic' that the report would be binned."
He described the situation as "reviewable," suggesting he may begin working for the company again in future.
Mr Robb joins former foreign minister Bob Carr and former Victorian premier John Brumby in leaving lucrative roles with companies or, in Mr Carr's case, a think tank, founded by businessmen with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Mr Carr recently announced he was stepping down as director of the Australia-China Relations Institute, which was founded by controversial billionaire political donor Huang Xiangmo. Mr Huang has been blocked from entering Australia and has had his permanent residency cancelled by the Department of Home Affairs after advice from ASIO that he may engage in foreign interference activities on behalf of the Chinese government.
Mr Brumby announced in February he was quitting the Australian board of Huawei, the Chinese telco accused by security agencies of posing a security risk to western communications infrastructure.
Mr Brumby, Mr Carr and Mr Robb have previously insisted that the Chinese government has no tangible influence in the organisations they worked for, despite evidence the organisations' founders were aligned with the Chinese Communist Party willingly, or because of the way the party-state controls seemingly private companies.
(continued)
#12772871 at 2021-01-31 01:32:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition
#12 - Part 4
2020 US Presidential Election - Australian Perspectives - Part 4
>>12645615 Scott Morrison defends relationship with Donald Trump, accuses Labor of replacing foreign policy with personal attacks - Adeshola Ore - theaustralian.com.au
>>12645642 Video: Australia's Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos has praised Joe Biden's "pitch perfect" inauguration and continued pressure on China - Sarah Blake - dailytelegraph.com.au
>>12645940 A 'last outpost for Trumpism': How did Donald change #AusPol? - Josh Butler - thenewdaily.com.au
>>12645998 Video: Trump Sought to Exacerbate Divisions in U.S.: Turnbull - Bloomberg Politics
>>12646051 Video: The idea Trump and his tweets incited insurrection is 'demonstrably false' - Sky News Australia
>>12646106 Video: 'Worst president in history': John Bolton describes Donald Trump's leadership | Planet America - ABC News In-depth
>>12646209 UK High Commissioner George Brandis Tweet: Brilliant to see @POTUS return the United States to the #ParisAgreement
>>12646266 Arnold Schwarzenegger Tweet: I'm rooting for you @JoeBiden. Your success is the country's success
>>12662443 Bill Shorten Tweet: What a difference a day makes (President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Twitter screencaps)
>>12662454 Bob Carr Tweet: Like a majority of Republicans Joe Hockey believes there was vote fraud. Said it publicly. Oops! Bad move for a fledgling lobbyist wanting access to a Democrat administration.
>>12662454 Bob Carr Tweet: Now in Nine Media Joe struggles to make good but the new Democrat team weren't impressed with his crawling to the Ancien Regime now unpacking candlesticks and golf clubs at Mar-a-Largo.
>>12662478 America's silo society has to face its racial demons - Bob Carr - afr.com
>>12662525 Kevin Rudd Tweet: Biden's team inherits a bucket full of foreign policy wreckage - in declining American power, weaker alliances and a damaged domestic body politic. But with strong and steady leadership, effective strategic competition with Beijing is achievable.
>>12664164 Alexander Downer Tweet: After 4 1/2 years of reading on Twitter crazy conspiracy theories about me being a spy and how I was part of a treasonous attempted coup against president Trump and I would be hanged or sent to Gitmo, I guess that's coming to an end!
>>12664225 Video: Biden 'should stop' Trump's impeachment to unite America: Alexander Downer - Sky News Australia
>>12664403 Chief Minister Michael Gunner extends official invite to US President Joe Biden to visit the NT - Madura Mccormack - ntnews.com.au
>>12664814 Video: Trump was a 'demagogue president' and 'sociopath', says former FBI director Comey | 7.30 - ABC News In-depth
>>12680534 Kevin Rudd Tweet: Unbelievable that Murdoch media would publish this outrageous cartoon of President Biden calling him "Creepy Joe" - and for what reason? Then suggesting he's controlled by a non-existent organisation - "Antifa". All QAnon crap. #MurdochRoyalCommission
>>12704138 As Joe Biden says, this great US-Australia alliance will only grow stronger - Foreign Minister Marise Payne
>>12712187 Use Biden agenda to commit to net zero: Malcolm Turnbull
>>12713842 Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor talks emissions with John Kerry
>>12714605 Kevin Rudd and Bob Carr hail Joe Biden as climate change President
>>12728346 Opinion: What Australia needs from the new Biden administration - Alexander Downer - afr.com
#12076311 at 2020-12-18 07:30:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
#11 - Part 2
2020 US Presidential Election - Australian Perspectives - Part 2
>>11553979 Bob Carr Tweet: Biden's team tell me Hockey's outrageous comments about fake votes have appeared in excited Trumpian conspiracy online exchanges
>>11553979 Bob Carr Tweet: Joe's very persona non grata with the Biden team. He can always offer lobbying services for Steve Bannon enterprises
>>11559490 Video: 'Extraordinary' that poll workers were sent home amid 'dubious' election result - Commentator Mark Steyn - Sky News Australia
>>11570888 Alexander Downer Tweet: @realDonaldTrump should concede gracefully. He's lost.
>>11571040 Video: Alexander Downer: Joe Biden will be a 'ceremonial president' - Sky News Australia
>>11571777 Video: John Podesta: Trump 'Is Interfering With The Orderly Transition Of Power' | Andrea Mitchell | MSNBC
>>11572041 Bob Carr Tweet: More Biden advisors and Washington insiders than I imagined have picked up the 7 (!) op-eds…our former ambassador authored
>>11572041 Bob Carr Tweet: They are staggered by his 2GB comment that there had "for sure" been voter fraud because of the high Democrat vote in Washington DC
>>11572041 Bob Carr Tweet: I'm told established lobbyists are delightedly circulating our former ambassador's remarks to transition team and likely appointees
>>11587380 "Arrr! Shipmates wana good view from the crow's nest? BigMikeAnon Gives Thee The Current." Video: Secretary Pompeo's Remarks to the Media - 14 Oct 2020
>>11587406 Two Lanterns Burning Bright; Foreign & Domestic. What Be 'Shared Values?'. We Are On A Ship.WATCH YE THE WATERS...
>>11587416 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Congratulations to @joebiden and @kamalaharris - Australia wishes you every success in office. The Australia-US Alliance is deep and enduring, and built on shared values. I look forward to working with you closely as we face the world's many challenges together.
