QResear.ch

#21530694 at 2024-09-04 10:46:33 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #37: EVERYTHING IS AT STAKE Edition

>>21530690

2/2

Bennett told the court Reynolds' reputation was damaged by Higgins as a result of interviews she gave that created "a cloud of suspicion" over her and the continued "pile-on", which warranted a financial remedy.

He cited four recent defamation cases in which the complainants were paid between $100,000 and $675,000.

"The idea the defendant is not liable to pay anything because senator Reynolds' reputation was 'baked-in' is wrong, and a false premise not based on the authority in this state and nation, neither is this idea that because you're a politician you should take a dagger to the back with some kind of stoicism," Bennett told the court.

"We claim aggravated damages and significant aggravated damages because this isn't isolated, this is a pattern of conduct repeated over time."

Young, SC, doubled down during her reply, stating that a whole series of events occurred that demonstrated damage to the senator which could not be disregarded, from her demotion from the defence portfolio to her hospitalisation.

Bennett defended Reynolds' conduct during the criminal trial and doubled down on Reynolds' decision to leak confidential documents concerning Higgins' $2.4 million personal injury settlement with the federal government to The Australian, claiming she was entitled to do so.

And he decried Higgins for claiming Reynolds mishandled her alleged rape and failed to adequately support her, claiming there were more than 20 occasions on which she was offered support in the weeks after the incident.

Bennett also attacked Higgins' claims she was kept at arm's length from Reynolds and relegated to her hotel room while working in Perth between April and May before the 2019 federal election.

He pointed to a gallery of images showing Higgins smiling while on the campaign trail, rubbing shoulders with senior Liberal Party figures and text messages in which she addressed it as a "work-cation", poring over Higgins' pleading while claiming swathes of it were "palpably wrong" and contained a "mishmash of errors".

Higgins' barrister Rachael Young, SC, has played down the relevance of the images, highlighting text messages to her former boyfriend showed the former staffer was processing her trauma.

The hearing comes just hours after shock revelations Sky News anchor Peta Credlin helped finesse a draft statement Higgins later gave to the media.

The host has since said she did with the permission of her boss and the knowledge of the Morrison government.

The month-long trial is expected to conclude in a matter of hours after more than 700 pieces of evidence and 22 witnesses taking the stand - including Morrison and former Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/western-australia/reynolds-lawyer-throws-spotlight-on-higgins-sharaz-texts-amid-political-furore-20240904-p5k7sr.html

#21453315 at 2024-08-21 10:00:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #37: EVERYTHING IS AT STAKE Edition

>>21453311

2/2

Maiden told the court Higgins gave her the impression her intention was "altruistic" and wanted the story to "have an impact".

"She was concerned it would be a 'one day wonder'. She wanted there to be an impact given what she saw as systematic failures [in the government's handling of the alleged rape]," Maiden said.

But she labelled a text message she had received from Sharaz on the morning of publication hailing the article a "f-cking scoop" inappropriate.

The court was then taken to a series of text messages between Maiden and senior Labor Party figures, including Penny Wong and Tanya Plibersek, regarding questions to be levelled at Reynolds during question time.

But Maiden insisted there was nothing remarkable about the correspondence and dismissed any assertion she had acted as a "conduit" for the staffer or that Higgins had a plan to bring down the Morrison government.

Bennett grilled Maiden about a text exchange between herself and Higgins in which the former staffer told her she did not believe Reynolds should resign because she was just "following instructions" from the prime minister's office.

"Just having played my little part in your operation has been one of the greatest moments of journalism I've ever had," Maiden texted Higgins.

When asked what she had meant by "operation", Maiden told the court she believed Higgins had shown "great bravery at great cost" to raise issues that resulted in legal reform and improved parliament as a workplace.

During cross-examination by Higgins' lawyer Rachael Young, SC, Maiden recalled a conversation in which Reynolds had told her she "did not know" whether the rape allegation was true because she was "not in the room".

Maiden also recalled being approached by Reynolds' long-time partner Robert Reid during Lehrmann's criminal trial, who she said was peppering her with questions about Higgins' whereabouts.

The Walkley award-winning journalist is the latest to give evidence in Reynolds' year-long defamation case against Higgins over a series of social media posts she claims accused her of mishandling the allegation and silencing victims of sexual assault.

Reynolds has also argued Higgins and Sharaz engaged in a calculated and premeditated campaign to attack her via her political opponents and the media.

Higgins is defending the allegations on the basis the substance of her posts were true.

Several of Reynolds' high-profile colleagues have been called to attest to the impact the saga had on her at the time, including former prime minister Scott Morrison and former foreign affairs minister Marise Payne.

On Tuesday, Payne told the court she watched her colleague of more than 30 years struggle under the weight of mounting pressure from what she described as unprecedented questioning.

Payne described seeing Reynolds shaking, breathing heavily, and gripping her desk in the parliamentary chamber after days of being "aggressively targeted" over the alleged rape before her public breakdown in late February 2021.

The month-long trial will now be cut short after Higgins made an eleventh-hour decision not to take the stand on medical grounds and because her legal team did not believe it was necessary to successfully argue the case.

Higgins, who is now expecting her first child, had been due to travel to Perth from her new home in France to take the witness stand from August 26.

Brown has also been excused from giving oral evidence on medical grounds.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/western-australia/she-s-drafting-a-plan-for-you-maiden-gives-evidence-on-breaking-higgins-story-20240821-p5k45k.html

#21404275 at 2024-08-13 09:46:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #37: EVERYTHING IS AT STAKE Edition

>>21404272

2/2

Morrison also used his evidence to shut down claims of any plan to cover up the alleged rape.

And he recalled watching Reynolds, his friend of more than two decades, suffer a public breakdown in parliament after several days of questioning and his fear her cardiac issues might prove fatal.

"[The questioning] was intended to discredit her," he told the court.

"It was the weaponising of this issue for political purposes to discredit her and the government and, by extension, myself, and it was causing her distress and anguish.

"Claims the government was involved in a cover-up of this issue [were] completely and utterly false, without any foundation."

He said he himself didn't emerge unscathed, saying for weeks he was subjected to a barrage of questions levelled by the Labor Party and the media that appeared "strangely co-ordinated".

The claims back an important pillar of Reynolds' claim against her former staffer: that she was the victim of a "premeditated" attack levelled by Higgins and Higgins' now-husband, David Sharaz.

Morrison's evidence comes as Reynolds' five-week defamation trial against Higgins enters its second week, with former foreign minister Marise Payne and several staffers expected to take the witness box in the coming days.

It has been more than a year since the former defence minister commenced suing Higgins for damages and aggravated damages over a series of social media posts in which she claims Higgins defamed her, brought her into public hatred and caused her embarrassment and distress.

Higgins is defending the action on the basis the substance of her posts were true, that Reynolds mishandled allegations she was raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann following a night out, and used the media to harass her.

Lehrmann has maintained his innocence since the 2022 criminal trial against him was aborted due to juror misconduct.

But Lehrmann's failed defamation action against Network Ten over Higgins' The Project interview resulted in Federal Court Justice Michael Lee finding the rape allegation to be true on the balance of probabilities.

Lee also found there to be no evidence to support allegations of a political cover-up.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/western-australia/utterly-false-scott-morrison-rubbishes-brittany-higgins-cover-up-claims-in-explosive-testimony-20240813-p5k20k.html

#21354162 at 2024-08-05 11:55:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #37: EVERYTHING IS AT STAKE Edition

>>21354159

2/2

Young began opening submissions with an attack on Reynolds' lawyer Martin Bennett, who had characterised Higgins' experience as "a fairytale that needed a villain."

"The plaintiff, a senator, seeks to restore her reputation by laying the blame at the feet of one of her most junior staffers," she told the court.

"Ms Higgins' truth about the rape is uncontested by Senator Reynolds. This matter has never been a fairytale and describing it as one is misplaced, harassing and traumatising and seeks to trivialise the experience of Ms Higgins and other victims of sexual assault."

Reynolds claims Higgins' posts implied the senator had engaged in misconduct, provided inadequate support and wanted to silence victims of sexual assault, damaging her reputation and causing her embarrassment and even excaserbati an existing heart condition.

Higgins has fiercely defended the action, claiming her posts were substantially true because Reynolds did mishandle her rape complaint and used the media to pursue a campaign against her.

In supporting that defence, Young honed in on the former defence minister's conduct in the days after Higgins' alleged rape on the couch of Reynolds' parliamentary suite on March 23, 2019.

Young said the notion the senator had no suspicion of criminal activity before her sole meeting with Higgins just metres from the couch on April 1, 2019 did not pass muster when reviewing the evidence, which showed she knew Higgins was intoxicated, found in a state of undress, and that Lehrmann had allegedly been on top of her.

She also downplayed the relevance of text messages and images showing Higgins socialising and attending campaign events for Reynolds ahead of the May 2019 federal election, unearthing evidence showing the former staffer was distressed and processing the sexual assault.

The court was shown text messages in which Higgins was confiding in an ex-boyfriend about her frustrations with the senator and the lack of support she received.

"I was literally assaulted in [her] office, collectively took four days off and got jack shit in terms of help" one text read.

In claiming the truth defence, Young said Reynolds' labelling of Higgins as a "lying cow" following her tell-all interview with The Project, and leaks to the media with details of Higgins' $2.4 million compensation payout, undermined the rape allegation and were evidence of harassment.

And she asked the court to consider the "palpable" power imbalance between the then-24-year-old alleged rape victim and the former defence minister, in assessing Reynolds' claims that Higgins and her now-husband David Sharaz engaged in a sustained campaign to harass Reynolds via the media.

Several high-profile witnesses will be called to give evidence in the weeks to come, including former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former foreign affairs minister Marise Payne, Senator Wendy Askew and journalist Samantha Maiden.

Higgins, who recently revealed she and Sharaz were expecting their first child, will spend up to one week on the stand.

Outside court Reynolds took a swipe at Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, saying she was looking forward to having the opportunity to tell the truth and was "very glad" he did not have any reach in the WA Supreme Court.

The pair have been at odds over the government's handling of Higgins' $2.4 million compensation claim, with Reynolds lodging a complaint with the anti-corruption watchdog about the settlement deal, and using observations from Federal Court Justice Michael Lee's judgment that there was no cover-up, as justification to call for Dreyfus to admit he got it wrong.

Dreyfus insists the compensation claim was handled to the "letter of the law".

https://www.theage.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-senator-s-reputation-already-baked-in-when-higgins-took-to-socials-court-told-20240805-p5jzk8.html

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/the-15-photos-linda-reynolds-is-using-against-brittany-higgins/image-gallery/fb93580bbcfc9a7c5df8da4748fe2ae4

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/live/article-13708615/Linda-Reynolds-v-Brittany-Higgins-defamation-trial-LIVE-blog.html

#21125882 at 2024-07-02 10:09:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #36: BADGE OF HONOR Edition

>>21125875

2/2

It is not the first time an Australian prime minister has sent another cabinet member to a NATO summit. Malcolm Turnbull, for example, sent then-defence minister Marise Payne to a NATO summit in Belgium in 2018.

Three Labor MPs said there was broad consensus in the party that selling the government's domestic agenda should be the priority.

"That's what [the prime minister's] been told in no uncertain terms. Our electorates are feeling it," one MP said.

At a later press conference on Tuesday, Dutton said it was time for Australia to send a message that it was part of a united global front against international aggressors.

"Australians are very unsettled at the moment … and they've got a prime minister who wants to put local politicking ahead of his obligation to stand up for our country," he said.

In November Dutton urged Albanese against flying to the US and to instead focus on domestic issues.

Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham condemned the prime minister's decision not to go, saying "national security is the top responsibility of the government, and the idea that Anthony Albanese would rather be campaigning to shore up Labor marginal seats than sitting down with the NATO leaders to ensure global security and our national security interests are heard, is an appalling representation of his priorities".

With the US election in November, the NATO gathering would probably have been the last meeting between Albanese and Biden as counterparts. His attendance could have provided an opportunity for the first bilateral leaders' meeting with Keir Starmer, who is widely expected to become the UK's prime minister on Friday.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said last month the White House was expecting Albanese to attend as well as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeo and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

Albanese was forced to fend off criticism from the Coalition and several media commentators last year as he took four overseas trips in the month after the Voice referendum defeat, taking his tally to 18 since he came to office. He has made just one overseas trip this year, to Papua New Guinea, for Anzac Day.

The prime minister's office was contacted for comment.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-scraps-washington-visit-amid-cost-of-living-pressures-20240702-p5jqbc.html

#20422780 at 2024-02-16 12:21:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #34: UNITED AGAINST THE INVISIBLE ENEMY OF ALL HUMANITY Edition

>>20422775

2/2

Albanese refused to raise the sonar attack on Australian Navy divers and instead sought to compare himself to Gough Whitlam on his China visit. He was getting embarrassing "handsome boy" compliments, while not raising the family of Yang Hengjun's request that an Australian citizen was unjustly detained, given a show trial and is now condemned to die by lethal injection or firing squad.

Labor in opposition was very quick to condemn the Chinese buyout of the Solomon Islands government and the failure of then minister Marise Payne. It made political hay about the Chinese purchase of the strategic Port of Darwin.

Yet in government Labor had a whitewash inquiry into Darwin that said there was nothing to see. The Solomons is still as deeply corrupted now as when Scott Morrison let China station a "police force" there and develop a port capable of taking Chinese naval vessels as close to Townsville as Brisbane.

Papua New Guinea, despite the fraternity we feel, is a failing state and again the target of China's soft diplomacy and hard money. The Pacific is on our doorstep and yet Wong and Pat Conroy think kava sessions will cut it and the Prime Minister twerking in a Hawaiian shirt in the Cook Islands is a foreign affairs strategy.

Maybe the Albanese government thinks Australians are just too busy with the cost-of-living crisis to care. But China will be missing none of this. It will see a PM grinning to gratuitous compliments while avoiding raising matters of genuine national interest.

It will see a Defence Minister at war with his generals and not having what it takes to get more money for much-needed capacity right now.

It's ironic that the last Labor defence minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, who took on the Defence brass, was sacked as minister after being outed for his "close friendship" with a political donor and accused Chinese spy.

Marles has form on being weak on China. He was accused of being as soft as tofu and a Manchurian candidate for being so compliant to the demands from Beijing. Defence isn't just there to provide VIP flights to Avalon from Canberra.

China will note the fine work of Wong cutting funding to an irritant on China's to-do list while being distracted touring the Middle East rather than the Pacific.

It's beyond ironic that Wong fights to re-establish funding to the UNWRA, which employed terrorist killers and supplied free electricity to their communications centre at the same time she wants to cut funding to ASPI.

Australia needs to have a proper conversation about how we defend our values and our neighbours from foreign aggression. Defunding ASPI might keep you sweet with the Chinese; it doesn't help our national interest.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/dysfunctional-state-of-defence-shows-alp-is-chinas-lapdog/news-story/436b03a622118968a2042194a026e1fa

#20092827 at 2023-12-18 09:53:31 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #34: UNITED AGAINST THE INVISIBLE ENEMY OF ALL HUMANITY Edition

#33 - Part 13
Australian Politics and Society - Part 6
>>19964313 Boat from Indonesia arrives undetected on Australian mainland - Asylum-seekers have arrived by boat at a WWII airfield owned by Aboriginal people on an isolated and rugged stretch of Kimberley coastline, sources have told The Australian. The group of 12 people - believed to have travelled from Indonesia - are not fishermen but asylum-seekers, according to sources familiar with events.
>>19969939 Don't give up on Indigenous voice, say First Nations leaders - Labor and Indigenous leaders are exploring other ways to implement advice from First Nations Australians into policymaking after the failure of the referendum last month, with Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney leaving the door open to pursuing local and regional voices as an alternative model
>>19969966 Linda Burney says she's 'going forward' after Voice defeat, remains committed to truth-telling - Linda Burney has no regrets over Labor's approach to the Voice to parliament referendum and says local and regional voices, and truth-telling, remain on the government's agenda despite last month's outcome.
>>19969991 Labor's asylum-seeker headache lands in WA as arrivals sent to Nauru - The 12 asylum-seekers apprehended by Australian Border Force officials in Western Australia on Wednesday have been flown to Nauru. After initial processing in Darwin, the 12 individuals have been confirmed as unauthorised maritime arrivals. The Australian understands they will remain in Nauru awaiting regional processing, which is consistent with Operation Sovereign Borders protocols that have been in place for more than a decade.
>>19978165 Australia Activists Disrupt Shipping At Coal Port - A climate change protest off Australia's east coast disrupted operations at the country's biggest coal export port on Saturday, the port operator said. Climate activist group Rising Tide, which claimed responsibility for the action, said around 1,500 people were at the protest, 300 of them in the shipping channel near the Port of Newcastle, as part of a 30-hour blockade set to run until 4 p.m. on Sunday.
>>19978489 Shock Liberal senate preselection victory as Dave Sharma returns to federal politics - Former Wentworth MP Dave Sharma has returned to frontline politics, beating a packed field of candidates in a Liberal preselection on Sunday to replace outgoing senator Marise Payne in federal parliament
>>19984139 Newspoll: Voters abandon Anthony Albanese as Labor's fortunes nosedive - Labor's primary vote has tumbled to below its 2022 election result for the first time with both major parties now neck and neck on a two-party-preferred basis as cost-of-living pressures escalate and the Albanese government faces a mounting list of political and policy crises

>>19984152 Get your act together: voters' Newspoll warning to Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party
>>19984157 Newspoll shows Anthony Albanese is following Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd down the tubes
>>19984211 Powerful Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo sacked after investigation into backchannel lobbying - Mike Pezzullo, the head of the Home Affairs Department, was considered one of the most influential figures in the machinery of government even before alleged private conversations with a Liberal powerbroker exposed he had seemingly spent years using a political backchannel to influence prime ministers and undermine others
>>19989556 Australian National University study of 4200 Australians finds voters rejected voice model, not constitutional recognition
>>19989571 Labor senator Patrick Dodson to retire from parliament amid health battle
>>19989621 'She's very excited': Top Trump foe Nancy Pelosi to visit Australia - One of the most influential politicians in recent United States history - former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi - is set to visit Australia next year as part of an effort to boost American tourist numbers. Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell said he invited Pelosi and husband Paul to make the trip while sitting beside the pair during a dinner in San Francisco earlier this month
>>19989725 'Fully engaged': Rudd opens up on Biden's age and Trump's possible return - Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has staunchly defended Joe Biden amid growing concerns the US president is too old to run for re-election, describing him as engaged, across his brief and a first-class negotiator on global issues
>>19995394 Worst offenders among immigration detainees could be locked up again - The worst offenders released from immigration detention could be locked up again under new preventative detention laws the Albanese government vows to rush through parliament before Christmas

#19785789 at 2023-10-23 09:36:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition

>>19769319
>>19769341
Albanese government has failed strategic test in northern Australia

PETER JENNINGS - OCTOBER 23, 2023

1/2

Yet another review has defended the absurd 2015 Northern Territory decision to lease the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company for 99 years. The lease continues to dog successive federal governments and is undermining defence planning.

Just weeks into replacing Tony Abbott as prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull had to deal with the port lease announcement at precisely the same time defence minister Marise Payne and foreign minister Julie Bishop met their US counterparts in Boston for the 2015 AUSMIN talks. The ministers announced they had "decided to pursue enhanced naval co-operation across all domains".

With spectacularly bad timing the Darwin port lease was made public just as the US secretaries of state and defence returned to Washington DC.

No one had raised this at AUSMIN. A senior American official told me that news went off around the Pentagon like an atomic bomb.

Barack Obama ticked off Turnbull, saying the US would have liked to have been told. Turnbull said Obama should have been reading the NT News. Imagine the US treating our strategic concerns with such indifference.

In fact, Turnbull and then treasurer Scott Morrison knew they had a problem. A loophole in the foreign investment rules excluded state- and territory-owned assets from federal oversight on national security or any other grounds.

Morrison closed the loophole, but was too late to prevent the Port of Darwin lease. Even before that, Defence had decided nothing needed to be done. A 2015 Defence note, released under Freedom of Information, records an official saying of Chinese company Landbridge: "This is a private company, Australian managed, and operated with a significant degree of autonomy, by Australian-based people." This was a spectacularly naive misunderstanding about how companies operate under Chinese communism.

Subsequently, Defence, the Prime Minister's department, ASIO and others have all found ways, over several reviews, to say that leasing Australia's only significant northern port to a Chinese company for a century presents no strategic concerns.

Defence's initial "defence" of its non-decision was that the Port of Darwin was separate to the navy's tiny patrol boat base. The department didn't make a broader judgment about national security.

The review released by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet last Friday points to a "robust regulatory system in place to manage risks to critical infrastructure". Such is the alertness of our national security guardians that "Australians can have confidence that their safety will not be compromised". The statement acknowledges "the importance of the Port of Darwin as a key piece of critical infrastructure" but the focus on risks to the "safety" of Australians moves the attention away from national security.

The bigger picture is clear: China is becoming militarily aggressive in our region. Since the lease of the Port of Darwin, Beijing illegally took over disputed territory in the South China Sea, building new military air bases and sea ports. Chinese military power projects much further south to the Indonesian archipelago. Routine Chinese air and naval patrols and intelligence-gathering ships now operate in Australian waters.

These developments make northern Australia much more strategically important. This is why the US Marine Corps and US Air Force presence in the north is growing, and why they are building up fuel and other stores. It is also why US Virginia -class submarines will operate out of our western navy base from 2027. And it is why Australia is developing plans for nuclear-powered submarines.

The Albanese government should have overturned the lease because we, and our key ally, the US, need that facility to expand and secure a larger military presence in the north. The recently released Defence Strategic Review says "there is a clear need to have the correct infrastructure and logistics support in the right locations to project and sustain power".

The report's focus on northern Australia makes it obvious the Port of Darwin issue will have to be addressed soon, even if the government's immediate priority is to smooth political waters with China before Albanese visits Beijing.

(continued)

#19775546 at 2023-10-21 12:09:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition

>>19739995
'Has to serve his time': Liberals oppose Yes campaigner's cabinet return

Paul Sakkal and James Massola - October 21, 2023

Liberal MPs are pushing back against the prospect of Julian Leeser returning to the Coalition frontbench, arguing his resignation to campaign for the Voice to parliament should not be rewarded.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has cautiously tested the mood among trusted colleagues in recent weeks to gauge whether Leeser's return would be accepted, according to two Liberal sources speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail private talks.

Two vacancies exist on the Coalition frontbench: the cabinet secretary post vacated by former senator Marise Payne, and the shadow assistant treasurer's role formerly held by Stuart Robert, who quit in May. A revamped opposition team could be announced within weeks.

Leeser quit his position as shadow attorney-general and Indigenous Australians spokesman in April after the Liberal Party forced frontbenchers to campaign for No. As someone who was intrinsically involved in the development of the Voice, Leeser moved to the backbench to campaign for Yes.

Several sources said Liberals, particularly those in the party's right flank who strongly opposed the Voice, had been urging Dutton to keep the Berowra MP on the backbench for the remainder of the parliamentary term.

The delayed shake-up is proving one of the trickiest tests of Dutton's period as opposition leader, which has to date been marked by a surprising level of internal stability and what MPs describe as Dutton's astute management of intra-party politics.

He is under pressure to appoint a Queenslander - potentially Bert Van Manen or Garth Hamilton - because the northern state's MPs are numerically underrepresented in the shadow cabinet.

Dutton will also be conscious of the need to ensure a healthy balance of moderate MPs in a potential future cabinet, after many leading moderates were ousted by teal independents.

Moderate MP and Voice supporter Andrew Bragg has also put his hand up to replace Robert, but that appointment would frustrate some Queenslanders who are, typically, more conservative.

Leeser made a point of never directly criticising Dutton during the referendum campaign and stressed he was quitting on a matter of principle rather than as a protest against Dutton.

Many of the MPs opposing his promotion retain strong respect for the 47-year-old, who is viewed as smart and decent, but may ultimately suffer for his principled stance. But some are questioning his political judgement in fighting for a cause few Liberal voters supported.

One conservative MP predicted Leeser would incur a similar fate to that of Petro Georgiou, a well-known former Victorian Liberal who served 16 years in parliament and was long-touted for promotion but never achieved it, in part because of his outspoken opposition to mandatory detention policies.

"The weight of evidence suggests Leeser would come back. The Left will push for it, he's a media darling too. But I think Leeser is the new Petro Georgiou".

"Dutton is a bloke who will give you a chance but if you go against him, he won't forget it."

A second MP said Leeser's resignation had caused damage to the opposition and that while he could return to the frontbench at some point, "he has to serve his time" because "I don't think you can reward people who go against the leadership".

A third MP unfavourably compared Leeser's approach to the Voice to that of Bragg, who consistently attacked Labor for its handling of the referendum, while Leeser largely refrained from criticising the government once it became clear the contentious referendum wording would not be changed to appease conservatives.

In April, Dutton was asked if there was a chance Leeser could return to the frontbench, to which he answered, "I think there will be one day," and added that "Julian's a man of immense talent and character".

Leeser on Sunday said on ABC's Insiders that his potential promotion was a matter for Dutton and he was fully focused on campaigning to remove the Labor government.

Some MPs said the shadow cabinet could be expanded by an extra member, as Michael Sukkar currently has three shadow cabinet posts and a heavy workload.

Luke Howarth or Angie Bell, who are already frontbenchers, Phillip Thompson, Paul Scarr, or Dean Smith could all be part of a reshuffle of the shadow cabinet and assistant shadow ministry.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/has-to-serve-his-time-liberals-oppose-yes-campaigner-s-cabinet-return-20231020-p5edrb.html

#19575597 at 2023-09-19 09:28:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition

>>19529127
>>19570657
Anthony Albanese says 'racist pigs' abuse hurled at Indigenous voice to parliament opponents was 'nasty'

ROSIE LEWIS - SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

Anthony Albanese has condemned "nasty behaviour wherever it occurs" after No campaigners were labelled "racist pigs" and "racist dogs", conceding some of the tone of the voice referendum debate has been unfortunate.

As leading No campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price declared the Prime Minister had to take responsibility for the racism and division in Australia, Mr Albanese urged voters to be respectful and debate the referendum question before them.

Peter Dutton also urged Australians to participate in the voice debate respectfully, lashing the "deeply disturbing" protest.

Video taken by South Australian Liberal senator Alex Antic walking into Fair Australia's No campaign launch in Adelaide on Monday evening shows protesters yelling "racist dog", "racist pig" and "crazy wankers".

Senator Price and Indigenous leader Warren Mundine were the headline speakers of the event.

"I condemn nasty behaviour wherever it occurs," Mr Albanese said.

"Of course some of the tone of the debate has been unfortunate. That's the truth. What I would say to people is be respectful. I respect every Australian regardless of whether they're going to vote Yes or whether they're going to No."

The Opposition Leader said people who had decided to vote No had "done so for good reason".

"They have listened to the debates. Many of them are frustrated with the fact that the Prime Minister is deliberately withholding information," Mr Dutton said.

"People don't understand the model and the scenes that we've seen are disturbing because people are entitled to their views. I have a great deal of respect for people who are voting either Yes or No."

Senator Price said there had been bullying, gas lighting and manipulative behaviour during the referendum campaign.

"This is the level of racism and division that the Prime Minister has to take responsibility for in this country right now. Where people like myself, people like my incredible colleagues here, are singled out because apparently as Indigenous people we're supposed to agree with a proposal that is empty," she said in Adelaide on Monday.

"We're supposed to agree with leftist ideology as opposed to thinking for ourselves and certainly to inform the Australian people as to the danger to voting yes. We must vote no for unifying this nation, for maintaining equality in our country. We're having conversations with Aboriginal people from grassroots communities who are dead set against this, they see the dangers in this, and we're here to represent those voices."

Mr Albanese seized on divisions within the No camp, after Mr Mundine split from Senator Price to declare his support for treaties and changing Australia Day four weeks out from the October 14 referendum.

Senator Price has also been cautious in backing a second referendum solely on constitutional recognition - which Mr Dutton has committed to pursuing if he wins the next election - saying any future process must involve all Australians.

"There has been a significant fear campaign going on raising a whole lot of issues that won't be impacted by October 14, including issues in which people in the No camp Warren Mundine has a very different view from Jacinta Price who has a different view from Peter Dutton," Mr Albanese said.

"Peter Dutton appears to want for this referendum to be defeated, for him to win the next election and then have another referendum. That to me makes no sense to reject what Indigenous people are asking for, which is a very modest and simple request."

Asked on Monday if he was worried his support for treaties would cost him any tilt at replacing Marise Payne as a NSW senator, Mr Mundine responded: "I'm worried about this lie that the Albanese government is running about a referendum that is costing hundreds of millions of dollars that could be better spent in those communities, getting kids to school, getting people into businesses, getting jobs. That's what I'm worried about and that's my total focus, is to make sure this referendum doesn't get up."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/anthony-albanese-says-racist-pigs-abuse-hurled-at-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-opponents-was-nasty/news-story/7114fbd68e8651fec91b9b55a09b0ce5

https://twitter.com/SenatorAntic/status/1703709559171547484

#19566045 at 2023-09-17 09:41:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #32: YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT Edition

>>19529127
Leading No campaigner Warren Mundine claims a treaty process will be more successful if No vote wins

abc.net.au - 17 September 2023

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.

"Only those traditional owners can talk about those countries so therefore when you talk about a state treaty or a national type treaty it doesn't make sense in our culture."

Mr Mundine said achieving that would be more likely without the Voice.

"We don't need another body of bureaucracy we need to recognise those traditional owners."

Mr Mundine's position puts him at odds with much of the conservative No campaign, which has warned against the Voice, saying it would open the door to establishing a treaty.

There are already processes underway across Australia which could lead to state-based and clan-based treaties, notably in Victoria where Aboriginal leaders want treaty negotiations underway by 2024.

Mr Mundine said treaties are needed to resolve issues around sovereignty and give protections to Aboriginal culture and heritage.

"We're moving very strongly in that position with the land rights acts and the native title acts where Aboriginal people have a major say in what happens on their lands," he said.

"Through that process, 55 per cent of Australia now is in Aboriginal ownership. We'll probably get up to 70 or 80 per cent I predict in the next 10 to 20 years."

Aboriginal people's land rights are "recognised" over 50 per cent of Australians land mass - not ownership.

A No vote will take us further away from justice for First Nations: Bandt

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said the referendum isn't about treaty, and is rather about constitutional recognition for First Nations people.

But he said without it, establishing a treaty becomes less likely.

"An unsuccessful outcome in the referendum will more likely take us further away from justice for First Nations people in this country," Mr Bandt said.

"If we successfully change the constitution we are a step closer for justice for First Nations People in this country."

"Some people aren't talking anymore": Mundine confirms Gary Johns no longer campaigning

Following a week of debate about the level of racism unleashed during the referendum debate, Mr Mundine said he was surprised by the intensity of the attacks.

"In the last 12 months, I've never seen so much racism and comments and attacks than I have seen since I was a kid," Mr Mundine said.

He was asked if he'd taken action about racism in the No camp, including whether fellow campaigner, former Labor minister Gary Johns, had been sacked.

Mr Johns has been criticised over comments he made about the need for Aboriginal people to undergo blood tests before getting welfare payments.

"I've been very strong about these issues, people know that and you notice that some people aren't talking any more," Mr Mundine said.

He said Mr John's removal from the campaign had been a team decision.

"We had a cup of tea and we talked about it," he said.

"My thing is that I talk to everyone, racists, non-racists - and everyone - because if you're going to eliminate racism, or try to eliminate racism, you've got to talk to racists."

No discussion with Dutton about Senate position

Mr Mundine also responded to suggestions he was set to enter parliament, replacing retiring Liberal senator Marise Payne.

He said he hadn't discussed the Senate position with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

"I haven't had a chat with anyone about this because I want to focus on things that are relevant," Mr Mundine said.

"To me that's irrelevant, to me the Senate campaign, who's going to replace Marise Payne, my thing is about we need to focus on defeating the Voice."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-17/warren-mundine-backs-treaty-process/102866444

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tptfEBk7FNI

#19226427 at 2023-07-23 10:21:26 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #31: MAGIC SWORD - IN THE FACE OF EVIL Edition

>>19226413
USS Canberra (LCS 30) Commissioning on 22 July, 2023.

Defense Now

Jul 22, 2023

USS Canberra (LCS 30) has arrived at the Royal Australian Navy's Fleet Base East in Sydney for a one-of-a-kind commissioning later this week.

The United States Navy's 16th Independence Class littoral combat ship arrived on 18 July ahead of its commissioning on 22 July, before returning to its homeport of San Diego. US Navy officials will also reportedly make a visit to Canberra after commissioning.

Canberra is the first US Navy warship to be commissioned in an allied country and the second US Navy ship to bear the namesake of Canberra. The ship, launched in June 2021, was named Canberra after the Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra which was sunk following the Battle of Savo Island against Japanese forces on 9 August 1942.

Officials in attendance at the commissioning are expected to include US Navy littoral combat ship Squadron One Commodore Captain Marc Crawford, USS Canberra Gold crew Commanding Officer, US Navy Commander Bobby Barber, and HMAS Canberra (III) Commanding Officer, Royal Australian Navy Captain Brendan O'Hara.

Former Australian minister of foreign affairs Marise Payne originally attended the ship's keel-laying ceremony in Alabama in 2020 and the ship was named by Australia's Defence Assistant Secretary for Industrial Capability Planning in the Nuclear Submarines Taskforce Alison Petchell in 2021.

Littoral combat ships operate as near-shore and open-ocean surface ships, equipped with surface-to-air missiles and a fully automatic 57mm Mark 110 gun for surface, anti-submarine and mine countermeasure missions.

The littoral combat ship has amassed significant scrutiny during its development with reports the ships were not required in their current role, excess to needs and without required lethality or survivability.

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

#18402202 at 2023-02-24 10:07:33 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition

>>18392801
>>18392821
Fake Russian diplomats revealed as heart of 'hive' spy ring in Australia

Nick McKenzie - February 24, 2023

1/2

A highly active "hive" of Russian spies posing as diplomats operated in Australia for more than 18 months before it was dismantled as part of a sweeping and aggressive counter-espionage offensive by ASIO.

The Australian intelligence agency spent months tracking the Russian spy ring, which comprised purported embassy and consular staff and operatives using other deep cover identities, before ASIO finally moved to force the ring's key players out of Australia, according to sources with knowledge of its operation.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess described the spying operation in a major speech he delivered in Canberra on Tuesday, but did not name Russia.

Sources confirmed ASIO had uncovered the spy ring operating out of a number of locations, including the Russian embassy in Canberra, while the Morrison government was in power.

The spy ring's aim was to recruit Australians with access to classified information and, according to one source with knowledge of the Russians' activity, use sophisticated technology to steal data and communicate without being intercepted.

Rather than press for the expulsion of Russian embassy staff after President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine - a move that occurred in other Western nations and which was sought by some within Australia's intelligence community and Labor in early 2022- ASIO instead conducted a clandestine counter-espionage probe.

It tracked the Russian spy ring, ensuring targets did not suspect they were being watched by ASIO.

The sources said one factor influencing ASIO's decision-making throughout the operation was the possibility Russia might retaliate by targeting the small number of Australian diplomatic staff in Moscow.

Some intelligence operations have previously led to tit-for-tat reprisals. One source with knowledge of the Russian spy ring said that if undeclared spies were aggressively and publicly expelled, there was an increased likelihood diplomats or other Australians living in Russia would have been targeted.

An early indicator of the Russian spying operation was the relatively high number of diplomatic staff it maintained in Australia given the extent of bi-lateral relations, especially when compared to the small number of staff maintained by Canberra in Moscow.

Intensive ASIO investigations had revealed several of Moscow's diplomatic staff in Australia were involved in the spy ring, the sources said.

The abuse of diplomatic status to conduct espionage, while common in the intelligence world, represents a serious breach of protocol on the rare occasions it is exposed.

The revelations about the scale and seriousness of the breaches in Australia will inflame already strained relations between Moscow and Canberra.

In early 2022, then-opposition leader Anthony Albanese and then-shadow foreign affairs minister Penny Wong called on the Morrison government to expel Russian diplomats in light of reported atrocities in Ukraine.

"It is hard to conceive how the decision can be made to allow these individuals to stay, given the sickening abuses being carried out by Russian forces," the pair said in a joint statement.

At that time, the ASIO operation was in full flight and there was division within the intelligence community about the impact of any aggressive, large-scale deportation move.

In response to Labor's deportation call in April, then-foreign minister Marise Payne - a member of the National Security Committee that has access to ASIO intelligence - said such a move was "under review ... at the highest levels of the government".

The sources said the decision to let Russian diplomats remain in Australia allowed for ongoing efforts to monitor the spy ring members. Then members of the ring were quietly forced out of Australia over the past six months with their visas not renewed or cancelled.

(continued)

#18363726 at 2023-02-17 14:35:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition

>>18363722

6/8

I ask why she thinks he apologised to her. "He realised that it was never my position to tell anybody about Brittany Higgins' story," Reynolds says.

Though Reynolds says she has "mixed feelings" about how some on her own side treated her during this time, she says she is very grateful to her "guardian angels" - Anne Ruston, Jane Hume and Marise Payne - who supported her and protected her. "They were like lionesses when I couldn't protect myself from Labor, from the PMO, from the media, and other attack dogs. Those running the prime minister's office distanced themselves from me in exactly the way that the Higgins camp intended. It was lonely," she recalls. She says her partner, Robert, saved her life with his love and support.

Reynolds is hazy about the exact day - the days and weeks, she says, ran into each other - when she describes another morning in her office after days of relentless, unfair attacks on her. It was before Senate questions.

"I was in the bathroom. I was on the floor. I was just broken. I was sobbing. I was inconsolable. Anne (Ruston) - my saving angel - bolted in from across the corridor ... and she just immediately took charge. I think she contacted Simon Birmingham, the (Senate) leader. It was so bad. I literally cannot remember whether I did actually get up for question time that day or I didn't. She (Ruston) took charge of my staff and she just made sure that I had a space to calm down."

'I could have died'

I ask Reynolds about the extent of the collateral damage done to her, attacked in the Senate, in the media, hung out to dry by her own side. "I could have died," she says simply.

Reynolds ended up in hospital on the eve of a National Press Club address. She recalls former health minister Greg Hunt telling her after question time: "Linda, you look grey", and arranging for a doctor to see her. She describes the spasms around her heart, her heart rate spiralling up. "It was just awful."

She ended up waiting outside Canberra Hospital, but finally saw a cardiologist late that night in his rooms. "I had the most horrific night. I didn't get any sleep, and I was in pain. Robert, Anne (Ruston) and Jane (Hume) were incredibly worried."

The following day she was still planning to give her NPC address. She spoke with the specialist who, she says, said "don't be stupid, just come straight down to the hospital. And I did. And I was admitted."

'I feel sorry for Brittany'

Few people outside her inner circle understand that, despite the betrayal, the damage, the emotional and physical toll on her, Reynolds has no residual anger. Unusually, especially for a politician, there is little sign of bitterness or a thirst for revenge. Just setting the record straight will do for Reynolds. Part of that is explaining her feelings for Higgins.

"There are no winners from this," she says more than once to me.

"I feel very sorry for Brittany Higgins because her personal circumstances should always have been played out in the privacy of the justice system - she was terribly exploited by proponents of the #MeToo movement, by opponents of the government.

"The allegation that she made to Lisa Wilkinson first, and then to the police, was an allegation of rape. It should never have been played out in the Senate. It should never have been played out in the media.

"And it became all about what happened afterwards, not about that night. And that is fundamentally wrong.

"I have no doubt that this was a highly orchestrated political campaign, a political hit job on myself as defence minister, to get my scalp, to hurt Scott Morrison and the government of the day."

(continued)

#17386488 at 2022-08-13 12:40:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition

>>16780305
>>16841230
ASPI just a tool of China hawks in Australia

Chen Weihua, chinadaily.com.cn - 2022-08-11

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute claims to be an independent and nonpartisan think tank, a claim that is dishonest and fraudulent, judging by some latest revelations. Documents obtained by the Guardian Australia show that former Australian defence minister Peter Dutton's "captain call" delivered a senior coalition adviser the top job at the ASPI.

Just before the May election was called in Australia, Dutton overruled the ASPI's choice of candidate and announced that Justin Bassi, chief of staff to then foreign minister Marise Payne, would be the new ASPI executive director, the news website reported on Tuesday.

There is no doubt that Dutton, a notorious China hawk and warmonger, will continue to exert influence over the ASPI even after leaving office. He is now the leader of the opposition Liberal Party.

Back in April, Dutton, still defense minister, said Australia needs to prepare for war in light of the "looming threat" from China. Like Dutton, the ASPI has been smearing China and spreading the "China threat" theory for years and fabricating rumors about China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region through its "Xinjiang Data Project". The ASPI has colluded with people such as Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow at the Washington-based so-called "Victims of Communist Memorial Foundation" funded by the US government, to fabricate such reports.

In fact, the ASPI's funding sources give lie to its "independent and nonpartisan" claim. About $4 million, or 37 percent of its $10.7 million funding in the 2020-21 financial year, came from the Australian Department of Defence.

Other federal government agencies gave the ASPI $2.6 million; another $2 million came from foreign governments, including those of the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. Also, US military industries such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing and British defense enterprise BAE Systems are among the major corporate donors of the ASPI.

Australia's APAC News reported last year that Department of Finance data show that the ASPI's 12 weapons manufacturing sponsors have earned more than $51 billion in government contracts since the think tank was formed in 2001.

A significant amount of the ASPI's funding came from the US government which has commissioned the think tank to write research reports attacking China, wrote Marcus Reubenstein of APAC News.

Interestingly, the ASPI, which established an office in Washington last year under Dutton's watch, received funding from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which has close ties with the Pentagon.

I attended many seminars at the CSIS as a Washington correspondent of China Daily years ago and learned a lot from them despite the views on China often being one-sided and distorted, which was not surprising given the CSIS's major donors included the Japanese government and Taiwan island authorities. Other CSIS patrons include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, General Atomics, General Dynamics, Raytheon and Boeing. Hence, many of the CSIS studies and seminars reflect the interests of the military industrial complex, including fear-mongering about the "China threat" in order to justify more military funding from the US Congress.

The US has an annual defense budget in excess of $800 billion, more than that of the next 10 countries' combined. Still plenty of lobbyists, including think tanks, seek more money for the defense budget. Some want it to be raised to $1 trillion.

In 2021, the US' monstrous $801 billion defense spending accounted for more than 3.3 percent of its GDP, while China spent about $230 billion, about 1.3 percent of its GDP. These numbers don't support the US claim of "China threat".

Like the ASPI and the CSIS, many other think tanks are not really independent and nonpartisan as they claim. In the case of the ASPI, it is simply pursuing the agenda of China hawk Peter Dutton, so its reports and studies have little credibility.

The author is chief of China Daily EU Bureau based in Brussels.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202208/11/WS62f4a8eba310fd2b29e71a98.html

#17381238 at 2022-08-12 08:33:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition

Untold story of how Morrison took on China

PAUL KELLY - August 6, 2022

1/4

On April 20, 2020, then prime minister Scott Morrison told the national security committee of cabinet that Australia's democratic system was being "infiltrated" by Beijing and that the government must become more strident in its language about China to signal its resistance.

"We need multiple points of pushback on this increasing aggression," Morrison told his most senior ministers during the NSC meeting. The cabinet committee was meeting virtually but was provided with an oral update on the latest Chinese-sponsored cyber activity that was alarming the prime minister.

Morrison was supported by then treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who told the NSC that while China was a great source of economic prosperity for Australia, it was beginning to behave like an adversary power. The PM and treasurer had a common view - Australia must be consistent in its stance against China and deny Beijing the tactic of shifting the goalposts in every bilateral dispute - otherwise the game would be lost.

As early as February 2020, the Morrison cabinet had been briefed on the strategic implications of a global pandemic - the ?assessment being that China would be empowered, even if only temporarily, and that Australia should expect more cyber attacks and growing militarisation in the region.

The April 20 NSC meeting revealed Morrison's view that Australia had placated China too much in the past. His message was that Australia must hold its ground, stand up to China, push back when necessary and urged his senior ministers to resort to more assertive language in response to Beijing's tactics.

The timing of this meeting was significant. It came the day after then foreign minister Marise Payne had given her explosive ?interview on the ABC Insiders program when she called for an international inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 that had arisen in the central Chinese province of Wuhan.

Payne targeted Beijing, saying the key issue was "transparency from China" - prompting a serious backlash against Australia.

The NSC meeting the next day was seen as a decisive moment; it began to map out a plan to address the calls for an inquiry into the virus along with an inter?national diplomatic campaign that would see Morrison engaging a range of heads of government.

Fresh details and insights into Morrison's management of China's coercion against Australia are contained in a new book, Plagued, by The Australian's political editor Simon Benson and the paper's chief political correspondent Geoff Chambers.

Drawing upon previously unreleased material involving the NSC, the national cabinet and Morrison's international diplomacy, Benson and Chambers ?provide an inside account of Morrison's policy and political struggle against the pandemic and China's coercion during what they call "Australia's two years of hell".