>>11587503 Video: Scott Morrison congratulates Joe Biden on his election win, as former PM Malcolm Turnbull expresses 'relief'
>>11587503 Scott Morrison: "The United States is one of the world's greatest democracies, alongside Australia and many others, and democracy has proven, not just in the times of still waters but when the waters can get choppy and of course we have seen that in recent times in the United States, but democracy is the process they have always stood by to resolve such differences."
>>11587541 'Breathtaking': Marise Payne praises US Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris - "This is the time of challenge for which our alliance is suited, because it is based on the enduring shared values which transcend parties or individuals in the White House or the Lodge."
>>11587570 Video: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - 'There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump term' - ""We're ready, the world is watching what's taking place" - Sky News Australia
>>11605082 Video: Donald Trump fans furious as Scott Morrison congratulates Joe Biden on election win
>>11605082 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Facebook Post: There are no greater friends and no greater allies than Australia and the US
#12076270 at 2020-12-18 07:24:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
Notables
are not endorsements
#11 - Part 1
2020 US Presidential Election - Australian Perspectives - Part 1
>>11415138 Donald Trump's path to victory narrow, not impossible - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au
>>11421409 Q Post #4948 - https://twitter.com/TimMurtaugh/status/1323313186259480577
>>11421409 Tim Murtaugh Tweet: Dems plan to call @realDonaldTrump's Election Day surge a "Red Mirage" to delegitimize his wave of support
>>11421593 How Trump could push button on 'red mirage' strategy and send US election to Supreme Court - Mark Saunokonoko - 9news.com.au
>>11422013 If there's a disputed US election result, Australia must take action: Rudd, Turnbull
>>11444864 Video: ABC News (Australia) live: 2020 US Election Coverage
>>11444907 Video: 7NEWS Australia - America Decides 2020: US Election LIVE results
>>11447433 President Donald Trump Tweet: We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!
>>11447533 Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who endorsed QAnon, wins uncontested seat of Georgia in US election - "Wires" - abc.net.au
>>11448871 Video: Live: Trump speaks from the White House on election night - Fox Business
>>11450331 Video: Donald Trump claims 'major fraud' on American public, flags Supreme Court challenge - ABC News Australia
>>11459503 Australian politicians react as votes continue to be counted - Malcolm Turnbull, Penny Wong, Chris Bowen, Mehreen Faruqi, Janet Rice
>>11473349 Scott Morrison says Australia will 'respect the decisions' of the American people as other government members call for all votes to be counted
>>11474232 US electoral counting system is a 'complete dog's breakfast': Joe Hockey - Sky News Australia
>>11474294 US election 2020: Joe Hockey's voter fraud comments are dangerous - Caroline Overington - theaustralian.com.au
>>11494320 Biden will be more nuanced on China: Former foreign ministers Bob Carr and Julie Bishop
>>11494378 Australian politicians watching US count - Anthony Albanese, Peter Dutton, Richard Marles, Simon Birmingham
>>11494538 Video: Greens Leader Adam Bandt calls on Morrison to condemn "lying" and "deflated" President Trump - Sky News Australia
>>11504726 US election: Idiot genius Donald Trump's forces will continue their wrecking - Bob Carr - theaustralian.com.a
>>11508936 US election 2020: Voter suppression rife in deeply flawed system - Joe Hockey - theaustralian.com.au
>>11512005 Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he won't be calling Trump over poll
>>11529203 Q Post 3387 - You were told what was going to happen. You were told what battles we face. Strategic. Pre_planned. Patriots in control.
>>11529230 Video: This Video Will Get Donald Trump Elected - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2qIXXafxCQ
>>11529687 Australian leaders past and present congratulate Joe Biden on historic US election win - Malcolm Turnbull, Anthony Albanese, Tanya Plibersek
>>11531906 US election 2020: Trump supporters need to accept defeat - Troy Bramson - theaustralian.com.au - ("Biden's victory is one for the ages." - NOVEMBER 6, 2020)
>>11532579 Video: Scott Morrison congratulates President-elect Joe Biden - 9 News Australia
>>11532635 Video: Albanese reacts to Joe Biden US election win - 9 News Australia
>>11534583 Scott Morrison says he has 'great confidence' in US democracy as Trump refuses to concede
>>11534975 Video: Scott Morrison thanks Donald Trump, congratulates Joe Biden on US election victory
>>11535052 Video: Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull - "If Trump wants to go to the courts in the United States, well that's a matter for him."
>>11536055 'G, what a memory: The day Joe Biden became an AFL footy fan
>>11536070 (2011) When Prime Minister Julia Gillard instructed Barack Obama on the finer points of AFL football
>>11537585 Anthony Albanese calls on Scott Morrison to 'dissociate' himself from colleagues spreading Trump fraud claims
>>11550773 Aussie Artist Scottie Marsh Unveils Savage Donald Trump Graffiti In Sydney
>>11551365, >>11551396 How the world has reacted to Donald Trump's tantrums over US election result - newspaper front pages
>>11551701 Opinion: President Biden has no option but to govern from the centre - Alexander Downer - afr.com
>>11552852 Americans need a hug to get through the months ahead - Joe Hockey - theaustralian.com.au
>>11552885 Video: President-elect Biden 'had a convincing victory' - Bondi Partners CEO Alex Tureman - Sky News Australia
>>11553435 Video: Albanese probed over US election comment, "democratic processes must be respected" - Sky News Australia
>>11553702 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet and video: Statement on the enduring Australia-US Alliance
#11703324 at 2020-11-19 07:36:26 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
>>11703294
Opinion: Australia must stop going further down wrong path over ties with China
It is time for Australia to uphold the principle of mutual respect and equality when dealing with relations with China, do more to promote mutual trust and bilateral practical cooperation, and stop going further down the wrong path.
xinhuanet.com - 2020-11-18
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) – The cold-war mentality and ideological prejudice are poisoning relations between China and Australia.
Some anti-China politicians and media in Australia, who are seeking their self-interests, have spared no effort to smear China and incite China-phobia sentiment, with their most recent invention being claims that China's control measures on imports are "an exercise of economic coercion."
For these China-bashers, it is imperative to reflect on their words and deeds that have caused setback in the bilateral ties, and start making amends with constructive efforts.
Currently, many parts of the world are seeing a rebound of the coronavirus disease. In response, China has taken prudent control measures on some foreign imports, which is in line with China's laws and regulations as well as international customary practice and agreement between China and Australia.
Those safety procedures are reasonable, legal and beyond reproach, rather than the so-called "discriminatory" or "retaliatory" trade measures claimed by some Australian politicians.
The fact is China has been opening up its market and improving its business environment in recent years, which has created enormous opportunities for enterprises across the globe, including those from Australia.
From 2015 to 2020, China has lowered tariffs for products from Australia for six consecutive years. At present, around 95 percent of Australian products to China enjoy zero tariffs.
In the just-concluded China International Import Expo in Shanghai, over 150 Australian companies have participated in the trade fair. As Australian local media reported, at least 2,000 Australian businesses sold over 720 million U.S. dollars worth of goods to Chinese customers in just 24 hours on Nov. 11, an online shopping extravaganza in China.
In sharp contrast, the Australian government is actually the trouble-maker in economic and trade exchanges between the two sides. It has been politicizing trade and investment issues, and constantly violating market principles by discriminating against Chinese companies.
Since 2018, more than 10 investment programs from China have been rejected by Australia on the pretext of "national security concerns," which directly led to huge losses of the Chinese enterprises. Also, Australia has banned Chinese companies from 5G network construction citing unfounded national security threat.
Moreover, the Australian government completely deviated from its promises in a free trade deal between the two countries. So far, it has provoked 106 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese products, while China has merely conducted four cases on goods from Australia.
Facts are crystal clear. It is the anti-China forces in Australia that disrupt the good development momentum of bilateral practical cooperation, infringe on the interests of people from both countries and damage Australia's own image and credibility. Smearing China will only further expose their hypocrisy.
For quite some time, the Australian side has flagrantly violated the basic norms of international relations with provocative words and deeds on issues concerning China's core interests, which has greatly impaired the mutual trust between the two sides.
Australian politicians who have rich experience with China such as former Prime Minister Paul Keating, former Foreign Minister Bob Carr and former Ambassador to China Geoff Raby also warned the current Australian government of the way it engages with China.
It is time for Australia to uphold the principle of mutual respect and equality when dealing with relations with China, do more to promote mutual trust and bilateral practical cooperation, and stop going further down the wrong path.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-11/18/c_139524455.htm
#11572041 at 2020-11-10 08:31:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
>>11553979
Bob Carr Tweets
More Biden advisors and Washington insiders than I imagined have picked up the 7 (!) op-eds between September 21-Nov 1 our former ambassador authored. "223,000 ballot papers will go to the wrong homes in Nevada…No risk of ballot fraud here, right?"
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1325927513617428481
—
They are staggered by his 2GB comment that there had "for sure" been voter fraud because of the high Democrat vote in Washington DC. They've been voting like this for decades.
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1325927516863823872
—
I'm told established lobbyists are delightedly circulating our former ambassador's remarks to transition team and likely appointees
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1325927518784815104
#11553979 at 2020-11-09 06:48:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
>>11474232
>>11474294
>>11508936
Bob Carr Tweets
Biden's team tell me Hockey's outrageous comments about fake votes have appeared in excited Trumpian conspiracy online exchanges quoting an Aussie ambassador that he thinks the election rigged.
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1325266554481594369
—
Replying to @BobjCarr
Joe's very persona non grata with the Biden team. He can always offer lobbying services for Steve Bannon enterprises and Rudy's consultancy.
https://twitter.com/BobjCarr/status/1325266556956274688
#11504757 at 2020-11-06 19:59:52 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
>>11504726
2/2
He spoke at length about his relationship with China's Xi Jinping. Both vice-presidents, they had cultivated their relationship. He recalled that Xi had quizzed him at length about the relationship between the military and the political leadership in the American system as if preparing himself. He said Obama had told him he thought Xi was frightened at the prospect of taking leadership of China.
Biden will be confident going into meetings with Xi. He has imbibed the current wisdom to treat China as a security rival and challenger. He will maintain the "tech war" with China. He will continue freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea. He will expand areas of co-operation with China on pandemic management and, above all, climate in the context of a deep commitment to climate diplomacy. What he does on trade and Taiwan is not clear.
Again, all foreign capitals will have to calculate that this president will be distracted by domestic politics, that Washington will be deadlocked and that Biden will be robbed of his house majority in 2022 to be replaced two years later, just possibly by Trump.
The forces unleashed with Trump's 2016 candidacy are still strong. His family is resolved to continue the fight. They believe the mythology that the election was stolen.
Trump is an idiot of genius.
A genius, because he tapped the grievances of the country in economic and demographic transformation. He evangelised "we versus them" populism. He weaponised his nationwide name recognition gained in reality TV and a flamboyant career as property developer and casino owner. His platform oratory with its abusive satiric content projected a huckster brilliance. It won him the following of millions.
In debates, like a Sherman tank, he flattened rivals. In 2016, when Marco Rubio secured the endorsement of South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, Trump gave the media a bigger splash: he attacked the Pope. Evangelicals applauded. Genius.
But an idiot too. It took a resentful, simmering stupidity to launch rhetorical war against an American hero senator, John McCain, and to pursue it even after McCain's death. He rejected a reconciliation with his widow, Cindy McCain. She endorsed the Democrats in Arizona. At the time of writing, it looked like being narrowly lost to the Republicans.
It took genius to adopt Kim Jong-un as a buddy. But he lacked the genius to assemble a quality infrastructure package deploying private-public partnerships. It might have been a signature achievement, delivering high-paying, unionised jobs. A few kilometres of high-speed rail could have held Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
He lacked the political wit to design a healthcare package to take the place of Obamacare. The Republican Party might have clinched white working-class males, transforming itself into a culturally conservative "lunch pail" labour party.
Yet the election was not a repudiation of Trumpism, as confirmed by his first victory on election night, holding Florida. Even in defeat he's the Bonapartist leader who has made his political party the adjunct to his billboard personality. In four years he could wave off Republican senators such as Rubio, Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley. They will look blank, cookie-cutter pretenders by contrast with his mischief-making Monkey King grandeur. It won't even be a contest.
Bob Carr is the longest-serving NSW premier and a former foreign minister. He is Industry Professor of Climate and Business at the University of Technology Sydney
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/idiot-geniuss-forces-will-continue-their-wrecking/news-story/27cfbb588181ba373c68dab88b39d294
#11504726 at 2020-11-06 19:58:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
>>11494320
US election: Idiot genius Donald Trump's forces will continue their wrecking
Bob Carr - NOVEMBER 6, 2020
1/2
A country poisonously divided by a deliberately divisive, deeply damaging leader. Populism embedded in its politics. Two different peoples under one creaky constitution. Chronic deadlock. Culture wars.
We've been through the above. There is worse to come.
President Joe Biden will have his economic stimulus package torn to pieces in a Republican- dominated Senate headed by legislative mortician Mitch McConnell.
Under McConnell, Republicans will use their Senate power to ruthlessly harass the new administration, regardless of Biden's big popular vote majority. Their aim will be to expand their Senate majority and recruit a House of Representatives majority in the 2022 mid-terms. That would enable, if they can work up a scandal, a revenge impeachment.