The portrait painted in the Benson/Chambers book reveals Morrison driving his cabinet and government into a tougher line against Beijing, convinced the world was entering a dangerous geostrategic shift that most Western nations did not fully grasp. Morrison and his senior advisers are revealed to be even more alarmed about China than previously known, and focused at an early stage on the strategic ?implications of the pandemic.

The book reveals that at an ?earlier April 6 NSC meeting, the national security implications of Covid were laid out for the first time. The assessment from the nation's intelligence community was that the pandemic would accelerate tensions in the region and that China could be expected to exploit the situation for its interests.

(continued)

#17068852 at 2022-08-06 08:21:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition

Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov sues Foreign Minister Penny Wong over 'reputation harm'

Emily Woods - 5 August 2022

A Russian billionaire suing Australia's foreign minister claims sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine have caused him severe reputational damage.

Steel mogul Alexander Abramov launched legal action against Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong after the former government's April sanctioning of 67 Russian elites and oligarchs over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions caused severe reputational harm and the legal consequences have led to continuing financial losses, his lawyer Ron Merkel QC told the Federal Court on Friday.

He wants the sanctions to be removed, arguing they're unique to Australia as no other country has placed similar bans on Mr Abramov, who co-founded Russia's largest steel producer, Evraz.

"Our real point here is the approach the minister has taken is misconceived," he said.

Australia's sanctions have also impacted Mr Abramov's dealings in New Zealand, Mr Merkel said.

He said the case was unusual as public announcements by former foreign minister Marise Payne, explaining her decision, would form part of the suit.

On April 7, Ms Payne announced the government had decided to impose "targeted financial sanctions and travel bans" on 67 individuals "for their role in Russia's unprovoked, unjust and illegal invasion of Ukraine".

Those sanctioned included Russian military, business and government officials.

Ms Wong is represented by barrister Brendan Lim.

The federal government is considering an application to prevent public release of some information in the court documents, he said.

The matter will return before Justice Susan Kenny on August 26.

https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/russian-billionaire-sues-over-reputation-c-7767666

#16841230 at 2022-07-27 12:08:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition

>>16802359
ASPI's 'no compromise policy' mirrors evil intentions to disrupt China-Australia ties

Global Times - Jul 26, 2022

Justin Bassi, the Executive Director of the Canberra-based think tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), claimed Tuesday that the Australian government has gained "the upper hand diplomatically" regarding relations with China. According to him, this can be proven by the fact that China's dialogue with Australia has resumed on an "unconditional" basis, meaning that Australia has "made no compromises in its foreign policy, national security and defense settings."

Bassi is described in the Australian media as a "long-serving Liberal Party adviser." He served as national security adviser to former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and chief of staff to former foreign minister Marise Payne. After Scott Morrison succeeded Turnbull, the Australian government, under the Liberal Party, tilted more and more toward the US, showing increasingly apparent hostility toward China.

It can be said that Bassi's remarks demonstrate the typical attitude of the Australian Liberals toward improving China-Australia ties. After the Labor defeated the Liberal Party in this year's federal election, it seems now Bassi is so eager to speak up for the Liberals to implicitly warn the Labor government not to compromise with China, which would be a sign of weakness and submission to Beijing.

In bilateral relations, it is common for the two countries to negotiate and make concessions to find common ground, as long as the national interests of both sides are not undermined. Beijing has no historical problems or territorial disputes with Canberra. It just hopes the latter will adjust its China policy and stop jeopardizing China's national interests, rather than just repeating and imitating Washington's anti-China words and actions.

The ASPI chief has equated policy adjustment with compromise and then urged Canberra not to pursue this line of action. This is an attempt to set up and knock down a straw man. And it is absolutely unhelpful to the improvement of bilateral relations.

However, Bassi and ASPI may not be willing to see an improvement in bilateral ties, because the recent signs of such a positive development in the relations with China are obviously not in the interests of some anti-China forces in Australia or the US behind them.

ASPI is trying to force Canberra to continue pressuring China and show the anti-China forces at home and Washington that Australia is not "tilting toward China." It insists on creating obstacles to a better relationship with China, raising questions about whether the organization is simply an anti-China megaphone for Washington's strategic interests to produce public opinion ammunition against China.

Chen Hong, president of the Chinese Association of Australian Studies and director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the Global Times that Bassi's claims about the resumption of the China-Australia dialogue on an unconditional basis are actually setting limits for a conversation between the two sides. In other words, dialogue should take place only if Canberra can maintain its previous suppression or containment measures against China.

Moreover, the Chinese scholar believes the "upper hand" rhetoric is entirely incorrect. Australia is currently on the verge of a severe economic crisis. The country is facing soaring inflation which could be at a 32-year high. Meanwhile, Canberra has vowed to increase foreign aid to Pacific island countries. Therefore, Australia is in more need of its largest trading partner China to achieve better economic and trade cooperation.

This "upper hand" rhetoric is simply an outright lie, trying to fool the Australian public and the international community. It also aims to instill blind confidence in Canberra that could mislead the Labor government's policy on China relations and allow the bilateral ties to continue to deteriorate. This would work best for the interests of ASPI and Washington.

Bassi was appointed as the Executive Director of ASPI in March by the former defense minister and hard-line China hawk Peter Dutton. He clearly has a motive to keep the relationship between China and Australia tense. Rationalists in Canberra should be wary of anti-China forces that can damage the prospects for bilateral relations.

"We hope the Australian government will treat China and its development more rationally and won't be compelled by anti-China public opinions. We are very much looking forward to the two countries meeting each other halfway or working together to strengthen the future of their bilateral ties," Chen noted.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202207/1271492.shtml

#16701998 at 2022-07-10 01:40:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition

'The first step to better ties with Beijing', says Penny Wong after meeting Chinese foreign minister

AMANDA HODGE and WILL GLASGOW - JULY 8, 2022

1/2

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia has taken an "important first step" towards stabilising ties with China following the first bilateral meeting in almost three years with its top diplomat Wang Yi, at which Beijing's detention of Australian citizens and its trade coercion were raised.

Senator Wong met her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali on late Friday after earlier this week calling on China to use its influence with Russia as a "no limits" partner to help end the war in Ukraine.

Senator Wong said after the meeting that the two ministers "spoke frankly and we listened carefully to each other's priorities and concerns".

But, she added, it would "take time and work" to mend ties.

The meeting in Bali follows Defence Minister Richard Marles' meeting with his Chinese counterpart, General Wei Fenghe, in Singapore last month, which represented the first face-to-face minister-to-minister dialogue between the two nations since late 2019. A request by Trade Minister Don Farrell to meet his Chinese counterpart in Geneva was rebuffed. Former foreign minister Marise Payne last spoke to her Chinese counterpart by phone in early 2020, soon after the first cases of Covid-19 were ?detected in Wuhan.

"It's fair to say we both recognised it's a first step for both our nations,'' Senator Wong said after her meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister. "We've got a path to walk and we will see if it can lead to a better place between the two countries.''

"It's unsurprising that we would raise consular cases including Ms Cheng Lei and Dr Yang, and others," she said referring to the Chinese Australian journalist and Chinese Australian writer Yang Hengjun being held on spurious national security charges.

"Obviously we discussed the trade blockages that exist and it remains the government's position that those trade blockages should be revoked."

China's trade reprisals against Australia began after Senator Payne called in April 2020 for an investigation into the origins of Covid-19. Since then, at least $20bn in Australian exports of coal, wine, lobsters and other products have since been hit by Chinese tariffs and unofficial bans.

In a readout of her opening comments released late on Friday, Senator Wong told her Chinese counterpart that In the context of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, a deepening global food and fuel crisis and supply chain shocks "Australia will stand up for international law and the UN charter and we will urge other countries to do so".

She also told Mr Wang that "Australia's Government has changed but our national interests and our policy settings have not.

"And Australia will speak as necessary on the issues that matter to our nation and our people - we will do so calmly and consistently."

(continued)

#16655582 at 2022-07-07 11:12:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #24: TRUMP CARD COMING Edition

>>16655314
Diplomatic freeze ends: China locks in Wong meeting

AMANDA HODGE - 7 July 2022

China has confirmed foreign minister Wang Yi will meet Penny Wong on the sidelines of the G20 foreign minister's meeting in Bali on Friday, ending an almost three year-long diplomatic freeze.

The formal meeting, believed to be scheduled for Friday afternoon after the conclusion of the G20 talks, was announced during a regular press briefing by China's foreign ministry in Beijing as part of a list of bilaterals the country's top diplomat will hold during his stay on the Indonesian tourist island.

The announcement came hours after Senator Wong said publicly in Bali that Australian ministers were willing to engage with China "and that willingness extends to any meeting in the margins of the G20".

An Australian government official confirmed the meeting late on Thursday in a short statement which said: "Australian foreign minister will meet the Chinese Foreign Minister in the margins of the G20 on 8 July."

The last time Mr Wang met with an Australian foreign minister was in September 2019 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York where he declared the bilateral relationship as far more than just "a customer relationship".

Within months of that meeting, however, the relationship had deteriorated sharply, after former foreign minister Marise Payne called for an international inquiry into China's response to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Wang met Russian minister Sergey Lavrov in Bali on Thursday as well as counterparts from India, Indonesia, Argentina, and the EU, and will meet US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Saturday.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politicsnow-fourth-covid-jab-for-over30s/live-coverage/c41d03d9b53c13f8b15ba3f3bdee92c8#63049

#16619054 at 2022-07-06 11:06:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition

>>16601722
>>16619051
Beijing tells Canberra to take 'concrete actions' before Penny Wong meets Chinese Foreign Minister

WILL GLASGOW - JULY 6, 2022

Beijing has told the Albanese government to take "concrete actions" if it wants to improve the fraught bilateral relationship ahead of the first meeting of Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Chinese counterpart in Bali on Thursday.

Speaking days before their first encounter, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said Canberra needed to work with Beijing in a "rational and positive light" and urged the new government to put "differences aside".

"There is no 'autopilot' mode in improving China-Australia relations. A reset requires concrete actions," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

"This meets the aspirations of people in both countries and the trend of our times," Mr Zhao said at a Beijing press conference on Tuesday evening.

The comments repeat the same formulation China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi used during the Papua New Guinea leg of the unprecedented Pacific blitz Xi Jinping's envoy launched in the first days of the new Australian government.

Beijing's posturing comes as close friends and partners of detained Australians Cheng Lei and Dr Yang Hengjun say their plight must be "top of the agenda" of any meeting between the two foreign ministers.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang will meet Senator Wong for the first time during the two-day G20 foreign ministers' forum in Bali, which starts on Thursday. An expected one-on-one meeting has not yet been arranged following Beijing's recent re-buff of Trade Minister Don Farrell at a WTO meeting in Geneva.

Days ahead of the Bali meeting, Chinese officials have ended the more than two-month cessation of regular visits by lawyers and consular officials to the Chinese-born Australian citizens.

The pair remain in Beijing prison cells, awaiting news of their sentences after their respective closed-door, one-day trials.

UTS associate professor Feng Chongyi, a close friend of Dr Yang, said the two imprisoned Australians needed to be at the "top of the agenda" of any meeting between the Chinese and Australian foreign ministers.

"Australians have been subject to arbitrary detention and tortured. If we want to improve the relationship in any way this needs to be dealt with properly," Professor Feng told The Australian.

Nick Coyle, Ms Cheng's partner and the outgoing head of the business lobby AustCham China, said an end to the pair's limbo in Beijing's penal system would help improve China-Australia relations.

"These sorts of issues can be discussed and can be resolved, you would hope, relatively quickly and compassionately," Mr Coyle told the ABC.

The Albanese government has continued the Morrison government's advocacy work for the two Australians, who have been imprisoned during the deterioration of the bilateral relationship.

A fortnight ago, Foreign Minister Wong publicly noted Ms Cheng's 47th birthday, her second behind bars.

"Our hearts go out to her children, whose birthday messages will be passed on during a consular visit to her next Wednesday," Senator Wong said, confirming the resumption of consular access.

The positive signals from Beijing remain modest.

China's ambassador in Australia, Xiao Qian, recently said Australians should "respect the independent ... legal process of China".

He said the "basic rights" of Ms Cheng and Dr Yang had been guaranteed, "according to our own laws".

While Australian diplomats were able to read a note from her two children to Ms Cheng, the former Chinese state news anchor has not been allowed to talk to them since being detained and imprisoned almost 700 days ago.

Meanwhile, Dr Yang, a writer known in China as "democracy peddler", has been in a cell for more than 1200 days.

Senator Wong released a statement on May 27, five days after being sworn in as Foreign Minister, to mark the one-year anniversary of Dr Yang's one-day, closed trial on espionage charges he has denied.

She repeated the Australian government's concern about the delay, his total lack of access to his family and his limited access to legal representation.

Professor Feng thanked the new Foreign Minister for continuing her predecessor Marise Payne's advocacy.

"I'm grateful for her action to keep pressure on the Chinese government and for standing for the protection of human rights," he said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/detained-aussies-must-be-priority/news-story/042913468fddcd8f8c4faaffef9c839e

#16601722 at 2022-07-05 10:07:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition

>>16434639
>>16594111
Signs of a thaw in relations as Beijing warms to G20 meeting with Penny Wong

WILL GLASGOW - JULY 5, 2022

High-level negotiations are under way between Beijing and Canberra for what would be a groundbreaking meeting between their foreign ministers in Bali this week.

Beijing recently dismissed a formal request by Trade Minister Don Farrell to meet his counterpart on the sidelines of a World Trade ?Organisation meeting in Geneva.

Following that rebuff, no formal request for a meeting has been made by Foreign Minister Penny Wong to meet her counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bali, which starts on Thursday. But Canberra has clearly indicated its openness to talk.

"Australian government ministers remain open to engagement with Chinese counterparts," a spokeswoman for Senator Wong told The Australian.

In a promising signal - and ?another step in the complicated diplomatic dance the two countries are engaged in - Australia's ambassador in China, Graham Fletcher, met Chinese Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Xie Feng last Thursday.

That meeting in China's foreign ministry in Beijing came after years of refusals by the Xi ?administration to meet Australia's top envoy in China as the ?bilateral relationship imploded.

"Requests to meet at the vice-minister level in the foreign ministry have been routinely declined despite the relatively good access that China has in the Australian system," said Richard Maude, a senior official in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade during the Turnbull government.

"It's important. It's another signal, another step on the journey," said Mr Maude, executive director of policy at Asia Society Australia.

Not all recent signals have been as positive.

Communist Party mouthpiece China Daily last week said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was "ill-informed" and had a "poor grasp of political realities" after he drew a parallel between Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Beijing's threats to wage war on Taiwan.

Beijing's defence ministry separately warned that Australia would "bear the consequences" of any military accident between Chinese and Australian forces ?operating in disputed areas in the South China Sea.

After confirming that Mr Wang would attend the G20 summit, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman indicated an openness to meet Senator Wong in Bali.

"As usual, on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will have a number of bilateral meetings," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

"As for the meeting between Chinese and Australian foreign ministers you asked about, I have nothing to release."

James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations ?Institute, said it was unclear if the meeting would go ahead.

"We had the meeting of the ?defence ministers but then that wasn't followed up with the trade ministers, which frankly shouldn't have been hard," Professor Laurenceson said.

"This is an opportunity for Beijing to send a clear signal that it is interested in talking. And if it doesn't send that signal then I don't see how Australia can interpret it in any other way than as Beijing not being interested in talking."

Defence Minister Richard Marles met his Chinese counterpart at a security and defence forum in Singapore last month.

It was the first time ministers from the two countries had meet in person since Mr Wang meet former foreign minister Marise Payne in November 2019 on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in Bangkok.

Justin Bassi, who was chief of staff to Senator Payne, said a meeting "without preconditions" would be positive.

"But it's not just Australia who would benefit from dialogue," said Mr Bassi, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy ?Institute. "The best way for China to get a more positive public discourse in Australia is by dropping the bad behaviour, which includes its economic coercion, arbitrary ?detention as well as refusal to meet and discuss differences," he said.

A Lowy poll last week found that Australians' trust in China had plummeted to just 12 per cent, down from 52 per cent in 2018.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/signs-of-a-thaw-in-relations-as-beijing-warms-to-g20-meeting-with-penny-wong/news-story/2fc45873cdbe921c261d8293b8be2a63

#16493363 at 2022-06-23 11:08:57 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition

>>16430199
Labor national secretary Paul Erickson meets China's top diplomat, Xiao Qian

James Massola - June 23, 2022

Federal Labor's national secretary, Paul Erickson, has met with Beijing's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian to discuss the trade sanctions on Australian exports and a recent incident involving a Chinese fighter jet and RAAF surveillance aircraft in a further sign the new government is intent on improving relations with China.

The meeting came at the embassy's request and took place last Tuesday in Canberra, after the Labor Party official sought advice from the government to confirm the meeting was appropriate.

The embassy posted a picture of the pair on its website after the meeting and said the pair "exchanged views on the relationship between the two parties, the two countries and issues of mutual concern".

In a statement in response to questions about the meeting Erickson said it "was an opportunity to share the Labor Party's view that a constructive relationship between Australia and China is in both of our countries' interests".

"I reinforced Labor's view that trade restrictions against Australian exporters are unreasonable and should be lifted in order to stabilise the relationship," he said.

"I also took the opportunity to raise concerns about the treatment of Australians detained in China, and reinforced the deep concerns raised by Defence Minister Richard Marles about recent PLA behaviour towards an Australian aircraft."

That incident saw a Chinese fighter jet release flares and small pieces of metal known as chaff dangerously close to an Australian RAAF P-8 surveillance aircraft, threatening the safety of the plane and the crew.

The episode was described by Defence Minister Richard Marles as "very dangerous" and raised his concerns directly with Beijing.

Marles met with China's Defence Minister Wei Fenghe for an hour during the Shangri La dialogue in Singapore last week, the highest level contact between ministers from the two countries in more than two years.

Since arriving in January, Xiao has met Foreign Minster Penny Wong, former prime ministers John Howard and Paul Keating and former foreign ministers Marise Payne and Julie Bishop.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison rejected Xiao's request for a meeting.

Xiao's efforts to meet senior figures in both major parties have been interpreted as the beginning of a potential thaw in relations between Australia and China.

Diplomatic relations between Canberra and Beijing have been in a diplomatic deep freeze because of more than $20 billion in sanctions and tariffs on Australian goods including beef, barley, wine, coal and lobsters.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-national-secretary-paul-erickson-meets-china-s-top-diplomat-xiao-qian-20220623-p5aw57.html

#16343609 at 2022-05-26 08:37:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition

#22 - Part 23
Australia / China Tensions - Part 4
>>16213336 Video: Solomon Islands prime minister criticises Australia - Sky News Australia
>>16213361 Morrison says Australia still Solomon Islands' first option despite 'secret' security deal with China
>>16213375 How does Australia deal with an erratic rogue like Manasseh Sogavare? - Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au
>>16213387 Defence Minister Peter Dutton defends Australia's efforts in the Pacific, saying China's growing influence is "phenomenal"
>>16220267 Manasseh Sogavare 'to install China force' in Solomons: Solomon Islands opposition MP Peter Kenilorea Jnr
>>16220298 Video: Australia trusts Solomon Islands on Chinese military base, Defence Minister Peter Dutton says
>>16220310 Solomons' PM exposes US double standards, Beijing says - Zhao Jia - chinadaily.com.cn
>>16220317 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 5, 2022
>>16227961 Marise Payne meets with Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele for first time since Pacific nation signed security pact with China
>>16227974 Labor questions why it wasn't invited to meet with Solomon Islands Foreign Minister

>>16239791 China fishing deal reels in Solomon Islands - China is vowing to build wharves, shipyards and submarine cables in the Solomon Islands as Beijing moves to lock in closer security and economic ties, raising concerns the developments could be used by the Chinese military
>>16239809 Australian officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) raise 'serious concerns' with China about Solomon Islands deal
>>16246693 Election 2022: 'Rogue PM Manasseh Sogavare holding Solomons back', says Alexander Downer
>>16246703 Chinese and Russian militaries banned from attending Indo-Pacific 2022 International Maritime Exposition, a major military trade show in Sydney, amid heightened concerns about security agreement between China and Solomon Islands
>>16246832 More Chinese officials 'willing to talk' as Beijing crushes dissent, Australian Secret Intelligence Agency director-general Paul Symon says
>>16246841 ASIS chief Paul Symon hints Chinese officials are passing information to Australia
>>16252727 Video: Australian Secret Intelligence Service director-general Paul Symon says Chinese officials are feeding information to Australian intelligence agencies because they're unhappy with the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian trajectory - Sky News Australia
>>16252740 Video: Foreign espionage: An Australian perspective - ASIS Director-General Paul Symon addressed the Lowy Institute on the past, present and future of foreign espionage from an Australian perspective - Lowy Institute
>>16252749 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to travel to Solomon Islands to sign security pact
>>16252753 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Solomon Islands, wider Pacific visit likely

#16343604 at 2022-05-26 08:35:32 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition

#22 - Part 20
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>16040759 New US Ambassador to Australia warns on Solomon Islands - Caroline Kennedy said she was committed to taking a stronger stance against China's coercion in the Indo-Pacific
>>16047451 Top US official Kurt Campbell reportedly heading to Solomon Islands to discuss Chinese security pact concerns
>>16047461 US to send officials to Solomon Islands due to tensions over China security pact - Washington fears Beijing will gain strategic toehold in Pacific close to Australia
>>16047471 Solomons clear on military bases: "They won't allow a military base there" - Defence Minister Peter Dutton
>>16047493 Ex-Labor campaigner Teresa Siu has links to suspected Chinese 'puppeteer' Chau Chak Wing
>>16059101 Machine guns and automatic rifles on weapons import list for secret Chinese security team in Solomon Islands
>>16059114 Ties with US, not China, the cause of Australia's headache - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>16065928 Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja's Solomon Islands dash to stymie deal with China
>>16065951 Solomon Islands Government Statement: GOV'T CAUTIONS AGAINST FAKE NEWS AFTER LEAKED DOCUMENTS
>>16065951 Solomon Islands Government Statement: STATUS OF CHINA'S REQUEST FOR DIPLOMATIC SECURITY PERSONAL