Outside the congress, Donald Trump's populist movement will stage frequent mega-rallies and maximise TV and Twitter exposure to hold the Republican base and entrench Trump, or a handpicked successor, as its candidate for president in 2024.
President Biden should be prepared for Republican resistance as venomous and cunning as that directed at the first-term Clinton presidency by Newt Gingrich. Or as malevolent as Tea Party-infused Republicans directing hostility at Barack Obama and his plans for healthcare.
Both Bill Clinton and Obama beat them off. They used the excesses of ideological congressional Republicans to successfully argue for second terms.
Biden has the opportunity to prove the equal of his two Democratic predecessors. He will have to construct a case in support of his plans for the pandemic, economic disaster, systemic racism and the reality of climate change confirmed by mega-fires in California and hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. Plans that were blocked, he'll argue, by a do-nothing congress.
This is a toxically divided nation. Not since the 1850s, the decade preceding the Civil War, have the fissures run as deep. Americans are two peoples with different views of everything from the value of masks to statues of Thomas Jefferson, under a constitution designed by white men in powdered wigs in the 1780s. America's friends and partners in Europe and Asia now have to weigh up some big questions.
Biden is likely a one-term president who will be succeeded by running mate Kamala Harris or Donald Trump returning from the political grave. If not Trump, another Trumpian Republican.
US allies know Biden will be perpetually distracted by gridlock in congress. He will also be challenged by the white nationalism likely to be stirred up by a rampaging Trump, focused especially in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Divided government is popular with Wall Street but ruinous for a president who needs to respond to a gasping economy and a pandemic that's claiming every hospital bed in the nation.
Here's betting that Biden installs a bust or portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Oval Office. But, elected in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, Roosevelt had fat Democratic majorities in the house and Senate and a new medium, radio, to broadcast his persuasive words to every living room in the nation.
Biden is handicapped: a divided congress; Trumpism defeated not banished; the insanity of social media infecting the feverish air.
In a White House meeting I relished with Biden in March 2013 - fire crackling in the grate, snow falling outside - he projected all his Irish-American political charm, confirming his gifts as a politician's politician. Biden loves the very process of American politics. As then ambassador Kim Beazley told me, he would run for president even for the fun of it, for the hoopla.
His memory was sharp. He was perfectly briefed - on details of the Arms Trade Treaty, for example, which Australia was pushing.
(continued)
#11494345 at 2020-11-06 06:34:29 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
You can add Bob Carr and Daniel Andrews to the list of China compromised politicians.
#11494320 at 2020-11-06 06:31:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
Biden will be more nuanced on China: Bob Carr
Former foreign ministers Bob Carr and Julie Bishop believe the likely next US president Joe Biden will be warmly disposed towards Australia and, while less aggressive, will maintain a firm stance on China.
Mr Carr and Ms Bishop both met Mr Biden in their official capacities when he was vice-president.
Both found him incredibly charming and across his brief, and believe Mr Biden is someone who values personal connections with fellow leaders.
"He was a politician's politician," Mr Carr said of his March 2013 meeting at the White House.
"He is breezy, knowledgeable, and all about making friends."
Mr Carr recounted how Mr Biden in their 2013 meeting had spoken of his "special relationship" with Xi Jinping.
Mr Biden had invested effort in getting to know Mr Xi because at the time both were vice-presidents.
According to Mr Carr, Mr Biden said Mr Xi had questioned him in detail about America's civilian control of the military. Mr Biden had told him "Xi had the look of someone terrified at taking over as President", Mr Carr said.
"I have settled on the view Biden will be quite confident talking to Xi Jinping," Mr Carr said.
"He will be strong and he will know what he wants. There will be areas of co-operation with China that don't exist now, but he will maintain the tech war, I think.
"Biden has probably absorbed the view that China is now a challenger but I don't know what he will do about the two Ts - trade and Taiwan."
During their meeting, Mr Biden told Mr Carr he believed Australia had a good knowledge of China and he admired Australia for its gun control laws.
Mr Carr said the biggest irritant that would loom between Mr Biden and Scott Morrison was climate change.
"He knows Australia is a laggard and he believes sincerely in the climate agenda," Mr Carr said.
Ms Bishop first met Mr Biden in 2012 during the annual Australian American Leadership Dialogue at the vice-president's residence when she was still the opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman.
The event stood out in Ms Bishop's mind as, towards the end of the meeting, a US marine brought out a cake to celebrate her birthday.
"It was extraordinarily charming, and showed his team did their homework on who was attending," Ms Bishop recalled, noting Mr Biden's attention to detail.
"He went out of his way to connect to me. He is very entertaining company."
As foreign minister, Ms Bishop escorted Mr Biden during his July 2016 visit to Melbourne and Sydney, including attending an AFL match at the MCG.
During that trip, Mr Biden gave a speech at Paddington Town Hall where he declared the US was "not going anywhere" and its continued presence in the Indo-Pacific was essential to maintaining peace and stability to preserve economic prosperity.
"He regards Australia very warmly and he recognises the importance of the relationship and the alliance," Ms Bishop said.
"He is the sort of person who would welcome early connection, and Australia is well-positioned to do that."
Ms Bishop said Mr Biden would take a "less combative approach to international relations" and Australia would welcome him as a "constructive supporter of the international rules-based order and the United Nations and its bodies".
As Mr Biden continued to inch towards the White House, Opposition leader Anthony Albanese urged Mr Morrison contact Mr Trump and convey "Australia's strong view that democratic processes must be respected".
Mr Albanese also called on the Prime Minister to stop federal backbenchers George Christensen and Matt Canavan from repeating conspiracy theories casting doubt on the integrity of the election.
"Scott Morrison has said that he has a close relationship with President Trump," Mr Albanese said."
"Scott Morrison, as a democratically elected leader, has a responsibility to support democracy."