>>16065990 Australia's Pacific Minister Zed Seselja urges Solomon Islands Prime Minister not to sign China security deal
>>16065990 Visiting Commandant of the US Marine Corp, General David Berger, has highlighted the geographic importance of Solomon Islands - "The Solomon Islands, their location matters. It's clearly a point of contention and competition."
>>16068464 US warns Solomons on China - US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Menendez: "not in the interests of the US, Australia or the Solomon Islands for a Chinese base to be established in the Pacific nation"
>>16068475 Video: Australia is 'growing with freedom': Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says Australia has paid a "heavy price" for standing up to communist China and the United States stands with the nation more than ever before
>>16074008 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 13, 2022
>>16080093 Shame on freedom as US and Australia threaten Solomons: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>16086581 Solomon govt refutes misinformation on deal with China, condemning those who attempt to undermine its stability - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>16092047 Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia would keep security ties with Solomon Islands despite China pact
>>16092060 Solomon Islands Government Statement: SOLOMON ISLANDS AND AUSTRALIA HOLD PRODUCTIVE SECURITY DISCUSSIONS
>>16092085 White House finally awakens to PRC capture of Solomon Islands - Cleo Paskal - sundayguardianlive.com

>>16092209 China not a big concern: Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John - "China doesn't pose a threat to Australia and the party has no problem with Solomon Islands' decision to forge a security partnership with Beijing"
>>16104788 US warns that China's soldiers could be stationed in Solomons
>>16104792 China and Solomon Islands sign security pact, Beijing says it is 'not directed at any third party' amid Pacific influence fears
>>16104804 China says it signs security pact with Solomon Islands
>>16111159 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 19, 2022
>>16111165 Video: PICs have the right to independently choose their cooperation partners. - SpokespersonCHN
>>16111180 US' high-level visit to Solomon Islands aims to nullify China security pact, uses region as hegemonic fulcrum - Xu Keyue, Shan Jie and Bai Yunyi - globaltimes.cn
>>16111196 Prime Minister Scott Morrison defends Foreign Minister Marise Payne's absence from Solomons as 'strategic decision'
>>16111221 The China-Solomon Islands security deal is a failure that goes back years - Anthony Galloway - theage.com.au
>>16111259 Video: Scott Morrison pushes back on claims the government bungled security relationship with Solomon Islands

#16343579 at 2022-05-26 08:29:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition

#22 - Part 4
Australian Politics and Society - Part 4
>>16086334 Video: Scott Morrison visits Easter Show, chaotic scenes ensue - After a week of tightly controlled events, the Prime Minister ventured into the crowds of the Easter Show today. Chaos ensued. "Yeahhhh, Scoeyyyyyyyyyyy!" "Oh. I don't like him." "Go Sharkies!" "You want one?" (offering the PM a beer as he walked past. He politely declined).
>>16086388 Video: Morrison campaigns at Royal Easter Show - Prime Minister Scott Morrison has taken his campaign to the Royal Easter Show in Sydney - Sky News Australia
>>16086439 Australia PM vows to seek anti-corruption watchdog if re-elected next month, hitting out at the opposition Labor's plan
>>16086464 Could Australia's answer to UK Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn become PM? - This election is Anthony Albanese's to lose - Terry Barnes - spectator.co.uk
>>16086610 Australian Department of Defence Tweet: #AusArmy HQ's 1st Division welcomes its first @Japan_GSDF liaison officer, Lieutenant Colonel Shotaro Tada. This is the first time there has been an embedded liaison officer role in #YourADF, further developing the already great working relationship between (Australia) & (Japan) ground forces.
>>16086624 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Pleased to welcome (United States) friends to Sydney this week & discuss shared interests, including our commitment to an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific. (Australia) & (United States) are united in our response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine & strongly support efforts to investigate Russia's war crimes.
>>16086672 Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II joint strike fighters will train Down Under with Australian stealth fighters this summer
>>16086730 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: The fourth and final part of our Meet MRF-D 22 series focuses on our infantry battalion and supporting maneuver elements. Ready to fight any time, anywhere, the GCE provides flexibility and lethality to the MAGTF. #mrfd #usmc #ADF
>>16086730 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin: Meet MRF-D 22: the Ground Combat Element
>>16091958 Anthony Albanese forced into yet another awkward backtrack after blunder on Labor's policy opposing temporary protection visa for asylum seekers

>>16091968 Video: Anthony Albanese forced to clarify new comments about asylum seekers - corrects his position on Labor's border policy after giving conflicting answers on the campaign trail
>>16091989 Election 2022: Australian Electoral Commission seeing worrying signs of misinformation, elections chief Tom Rogers says
>>16092010 Albanese pays price for gaffe as voters swing back to government - Morrison leading Albanese as preferred Prime Minister by 38 to 30 per cent
>>16092130 Video: Easter 2022 - Chocolate concealment no match for Australian Federal Police eggs-perts - AFP responds to urgent calls for help from frustrated children who have been unable to find where the Easter Bunny left caches of chocolate eggs this season
>>16092295 Video: Anthony Albanese greeted by deafening boos and jeers as he took to the stage at Bluesfest in Byron Bay
>>16092442 Sarah Basford Canales Tweet: Video: Albanese has gatecrashed Byron Bay's Bluesfest where he's expected to join the stages with Jimmy Barnes later tonight #auspol @canberratimes
>>16092442 Tom Lowrey Tweet: Video: A -mixed- response for Anthony Albanese on stage at Bluesfest tonight, introducing Jimmy Barnes. @politicsabc
>>16097869 Myanmar junta releases 1,600 prisoners for Buddhist new year, but no mention of detained Australian economist Sean Turnell, former adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi
>>16097877 Defence in 'urgent need of new weapons', says key Australian exporter EOS Defence
>>16097888 US combat aircraft arrive in Top End - The Red Dragons, a squadron of tilt-rotor Bell-Boeing V-22 Ospreys assigned to support this year's Marine Rotational Force based in Darwin

#16343546 at 2022-05-26 08:13:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

#22 - Part 23
Australia / China Tensions - Part 4
>>16213336 Video: Solomon Islands prime minister criticises Australia - Sky News Australia
>>16213361 Morrison says Australia still Solomon Islands' first option despite 'secret' security deal with China
>>16213375 How does Australia deal with an erratic rogue like Manasseh Sogavare? - Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au
>>16213387 Defence Minister Peter Dutton defends Australia's efforts in the Pacific, saying China's growing influence is "phenomenal"
>>16220267 Manasseh Sogavare 'to install China force' in Solomons: Solomon Islands opposition MP Peter Kenilorea Jnr
>>16220298 Video: Australia trusts Solomon Islands on Chinese military base, Defence Minister Peter Dutton says
>>16220310 Solomons' PM exposes US double standards, Beijing says - Zhao Jia - chinadaily.com.cn
>>16220317 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 5, 2022
>>16227961 Marise Payne meets with Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele for first time since Pacific nation signed security pact with China
>>16227974 Labor questions why it wasn't invited to meet with Solomon Islands Foreign Minister

>>16239791 China fishing deal reels in Solomon Islands - China is vowing to build wharves, shipyards and submarine cables in the Solomon Islands as Beijing moves to lock in closer security and economic ties, raising concerns the developments could be used by the Chinese military
>>16239809 Australian officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) raise 'serious concerns' with China about Solomon Islands deal
>>16246693 Election 2022: 'Rogue PM Manasseh Sogavare holding Solomons back', says Alexander Downer
>>16246703 Chinese and Russian militaries banned from attending Indo-Pacific 2022 International Maritime Exposition, a major military trade show in Sydney, amid heightened concerns about security agreement between China and Solomon Islands
>>16246832 More Chinese officials 'willing to talk' as Beijing crushes dissent, Australian Secret Intelligence Agency director-general Paul Symon says
>>16246841 ASIS chief Paul Symon hints Chinese officials are passing information to Australia
>>16252727 Video: Australian Secret Intelligence Service director-general Paul Symon says Chinese officials are feeding information to Australian intelligence agencies because they're unhappy with the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian trajectory - Sky News Australia
>>16252740 Video: Foreign espionage: An Australian perspective - ASIS Director-General Paul Symon addressed the Lowy Institute on the past, present and future of foreign espionage from an Australian perspective - Lowy Institute
>>16252749 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to travel to Solomon Islands to sign security pact
>>16252753 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Solomon Islands, wider Pacific visit likely

#16343536 at 2022-05-26 08:09:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

#22 - Part 20
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>16040759 New US Ambassador to Australia warns on Solomon Islands - Caroline Kennedy said she was committed to taking a stronger stance against China's coercion in the Indo-Pacific
>>16047451 Top US official Kurt Campbell reportedly heading to Solomon Islands to discuss Chinese security pact concerns
>>16047461 US to send officials to Solomon Islands due to tensions over China security pact - Washington fears Beijing will gain strategic toehold in Pacific close to Australia
>>16047471 Solomons clear on military bases: "They won't allow a military base there" - Defence Minister Peter Dutton
>>16047493 Ex-Labor campaigner Teresa Siu has links to suspected Chinese 'puppeteer' Chau Chak Wing
>>16059101 Machine guns and automatic rifles on weapons import list for secret Chinese security team in Solomon Islands
>>16059114 Ties with US, not China, the cause of Australia's headache - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>16065928 Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja's Solomon Islands dash to stymie deal with China
>>16065951 Solomon Islands Government Statement: GOV'T CAUTIONS AGAINST FAKE NEWS AFTER LEAKED DOCUMENTS
>>16065951 Solomon Islands Government Statement: STATUS OF CHINA'S REQUEST FOR DIPLOMATIC SECURITY PERSONAL

>>16065990 Australia's Pacific Minister Zed Seselja urges Solomon Islands Prime Minister not to sign China security deal
>>16065990 Visiting Commandant of the US Marine Corp, General David Berger, has highlighted the geographic importance of Solomon Islands - "The Solomon Islands, their location matters. It's clearly a point of contention and competition."
>>16068464 US warns Solomons on China - US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Menendez: "not in the interests of the US, Australia or the Solomon Islands for a Chinese base to be established in the Pacific nation"
>>16068475 Video: Australia is 'growing with freedom': Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says Australia has paid a "heavy price" for standing up to communist China and the United States stands with the nation more than ever before
>>16074008 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 13, 2022
>>16080093 Shame on freedom as US and Australia threaten Solomons: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>16086581 Solomon govt refutes misinformation on deal with China, condemning those who attempt to undermine its stability - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>16092047 Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia would keep security ties with Solomon Islands despite China pact
>>16092060 Solomon Islands Government Statement: SOLOMON ISLANDS AND AUSTRALIA HOLD PRODUCTIVE SECURITY DISCUSSIONS
>>16092085 White House finally awakens to PRC capture of Solomon Islands - Cleo Paskal - sundayguardianlive.com

>>16092209 China not a big concern: Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John - "China doesn't pose a threat to Australia and the party has no problem with Solomon Islands' decision to forge a security partnership with Beijing"
>>16104788 US warns that China's soldiers could be stationed in Solomons
>>16104792 China and Solomon Islands sign security pact, Beijing says it is 'not directed at any third party' amid Pacific influence fears
>>16104804 China says it signs security pact with Solomon Islands
>>16111159 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 19, 2022
>>16111165 Video: PICs have the right to independently choose their cooperation partners. - SpokespersonCHN
>>16111180 US' high-level visit to Solomon Islands aims to nullify China security pact, uses region as hegemonic fulcrum - Xu Keyue, Shan Jie and Bai Yunyi - globaltimes.cn
>>16111196 Prime Minister Scott Morrison defends Foreign Minister Marise Payne's absence from Solomons as 'strategic decision'
>>16111221 The China-Solomon Islands security deal is a failure that goes back years - Anthony Galloway - theage.com.au
>>16111259 Video: Scott Morrison pushes back on claims the government bungled security relationship with Solomon Islands

#16343497 at 2022-05-26 07:56:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

#22 - Part 4
Australian Politics and Society - Part 4
>>16086334 Video: Scott Morrison visits Easter Show, chaotic scenes ensue - After a week of tightly controlled events, the Prime Minister ventured into the crowds of the Easter Show today. Chaos ensued. "Yeahhhh, Scoeyyyyyyyyyyy!" "Oh. I don't like him." "Go Sharkies!" "You want one?" (offering the PM a beer as he walked past. He politely declined).
>>16086388 Video: Morrison campaigns at Royal Easter Show - Prime Minister Scott Morrison has taken his campaign to the Royal Easter Show in Sydney - Sky News Australia
>>16086439 Australia PM vows to seek anti-corruption watchdog if re-elected next month, hitting out at the opposition Labor's plan
>>16086464 Could Australia's answer to UK Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn become PM? - This election is Anthony Albanese's to lose - Terry Barnes - spectator.co.uk
>>16086610 Australian Department of Defence Tweet: #AusArmy HQ's 1st Division welcomes its first @Japan_GSDF liaison officer, Lieutenant Colonel Shotaro Tada. This is the first time there has been an embedded liaison officer role in #YourADF, further developing the already great working relationship between (Australia) & (Japan) ground forces.
>>16086624 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Pleased to welcome (United States) friends to Sydney this week & discuss shared interests, including our commitment to an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific. (Australia) & (United States) are united in our response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine & strongly support efforts to investigate Russia's war crimes.
>>16086672 Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II joint strike fighters will train Down Under with Australian stealth fighters this summer
>>16086730 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: The fourth and final part of our Meet MRF-D 22 series focuses on our infantry battalion and supporting maneuver elements. Ready to fight any time, anywhere, the GCE provides flexibility and lethality to the MAGTF. #mrfd #usmc #ADF
>>16086730 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin: Meet MRF-D 22: the Ground Combat Element
>>16091958 Anthony Albanese forced into yet another awkward backtrack after blunder on Labor's policy opposing temporary protection visa for asylum seekers

>>16091968 Video: Anthony Albanese forced to clarify new comments about asylum seekers - corrects his position on Labor's border policy after giving conflicting answers on the campaign trail
>>16091989 Election 2022: Australian Electoral Commission seeing worrying signs of misinformation, elections chief Tom Rogers says
>>16092010 Albanese pays price for gaffe as voters swing back to government - Morrison leading Albanese as preferred Prime Minister by 38 to 30 per cent
>>16092130 Video: Easter 2022 - Chocolate concealment no match for Australian Federal Police eggs-perts - AFP responds to urgent calls for help from frustrated children who have been unable to find where the Easter Bunny left caches of chocolate eggs this season
>>16092295 Video: Anthony Albanese greeted by deafening boos and jeers as he took to the stage at Bluesfest in Byron Bay
>>16092442 Sarah Basford Canales Tweet: Video: Albanese has gatecrashed Byron Bay's Bluesfest where he's expected to join the stages with Jimmy Barnes later tonight #auspol @canberratimes
>>16092442 Tom Lowrey Tweet: Video: A -mixed- response for Anthony Albanese on stage at Bluesfest tonight, introducing Jimmy Barnes. @politicsabc
>>16097869 Myanmar junta releases 1,600 prisoners for Buddhist new year, but no mention of detained Australian economist Sean Turnell, former adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi
>>16097877 Defence in 'urgent need of new weapons', says key Australian exporter EOS Defence
>>16097888 US combat aircraft arrive in Top End - The Red Dragons, a squadron of tilt-rotor Bell-Boeing V-22 Ospreys assigned to support this year's Marine Rotational Force based in Darwin

#16325900 at 2022-05-23 10:40:36 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16315617
Albanese should handle any outreach from China with caution

WILL GLASGOW - MAY 23, 2022

How long until China launches its first verbal attack on the Albanese government? I would give it about 48 hours.

Anthony Albanese's meeting on Tuesday with the leaders of the Quad in Tokyo should trigger the usual outrage in Beijing about "Cold War mindsets".

Days after the Quad meeting, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to visit Solomon Islands to sign a new secret security agreement. Brace for another spray about Canberra's "colonial mentality".

Furious party-speak diatribes will soon fill Penny Wong's daily media briefings, as they did those of her predecessors as foreign minister, Marise Payne and Julie Bishop.

An improvement in the relationship that works for both countries is possible - indeed, the way there is obvious. At any time, Beijing can end its black-listing of Australian coal, wine, barley, lobster and other imports, previously worth about $20bn a year.

It would hardly be a selfless gift by China to Australia. Beijing's vindictiveness has greatly increased the cost of coking coal used by Chinese steelmakers.

Similarly, China's Foreign Minister could call his new counterpart at any time. The same with the rest of the ministry. After all, the decision to end ministerial contact was made by Beijing, not Canberra.

The final phone call came from Wang on January 29, 2020, when he assured Payne that China would "stay in close communication and co-ordination with Australia".

No minister in the Australian government has heard from them since. Requests for calls have gone unanswered. Letters have been unacknowledged.

The Department of Foreign Affairs assessed that Beijing had decided to "wait out" the Coalition. At some point, China will end its self-imposed silence.

The end of Beijing's trade blockades and the resumption of normal dialogue would be a good thing, but the Albanese government should handle any outreach with caution.

Albanese and Wong need to be careful they do not create a terrible precedent. Beijing must not be taught that its coercive tactics against Australia can be erased with a change of government, as former Australian diplomat Hugh Piper has said.

"On China, a new government should actually do very little," he argues in a piece for the Lowy Institute. "Remaining consistent on national security and principled positions on human rights, for example, will demonstrate to Beijing that fundamental points of sovereignty and national identity are not up for negotiation."

It is excellent advice.

There is a whole world beyond the People's Republic of China to busy Australia's new government. Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands are top of the list.

And there is the busy agenda of the Quad, whose three other member countries - America, Japan and India - all have their own China troubles.

Even if it wanted to, the Australian government would struggle to get the attention of its leader right now.

Beijing is consumed in domestic politics ahead of a political gathering in November that will give Xi Jinping his audacious third, five-year-term as leader.

At some point, Xi will turn his attention to Canberra. Australia's new government should not feel any pressure to hurry that along.

As China's diplomats like to say, the ball is in Beijing's court.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/reset-in-relations-must-rest-with-xi-jinping/news-story/3aea34c9ae020d0780ff753ebf8daceb

#16320379 at 2022-05-22 06:09:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16320374

2/2

On Sunday morning, Andrews said it was too early to speculate on who the next leader will be as votes were still being counted.

"[It] is way too early for there to be a discussion about that. At some point, the Liberal Party room will meet and we will elect a new leader but that is not a discussion for today," she said.

Tehan said running for the leadership was the "last thing on my mind" but he didn't rule it out.

"What we've got to do is make sure we are looking after those who have lost their seats, make sure we are scrutinising every last vote that comes in," he told Sky News.

"At this stage what we need to be doing is making sure we regroup and come together."

Asked whether Dutton was the favourite, Tehan said: "We've got to wait and see what happens... there's still a lot of votes to be counted, it's far too premature to be having those discussions, we're 12 hours after election day."

A number of MPs were also being discussed for the deputy's position, which is decided by a separate vote of the party room, on Sunday morning.

Candidates being discussed included NSW lower house MP Sussan Ley or in what would be an unusual move, South Australian senator Anne Ruston or Victorian senator Jane Hume.

If the conservative Dutton was leader, there may be the unusual push to install Ruston or Hume as deputy as they are both progressive-leaning senior women.

Multiple MPs pushed back on the idea that Dutton would be unable to appeal to the middle-ground, with some highlighting the fact he was not religious and his record in advising former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull during the same-sex marriage plebiscite vote as evidence of his pragmatism.

Some moderate MPs are disappointed that senior moderates, such as Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham, were either not allowed to, or not willing to, speak up more about social issues under Morrison.

No matter who is leader, there will be a strong moderate push to focus more on climate and the treatment of women and for senior moderate members to have more of a public profile.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/peter-dutton-will-run-for-liberal-leader-tehan-and-andrews-consider-tilt-20220522-p5anfs.html

#16313697 at 2022-05-21 01:36:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047076
>>16104792
Beijing woos PNG with security support as fears of poll unrest rise

BEN PACKHAM - MAY 21, 2022

Beijing is pushing to expand its ?security support to the Pacific, ?offering help to Papua New Guinea to prevent political and ethnic violence during its upcoming ?national elections.

The Weekend Australian has learned from PNG sources that the Chinese embassy in Port Moresby has been in talks with PNG officials over the proposed support, which Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hopes to announce during a visit to the capital on June 2.

It's unclear if the assistance would be in the form of funding, or whether China would provide arms and protective equipment to PNG security personnel.

Mr Wang will visit Solomon Islands by mid-next week for a ceremonial signing of China's controversial new security agreement with that country, and is expected to visit Fiji and potentially one other destination before heading to PNG.

It comes after The Australian revealed on Friday cabinet's national security committee rejected a push last year by Foreign Minister Marise Payne for Australia to double its Pacific aid funding to counter rising ?Chinese influence.

Senator Payne presented the revised Pacific Step-up strategy to cabinet colleagues in November, arguing Australia needed to dramatically increase its support for regional partners to prevent them being co-opted by Beijing. But it was rejected on the grounds it was too expensive, and would not have the desired effect.

Campaigning in Perth on Friday, Scott Morrison told reporters that pouring more foreign aid into the Pacific would not keep China at bay.

"You're suggesting that if you just double funding in the Pacific, then somehow the Chinese government doesn't have any influence ... or won't be successful in seeking to coerce or exert its influence in the southwest Pacific," the Prime Minister said.

"That's your assumption. And that assumption doesn't hold."

Mr Morrison refused to confirm or deny a leak, and pushed back against suggestions any of his cabinet colleagues had briefed against him in the final days before the election. "The national security committee is not just attended by ministers, it's also attended by officials," he said.

Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the "extraordinary" leak showed the government had failed to ensure Australia remained the partner of choice" in the region".

"How do we ensure that we secure our region? That's the key strategic question. And on this, Mr Morrison dropped the ball and Australian security is paying the price," she told ABC radio.

The planned offer of security support to PNG would likely be welcomed by the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, which is desperately under-resourced to deal with violence during the July 2-22 election period. The head of PNG's Correctional Service, which will assist with election security, said recently that the agency "may not be able to buy protective gear, especially body armour and arms, because we do not have enough funds".

According to the Australian National University's Nicole Haley, PNG's 2017 national elections were marred by violence, insecurity and widespread fraud.

Australia is providing about $30m in support towards the conduct of PNG's elections, while Australian Defence Force aircraft and about 140 personnel will assist with logistics and planning.

Some members of PNG's Chinese community are said to be nervous about Mr Wang's visit so close to the elections, fearing it could be construed as interference in the country's political process, and cause a backlash against their businesses.

Lowy Institute senior fellow for East Asia Richard McGregor said Mr Wang's trip was "an emphatic statement of China's ongoing interest in the region".

"It is mainly a political statement of interest (by China), and returning serve not just to Australia but, frankly, more importantly to the US," he said.

He said the security pact with Solomon Islands would be the most significant agreement Mr Wang was likely to sign during the trip, but there could be a range of other deals signed.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/beijing-woos-png-with-security-support-as-fears-of-poll-unrest-rise/news-story/7c529d07005f50845a1aba4388b2c8bd

#16272355 at 2022-05-14 11:15:41 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047076
>>16272334
'Reckless': Dutton says Albo loose with truth on US security

Clare Armstrong - May 14, 2022

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has hit back at claims by Anthony Albanese that the PM 'broke the faith and trust' with the United States when he failed to brief Labor on the AUKUS security pact.

Mr Dutton accused Mr Albanese of being 'reckless' and loose with the truth on a matter of national security by relying on a newspaper report for his information.

"If Mr Albanese had a problem with the way in which the briefings were conducted and the way in which the information was provided to him, he's had ample opportunity ... to make it an issue, to raise it publicly,'' Mr Dutton said.

"But there is a media report today he's responding to in the midst of an election campaign and frankly I think Anthony Albanese is being loose with the truth when it comes to national security.

"I think his comments today are quite reckless.

"If the United States had conditioned the AUKUS agreement on there being a briefing for the Australian Labor Party, then clearly the deal would haven't gone ahead.

"So the United States didn't condition that, and I think Mr Albanese frankly owes the Australian public an apology because he's mislead the public today.

"He's basing his comments on those which have been made in an article in The Sydney Morning Herald today. He hasn't made any issue of this particular matter from the time he was first briefed up until this very day. So, he's using the midst of an election campaign to try to play politics with this issue and, frankly, I think it's quite reckless."

Speaking in Darwin on Saturday, Mr Albanese addressed reports that the United States had requested more than four months before the deal was announced that the government brief the Opposition.

"The United States government was saying to the Australian government very clearly and repeatedly that they wanted the Opposition, Labor, to be briefed," he said.

"And then they wanted to have the confidence that this would be a bipartisan issue in terms of support."

Mr Albanese said the Biden administration understood the deal would "have implications beyond who was in government at any particular time".

He said he was eventually briefed by officials just one day before the announcement, after Mr Morrison asked him to fly to Canberra.

"It is extraordinary that the Prime Minister broke that faith and trust with our most important ally by not briefing Australian Labor on these issues," he said.

"The fact that the United States had made a request to Australia that was ignored for four and a half months shows that this is a Prime Minister who always plays short-term politics and is not interested in the national interest.

"This Prime Minister is always, always interested in the wedge, always interested in the division and that is why when he says that "I'll change," he can't be trusted."

Mr Albanese also took aim at Defence Minister Peter Dutton's rhetoric on China saying it is 'very different from his own government's rhetoric'.

"It is very different from Marise Payne who is in charge of foreign policy. She is the Foreign Minister. Her rhetoric is very different from Peter Dutton," he said.

"What we see going on here - we've seen it for some period of time ... there is tension within the Liberal Party. It is being played out day after day."

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/federal-election/next-time-ill-be-different-pm-scott-morrisons-plea-to-voters-as-election-nears/news-story/1d0ef08792426a8602e58a712ba79b0b

#16267035 at 2022-05-13 14:46:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16267023
Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 11, 2022

China Daily: Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne met her Solomon Islands' counterpart in Brisbane the other day. Payne said that Australia has been consistent and clear in stating its respect for Solomon Islands' sovereign decision-making, but has reiterated its deep concerns about the security agreement with China, including the lack of transparency. Does the Chinese side have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: I have noted relevant reports. Pacific Island countries including Solomon Islands are all independent sovereign nations. They are not the backyard of any country. Since Australia claims to respect Solomon Islands' sovereign decision-making, then it should match its words with actions and stop making wanton comments on the latter's exercise of sovereign rights in pursuing international cooperation independently and stop resorting to pressure and coercion.

The Chinese side has repeatedly shared information on its security cooperation with Solomon Islands. I would like to reiterate that it is the sacred right of two sovereign countries to independently conclude through consultation agreements like the inter-governmental framework agreement on security cooperation between China and Solomon Islands, which is normal law enforcement and security cooperation in keeping with international law and customary international practice. China-Solomon Islands security cooperation is open, transparent and not targeted at any third party. It does not contradict Solomon Islands' cooperation with other partners or existing regional mechanisms. It serves the common interests of Solomon Islands and the South Pacific region. The rumor that China will build a military base in Solomon Islands is pure disinformation fabricated by a few individuals with ulterior motives.

I want to stress that Australia, without communicating and consulting with Pacific Island Countries, put together a military group with the US and the UK, both non-regional countries, spurred an arms race, and brought nuclear proliferation risks to the South Pacific. Australia's shady maneuver in the true sense is neither open nor transparent. Countries in the region are all deeply concerned about this. Australia should reflect on its behavior and change course.

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/202205/t20220511_10684604.html

#16266545 at 2022-05-13 13:00:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047076
>>16266364
Election 2022: Richard Marles had more China meetings than Penny Wong

NOAH YIM - MAY 13, 2022

Labor's Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong had only two meetings with the Chinese embassy compared with Richard Marles' 10 as it emerged only a small number of the Labor Deputy's meetings were disclosed with the Australian government.

The Australian revealed today Mr Marles attended ten meetings with the Chinese embassy or officials in the past five years, at a time when tensions were escalating in the Sino-Australia relationship and the Morrison government was frozen out of contact with Beijing.

Mr Marles defended the meetings saying he had been "completely transparent" in all his dealings with the Chinese embassy.

"Indeed, the government has known about them and at times has been supporting them," Mr Marles said at a press conference in Sydney.

However Foreign Minister Marise Payne, in a debate with Senator Wong at the National Press Club, said Mr Marles had only disclosed with her office a small number of his visits to the Chinese embassy.

In relation to specific approaches from Mr Marles, my understanding is a small number of those meetings were advised to my office. It's not my role to "clear" them or otherwise. I would describe them as being noted," Senator Payne said.

"But I would say that it is important to be consistent, and that is certainly the approach that this government has taken in all of our engagements across the government."

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said she had met with the former Chinese ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye and his replacement, Xiao Qian.

Mr Marles said he discussed, in a "number" of his meetings, an extradition treaty that Labor did not support.

Mr Marles said he maintained relationships with many embassies in Canberra, including with China's.

"I maintain a relationship with the diplomatic corps in Canberra.

"I've seen the United States ambassador almost 30 times."

Mr Marles denied allegations that at one private meeting, he indicated to Chinese officials that the countries' relationship would improve under a Labor government.

Mr Marles also denied reporting his relationship with the Chinese ambassador raised concerns among Labor colleagues, members of the intelligence community, and Australian Strategic Policy Institute director Peter Jennings.

"None of those concerns have been raised with me."

The Australian reported that Peter Jennings made multiple interventions from 2017 to persuade Mr Marles away from his attempt to blame the Coalition government for Beijing's hostilities.

Scott Morrison says the "very strangely high" number of meetings deputy Labor leader Richard Marles has had with Chinese government officials "doesn't sound right to me".

"It comes on top of the concerning reports about him running his speeches past the Chinese Government and now we see a very strangely high number of meetings between an opposition member of Parliament and Chinese government officials," Mr Morrison said on Friday.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/election-2022-richard-marles-defends-china-dealings-as-embassy-visits-revealed/news-story/5664cc5971877e3d5519606909bbd5dd

#16266364 at 2022-05-13 12:03:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047076
>>16127896
>>16128445
>>16148857
>>16155389
Labor deputy Richard Marles' run of visits to China embassy

SHARRI MARKSON - MAY 12, 2022

1/3

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles held 10 meetings with the Chinese embassy or officials in the past five years, at a time when tensions were escalating in the Sino-Australia relationship and the Morrison government was frozen out of contact with Beijing.

The issue of contact with Chinese officials, including "wolf warrior" former ambassador Cheng Jingye, who was responsible for issuing a list of 14 demands to Australia, was raised with the national security apparatus, a three-month investigation by The Australian has uncovered.

Mr Marles's contact with the embassy and attitude towards China sparked concern among Labor colleagues, sources say, including former deputy chair of the joint committee on intelligence and security, Anthony Byrne, and the late Kimberley Kitching.

At one private meeting, Mr Marles is understood to have indicated to Chinese officials that the countries' relationship would improve under a Labor government.

The Australian has confirmed that Mr Marles met officials from the Chinese embassy or consul-general three times in 2017, once in 2018, twice in 2019, once in 2020, twice in 2021 and a meeting was scheduled with new Chinese ambassador for March 2022 but was postponed.

Since she became Foreign Minister in August 2018, Marise Payne has had two meetings with the previous Chinese ambassador and one with his replacement.

The Chinese embassy also facilitated Mr Marles's delivery of a speech in Beijing in September 2019 and arranged for him to meet a senior Communist Party official while on that trip.

At the time of the meetings, ?relations between China and Australia were deteriorating following the debate and passage of the foreign interference legislation, the banning of Huawei and the resignation of Labor senator Sam Dastyari from the frontbench in 2016 and then from parliament in late 2017 after he warned a Chinese donor he was under surveillance.

Mr Marles organised one of the three embassy meetings in 2017 while his Labor colleagues set up the other two that he attended.

Mr Marles always had staff members present for the meetings and was never alone, his spokeswoman said. "Mr Marles has always engaged in professional diplomacy both during his time as a minister and shadow minister- this is not a secret," she said.

"Desperate attempts by others to suggest otherwise, are now getting beyond the pale and don't stand up to the facts."

It is understood that, in conversations with Chinese officials, Mr Marles gave the impression diplomatic relations would improve under a Labor government.

There were concerns his comments would create a perception at the Chinese embassy that Labor would take a softer position on ?national security to the government. Mr Marles could not recall making such remarks when questioned by The Australian.

However, the sentiment is captured in a Chinese-language report dated September 23, 2019, by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

The report records a meeting in Beijing between Mr Marles and the Vice Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Guo Yezhou.

It states Mr Marles said Labor was "willing to deepen exchanges and co-operation between the two parties so as to promote the ?development of Australia-China relations."

Six days later, Mr Marles told then ABC host Fran Kelly that Chinese officials he met in Beijing had complained about how the Australian government was managing the relationship with China.

Mr Marles agreed that "this government, our government right now, is managing this relationship badly". He said there had been "complete ineptness on the part of this government" and added: "Right now, we have a massive trust deficit in terms of our relationship with China, and we need to build trust."

(continued)

#16259674 at 2022-05-12 09:43:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047076
>>16104792
Former Solomon Islands high commissioner 'manhandled' by Morrison's security

Anthony Galloway - May 12, 2022

One of Australia's first high commissioners to Solomon Islands has complained of being "manhandled" by Scott Morrison's security in regional Tasmania as he attempted to talk to the prime minister about mishandling the relationship with the Pacific island nation.

Trevor Sofield, the high commissioner to the Solomons from 1982 to 1985, was at a cheese shop and cafe with his wife and friends in northern Tasmania when he tried to talk to Morrison.

Footage shows members of Morrison's security detail stopping him from getting to the prime minister.

A controversial security pact between China and the Solomons has dominated the federal election campaign with Labor accusing Morrison of not doing enough to stop the deal from being signed.

Sofield told the media pack he was trying to talk to Morrison about the mishandling of our national strategic interests.

"I was high commissioner in Solomon Islands for four years, when I was in Foreign Affairs I was one of the initiators of our policy of strategic command. We have lost the plot in the South Pacific and given that I've got a degree of experience, I think I know what I'm talking about," he said.

Sofield followed the prime minister outside but was again prevented by minders from approaching him.

"You are manhandling me. I want to talk to the prime minister, why are you pushing me out of the way? All I want to do is talk to the prime minister," Sofield yelled after being stopped from talking to him.

"It's pretty close to being criminal. This is a public space, a public carpark. I would like to express my view to the prime minister … the way in which he has mishandled our strategic interests in Solomon Islands.

"I was high commissioner there for four years, I think I have an insight into the way in which we have totally mishandled this particular aspect of our foreign policy. I'm in the electorate of Bass and the Liberal Party has lost my vote because of this major strategic blunder."

Sofield, 78, criticised the Coalition government for cutting the foreign aid program, and said Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne should have more regularly visited the Solomons. He said the Pacific "Step Up" policy was "too little, too late".

"I find it incomprehensible that we did not know in advance what was happening in Solomon Islands this time. It just couldn't have happened previously," he said.

Sofield said it was a "good question" as to whether Labor would do a better job, but a new government would be an "opportunity to reset the relationship".

"Reset the entire relationship with the South Pacific, sit down with people who know the South Pacific and start to completely re-engineer the way we do it, different aid programs, totally different personnel," he said.

He said the Liberal Member for Bass Bridget Archer did have his vote for crossing the floor on an integrity commission last year, but the Solomons deal had lost his vote.

"I saw Scott Morrison come in ... I decided I would like to speak to the prime minister and tell him he had lost my vote," he said.

"And that's when suddenly I find I was surrounded by guys on either side of me, and right at the end one of his female minders went up to the owner of the establishment and asked him to order me off the premises."

"If this is what our democracy is coming to, it's a pretty sad state of affairs."

He said he was "pretty upset".

"I'm a little guy, I'm pretty old now," he said.

Sofield said he was Australia's second high commissioner to the Solomons after the country achieved independence from the United Kingdom.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/former-solomon-islands-high-commissioner-manhandled-by-morrison-s-security-20220512-p5akuj.html

#16252749 at 2022-05-11 09:12:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16104792
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to travel to Solomon Islands to sign security pact

SHARRI MARKSON - MAY 10, 2022

The Morrison government is bracing for a high-level Chinese delegation to touch down in Honiara imminently to officially sign the security pact between Beijing and the Solomon Islands.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to lead the delegation on a tour of the region.

Several well-placed sources told The Australian intelligence suggests the visit to the Solomon Islands by one of China's most senior politicians could take place prior to the Australian federal election, even as early as this week. However, the timing is unclear.

The Australian understands Mr Wang's visit would be to a range of Pacific countries, not exclusively the Solomon Islands.

The visit would thrust the issue, and the Morrison government's handling of it, firmly into the spotlight in the final week of the campaign.

It would also be a show of force by China ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum, scheduled for the first week of next month.

Mr Wang's visit comes as the head of Australia's overseas spy agency has hinted that disaffected Chinese officials are increasingly providing his operatives with information because of concerns over the growing authoritarianism under President Xi Jinping.

Australian Secret Intelligence Agency director-general Paul Symon said the agency was benefiting from intelligence opportunities "that emerge from the suppressed dissent within authoritarian states".

The news Beijing had done a secret deal with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has put the Morrison government under pressure during the election campaign.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese and foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong have described it as the worst foreign policy blunder in the Pacific since the end of World War II, accusing the government of mishandling the situation and underfunding the Pacific.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced questions over why Foreign Minister Marise Payne had not visited the Solomon Islands, leaving diplomatic negotiations to the Pacific Islands Minister Zed Seselja.

Australian Secret Intelligence Service director Paul Symon and Office of National Assessments director-general Andrew Shearer visited the Solomon Islands to warn Mr Sogavare about the consequences of signing the security pact with China.

The advice, drawn from classified intelligence, was ignored.

While Mr Albanese has sought to politicise the issue, his own deputy had encouraged China's involvement in the Pacific in recent months, undermining Labor's attack.

The Australian has revealed that Richard Marles, Labor's deputy leader, dismissed concerns about Beijing setting up a military base in the Pacific Islands and said Australia should welcome China's investment in the region in a mini-book he authored in August last year.

"Australia has no right to expect a set of exclusive relationships with the Pacific nations. They are perfectly free to engage on whatever terms they choose with China or, for that matter, any other country. Disputing this would be resented, as the recent past has shown," Mr Marles wrote in his book, Ties That Bind: Australia in the Pacific.

The Australian reported on Monday that a draft maritime co-operation agreement indicated China planned to build "deep-sea fishing bases" and develop oil, gas and undersea mining ventures in the Solomon Islands.

There are fears Beijing is also seeking to establish a military base.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/chinese-foreign-minister-wang-yi-to-land-in-the-solomon-islands-to-sign/news-story/1e863c09f5b503988c44d6df99fb39a6

#16239809 at 2022-05-09 08:58:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16104792
>>16227961
Australian officials raise 'serious concerns' with China about Solomon Islands deal

Stephen Dziedzic - 9 May 2022

Australian officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) have used rare talks with their Chinese counterparts to raise "serious concerns" about Beijing's new security pact with Solomon Islands and to stress the depth of Australia's connections with the Pacific.

Mid-ranking public servants from both countries held the virtual talks on the Pacific last Friday.

The ABC was told that the Department's most senior diplomats - including the Head of the Office of the Pacific, Ewen McDonald - did not participate.

The Department's account of the discussion was heavily focused on China's contentious agreement with Solomon Islands.

A host of senior Australian politicians have warned the pact could destabilise the region, while Australian security agencies fear it could open the door to a Chinese military presence in the Pacific Island nation down the track.

In a statement the Department said the officials "raised directly with their Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs counterparts Australia's serious concerns about the Solomon Islands-China security agreement, the lack of transparency and its implications for continuing regional security and stability".

The statement also said that Australian officials "emphasised that Australia is a Pacific nation with deep, long-standing connections with our Pacific family across all arms of government and right across our society".

However, multiple Australian government sources emphasised that the talks had been in the works for several months, and were not triggered by news of the security pact.

The Department first proposed reviving the diplomatic dialogue after senior Chinese diplomat Wang Xining wrote an opinion piece late last year declaring that Beijing wanted to help Australia restore order in Solomon Islands in the wake of devastating riots.

Australian officials viewed that offer with deep scepticism.

Analysts said at the time that Australia likely proposed resuming talks on the Pacific because it would allow the government to effectively call Beijing's bluff if it declined to participate.

Still, sources told the ABC that landing a formal exchange with even mid-ranking Chinese officials had been a time-consuming process, and that the discussion had not led to any real breakthroughs.

In its statement the Department said its officials "reinforced Australia's abiding commitment to the security architecture of our region, including the Boe Declaration and Biketawa Declaration and the Treaty of Rarotonga".

The Department also said they emphasised that "the Pacific family remains best placed to meet the security needs of Pacific island countries comprehensively" - repeating one of the main lines the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister have used to undermine the China-Solomon Islands pact.

The Department added that both countries "exchanged views" on a host of other regional issues including "climate change adaptation and resilience, COVID-19 response and recovery, fisheries and maritime issues, and infrastructure development across the region".

The meeting was held on the same day that Foreign Minister Marise Payne met her Solomon Islands counterpart Jeremiah Manele for the first time since the Pacific Island country signed the contentious pact with China.

Senator Payne said that Mr Manele used that meeting in Brisbane to reaffirm that Solomon Islands would not permit China to establish a military base, and to again state that Australia remains his country's primary security partner.

The Solomon Islands Foreign Minister is now in Fiji for talks with senior officials as he begins a tour aimed at calming regional anxieties about the agreement with China.

But the Solomon Islands Opposition has slammed the government's tactics, saying it should have consulted other Pacific nations about the pact before signing it, rather than after.

The flurry of talks comes against the backdrop of increasing hostility between Australia and the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare, who last week lashed out once against at the West, accusing it of deliberately undermining his government and plotting an invasion.

The ABC has asked the Chinese Embassy if it has any comment on the talks, but has not yet received a response.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-09/china-solomon-islands-security-pact-dfat-serious-concerns-talks/101048390

#16239794 at 2022-05-09 08:53:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16239791

2/2

Foreign Minister Marise Payne met with her Solomon ?Islands counterpart Jeremiah Manele in Brisbane on Friday night, in the first high-level meeting between the countries since news of the China security deal broke. According to a spokesman, she "reiterated our deep concerns about the security agreement with China, including the lack of transparency".

The spokesman said the pair "agreed that Australia remains Solomon Islands' security partner of choice", and Senator Payne "welcomed Prime Minister ?Sogavare's assurance that Solomon Islands will not be used for a foreign military base".

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese welcomed the meeting, declaring "it's about time". But he said Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong should have been included, given the government was in caretaker mode.

Australia's relationship with the Solomon Islands has hit rock bottom amid the fallout from the country's security agreement with China, which officials fear could open the way for a Chinese military base less than 2000km from Cairns. Mr Morrison declared such a development would be a "red line" for Australia, while the US vowed to "respond ?accordingly" if China established "power ?projection" capabilities in the country.

The warnings infuriated Mr Sogavare, who claimed in an extraordinary speech to parliament last week that his country was being treated like "kindergarten students walking around with Colt .45s in our hands".

"We deplore the continual demonstration of lack of trust by the concerned parties, and tacit warning of military intervention in Solomon Islands if their national interest is undermined in Solomon Islands," Mr Sogavare said.

"In other words, we are threatened with invasion."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/china-fishing-deal-reels-in-solomon-islands/news-story/24d084cb20a0f42de04d2443cf47f684

https://origin.go.theaustralian.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/DocScan_05_06_2022.pdf

#16227974 at 2022-05-07 10:06:41 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16104792
>>16227961
Labor questions why it wasn't invited to meet with Solomons minister

Anthony Galloway - May 7, 2022

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has questioned why the opposition wasn't invited to a meeting with Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her Solomon Islands counterpart, after a controversial security deal was signed between the Pacific island nation and China.

Payne met with Solomons Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele in Brisbane on Friday night, after facing almost three weeks of criticism for not doing more to stop the deal being signed.

Albanese on Saturday questioned why Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong wasn't invited to the meeting considering the government is in caretaker mode. Multiple sources confirmed that the opposition was briefed minutes before the meeting took place, but Wong was not invited to attend.

The deal between Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's government and Beijing could see Chinese naval vessels and troops based less than 2000 kilometres off the Australian east coast and cut off vital supply lines to the US and Asia, in the event of a conflict.

Australia fears the deal could pave the way for a permanent Chinese military presence in the Solomons and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has criticised the Chinese government for insisting the text of the agreement be kept secret.

A spokesperson for Payne said in Friday night's meeting she reiterated that Australia had been "consistent and clear in stating our respect for Solomon Islands' sovereign decision-making".

But Payne also "reiterated our deep concerns about the security agreement with China, including the lack of transparency".

"They agreed that Australia remains Solomon Islands' security partner of choice," the spokesperson said.

"She again welcomed Prime Minister Sogavare's assurance that Solomon Islands will not be used for a foreign military base."

Campaigning in Tasmania, Albanese said it was "good" that Payne had met with her counterpart but that it would have been appropriate for Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, to be invited a long as well, considering the government is in caretaker mode.

"It's about time," Albanese said.

"I don't know the circumstances of whether Marise Payne invited the shadow foreign minister, given we're in caretaker mode. That would have been the appropriate course of action."

The meeting between the two foreign ministers comes after Morrison received advice from security and intelligence officials to stop talking to Sogavare. Sources confirmed that advice did not extend to Payne and Manele, given the concern is largely around Sogavare.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed this week that there was concern within intelligence and diplomatic circles that Morrison risked further inflaming the situation by having another phone conversation with Sogavare.