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/biden-s-high-regard-for-australia-20201105-p56bs1
#10705304 at 2020-09-19 06:02:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
#9 - Part 16
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition Bun
>>10292284 Lawyers for Julian Assange say '11th hour' decision by US government to lodge new charges against him is 'astonishing and potentially abusive'
>>10368354 Crowdfund appeal launched for Julian Assange
>>10368361 Stella Moris: Join my fight to free Julian Assange and stop US extradition
>>10423178 Partner says Assange 'in a lot of pain'
>>10542765 Mother of Assange's two children tearfully warns of the WikiLeaks founder's fate as the US begins its Old Bailey extradition bid
>>10563657 Julian Assange's new friend Bob Carr fights his US extradition
>>10563697, >>10563701 Julian Assange 'a suicide risk', says defence
>>10575174 'This is nonsense': Julian Assange interjections earn stern warning
>>10586571 Trump is targeting Assange because he dislikes Obama, court told
>>10600877 Assange's extradition hearing delayed by lawyer's wife's COVID scare
>>10653978 Julian Assange extradition delayed by further tech, coronavirus issues
>>10664636 Assange defence questions why Obama didn't seek to prosecute him
>>10664658 Julian Assange, like Jeffrey Epstein, may not be safe in US prison
>>10679059 Julian Assange interrupts extradition hearing again
>>10691837 Julian Assange aimed for 'stringent redactions', extradition court hears
>>10611062 UK extradition hearing for Assange to resume Monday after negative COVID test
#9 - Part 17
Australian / Regional Resignations Bun
>>10122451 Labor Senator Penny Wong's chief of staff, Marcus Ganley 'quit after sex claim'
>>10143641 James Murdoch resigns from News Corporation board of directors
>>10176837 David Hutchinson resigns as Queensland LNP president
>>10176837 SANFL CEO Jake Parkinson announces resignation
>>10197874 iCare review brought forward as CEO John Nagle quits
>>10197874 AMP Australia boss Alex Wade exits over 'internal matter'
>>10220297 'Inappropriate photos' behind sudden exit of AMP executive Alex Wade
>>10398399 AMP chairman David Murray resigns, top exec Boe Pahari stands down
>>10491765 QBE CEO Pat Regan to depart following probe
>>10587369 Besieged icare chief and deputy, Michael Carapiet and Gavin Bell, to step down
>>10587369 Queensland Natural Resources and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham announces resignation
>>10601128 Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques resigns amid ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelter blast crisis
#10705070 at 2020-09-19 05:35:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition
#9 - Part 16
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition Bun
>>10292284 Lawyers for Julian Assange say '11th hour' decision by US government to lodge new charges against him is 'astonishing and potentially abusive'
>>10368354 Crowdfund appeal launched for Julian Assange
>>10368361 Stella Moris: Join my fight to free Julian Assange and stop US extradition
>>10423178 Partner says Assange 'in a lot of pain'
>>10542765 Mother of Assange's two children tearfully warns of the WikiLeaks founder's fate as the US begins its Old Bailey extradition bid
>>10563657 Julian Assange's new friend Bob Carr fights his US extradition
>>10563697, >>10563701 Julian Assange 'a suicide risk', says defence
>>10575174 'This is nonsense': Julian Assange interjections earn stern warning
>>10586571 Trump is targeting Assange because he dislikes Obama, court told
>>10600877 Assange's extradition hearing delayed by lawyer's wife's COVID scare
>>10653978 Julian Assange extradition delayed by further tech, coronavirus issues
>>10664636 Assange defence questions why Obama didn't seek to prosecute him
>>10664658 Julian Assange, like Jeffrey Epstein, may not be safe in US prison
>>10679059 Julian Assange interrupts extradition hearing again
>>10691837 Julian Assange aimed for 'stringent redactions', extradition court hears
>>10611062 UK extradition hearing for Assange to resume Monday after negative COVID test
#9 - Part 17
Australian / Regional Resignations Bun
>>10122451 Labor Senator Penny Wong's chief of staff, Marcus Ganley 'quit after sex claim'
>>10143641 James Murdoch resigns from News Corporation board of directors
>>10176837 David Hutchinson resigns as Queensland LNP president
>>10176837 SANFL CEO Jake Parkinson announces resignation
>>10197874 iCare review brought forward as CEO John Nagle quits
>>10197874 AMP Australia boss Alex Wade exits over 'internal matter'
>>10220297 'Inappropriate photos' behind sudden exit of AMP executive Alex Wade
>>10398399 AMP chairman David Murray resigns, top exec Boe Pahari stands down
>>10491765 QBE CEO Pat Regan to depart following probe
>>10587369 Besieged icare chief and deputy, Michael Carapiet and Gavin Bell, to step down
>>10587369 Queensland Natural Resources and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham announces resignation
>>10601128 Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques resigns amid ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelter blast crisis
#10563852 at 2020-09-08 08:32:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition
>>10563846
3/3
"Disappointing series of events", Foreign Minister says
Speaking to radio station 2GB, Senator Payne described the situation as a "disappointing series of events".
"I am also very disappointed that we of course don't have, the major media organisations are currently … disrupted in their ability to report from China," she said.
"As many of us who've travelled to China in recent years can attest, Australian journalists in China don't cut their political representatives any slack.
"They always ask us the hard questions as well and that's part of their job."
She said Australian diplomats would continue to work with China "guided by our national interest" and deal with individual issues as they arose.
In an earlier statement, Senator Payne said Australian diplomats had engaged with Chinese authorities as the standoff unfolded.
"The Australian Government has provided consular support to two Australian journalists in China to assist their return to Australia," she said in a statement
"Our embassy in Beijing and Consulate-General in Shanghai engaged with Chinese Government authorities to ensure their wellbeing and return to Australia.
"The Australian Government continues to provide consular support to Australian citizens detained in China, including Ms Cheng Lei."
The Foreign Minister also said Australia's travel warnings for China remained unchanged.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the news was "very disturbing".
"I would just make a point that it is regrettable that news organisations, including the ABC, have had to make this decision," she told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"The reports are deeply concerning, particularly some of the suggestions about what occurred prior to Mr Birtles leaving and Mr Smith leaving."
Former foreign minister and NSW premier Bob Carr said the affair should force the Government to reconsider whether it wanted a bilateral relationship with China.
"I think it's tragic. I think to use journalists as a pawn in a bilateral dispute is a real measure of how bad the relationship has got," he said.
"We ought to take a bit of time to consider where we stand with this relationship with China and work out whether we really want it or whether we want to sustain the damage to ourselves."
Move leaves no Australian media in China
The evacuation means for the first time since the mid-1970s there are no accredited Australian media journalists in China, with correspondent for The Australian Will Glasgow also out of the country.
China has not issued new visas for journalists from the ABC and Nine Newspapers.
The move against Birtles and Smith comes in the wake of a broader crackdown on Western journalists in China.
In March, Beijing expelled 14 American journalists working at the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post in retaliation for the Trump Administration's decision to restrict staff at Chinese state media outlets in the United States.
The ABC's Beijing bureau opened in 1973, shortly after Australia normalised relations with China under prime minister Gough Whitlam.