This was due to Sogavare's history of negative attitudes towards Australia and the assessment that no intervention was going to persuade him not to sign the deal with Beijing.

There have also been concerns within the Australian government over Sogavare misrepresenting conversations with government officials.

Morrison said on Saturday there was never an issue with Payne talking with her counterpart, but the decision was taken before the deal was signed not to send Payne to the Solomon Islands.

"It was not our plan for her to visit the Solomon Islands, that's what was being suggested to me and that's not what has occurred," he said.

"There was the opportunity for a meeting to take place here, and that was a sensible opportunity to take up and I'm pleased that it was.

"And that meeting proved to be a very positive meeting, one that reinforced, again, Australia's role as the primary security partner, and also reassured once again that Solomon Islands are not considering, and would not support the establishment of a naval presence for the Chinese government in in in the Solomon Islands."

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/labor-questions-why-it-wasn-t-invited-to-meet-with-solomons-minister-20220507-p5ajdu.html

#16227961 at 2022-05-07 10:02:29 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16104792
Marise Payne meets with Solomon Islands for first time since Pacific nation signed security pact with China

Annika Burgess - 7 May 2022

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has met with her Solomon Islands counterpart for the first time since the Pacific nation signed a controversial security pact with China.

Senator Payne reiterated assurances from Solomon Islands that the country would not be used for a foreign military base after the meeting with Jeremiah Manele in Brisbane overnight.

Both Senator Payne and Prime Minister Scott Morrison have been criticised for having little contact with Solomon Islands officials since it signed the security deal with Beijing last month.

Beijing has said the deal would involve China cooperating with Honiara on maintaining social order, combating natural disasters and safeguarding national security.

Friday night's exchange was the first high-level ministerial meeting between Canberra and Honiara since news of the security pact was leaked in March.

Australia, along with the US and New Zealand, have voiced concerns over the deal, amid fears the pact could open the door to a Chinese naval base in the South Pacific - speculation Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has dismissed.

"Australia has been consistent and clear in stating our respect for Solomon Islands' sovereign decision-making," Senator Payne said in a statement.

"However, we have reiterated our deep concerns about the security agreement with China, including the lack of transparency," she said.

"I again welcomed Prime Minister Sogavare's assurance that Solomon Islands will not be used for a foreign military base."

Trade Minister Dan Tehan told Weekend Breakfast the meeting had been "very productive", saying the ministers agreed Australia remained Solomon Islands' security partner of choice.

"I think what we need to do is make sure we just focus on what is very important for the Solomon Islands - ultimately their sovereignty - but that Australia remains the security partner of choice," he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison echoed those comments, saying he was pleased Senator Payne had been able to take up the "sensible" opportunity to meet with her counterpart in Brisbane.

"That meeting proved to be a very positive meeting, one that reinforced again Australia's role as the primary security partner, and also reassured once again that the Solomon Islands are not considering, and would not support, the establishment of a naval presence for the Chinese government in the Solomon Islands," Mr Morrison said.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said "it's about time" the meeting took place, but he would have expected that Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong had a seat at the table.

"I would have thought it would have been appropriate," he said.

"I don't know the circumstances of whether Marise Payne invited the Shadow Foreign Minister.

Given we're in caretaker mode, that would have been the appropriate course of action. I'm not aware of whether that happened or not."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-07/Marise-Payne-discusses-china-deal-solomon-islands-minister/101046744

#16220055 at 2022-05-06 08:31:00 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16040757
>>16040759
Caroline Kennedy confirmed by US Senate as next ambassador to Australia

Reuters/ABC - 6 May 2022

The US Senate has confirmed Caroline Kennedy, a former ambassador to Japan and daughter of the late President John F Kennedy, as the US ambassador to Australia.

Ms Kennedy previously served as US ambassador to Japan from 2013-2017 under former president Barack Obama.

She heads to Canberra as its relationship with Washington strengthens in response to China's growing power and increasingly assertive behaviour in Asia and beyond.

Like Japan, Australia is a member of the so-called Quad grouping, along with the United States and India, which has been expanding cooperation in the face of China's rise.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Twitter welcomed Ms Kennedy's confirmation and said Australia looks forward to deepening cooperation with the United States.

She succeeds Arthur Culvahouse, who left the position in early 2021, when former Republican President Donald Trump left office.

Ms Kennedy, 64, is an author and attorney.

Her father was the 35th president of the United States, who served from 1961 until his assassination in November 1963.

Kennedy confirmation comes amid China tensions

Ms Kennedy's confirmation comes weeks after the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China, amid heightened fears in Australia and the US that the deal could be used to expand China's military presence in the Pacific.

Under questioning from US senators before her confirmation, Ms Kennedy praised efforts to re-open the US embassy in Honiara, saying it "can't come soon enough".

"If confirmed, I would work very hard with Australia [on this]," she said in February.

"Australia has a very active embassy in every Pacific Island nation, and it's been a historic area of US engagement as well."

The new ambassador will play a large role working on the AUKUS relationship and help Australia acquire and maintain nuclear-powered submarines.

She may have to contend with conflicting views between the Biden administration and Australian government over action on climate change.

"The more we can learn about and learn how to combat [climate change] and move towards a clean energy transition and reduce the impact of climate change, the faster we can do that - if confirmed, I'd be eager to work on that," she told senators.

Ms Kennedy was one of a handful of nominees approved by voice vote on Thursday.

Philip Goldberg was appointed as US ambassador to South Korea. Mr Goldberg is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and has been serving as US ambassador to Colombia.

Senator Jon Ossoff said shortly before the Senate action that it was critical for the US to have Mr Goldberg in Seoul, citing North Korea's launch on Wednesday of a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters.

"South Korea is one of our most important trading partners. South Korea is one of our most important security partners," Senator Ossoff said.

"We need a US ambassador to lead our mission in South Korea."

The Senate also confirmed Mark Nathanson to be ambassador to Norway, MaryKay Loss Carlson to be ambassador to the Philippines, and John Nkengasong to coordinate US efforts to combat HIV-AIDS globally.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-06/caroline-kennedy-appointed-australia-ambassador/101043542

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1522344448549482496

#16213387 at 2022-05-05 08:26:49 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047076
Defence Minister Peter Dutton describes China's influence as 'phenomenal'

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has defended Australia's efforts in the Pacific, saying China's growing influence is "phenomenal".

Catie McLeod - May 5, 2022

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has described the scale of China's expanding influence as "phenomenal", as he defended Australia's efforts in the Pacific.

Mr Dutton and Labor's defence spokesman Brendan O'Connor squared off on national security and foreign engagement during their debate at the National Press Club on Thursday.

Asked if Australia was less safe today because of the freshly inked security deal between Solomon Islands and China, Mr Dutton didn't answer the question directly.

"I don't think we should pretend to the Australian people that we don't live in an uncertain time," he said.

"As we're seeing right across the region, in fact right across the world, China's influence into Africa, their influence into broader Asia, their influence into even Europe is quite phenomenal."

Mr Dutton said Australia was doing its best to maintain peace in the Pacific and pointed to the Morrison government's investment into the Defence Force.

He praised the "incredible work" of Pacific Minister Zed Seselja and thanked him for "the way he's engaged" in the region.

Senator Seselja failed in his last minute bid to Honiara to try to convince Solomon Islands government to pull out of the security pact with China, which has sparked alarm among Australian and US officials.

Labor has criticised the Morrison government for the decision to send Senator Seselja on such a critical diplomatic mission instead of the more senior Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

Later in Thursday's debate, Mr Dutton was asked why he had said in parliament the "Chinese Communist Party wants Labor to win" and why the Coalition claims the Opposition want to "appease" Beijing.

He responded by saying: "I think we are dealing with the reality of a new China".

"I think that people should be under no illusion. There's no need to embellish the intelligence we're reading," he said.

Mr Dutton launched into a criticism of Labor's policies on engagement with China by making a personal criticism of opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong.

"Penny Wong believes that she can go to Beijing on a charm offensive and she could change the direction of China under President Xi (Jinping)," he said.

"President Xi, of course, would be laughing under his breath as he was entertaining his dear friend in Beijing.

"If only she was able to win back some of the acts of aggression from the Morrison Government - from signing AUKUS, to acquiring missile capability - the conversation could continue."

Mr O'Connor disputed Mr Dutton's suggestion there would be some benefit for China from Labor forming government.

"I don't agree with the conspiracy theory that there's a benefit for China given the position that Labor has taken in relation to China and its changed conduct," he said.

"If I'm allowed to finish - Peter, you just had your go - As I just said from the outset, we know China has changed," he said, as Mr Dutton tried to interject.

Mr O'Connor criticised Mr Dutton for his remarks about his Labor frontbench colleague.

"We know (China) is now more assertive, more aggressive, more coercive."

"Penny Wong, who has just been verballed by Peter, made that clear in contributions last year where she outlined the significant shift that's happened in the region."

https://www.news.com.au/national/federal-election/defence-minister-peter-dutton-describes-chinas-influence-as-phenomenal/news-story/5551bf8da584f58b2c31b67a7489e7fc

#16175711 at 2022-04-29 11:04:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16104792
>>16175646
Scott Morrison describes 'remarkable similarity' between Solomon Islands and China's lines

Doug Dingwall and Sarah Basford Canales - APRIL 29 2022

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has suggested the Solomon Islands' leader Manasseh Sogavare is repeating China's rhetoric, following claims he learned of the AUKUS signing through media reports.

Mr Morrison described the Solomons Prime Minister's criticisms as having "remarkable similarity" to criticisms coming out of Beijing.

"There's a remarkable similarity between those statements and those of the Chinese government," he said on Friday in Tasmania.

The war of words erupted following Mr Sogavare's comments in Solomon Islands parliament on Friday, that he had blindsided by Australia's decision to enter into the trilateral security agreement.

Moments earlier, the Prime Minister said there had "obviously" been "some other influences" in Mr Sogavare's perspectives in the months since the pact was signed but insisted Australia was still its "primary security partner in the region".

"One of the key issues we moved quickly to reassure the Pacific about was Australia, absolutely without question, meeting our nonproliferation obligations, which I know is a very significant issue within the Pacific," Mr Morrison said.

"And so I did have that conversation with the Prime Minister [Sogavare] the day following the announcement, and no issues were raised at that time in that discussion.

"Obviously, as time goes on, and new relationships are entered into, there's obviously been clearly some other influences in the perspective taken by the Solomon Islands Prime Minister."

Mr Sogavare said the Solomon Islands did not act "theatrical or hysterical about the implications" in response to it, but said the decision lacked transparency.

"I learnt of the AUKUS treaty in the media. One would expect that as a member of the Pacific family, Solomon Islands and members of the Pacific should have been consulted to ensure this AUKUS treaty is transparent," he told his parliament.

"I realise that Australia is a sovereign country, which can enter into any treaty it wants to, transparently or not, which is exactly what they did with AUKUS."

Mr Sogavare also lashed Australia's security contribution to quell civil unrest in the Pacific Island nation late last year, which he said nearly "crippled" the country.

The Prime Minister dismissed the comments, adding Mr Sogavare would call on Australia again if another situation occurred.

"We were the first call when those things [riots] occurred in December, and we would be so again," Mr Morrison said.

"It's our AFP that are on the ground there, right now, preserving that peace, which was restored."

Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Marise Payne called on the Pacific nation to be more upfront with Australia over the deal it signed with the Chinese government.

However, she remained confident the Solomon Islands wouldn't cross a "red line" allowing a Chinese naval base to be built on the archipelago.

https://www.northernbeachesreview.com.au/story/7718411/remarkable-similarity-pm-suggests-solomons-leader-repeating-china-on-aukus/

#16175660 at 2022-04-29 10:29:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16104792
>>16175646
Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare blasts Australia over criticism of China security deal

Stephen Dziedzic and Will Jackson - 29 April 2022

1/2

The Solomon Islands Prime Minister has delivered a withering verbal assault on Australia, mocking the federal government's complaints about the secrecy surrounding the Pacific Island country's security pact with China

Manasseh Sogavare has also stoked fresh anger in Canberra by again alleging that Australian personnel refused to protect Chinese-built infrastructure during riots in Honiara last year - an allegation which Australian officials furiously deny.

The extraordinary remarks highlight how the relationship between Mr Sogavare and top politicians and officials in Canberra is starting to disintegrate, despite public declarations from both countries that bilateral ties have not been permanently damaged by the security pact.

Australia unsuccessfully pressed Mr Sogavare to ditch the agreement with China. And it has since criticised the lack of transparency around the negotiations.

Neither China nor Solomon Islands have yet agreed to make the final text they signed public.

But in a lengthy and often furious address to parliament, Mr Sogavare suggested Australia was being hypocritical because it kept its negotiations with the United States and the United Kingdom over the AUKUS pact top secret.

"I learnt of the AUKUS treaty in the media, Mr Speaker," he said in parliament.

"One would expect that as a member of the Pacific family, Solomon Islands and members of the Pacific should have been consulted to ensure this AUKUS treaty is transparent since it will affect the Pacific family by allowing nuclear submarines in Pacific waters."

He also mocked the language adopted by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who have repeatedly stressed that Australia respects the sovereignty of Solomon Islands despite its concerns about the pact.

"Oh, but Mr Speaker, I realise that Australia is a sovereign country which can enter into any treaty it wants to, transparently or not," Mr Sogavare said.

"Which is exactly what they did with AUKUS."

The Prime Minister also delivered his strongest criticism yet of the security agreement his country has with Australia, while resuscitating deeply controversial claims that Australian personnel refused to protect Chinese-built infrastructure when restoring order in Honiara last year.

Australia quickly sent troops and police to the capital last year - at Mr Sogavare's request - when it was rocked by riots in the wake of political protests directed at the Prime Minister.

The ABC was in Honiara at the time.

The violence and rioting began to subside when it was announced that Australia was sending troops to Honiara, and the city was largely calm by the time the personnel arrived.

But Mr Sogavare repeated his allegation that Australian personnel refused to protect Chinese infrastructure and investments in Honiara when they were in the city, saying it showed "gaps" in the current arrangements with Australia.

Australian government sources have repeatedly denied that allegation and the ABC has seen no evidence substantiating it.

But Mr Sogavare said that denial from the Australian government was "disappointing".

"What is needed, Mr Speaker, is an acknowledgement of a serious blunder," he declared.

Mr Morrison responded by defending Australia's response to the riots and saying there were "other influences" on Mr Sogavare's perspective towards AUKUS.

When asked if Mr Sogavare was "parroting" Chinese rhetoric, he said there was "a remarkable similarity between those statements and those of the Chinese government".

(continued)

#16155463 at 2022-04-26 10:30:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16104792
>>16133978
US won't speculate on response if China establishes Solomons military base

Anthony Galloway - April 26, 2022

United States President Joe Biden's top diplomat in the Pacific region has left open the door to military action if China's defence forces established a permanent presence in Solomon Islands but declined to specifically address Prime Minister Scott Morrison's "red line" warning.

Morrison said on Sunday the prospect of having a Chinese military base in Solomon Islands was a "red line". On Tuesday, he said that was simply stating the policy of the US.

The US's Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Daniel Kritenbrink, who has just returned from a trip to Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, was pressed on Morrison's comment during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday morning (AEST).

Asked if he was comfortable with the "red line" remark and whether he would rule out the US taking military action if China established a base in Solomon Islands, Kritenbrink said he did not want to speculate on what the US response might be.

But Kritenbrink repeated his warning that the US would "respond accordingly" if Beijing established a permanent military presence in the country.

"We reiterated our respect for sovereignty of the Solomon Islands. But we also outlined the potential regional security implications of this security agreement that it has signed with the People's Republic of China," he said.

"We've outlined the specific concerns that we have regarding the potential for permanent military presence, of power projection capabilities or military installation.

"We've indicated that should those events come to pass that the United States would respond accordingly, and I think it's best if I leave it at that and not speculate on what that may or may not [be]."

Days after Solomon Islands sent shockwaves across the Pacific by signing a security co-operation pact with Beijing, the American delegation - led by White House Indo-Pacific co-ordinator Kurt Campbell and Kritenbrink - met with members of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's government for 90 minutes.

Kritenbrink said his team told Solomons officials in a "very candid way" it would respond "very naturally" if its concerns came to pass.

The deal has dominated the federal election campaign in Australia, with Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne repeatedly questioned about why they didn't engage more with Sogavare's government leading up to its signing.

Honiara, the capital, is less than 2000 kilometres from Australia's east coast. Solomon Islands is a key strategic point in the Pacific, providing access to shipping lanes from Australia and New Zealand up through Asia.

Kritenbrink said he was particularly concerned about a lack of transparency over the agreement, the detail of which is yet to be publicly released.

"What precisely are the motivations behind the agreement? What exactly are China's objectives and the like?" he said.

"I think they're completely unclear because this agreement has not been scrutinised or viewed or subjected to any kind of consultation or approval process by anyone else.

"The lack of transparency I think is a fundamental concern."

He said the US was not in the business of making countries "choose between the United States and China" but promoting the shared interests, principles and the rule of law of the region.

"Any steps taken by countries, whether it would be China or anyone else, that run counter to those interests and principles, I think would be a fundamental concern to us and I think has some bearing on what we're dealing with here," he said.

"I'm not here to speculate on what may or may happen in the future, but I think you can rest assure that those principles will remain consistent going forward."

China has militarised three islands in the disputed South China Sea and flown hundreds of warplanes toward Taiwan's airspace over the past year.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/us-would-respond-accordingly-to-permanent-chinese-military-presence-in-solomon-diplomat-20220426-p5ag56.html

#16142910 at 2022-04-24 10:56:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16142905

2/2

Washington and Canberra are now desperately attempting to maintain their hegemony and privileges and they have been stuck in a strategic anxiety, which has been revealed in their hysterical responses to China's cooperation with the Solomon Islands. The US first demanded Australia to coax and coerce the Pacific country to step away from the pact with China. Both Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne called their counterparts in Honiara, trying to interfere with the country's diplomatic and policy-making process. Two officials of Australia's top intelligence services then flew to the Solomons, followed in close step by Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja, to pile pressure on the Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. When Canberra's blatant bullying and menacing failed to intimidate Honiara, Washington decided to intervene directly, sending the White House' National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink to the country. It's clear that the US' hegemony across the world, including in the South Pacific, is waning. The era of colonialism and white supremacy is already a disgrace in history, and it is simply in vain for countries like the US and Australia to impose their self-interest and geopolitical strategy on smaller countries.

The "Indo-Pacific Strategy" promoted by the US is aimed to contain China's development, and China's cooperation with countries in the South Pacific has come into the crosshairs. The US, assisted by its local proxy Australia, has been attempting to assemble a small anti-China clique in the region as a way to serve its own interests and goals.

The politicization and demonization of China's relations with the Pacific countries by the US and Australia will threaten the stability and prosperity of the Pacific. Countries such as the Solomon Islands are sensibly aware of their ulterior motives, and try to uphold their sovereignty and self-determination. That is why Morrison's awkward tactics in the region have proved to be a complete failure, his Pacific "Step-up" strategy is in fact a "stuff up," as described by his contesting Labor opponent Albanese.

The author is president of the Chinese Association of Australian Studies and director of the Australian Studies Centre at the East China Normal University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202204/1260114.shtml

#16142816 at 2022-04-24 10:22:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16142809

2/2

Solomons sovereignty at risk, Joyce says

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has also warned Solomon Islands it has put its sovereignty at risk by signing a security agreement with China.

Mr Joyce said he had taken the Solomon Islands' word that it would not allow China to establish a naval base on the island, but that, if it did, it would be "obviously an intimidating tactic" for Australia.

"[China wants] to. There's no doubt about that because we see what they did in the South China Sea where they said they weren't going to militarise," he said.

"Obviously for the Solomons, I take their word but I say be really careful to invite a totalitarian power into your country because it's going to affect your sovereignty."

Mr Joyce again defended the Prime Minister and the government's attempts to engage with Solomon Islands leadership before the deal was signed.

However, he also would not say how Australia would respond if China did begin to build a military base because the country had said it would not happen.

When asked what a re-elected Liberal and Nationals Coalition would do to stop China from encroaching further into the pacific, the Deputy Prime Minister pointed to projects - such as the nuclear submarine deal, AUKUS, the Quad alliance between Australia, India, Japan and the US - as examples of things the government was doing to prevent that.

The government has faced sustained criticism from the opposition about the deal, with Labor arguing that the Coalition should have done more to prevent it, including sending Foreign Minister Marise Payne to Solomon Islands when concerns about the pact first arose last year.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-24/scott-morrison-china-naval-base-solomon-islands-red-line/101011710

#16142809 at 2022-04-24 10:20:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047076
>>16104792
Scott Morrison says Chinese military base in Solomon Islands would be 'red line' for Australia, US

Georgia Hitch - 24 April 2022

1/2

Scott Morrison says China building a military base on Solomon Islands would be the "red line" for Australia and the United States, but did not say how Australia would respond if it happened.

There are concerns about a recently signed security agreement between China and Solomon Islands and what it could mean for Australia and other pacific countries, especially if China uses the deal to expand its military presence to the region.

"This is a shared concern, not just Australia, this is Australia and regional governments, particularly places like Fiji and Papua New Guinea," Mr Morrison said.

"Working together with our partners in New Zealand and of course the United States, I share the same red line that the United States has when it comes to these issues.

"We won't be having Chinese military naval bases in our region on our doorstep."

Mr Morrison would not say how he would respond if re-elected, if the "red line" was crossed and China did move to establish a military base.

He instead said that Solomon Island's Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare assured him it would not happen.

"So he clearly shares our red line," Mr Morrison said.

The government has faced sustained criticism from the opposition about the deal, with Labor arguing the Coalition should have done more to prevent it, including sending Foreign Minister Marise Payne to Solomon Islands when concerns about the pact first arose last year.

The Prime Minister and senior Labor figures were both campaigning in Alice Springs with their candidates for the seat of Lingiari.

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong all but confirmed if Labor was elected it would increase the foreign aid spend in the Pacific, to secure the region.

She said there were a number of things Labor would have done differently to prevent the pact if it had been in government.

"We wouldn't have cut foreign and development assistance which is important to development and national security. We wouldn't have cut bilateral aid by 28 per cent on average every year," Senator Wong said.

"We wouldn't have mocked Pacific Island nations about water lapping at their doors which is what Peter Dutton did standing next to Scott Morrison.

"And we wouldn't have thumbed our nose at Pacific leaders when they told us at a forum that climate change was their number one national security issue.

"So yes, I do think there's a different approach. Do I think it's easy? No, I do not which is why it shouldn't be the subject of shrill scare campaigns."

Yesterday, Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers flagged that he believed cuts to foreign aid by the government were partly to blame for the controversial deal going ahead, "by being a credible partner on climate change, having a credible climate change policy".

In the past decade, spending on foreign aid has been slashed by a third, but Australia remains the biggest donor in the Pacific with $1.7 billion set aside for the region a year.

Solomon Islands receives about $170 million of that, but its share has fallen since the end of RAMSI - Australia's multi-year assistance mission to the nation.

(continued)

#16121602 at 2022-04-21 17:35:32 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16121590

2/2

Debate comment an 'outrageous slur'

The controversial pact between Solomon Islands and China featured in Wednesday night's first leader's debate between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.

During the debate, the Opposition Leader labelled a suggestion from the Prime Minister that Labor was siding with China on issues of national security as "an outrageous slur".

Senator Wong said Labor has been clear in its position on China, and recognised the "increased aggression" displayed towards Australia.

One of Labor's central criticisms of the Coalition's handling of the Solomon Islands deal is that the Prime Minister should have dispatched his Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, to Honiara to try to steer the government away from its partnership with Beijing, rather than send his more-junior Minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja.

Mr Morrison said that was appropriate, given the sensitivities of the situation, and did not want to be seen as "stomping" all over Solomon Islands.

Senator Wong said that claim was hypocritical.

"He was happy to tell them what to do when he pushed back on climate," Senator Wong said.

"He was happy to tell them what to do when he turned up to a Pacific Leaders Forum and pushed the leaders hard to take out reference to the climate crisis, which they wanted to put in.

"So Mr Morrison is very selective about when he wants to throw his weight around."

Australia should've seen warning signs

The United States' former ambassador to Solomon Islands said countries such as Australia should have seen China muscling in to the Pacific on the horizon.

Catherine Ebert-Gray was Washington's envoy between 2016 and 2019.

"We probably should have been a little more prepared for this type of an agreement," she said.

"We've all been aware that China's interested in more defence activity and partnership, and they've come around to other Pacific nations.

"It was probably bound to happen somewhere, but it is interesting that Solomon Islands, just two years ago, recognised Taiwan, and here they are in a security agreement with China."

Ambassador Ebert-Gray said it should prompt a rethink in how countries, including Australia, deal with their Pacific neighbours.

"We probably needed to be more direct, we probably have should have stepped up and [in] other ways too, not just security," she said.

"I think what Prime Minister Sogavare is looking for is more support, rebuilding his nation, helping his people in remote areas, helping his economy and his security."

On whether it would give China a greater military footprint in the South Pacific, Ambassador Ebert-Gray said it was "too soon to predict that".

"Hopefully, Solomon Islands will be wise enough to balance this relationship," she said.

"That's what's going to be important that we continue to be good partners, and we continue to be there when they need us."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-21/peter-dutton-china-solomon-islands-presence-pacific/101004664

#16111262 at 2022-04-20 09:44:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16111259

2/2

Solomon Islands PM speaks in parliament

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare took to the floor of parliament this morning to defend the pact, declaring that his government went into the agreement with its "eyes wide open".

Mr Sogavare also suggested the agreement would help bolster the police force in Solomon Islands, which has already received riot gear and replica guns from Chinese police.

"We intend to beef up and strengthen our police capability to deal with any future instability by properly equipping the police to take full responsibility of the country's security responsibilities, in the hope we will never be required to invoke any of our bilateral security arrangements," he said.

When asked if he'd be willing to release the full text of the agreement he gave an ambiguous response, saying it was the "way to go" but also saying he had to consult with China before making a decision.

Beijing typically does not release the text of its bilateral security agreements with other countries.

In a statement, Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council, said the US convened a meeting with senior officials from Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

"The officials reaffirmed the four countries' enduring and shared commitment to the Pacific Islands," she said.

"The United States resolved to intensify its engagement in the region to meet 21st-century challenges.

"Officials from the four countries represented also shared concerns about a proposed security framework between the Solomon Islands and the People's Republic of China and its serious risks to a free and open Indo-Pacific."

'Pacific family' best placed for security

Foreign Minister Marise Payne rejected Senator Wong's assessment that inaction by the Morrison government had fuelled the situation.

"I think that's an unfair characterisation, and I don't think it recognises the sovereign decisions that governments, of course, make for themselves," she said.

"We are looking at very serious geo-strategic challenges in our region, and they are realities."

Senator Payne insisted that Australia still played a significant role in the South Pacific.

"We firmly believe that the Pacific family is best placed to meet the security needs of our region - and we've consistently said that and, more importantly, we've consistently demonstrated that," Senator Payne said.

However, she argued, the governments in Honiara and Beijing needed to provide more detail about exactly what the security deal would allow for.

"In relation to this agreement, we see a lack of transparency" she said.

"This has not been agreed in an open and transparent way, not been consulted, for example, across the region."

Top US official Kurt Campbell is slated to visit Solomon Islands later this week, as the United States warned of the "concerning precedent" the security deal set.

Senator Payne said she was pleased the trip was going ahead, but avoided speculation about whether the deal could be undone.

"That's a matter for the parties," she said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-20/solomon-islands-china-pact-failure-foreign-policy-labor/101000878

#16111259 at 2022-04-20 09:42:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16104792
>>16111196
Scott Morrison pushes back on claims the government bungled security relationship with Solomon Islands

Matthew Doran and Stephen Dziedzic - 20 April 2022

1/2

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected accusations that the Coalition has bungled a key security relationship, after Solomon Islands shrugged off warnings from Australia and signed a new pact with China.

The controversial deal has been the subject of significant debate in recent weeks, amid fears it could allow China to establish a military presence in the South Pacific.

Labor has called the handling of the issue the greatest Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific since World War II, and questioned why the government sent Pacific Minister Zed Seselja instead of Foreign Minister Marise Payne to Honiara after a draft of the pact leaked.

Senator Seselja was sent to Solomon Islands last week in a last-ditch effort to convince the government in Honiara to walk away from the deal, a trip now shown to have been fruitless.

Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Mr Morrison had ignored warnings about the deal last year, and should have personally intervened to ensure it was never signed.

"Securing our region at this time is such an imperative for any government that this should have been something that Mr Morrison dealt with - but he went missing," Senator Wong said.

"I think what this still signifies is that Australia is no longer, for ... Solomon Islands, the nation to whom they turn to meet their challenges in every instance.

"And, instead of taking responsibility and dealing with this as a leader should, in the interests of the nation, he sends a junior woodchuck at the last minute."

But Mr Morrison told reporters in Adelaide he made a deliberate decision to send Senator Seselja because it would be counter-productive to publicly heap pressure on Solomon Islands over the agreement.

"The Foreign Minister is a different level to the Minister of Pacific. One is in cabinet, one is not. You calibrate your diplomacy to deal with sensitive issues," he said.

"In the Pacific, one of the things you [have] got to be very, very cognisant of is there is a long history of frankly countries like Australia and even New Zealand and others coming around and treating Pacific Islands like they should be doing what the big countries tell them to do.

"I'm not going to act like former administrations that treated the Pacific like some extension of Australia. The Pacific Islands are very sensitive to that and I have always had an approach with the Pacific Islands which understands those sensitivities because there is a lot at stake."

The Prime Minister also said the whole region had been facing "intense" approaches from China, saying Beijing made "all sorts of promises" and "all sorts of investments" in the Pacific which could be "very persuasive".

"That is the challenge that we're now dealing with and we have been dealing with it for many years. It is not a new issue and these threats still remain" he said.

"I speak to other Pacific leaders about it all the time and … you can't always be fully persuasive on these issues.

"What I assure them about is that Australia will be there for you as we always are, not because we want anything from you, but because we see the Pacific as our family."

Australia, New Zealand and the United States have all expressed concern about the precedent the situation could set for other small Pacific nations.

Australia's spy chiefs were also sent to Honiara to ventilate Australia's concerns about the pact.

(continued)

#16111221 at 2022-04-20 09:19:31 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047451
>>16104792
The China-Solomon Islands security deal is a failure that goes back years

Anthony Galloway - April 20, 2022

Labor's Penny Wong was correct when she accused the government of the "worst failure of Australian foreign policy in the Pacific" in almost 80 years, after the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China.

An agreement that could pave the way for Beijing to establish a military presence in a country less than 2000 kilometres from Cairns is a national security failure on Scott Morrison's watch.

A lot of criticism has been levelled at Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne for their apparent inaction. Wong on Wednesday criticised the government for sending Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja, who she labelled a "junior woodchuck", to the country last week.

Morrison hit back at the criticism, saying sending a high-profile minister such as Payne would not have been appropriate and that "we were very aware of where that agreement was up to".

If we read between the lines, Australia in recent weeks knew the security deal was going to be signed no matter what, and did not want to again look like it had failed despite efforts by Payne or even Morrison.

It was only last November when Australia helped keep Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in power by sending ADF personnel to quell demonstrations and violent riots. That followed 15 years of Defence presence on the ground to help restore law and order and good governance during the RAMSI mission.

Some Australian officials are now asking themselves whether they should have bothered to prop up a corrupt government which has long disliked Canberra and had at the same time been cosying up to Beijing.

The Solomons' decision to sign a pact with China is a failure of Australian soft power that goes back years, starting with Tony Abbott's cynical and disastrous decision to rip billions of dollars out of foreign aid in 2014.

As Australia stepped back, Beijing went on an infrastructure blitz throughout the Pacific.

By the time Canberra realised the national security failure on our doorstep in around 2017, it was a case of too little, too late.

The multi-billion-dollar Pacific "Step Up", which includes the $2 billion Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP), has shown dividends. Australia is providing a genuine alternative to funding large infrastructure projects in the region without saddling countries with debt.

But just as we were stepping back up in 2019, both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched their allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing.

Australia's total diplomatic and development contribution is still significantly lower than similar countries. It sits at about 1.3 per cent of the federal budget, well behind comparable countries such as Canada (1.9 per cent) and the Netherlands (4.3 per cent).

The federal government spends 10 times more on defence than it does on foreign aid, compared to a defence-to-aid spending ratio of five-to-one in 2013-14.

Morrison deserves credit for his genuine engagement with the Pacific and his government's commitments under the Step Up program, which includes a multi-billion-dollar undersea cable for the Solomon Islands.

But the government was all over the shop in its reaction to the pact. At a press conference on Wednesday, Morrison said it was a "false claim" to suggest the deal would result in a Chinese base being built in the Solomons.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said just the opposite: "They've decided to have a pact with China - dual purpose - which means China is able, if they follow this through, to set up a military base there … That's a very bad day for Australia. We don't want our own little Cuba off our coast."

We do need to be careful not to extrapolate too much from the security deal when assessing the rest of the region. Nearly all Pacific island nations are just as alarmed as Australia over the news.

Morrison on Wednesday suggested other Pacific island nations were facing the same level of coercion from China but had not yielded.

"Do you think there's not the same pressure going on in Papua New Guinea that there is in the Solomon Islands? Of course there is. You don't think the same pressure is … in Fiji or Samoa?"

Let's hope Morrison is right, and the Solomons is an outlier.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-china-solomon-islands-security-deal-is-a-failure-that-goes-back-years-20220420-p5aeqr.html

#16111196 at 2022-04-20 09:09:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16065990
>>16104792
Morrison defends Payne's absence from Solomons as 'strategic decision'

Eryk Bagshaw - April 20, 2022

Foreign Minister Marise Payne was at a private business dinner in Sydney on the night Pacific Minister Zed Seselja was sent to the Solomon Islands in a failed attempt to stop a landmark security deal with Beijing from being signed.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was a strategic decision to dispatch the junior minister to the Pacific Island nation despite a draft agreement revealing plans that could give the Chinese navy access to a base less than 2000 kilometres off the Australian coast.

"The judgement was made not to engage at a Foreign Minister level … to ensure that Australia's views were communicated very clearly and very respectfully," Morrison said on Wednesday.

"One of the things you have got to be very, very cognisant of is there is a long history of, frankly, countries like Australia and even New Zealand and others coming around and treating Pacific Islands like they should be doing what the big countries should tell them to do."

The deal puts national and regional security at the centre of the Australian federal election campaign. Labor leader Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said it was "one of the greatest policy failures that we've seen from this government". Payne said she was "deeply disappointed" the deal had been signed.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have confirmed that Payne was at a private business dinner at PwC Barangaroo on April 12, the night Seselja flew to Honiara. The dinner was not a fundraiser but was attended by business people who donate to the Liberal Party. Payne had earlier that day spoken with US lawmakers Bob Menendez and Lindsey Graham as part of a lobbying push to get the US to take a stronger stance against the Solomons deal.

On Tuesday night, when China's Foreign Ministry announced the deal had been signed, Payne was attending a Liberal Women's networking forum in South Australia after earlier campaigning in Boothby. During an election campaign, senior ministers have to manage fundraising, campaigning and governing while the government remains in caretaker mode. The Morrison government says it has had more than 100 exchanges with Solomons ministers and Pacific Islands' forum members since the draft agreement was leaked in March, but that lobbying failed to sway the Solomons government.

Albanese said on Wednesday that he would go to Honiara if elected to meet defiant Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to relay Australia's concerns. Former foreign minister Julie Bishop said on Wednesday that Payne should be on her way to Honiara. "I believe our foreign minister should be on the next plane to Solomon Islands," she told Channel 10.

The agreement will give Beijing its first major security stake in the Pacific and give it the power to protect its investments in the region.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said the "pact with China was dual purpose, which means that China is able - if they follow this through - to set up a military base there".

"That is a very bad day for Australia," he said. "We don't want our own little Cuba off our coast."

'Our eyes wide open'

Sogavare told parliament in Honiara on Wednesday the deal had been signed to protect critical national infrastructure in the poor and divided country. Chinese armed forces will now be allowed to protect Chinese investments by force if necessary. The deal is the first one of its kind for billions of dollars worth of Chinese investment abroad.

"We entered into an arrangement with China with our eyes wide open guided by our national interest," Sogavare told parliament.

Sogavare said he would dispatch foreign minister Jeremiah Manele to countries in the region to allay their fears about a Chinese naval base in the Pacific.

The Australian government, which was initially blindsided by the details of the draft agreement, said it had made its concerns clear.

"Our consistently stated view, including from the perspective of Australia's national interests, remains that the Pacific family is best placed to meet the security needs of the region," Payne and Seselja said in a joint statement.

Labor attacks 'blunder'

Albanese used his morning's campaign press conference in Brisbane to condemn what he described as Australian government inaction.

"This deal between China and the Solomons was foreshadowed last August, the government was warned. Yet, only in recent days did the government bother to send a junior person across to the Solomons," he said.

Albanese confirmed he would visit the Solomons if elected. Morrison's first trip abroad as Prime Minister was to Honiara in 2019. "The problem is those relationships aren't ones that can be done just during when there's a crisis," he said.

(continued)

#16092047 at 2022-04-17 11:28:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16047451
Australia says it would keep security ties with Solomons despite China pact

Samuel McKeith - APRIL 17, 2022

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia would continue to cooperate with Solomons Islands on matters of security even if the Pacific island nation signs a proposed security agreement with China that Australia opposes, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Sunday.

Canberra is concerned the security deal, details of which have not been publicised, could foreshadow a Chinese military presence fewer than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Australia.

Despite a national election campaign putting the Australian government in caretaker mode, an Australian minister this week met with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in Honiara and asked him not to sign the proposed agreement.

Queried over whether Australia would continue security cooperation with the Solomons Islands if the deal went ahead Payne told ABC television: "Yes, that is absolutely my view and it is the view of Pacific partners".

"But there is also a concern that there has been a lack of transparency in relation to this agreement," Payne said.

She described as "very important" recent assurances from Sogavare that no Chinese military base would be established in the Solomons Islands if the deal with China went ahead.

Officials from China and Solomon Islands have initialled but not yet signed the security pact, which Australia, New Zealand, United States and some Pacific island neighbours have criticised as undermining regional stability.

The agreement has sparked concerns among U.S. allies Australia and New Zealand about Chinese influence in a region where they have for decades held strong sway.

Beijing this week said security ties between China and the Pacific nation were not aimed at any third party and did not contradict cooperation Solomons Islands has with other nations.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-pacific/australia-says-it-would-keep-security-ties-with-solomons-despite-china-pact-idUSKCN2M900E

#16086624 at 2022-04-16 12:25:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

>>16068464
>>16068475
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Pleased to welcome (United States) friends to Sydney this week & discuss shared interests, including our commitment to an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific. (Australia) & (United States) are united in our response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine & strongly support efforts to investigate Russia's war crimes.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1515242021409419264

#16040685 at 2022-04-09 05:25:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

#21 - Part 25
Child Exploitation, Pedophilia, Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking Investigations - Part 2
>>15916711 NSW MP Gareth Ward charged with sexual violence; Premier Dominic Perrottet seeks his resignation from parliament
>>15924222 Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston resigns after internal misconduct investigation
>>15932317 Video: Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins growing chorus of Hillsong Church allies to distance themselves from founder Brian Houston
>>15932328 PM 'shocked and disappointed' by Houston resignation, not been a Hillsong member for 15 years
>>15932331 NSW MP Gareth Ward suspended from parliament over historic sexual abuse charges after he refused to resign
>>15940215 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Statement - International Engagement Strategy on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery - 25 March 2022 - "We have zero tolerance for those who exploit the vulnerable."
>>15940215 PDF: Australian Government International Engagement Strategy on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery: Delivering in Partnership (2022)

>>15947677 Perth Children's Hospital nurse Peter De Mouilpied made dozens of child exploitation videos, court hears
>>15962247 Gerald Ridsdale - arguably Australia's most prolific paedophile priest - faces court on fresh charges that allege he abused two boys 40 years ago
>>15962328 Woman living with cerebral palsy tells Disability Royal Commission she was 'raped and assaulted' by carer
>>15962328 Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Public hearing 17: The experience of women and girls with disability with a particular focus on family, domestic and sexual violence - 28 March 2022
>>15968645 Stewart Iain Berry and husband Mathew Campbell face SA court accused of involvement in Jadd Brooker's online pedophile ring
>>15981879 Australian Federal Police will use $142 million budget allocation to develop "specialist capability" to tackle serious crime enabled by anonymising technology - New account takeover and data disruption powers are the 'envy' of the United States, says Commissioner Reece Kershaw
>>16008504 Pedophile John Wayne Millwood disperses fortune to thwart victim of record $5.3m in civil damages
>>16022022 Paedophiles should forfeit superannuation to pay compensation, child sex abuse victim Andy Martin says

#16040669 at 2022-04-09 05:23:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

#21 - Part 20
Australia / China Tensions - Part 6
>>15994756 China-Solomon Islands security pact has no military connotation: Chinese FM - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15994770 Australia plays victim of 'economic coercion' to attack China, obstructs cooperation: Chinese FM - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15994781 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 1, 2022
>>15994793 Video: The current difficult situation in China-Australia relations. - SpokespersonCHN
>>16002473 Solomon Islands, China military deal: What it means for Australia
>>16002540 Japan's ambassador to Australia, Yamagami Shingo warns Australia against 'too many eggs in one basket' with China trade
>>16008518 Millionaire Chinese property developer Zheng Jiefu quietly expelled from Australia for 'harming security interests'
>>16014957 Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Samuel J Paparo lashes 'concerning' Solomon Islands security pact with China
>>16021998 China reacts to AUKUS hypersonic missiles deal as Barnaby Joyce says weapons pose 'existential threat'

>>16022043 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Solomon Islands - Media Release of the Chinese Embassy on China-Solomon Islands security cooperation
>>16022045 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Solomon Islands - Q&A on China-Solomon Islands Security Cooperation by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy
>>16028308 China denounces Australia and New Zealand for their "colonial mentality" in Beijing's most detailed defence of its security agreement with the Solomon Islands
>>16028339 Australian spy chiefs meet with Solomon Islands PM Sogavare over draft security deal with China - Paul Symon, head of overseas spy agency the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), and Andrew Shearer, Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence
>>16028349 Solomon Islands Govenment Statement - Positive Outcome to Dialogue between PM and Australian Envoy
>>16028406 China accuses US, UK and Australia of trying to build Asia-Pacific NATO
>>16028409 AUKUS plans hypersonic weapons to confront China as US speeds up NATO, Asian allies' coordination - Liu Xuanzun and Liu Xin - globaltimes.cn
>>16028413 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 6, 2022
>>16028421 Video: AUKUS is an Anglo-Saxon clique, a child of the Cold War mentality & bloc politics. - SpokespersonCHN
>>16034829 Security pact puts heat on Solomon Islands - Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US counterpart Antony Blinken express concern about China's draft security agreement with the Solomon Islands

#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

#16040639 at 2022-04-09 05:17:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

#21 - Part 3
Australian Politics and Society - Part 3
>>15778970 Quad leaders hold talks on Ukraine conflict, warn against similar shows of force in Indo-Pacific
>>15778992 Pine Gap - jointly run US and Australian defence intelligence facility in Alice Springs likely gathering intelligence about Russia's next moves in Ukraine
>>15783322 Former Australian international cricketer Shane Warne dies of a suspected heart attack in Thailand, aged 52
>>15787779 Department of Defence Tweet: Secretary of the Department of Defence Greg Moriarty met with @DepSecDef Dr Kathleen Hicks to advance our security alliance. Australia and the US are committed to supporting an Indo-Pacific region that is stable, prosperous and resilient.
>>15787779 Department of Defence Tweet: The Secretary of the Department of Defence, Greg Moriarty, and @DepSecDef discussed AU and US united responses to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
>>15792242 How a spreadsheet became a lifesaver in Lismore's flood crisis - Sally Flannery and the Support Lismore Small Business Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/supportlismore/
>>15792631 Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy
>>15792631 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Tweet: I continue negotiations with partners. Told (Australian) Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP about the course of war. As well as risks to people and the environment due to the threat to Ukrainian nuclear and chemical facilities. Thanked for the defense and humanitarian support. #StopRussia
>>15792631 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Just spoke with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He thanked Australia for our military & humanitarian support & extensive sanctions. We discussed ways we could assist further. I praised Ukraine's courage against Russia's aggression & condemned Russia's actions on behalf of us all.
>>15795568 Peter Dutton warns of Putin's territorial ambition, government MP James Paterson cites nuclear danger in Ukraine conflict