ABC correspondents have been witnesses to a variety of major international stories from the bureau, including the Tiananmen Square massacre, the 2008 Olympics, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and the coronavirus outbreak.
Run-ins with Chinese authorities have been regular and frequent, with a number of correspondents being questioned by authorities while pursuing stories.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-08/bill-birtles-mike-smith-evacuated-china-safety-concerns/12638786
#10563657 at 2020-09-08 07:40:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition
Julian Assange's new friend Bob Carr fights his US extradition
Former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr says the federal government will set a precedent that could allow any Australian living abroad to be delivered into the clutches of third countries if it allows the United States to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Mr Carr, who as foreign minister said it "wouldn't be a matter of concern to Australia" to make a case on Mr Assange's behalf, made his comments as Amnesty International Australia handed a petition of 400,000 signatures to the US consulate asking for the charges against Mr Assange to be dropped.
A British court is being asked to consider whether Mr Assange, 49, should be extradited to the US to face trial over 18 espionage and computer misuse charges related to WikiLeaks' publication of secret US military and diplomatic documents in 2010.
Mr Carr said the extradition of Mr Assange would mean the prospect of a 175-year jail term - effectively a death sentence - and the Australian government should ask for the proceedings to be dropped.
"Anyone can see he's not a spy, he hasn't been committing espionage," Mr Carr said.
"If I was foreign minister I would be unabashed about saying to Mike Pompeo, 'Julian Assange is an Australian citizen and we're a good ally, we think you should quietly drop these extradition proceedings'.
"If America can get away with this - that is digging up an Australian in London and putting him on trial for breaching their laws - why can't another government do the same thing? For example, an Australian campaigning for human rights in Myanmar, that Australian in theory could be sought by the government of Myanmar and brought back to Myanmar from London and put on trial there for breach of their national security laws."
He also said Australia needed to examine whether it wished to continue bilateral ties with China following the expulsion from that country of two Australian journalists.
US President Donald Trump became one of Mr Assange's biggest cheerleaders after WikiLeaks published emails stolen from the Democrats in 2016 and allegedly offered Mr Assange a presidential pardon if he agreed to say that Russia was not involved in leaking the emails.
But last year his administration expanded the indictment brought by the Obama administration to include crimes under the Espionage Act. The current indictment against Mr Assange is unrelated to the Russian email hack, but has to do with his role in publishing military cables obtained by former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
These included evidence of US military helicopters firing on civilians during the Iraq war, information about Guantanamo Bay detainees held without trial and civilian casualty figures. It also included the names of people who had provided information to the US government.
The Obama administration reportedly considered espionage charges but abandoned the notion due to the implications it might have for the right to free speech, which is protected under the First Amendment of the US constitution.
In 2013, Mr Carr was asked in budget estimates whether Australia had expressed a diplomatic view that Mr Assange was entitled to protection under the First Amendment. He replied: "It would not be a matter of concern to Australia to make a case for him, no. Why would we do that?"
But he said on Tuesday these comments were made at a time that the extradition of Mr Assange was not under active consideration.
Chamira Gamage from Amnesty International Australia said the petition was among Amnesty's biggest petitions of all time.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has been approached for comment.
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/julian-assange-s-new-friend-Bob-Carr-fights-his-us-extradition-20200908-p55tiv.html
#9595630 at 2020-06-13 08:43:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition
Repost from Q Research General #12272
>>9588470 (pb)
Hawkish, Gov't Funded Think Tank Behind Twitter Decision to Delete Thousands of Chinese Accounts
Twitter's decision came after close collaboration with a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank that has been denounced by Australia's former ambassador in Beijing as "the architect of the China threat theory in Australia."
Social media giant Twitter announced yesterday that it had shut down over 170,000 accounts favorable to the Chinese Communist Party, as well as more than 1,000 Russian and 7,340 Turkish accounts it claimed were parroting Putin and Erdogan propaganda. Is this evidence of massive Chinese infiltration and control over Western social media? Not quite. Not making the headlines was the fact that virtually all the accounts communicated in Chinese dialects exclusively and the vast majority (95 percent) had fewer than eight followers, with nearly four in five having no followers whatsoever.
Twitter accused the accounts of "spreading geopolitical narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China," pushing "deceptive narratives" on the Hong Kong protests, praising China's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and "antagonizing" the U.S. If this is the basis for removal, it sets a potentially very dangerous precedent.
Despite the impression given in mainstream media, the medical community has effusively lauded Beijing's "leadership" and "commitment to transparency," in the World Health Organization's words. "I have never seen the scale and commitment of an epidemic response at this level in terms of all of government," said the organization's Chief Executive Director for Health Emergencies, Michael Ryan, "The challenge is great, but the response has been massive and the Chinese government deserve huge credit." Likewise, the editors of The Lancet, the world's most prestigious medical journal, published a statement saluting the "diligent," "effective" and "rapid" Chinese response and "strongly condemn conspiracy theories" pushed by U.S. officials like Senator Tom Cotton, that the virus' origin was man-made. Likewise, only around 58 percent of Hong Kong residents support the protests, with that number being far lower in Mainland China. Is taking a different line on the protests or China's COVID response to the Trump administration a violation of the rules? In the case of Facebook and Instagram and the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the platforms explicitly said it was, and deleted a great number of posts and accounts.
Pushing "a new Cold War with China"
Twitter worked closely with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in making yesterday's decision. ASPI is a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank based in Canberra, and was denounced by Australia's former ambassador in Beijing as "the architect of the China threat theory in Australia." Senator Kim Carr claimed ASPI was working hand-in-hand with Washington, trying to push "a new Cold War with China." Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr (no relation), agreed, saying it pushed a "one-sided, pro-American view of the world." This certainly seems to be the case, judging by their website, which appears uniformly dedicated to demonizing China.
Perhaps most notable, however, is that ASPI is also funded by a myriad of weapons companies, including Raytheon Australia, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, all of whom would greatly benefit from a war with China. And as The Grayzone's Ajit Singh pointed out, ASPI is headed by ultra-hawkish defense official Peter Jennings, who defended the Iraq War, supports regime change in other Middle Eastern states, and argued that "the West is setting the bar for military response too high".
https://www.mintpressnews.com/hawkish-think-tank-twitter-decision-delete-chinese-accounts/268524/
#8689983 at 2020-04-05 02:57:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition
Canberra to push China to ban wildlife meat trade
The government will lobby China through international forums to enforce its ban on the trade in wild animal meat.
Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs Jason Wood said it was an "absolute no-brainer" to close down Asian wet markets because of "barbaric cruelty to wildlife" and major health risks.
A long-time wildlife campaigner, Mr Wood has pushed for harsher animal cruelty penalties and successfully lobbied his own party to ban trophy hunters importing rhino and lion body parts, including entire stuffed bodies, paws and skulls.
He said wet markets were a proven health risk, citing the World Health Organisation, and many practised acts of animal cruelty.
"What we have seen around the world, people tragically dying, families not being able to give their loved ones funerals. It has been a terrible time," Mr Wood said.
"Wet markets have been the origin of viruses such as SARS and more than likely COVID-19. We need to protect human lives and crack down on the incredible cruelty to wildlife that occurs in these places."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday that Australia had "to be quite strident" through international bodies, including the World Health Organisation, to deal with the "quite serious world health risks" of wet markets.
The markets are common across much of Asia and home to small stall holders who sell fresh produce, seafood and the same meats found in Western butcher shops. Some also sell meat from wild animals that are stored live before being killed.
Mr Wood was among the first Coalition MPs to condemn live animal trade at wet markets last month and has faced calls for his resignation from Labor over what one MP labelled as "fear mongering".
Labor's spokesperson on multicultural affairs Andrew Giles said at the time Mr Wood should be working to "unite Australians" and that the remarks were inappropriate, offensive and could undermine public health efforts.
Mr Wood said many of the initial sufferers of the virus were reported to have worked in live animal markets in Wuhan.
He said the practices of wet markets should be "condemned" and live animal trading shut down.
"I have been a voice for wildlife whether here or across the world, and I will not be called a racist for condemning wet markets, whether it be in China, in Wuhan or anywhere else."
Former foreign minister Bob Carr also said China needed to give assurances it had banned the trade of wild animal meat.
Professor Deborah Cao, a expert in Chinese wildlife protection laws at Griffith University, said the Chinese government had banned transporting, selling and eating wildlife in February, making it unnecessary to ban wet markets altogether.
"That will backfire, people will resent it," Professor Cao said. "Most people are legitimately going to go and buy fresh produce."
Wet markets play an important role in giving locals access to fresh food in a similar way to farmers' markets in Australia, said Professor Cao, who is an advocate of the ban on wild animal meat.
The Chinese government is still considering exactly which animals are "wild" and ought to be banned but some cities and provinces are already implementing their own bans, including Shenzhen, a city near Hong Kong, which enacted its ban on Friday. The ban also extends to the consumption of cats and dogs.
Professor Cao cautioned that even with a ban, the main issue was enforcement.
"China's existing wildlife protection laws are most often not enforced," she said.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said while wet markets with wildlife posed a risk of sparking new viruses, shutting them would not help with COVID-19.
"In terms of this particular virus, COVID-19, really that jump from animals to humans has already occurred, so the risk is really in large numbers of humans coming together rather than markets at this point," Dr Kelly said.
https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/federal/canberra-to-push-china-to-ban-wildlife-meat-trade-20200404-p54h2x.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true
#7887462 at 2020-01-23 17:45:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #6 - YEAR OF THE BOOMERANG Edition
Four Australian MPs urge Britain to ban Huawei
London: Four Australian MPs and chairs of parliamentary committees have launched an unprecedented combined intervention into Britain's Huawei debate, urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to follow Australia's ban.
But their calls came amid further signs Johnson is likely to rebuff pleas from Australia and the United States and allow the Chinese telecommunications manufacturer to supply some parts of the country's 5G network.
Reuters, citing two sources, reported British officials had given the green light to Huawei involvement - the same position taken when Theresa May was prime minister but failed to resolve the issue after it split her National Security Council (NSC).
The NSC is expected to back Chinese involvement when it meets next week. The council's decision will be announced in Parliament, prompting the last-ditch intervention from the quartet of Australian MPs.
Liberal MPs Andrew Hastie, Tim Wilson, James Paterson and Labor's Kimberly Kitching all issued statements to The Times of London explaining why Liberal and Labor Australian governments had banned the company from building the national broadband network and supplying the 5G rollout.
Hastie, who chairs the Intelligence and Security Committee, said it was about "digital sovereignty" and urged solidarity among the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, comprising Australia, the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada.
"Our membership of the Five Eyes community is central to our defence and security strategy," he said.
"In a time of growing strategic uncertainty, Australia values that membership more than ever."
Senator James Paterson, who chairs the Joint Corporations and Financial Services Committee, said the ban had been uncontroversial when imposed in Australia.
"Successive Australian governments from both sides of politics banned Huawei from our broadband and 5G networks with very little controversy," he said.
"No one in the Australian political system regrets those decisions today."
Labor Senator Kimberly Kitching said while Australian politics could be "robust and combative" there was complete bipartisanship on the issue.
"Recognising that in this age of unprecedented cyber interference, protecting critical infrastructure is a crucial part of our national security," Kitching said.
"It is the ultimate false economy to allow the commercial benefits to outweigh the security considerations where a vendor cannot offer 100 per cent integrity."
Pollster YouGov said trust in Huawei in Britain wasn't "just low" but "deteriorating."
"Over half of consumers (53 per cent) and business leaders (56 per cent) reported that they were worried, as did three-quarters of business leaders (75 per cent)," it said.
"More than eight in 10 MPs (83 per cent) are alarmed about potential national security risks, and while a third (34 per cent) would allow Huawei to get involved in non-core parts of 5G infrastructure, a comfortable majority (62 per cent) believe it shouldn't touch anything that's strategically sensitive."
More than half also say working with the company damages the UK-US "special relationship".
The US has threatened to limit intelligence sharing with Britain, because under Chinese law, Huawei can be forced to spy on Beijing's behalf, but the threat has been dismissed as a bluff.
Speaking to the Australia-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce in London on Thursday, former Foreign Minister Bob Carr said Australia's attempts to lead the Five Eyes in banning Huawei had damaged the bilateral relationship, with Scott Morrison unable to secure a visit to Beijing since becoming Prime Minister.
Carr said he was neutral on the question of the ban itself but said Australia should not have made a virtue of being the leader.
"Why did we have to be the first of the Five Eyes nations to do it? Why couldn't we have moved in tandem with the governments?" Carr said.
"Why did we have to take the lead role [amongst the Five Eyes], or why did we have to announce we were taking a lead role?"
Carr recently stepped down from the Australia-China Relations Institute which was funded by the banned Chinese donor and agent of influence Huang Xiangmo.
Carr said claims of foreign interference were exaggerated and limited to just one donor.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/europe/four-australian-mps-urge-britain-to-ban-huawei-20200124-p53u9x.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed
#6001078 at 2019-04-01 05:40:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #4 - Q Goes Down Under Edition
>>5995664
Equally surprised by the proportion of small level of Chinese ownership shown in their table however I also agree with…
>>5996164
in that its their increasing investment in ports (Darwin), electricity networks (Ausgrid latest but plenty there) and farms that I'm more concerned about.
The point is the economic leverage the Chinese have over us is unparalleled, no other country is buying our politicians (I'm looking at you Sam Distyari, Bob Carr, etc), or opposing Australian policy and its a totalitarian society with a shocking history of human rights abuses.
#5583707 at 2019-03-09 03:03:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #3 - March MADNESS Edition
>>5582670
Interdasting, I'm going to look at the backgrounds of the board members when I get some spare time. http://www.epa.wa.gov.au/epa-members
Elizabeth Carr is a surname of interest. Any relation to Bob Carr? Went to Harvard and is in their Australia club. I wonder if she was in the Owl club or went to the exclusive, shoulder tapping, black & white masquerade ball? https://www.harvardclub.org.au/news-new/2017/6/13/elizabeth-Carr-awarded-am-in-queens-birthday-honours
#5461510 at 2019-03-02 10:29:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #3 - March MADNESS Edition
Victoria
Victorian Police
The whole system PLUS the Courts are corrupt in VIctoria.
Our whole system's been hijacked
Ask yourself this
Why haven't ANY of the people Barnett has raised been brought before the Courts? I don't care if you're a lawyer.
Why hasn't Keating, Beazley, Alan Jones, Bob Carr, Gillard and all the other crimionals been brought before the Courts, Hefferson names 2 in Parliament. Prime Ministers. He got shafted.
WHY?
Don't yterll me the courts are proceeding as they should be They are not. They're illegal.
I'm not saying Pells innocent. There are TOO MANY things that aren't aren;t adding up.
Take a step back, Clear your brains from any pre jusdgement, INCLUDING which newspaper the articles are from.
If you can't see there are gaping holes and unanswered questions, you're biased.
Look at the BIG PICTURE. you'll see it. from when the Pope came in 2014 till out of the blue these charges APPEARED from VICTORIA. Some news never told you each time more and more charges were dropped.
When I research I look at Timelines
I look at the big picture which means, we know the USA was in deep shite when this Pope replaced Benedict.
Look at the Pope's crimes and ask yourself why is her still the Pope4 after having b44n convicted In Belgium and is DISHING out all the 'Criminal' ArchBishops for trials in other countries when he's committed worse crimes than Pell. Things aren't making sense.
THere's a war on between the Vatican and the USA Catholics,
The military arm of the Jesuits and the the Conservative Catholics.
The first time a Jesuit has been Pope,
Now if you will look at this site4, all about Victoria and Australia,
https://corpau.blogspot.com/
#4942474 at 2019-01-28 21:36:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #2
Whitewashing occupation? Bill Shorten and the Israel Lobby
Racism and military occupation have no place in the modern world, and are certainly not something looked upon favourably by a majority of Australians.
Yet while apartheid, for example, has become a byword for shame and racism, the Labor Opposition leader feels comfortable asserting that some Israeli West Bank settlements are legal. That a regime founded on racism and military occupation can be considered at least potentially acceptable is exactly what Bob Carr is talking about when he says the right-wing Israel lobby holds inordinate influence over our political debate.
The West Bank, which is supposed to form the bulk of a Palestinian state under a two-state solution, remains a fundamentally divided society. There are separate services and rules for Jews and non-Jews in most areas of life: roads, water, land rights, the movement of people, and basic legal rights are all dependent on whether you happen to be Jewish or not. Effectively, the Palestinian residents of the West Bank are ruled over by Israel, yet are completely disenfranchised - something ignored by those who promote Israel as 'the only democracy in the Middle East'.
In addition to the military occupation and restriction of basic rights within the West Bank, Israel is Carrying out ethnic cleansing in many areas, ejecting non-Jewish residents for 'military exercises' or nature reserves. Jewish settlements just happen to sit in the areas not required by the state.
Refusing to condemn the settlements, in practice, means assenting to the continuing replacement of Arabs and Bedouins with Jews, in violation of international law.
Incredibly, a couple of weeks ago we saw Opposition Leader Bill Shorten telling the Zionist Federation of Australia that only 'some settlements ... have been decided or deemed to be illegal under Israeli law.' This is not ALP policy, which says that all settlements are illegal, a position held by most of the world. Many Labor MPs were outraged that their leader seemed to be changing highly controversial party policy to reflect his own views.
'Even Israel's closest ally, the United States, regards the settlements as illegitimate,' said Labor's former Minister for International Development Melissa Parke when the issue came up last month.
Bob Carr told the media last week he believed that 'extreme right-wing' pro-Israel lobbyists in Melbourne have an 'unhealthy' influence on Australia's policy towards Israel-Palestine.
https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/2014/04/whitewashing-occupation-bill-shorten-and-the-israel-lobby/
#3382283 at 2018-10-07 18:06:53 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #1
https://www.facebook.com/ExposeAustralia/?ref=page_internal
Bob Carr Bohemian Grove
#95565 at 2018-01-19 19:02:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #1
AUSTRALIA
Possible link with Australia's PM and the UN Security council with the CF tied in:
>We can take you to New York now where Australia is pushing for that spot on the UN Security Council.
>Richard Marles is Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Richard how is the Prime Minister doing?
>RICHARD MARLES: The Prime Minister has been ill, as people know, but I think she is getting up and about. She did participate in the Clinton Foundation function today.
http:// ministers.dfat.gov.au/marles/transcripts/Pages/2012/rm_tr_120925.aspx?ministerid=4
>What's cuter is, you'll be delighted to know the Australian taxpayer is also listed as tipping in somewhere between $10 million - $25 million to the Clinton Foundation thanks to Julia Gillard. Your hard earned dollars thrown around like confetti by Gillard for her close mate.
>http:// www.zanettisview.com/story/hillary-clinton-muslims-have-nothing-to-do-with-terrorism/1466
>Announced by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton, and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, CHARGE's commitments will focus on five key areas in global girls education which include: …
http:// www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140924005892/en/British-Council-Oando-Foundation-Announce-Clinton-Global
>AusAID was brought under the umbrella of DFAT shortly before Bob Carr was parachuted into the Foreign Affairs portfolio.
http:// www.pickeringpost.com/story/gillard-gave-10-25-million-to-clintons/5088
>Bingo! US Internal Revenue Service to investigate the Clinton Foundation - Australian Government's problems begin
http:// www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/07/bingo-us-internal-revenue-service-to-investigate-the-clinton-foundation-australian-governments-probl.html