>>15802890 Video: PM says no nuclear submarine decision before election, as new subs base planned for Australia's east coast
>>15819099 Video: 'I won't cop that': PM defends ADF while declaring floods a national emergency
>>15819116 Video: Foreign Minister Marise Payne reveals Australia is placing further sanctions on Russia, targeting "propagandists and purveyors of disinformation"
>>15827076 Australian Defence Force to grow to largest size since Vietnam War, increasing by nearly 20,000 people by 2040
>>15827088 Stronger Defence Force makes for stronger disaster recovery: Morrison
>>15827358 Victorian Labor senator Kimberley Kitching dies suddenly of a suspected heart attack in Melbourne aged 52
>>15836667 Former far-right political candidate Teresa van Lieshout claims mental health defence, but no illness, in 'government overthrow' case
>>15851464 Shane Warne memorial service delivers a budget googly - Morrison government rethinking budget strategy amid suspicion that Victorian Labor Premier Dan Andrews deliberately scheduled memorial service to overshadow budget
>>15852735 PM rejects criticism he was 'too slow' to act in crisis events
>>15854162 Video: Riccardo Bosi Speech in Canberra "we need 5 million protesters" - Aussie Novax

#16040638 at 2022-04-09 05:16:55 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition

#21 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>15648472 (2011) Australian delegation meeting with US Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper
>>15656287 Australia intends to list Hamas as terrorist organisation - Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews
>>15680632 'Welcome back world!': Australia fully reopens borders after two years - 2 February 2022
>>15683946 Aussie entertainment giant Neil Balnaves dies in boating accident
>>15689241 Victorian Labor braces for Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) report into dealings between the Andrews government and the United Firefighters Union
>>15697731 Video: Australia imposes sanctions on Russia over Ukraine invasion
>>15697830 It's time to put Putin's useful idiots on notice - Craig Kelly and Simeon Boikov / Aussie Cossack
>>15708019 Scott Morrison has condemned Vladimir Putin after Russia invaded Ukraine
>>15708027 Embassy of Russia in Australia - Comment on the introduction of a new package of anti-Russian sanctions by Australia
>>15718085 Putin's paramilitary proxies in Australia - Simeon 'The Aussie Cossack' Boikov - Jack the Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>15727210 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: I spoke today with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne to discuss our mutual efforts to hold the Russian government accountable for its premeditated and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
>>15727210 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Important call with @SecBlinken today, discussing the vital, united (global) response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Australia) has announced further sanctions including preparing sanctions against President Putin & FM Sergei Lavrov. Russia's egregious aggression on Ukraine must stop.
>>15735495 'Lethal aid': Australia's vow to help Ukraine - Australia will provide funding through NATO for weapons and offensive capability rather than sending its own weaponry
>>15743566 Kevin Rudd Tweet: Donald Trump is a traitor to the West. Murdoch was Trump's biggest backer. And Murdoch's Fox Television backs Putin too. What rancid treachery.
>>15751354 Lethal aid to Ukraine will make major difference in fight against Russian invasion: Volodymyr Shalkivskyi, top Ukrainian diplomat in Australia
>>15751375 PM warns Australians wanting to fight in Ukraine against entering into 'suicide missions'
>>15751483 Video: The rescue effort in Lismore was like nothing I've seen in Australia - Catherine Naylor, Deputy opinion editor - Sydney Morning Herald
>>15751492 Q Post #4356 - https://twitter.com/MattFinnFNC/status/1266780532681199622 - Humanity at its finest. Q
>>15761198 Prime Minister Scott Morrison tests positive to Covid-19 - 1 March 2022
>>15772763 Joe Biden's bid to unite Quad on Russia - Joe Biden calls a snap Quad security bloc meeting after India declined to condemn Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine

#16040610 at 2022-04-09 05:11:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

#21 - Part 25
Child Exploitation, Pedophilia, Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking Investigations - Part 2
>>15916711 NSW MP Gareth Ward charged with sexual violence; Premier Dominic Perrottet seeks his resignation from parliament
>>15924222 Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston resigns after internal misconduct investigation
>>15932317 Video: Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins growing chorus of Hillsong Church allies to distance themselves from founder Brian Houston
>>15932328 PM 'shocked and disappointed' by Houston resignation, not been a Hillsong member for 15 years
>>15932331 NSW MP Gareth Ward suspended from parliament over historic sexual abuse charges after he refused to resign
>>15940215 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Statement - International Engagement Strategy on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery - 25 March 2022 - "We have zero tolerance for those who exploit the vulnerable."
>>15940215 PDF: Australian Government International Engagement Strategy on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery: Delivering in Partnership (2022)

>>15947677 Perth Children's Hospital nurse Peter De Mouilpied made dozens of child exploitation videos, court hears
>>15962247 Gerald Ridsdale - arguably Australia's most prolific paedophile priest - faces court on fresh charges that allege he abused two boys 40 years ago
>>15962328 Woman living with cerebral palsy tells Disability Royal Commission she was 'raped and assaulted' by carer
>>15962328 Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Public hearing 17: The experience of women and girls with disability with a particular focus on family, domestic and sexual violence - 28 March 2022
>>15968645 Stewart Iain Berry and husband Mathew Campbell face SA court accused of involvement in Jadd Brooker's online pedophile ring
>>15981879 Australian Federal Police will use $142 million budget allocation to develop "specialist capability" to tackle serious crime enabled by anonymising technology - New account takeover and data disruption powers are the 'envy' of the United States, says Commissioner Reece Kershaw
>>16008504 Pedophile John Wayne Millwood disperses fortune to thwart victim of record $5.3m in civil damages
>>16022022 Paedophiles should forfeit superannuation to pay compensation, child sex abuse victim Andy Martin says

#16040595 at 2022-04-09 05:08:39 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

#21 - Part 20
Australia / China Tensions - Part 6
>>15994756 China-Solomon Islands security pact has no military connotation: Chinese FM - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15994770 Australia plays victim of 'economic coercion' to attack China, obstructs cooperation: Chinese FM - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>15994781 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 1, 2022
>>15994793 Video: The current difficult situation in China-Australia relations. - SpokespersonCHN
>>16002473 Solomon Islands, China military deal: What it means for Australia
>>16002540 Japan's ambassador to Australia, Yamagami Shingo warns Australia against 'too many eggs in one basket' with China trade
>>16008518 Millionaire Chinese property developer Zheng Jiefu quietly expelled from Australia for 'harming security interests'
>>16014957 Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Samuel J Paparo lashes 'concerning' Solomon Islands security pact with China
>>16021998 China reacts to AUKUS hypersonic missiles deal as Barnaby Joyce says weapons pose 'existential threat'

>>16022043 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Solomon Islands - Media Release of the Chinese Embassy on China-Solomon Islands security cooperation
>>16022045 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Solomon Islands - Q&A on China-Solomon Islands Security Cooperation by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy
>>16028308 China denounces Australia and New Zealand for their "colonial mentality" in Beijing's most detailed defence of its security agreement with the Solomon Islands
>>16028339 Australian spy chiefs meet with Solomon Islands PM Sogavare over draft security deal with China - Paul Symon, head of overseas spy agency the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), and Andrew Shearer, Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence
>>16028349 Solomon Islands Govenment Statement - Positive Outcome to Dialogue between PM and Australian Envoy
>>16028406 China accuses US, UK and Australia of trying to build Asia-Pacific NATO
>>16028409 AUKUS plans hypersonic weapons to confront China as US speeds up NATO, Asian allies' coordination - Liu Xuanzun and Liu Xin - globaltimes.cn
>>16028413 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 6, 2022
>>16028421 Video: AUKUS is an Anglo-Saxon clique, a child of the Cold War mentality & bloc politics. - SpokespersonCHN
>>16034829 Security pact puts heat on Solomon Islands - Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US counterpart Antony Blinken express concern about China's draft security agreement with the Solomon Islands

#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

#16040545 at 2022-04-09 04:59:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

#21 - Part 3
Australian Politics and Society - Part 3
>>15778970 Quad leaders hold talks on Ukraine conflict, warn against similar shows of force in Indo-Pacific
>>15778992 Pine Gap - jointly run US and Australian defence intelligence facility in Alice Springs likely gathering intelligence about Russia's next moves in Ukraine
>>15783322 Former Australian international cricketer Shane Warne dies of a suspected heart attack in Thailand, aged 52
>>15787779 Department of Defence Tweet: Secretary of the Department of Defence Greg Moriarty met with @DepSecDef Dr Kathleen Hicks to advance our security alliance. Australia and the US are committed to supporting an Indo-Pacific region that is stable, prosperous and resilient.
>>15787779 Department of Defence Tweet: The Secretary of the Department of Defence, Greg Moriarty, and @DepSecDef discussed AU and US united responses to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
>>15792242 How a spreadsheet became a lifesaver in Lismore's flood crisis - Sally Flannery and the Support Lismore Small Business Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/supportlismore/
>>15792631 Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy
>>15792631 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Tweet: I continue negotiations with partners. Told (Australian) Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP about the course of war. As well as risks to people and the environment due to the threat to Ukrainian nuclear and chemical facilities. Thanked for the defense and humanitarian support. #StopRussia
>>15792631 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Just spoke with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He thanked Australia for our military & humanitarian support & extensive sanctions. We discussed ways we could assist further. I praised Ukraine's courage against Russia's aggression & condemned Russia's actions on behalf of us all.
>>15795568 Peter Dutton warns of Putin's territorial ambition, government MP James Paterson cites nuclear danger in Ukraine conflict

>>15802890 Video: PM says no nuclear submarine decision before election, as new subs base planned for Australia's east coast
>>15819099 Video: 'I won't cop that': PM defends ADF while declaring floods a national emergency
>>15819116 Video: Foreign Minister Marise Payne reveals Australia is placing further sanctions on Russia, targeting "propagandists and purveyors of disinformation"
>>15827076 Australian Defence Force to grow to largest size since Vietnam War, increasing by nearly 20,000 people by 2040
>>15827088 Stronger Defence Force makes for stronger disaster recovery: Morrison
>>15827358 Victorian Labor senator Kimberley Kitching dies suddenly of a suspected heart attack in Melbourne aged 52
>>15836667 Former far-right political candidate Teresa van Lieshout claims mental health defence, but no illness, in 'government overthrow' case
>>15851464 Shane Warne memorial service delivers a budget googly - Morrison government rethinking budget strategy amid suspicion that Victorian Labor Premier Dan Andrews deliberately scheduled memorial service to overshadow budget
>>15852735 PM rejects criticism he was 'too slow' to act in crisis events
>>15854162 Video: Riccardo Bosi Speech in Canberra "we need 5 million protesters" - Aussie Novax

#16040542 at 2022-04-09 04:58:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

#21 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>15648472 (2011) Australian delegation meeting with US Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper
>>15656287 Australia intends to list Hamas as terrorist organisation - Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews
>>15680632 'Welcome back world!': Australia fully reopens borders after two years - 2 February 2022
>>15683946 Aussie entertainment giant Neil Balnaves dies in boating accident
>>15689241 Victorian Labor braces for Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) report into dealings between the Andrews government and the United Firefighters Union
>>15697731 Video: Australia imposes sanctions on Russia over Ukraine invasion
>>15697830 It's time to put Putin's useful idiots on notice - Craig Kelly and Simeon Boikov / Aussie Cossack
>>15708019 Scott Morrison has condemned Vladimir Putin after Russia invaded Ukraine
>>15708027 Embassy of Russia in Australia - Comment on the introduction of a new package of anti-Russian sanctions by Australia
>>15718085 Putin's paramilitary proxies in Australia - Simeon 'The Aussie Cossack' Boikov - Jack the Insider (Peter Hoysted) - theaustralian.com.au

>>15727210 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: I spoke today with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne to discuss our mutual efforts to hold the Russian government accountable for its premeditated and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
>>15727210 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Important call with @SecBlinken today, discussing the vital, united (global) response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Australia) has announced further sanctions including preparing sanctions against President Putin & FM Sergei Lavrov. Russia's egregious aggression on Ukraine must stop.
>>15735495 'Lethal aid': Australia's vow to help Ukraine - Australia will provide funding through NATO for weapons and offensive capability rather than sending its own weaponry
>>15743566 Kevin Rudd Tweet: Donald Trump is a traitor to the West. Murdoch was Trump's biggest backer. And Murdoch's Fox Television backs Putin too. What rancid treachery.
>>15751354 Lethal aid to Ukraine will make major difference in fight against Russian invasion: Volodymyr Shalkivskyi, top Ukrainian diplomat in Australia
>>15751375 PM warns Australians wanting to fight in Ukraine against entering into 'suicide missions'
>>15751483 Video: The rescue effort in Lismore was like nothing I've seen in Australia - Catherine Naylor, Deputy opinion editor - Sydney Morning Herald
>>15751492 Q Post #4356 - https://twitter.com/MattFinnFNC/status/1266780532681199622 - Humanity at its finest. Q
>>15761198 Prime Minister Scott Morrison tests positive to Covid-19 - 1 March 2022
>>15772763 Joe Biden's bid to unite Quad on Russia - Joe Biden calls a snap Quad security bloc meeting after India declined to condemn Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine

#16034829 at 2022-04-08 09:03:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15939896
>>16028339
Security pact puts heat on Solomon Islands

BEN PACKHAM and JACQUELIN MAGNAY - APRIL 7, 2022

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US counterpart Antony Blinken have expressed concern about China's draft security agreement with the Solomon ?Islands after the Pacific nation's Prime Minister ignored high-level intelligence warnings to abandon the deal.

Senator Payne met with Mr Blinken, the US Secretary of State, on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in the first face-to-face talks between the pair since revelations a fortnight ago the Solomon Islands had negotiated a surprise security pact with Beijing.

She said they discussed "concerns that we would share around the reported Chinese Solomon ?Islands security agreement".

A US-issued readout of their conversation went further, saying they "shared concerns about ?recent regional developments and ways to support countries in making open and transparent ?decisions about their own security and economic interests".

Their meeting came hours after talks between Solomon ?Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and two of Australia's top spy bosses in Honiara.

Office of National Assessments director-general Andrew Shearer and Australian Secret ?Intelligence Service Paul Symon travelled to the Solomon Islands as Scott Morrison's envoys, to provide Mr Sogavare with classified intelligence on the likely ramifications of the security agreement with Beijing.

Australia is concerned the agreement will open the door to a Chinese base in the country, with Beijing using the deal to ramp up its presence in the Solomon ?Islands over time.

But, according to a statement issued by Mr Sogavare's office, the Solomon Islands leader reassured Australia his country's ?security concerns "are domestically focused". He said the China deal would complement his country's security agreement with Australia.

"Prime Minister Sogavare ?assured Australia, Solomon ?Islands will continue to roll out the implementation of its ?national security strategy and uphold its foreign policy of 'friends to all and enemies to none'," his office said. "Australia remains our partner of choice."

Earlier this week, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Samuel J Paparo, told ?reporters in Washington that the "secret security event" was a concern for Western allies, including "all our partners throughout the western Pacific and especially Australia, New Zealand".

But China denounced Australia and New Zealand for their ?"colonial mentality" in opposing the deal, saying no nation should claim the Pacific as its "backyard".

In meetings with Mr Blinken and NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, Senator Payne also stressed the unity of the international response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the message it sent other authoritarian regimes, including China.

Mr Stoltenberg warned NATO countries they had to be prepared "for the long haul" to sustain sanctions against Russia, support Ukraine and strengthen defences and deterrence.

At the same time, NATO is also mindful of China's moves in the Indo-Pacific, opting to ?include Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea in the latest talks.

"President Putin's aim is to try to control the whole of Donbas and to establish a land bridge (to the Crimea)," he said.

"We have seen no indication that President Putin has changed his ambition to control the whole of Ukraine and also to rewrite the international order. So we need to be prepared for the long haul ... because this can last for a long time and we need to be prepared for that."

Mr Stoltenberg said the military equipment being provided by NATO allies and other friendly nations was making a significant difference. "Allies are providing both anti-tank, anti-air or air ?defence systems, but also different kinds of advanced weapon systems and also both light and heavier weapon systems to Ukraine," he said.

"I will not go into all details, so exactly what kind of weapons equipment allies are providing, but I can say that the totality of what allies are doing is significant. And that includes also some heavier systems combined with lighter systems."

After back-to-back meetings on Wednesday, Senator Payne said Australia stood with allies who were closest to respond to the Ukraine crisis because the war had implications globally.

In her opening remarks in the Australian-US bilateral meeting, Senator Payne said it was critical for Australia and the US to be closely joined in the response to the actions of authoritarian states which were "untenable, unacceptable and completely illegal".

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/security-pact-puts-heat-on-solomon-islands/news-story/60a92a101462d374b24b1656917aac14

https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-meeting-with-australian-foreign-minister-Payne-2/

#16028346 at 2022-04-07 08:44:44 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>16028339

2/2

Solomon Islands firm on position

The statement pointedly says that China remains an "important trading partner for both countries" and makes it clear that the government is not prepared to abandon efforts to strike security pacts with more countries.

"Prime Minister Sogavare assured Australia, Solomon Islands will continue to roll out the implementation of its National Security Strategy and uphold its Foreign Policy of "Friends to all and enemies to none," it reads.

Several Australian government ministers have publicly raised concerns about the pact since it was leaked online last month.

It has since been "initialled" by top officials from China and Solomon Islands, but not yet signed and formalised by their foreign ministers.

Last month, Mr Morrison said the agreement showed the "constant pressure" being placed on Pacific states, and earlier this week a top US admiral labelled the security negotiations between Honiara and Beijing "very concerning."

Mr Sogavare lashed out at critics of the pact during a fiery address to parliament last week, insisting there was no prospect of a Chinese military base in Solomon Islands, and saying it was "insulting" to suggest his country couldn't navigate its relationship with Beijing.

China's government has also berated Australia for publicly criticising the deal, accusing it of paranoia and trying to undermine the sovereignty of Solomon Islands.

Some Pacific neighbours uneasy about deal

Mr Morrison and the Pacific Minister Zed Seselja have rung several Pacific counterparts to try and coordinate a united regional response to the development.

Some Pacific Island nations are also uneasy about the agreement and the prospect of China striking its first bilateral security deal in the region, although few Pacific leaders have waded into the public furore.

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape told the ABC earlier this week that other states in the region were "conscious" of events in Solomon Islands and wanted to discuss the matter at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting this year.

Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa also did not criticise the security pact but said Pacific Island countries had to hammer out a collective response to growing geopolitical competition in the region.

"That is why we from Samoa have been pushing for the Forum to quickly come together and to be looking at these issues growing and deepening in our region," she said.

The controversy over the agreement has also stoked domestic political controversy in Australia.

The government has denied Labor's declaration that Australia was "blindsided" by the leaked deal, with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce saying Australian intelligence agencies were "all over" what was happening.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne also told Senate Estimates that Australia had been aware of security negotiations between China and Solomon Islands for quite some time, although she conceded she only learned about the specific agreement when the draft was leaked publicly.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-07/australian-intelligence-officials-meet-with-solomon-islands-pm/100972282

#16028297 at 2022-04-07 08:25:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>16028290
Expelling Russian diplomats could put Australian lives at risk in Moscow

Anthony Galloway - April 6, 2022

Australian diplomats have warned Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his cabinet ministers that expelling Russian officials from Canberra would likely result in the closure of its Moscow embassy and put Australian lives at risk.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese on Wednesday night called on the government to boot out Russian diplomats in response to the latest revelations of Russia's atrocities in Ukraine, after the national security committee of cabinet weighed up the options on Tuesday.

Various options were canvassed at the meeting as Mr Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne considered whether to move on the diplomats, according to multiple government sources who were not authorised to speak publicly but said the matter was under serious consideration.

The meeting was told that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's advice was not to expel any Russian diplomats on the basis that it would almost certainly result in the closure of Australia's Moscow embassy and put Australians living in Russia at risk.

Senator Payne will this week meet with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, where she will discuss the option of expelling Russian diplomats, before the government again considers the move.

The renewed talks over whether to kick out Russia's diplomats from the country follow the emergence of horrific images of corpses lying in the streets in the town of Bucha, north-west of Kyiv.

Scores of European countries - including France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Spain - this week expelled more than 200 Russian diplomats and staff from their countries. However, none of the Five Eyes countries - Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand - have so far moved.

The possibility of expelling diplomats has always been a live option for the Australian government, but it has so far resisted the move on the basis that it is better to keep lines of communication with the Russian government open amid the worsening crisis.

Australia has already imposed sanctions on dozens of Russia's officials, oligarchs and financial institutions in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Australia is in close contact with the other Five Eyes countries and plans to move in lockstep with them on the expulsion of any diplomats.

Mr Albanese said on Wednesday night it was hard to conceive how the decision could be made to allow Russian diplomats to stay in Australia after "the sickening abuses being carried out by Russian forces".

"Given the reported atrocities by Russian forces in Ukraine, I call on the Morrison government to expel Russian diplomats, in lockstep with European partners," he said.

"The mass killing of innocent civilians and the use of rape as a weapon of war can only be described as war crimes.

"Those responsible must be held to account - and in the first instance there must be immediate diplomatic consequences."

The Lowy Institute's director of research, Herv? Lemahieu, said the move to expel Russian diplomats would be in line with other Western nations and would send a "strong signal of Western unity".

Mr Lemahieu said he didn't see the benefit in keeping lines of communication open, given the state of bilateral ties between Moscow and Canberra.

"We need to show somewhere that the massacres in Bucha will have a response," he said.

"You have to ask yourself: what are the Russians actually doing in Australia? What is the diplomatic presence for?

"A good deal of intelligence gathering is going on [in Russia's Canberra embassy], these are not diplomats working on improving bilateral ties at this stage."

He said Australia would not be "rushing ahead of the pack in this regard".

"It's very much in line with what other Western countries have done, we wouldn't monopolise the ire of Russia."

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/expelling-russian-diplomats-could-put-australian-lives-at-risk-in-moscow-20220406-p5abc8.html

#16028290 at 2022-04-07 08:22:49 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Anthony Albanese calls on government to kick out Russian diplomats

Atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha have prompted the Opposition's call to join with EU nations and kick Russian diplomats out of Australia.

James Morrow - April 7, 2022

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has called on the Morrison government to immediately expel Russian diplomats in the wake of mass killings and other atrocities in Ukraine.

"Given the reported atrocities by Russian forces in Ukraine, I call on the Morrison Government to expel Russian diplomats, in lock-step with European partners," said Mr Albanese.

"In recent days, EU countries, including France, Germany and Italy have taken steps to expel 206 Russian diplomats and staff - while allowing Ambassadors to remain in most cases. Australia should follow suit."

"Foreign Minister Marise Payne has said that the matter is being kept 'under review ... at the highest levels of the Government.'

"It is hard to conceive how the decision can be made to allow these individuals to stay, given the sickening abuses being carried out by Russian forces," he said.

This week the world was horrified by the discovery of civilians dead in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, which US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken described as "a deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities."

Mr Blinken also pledged further US military aid to Ukraine amid reports that Russian forces were focusing their efforts on consolidating control of the eastern part of the country in an attempt to create a land bridge with Crimea.

Russian officials said that a "special military operation" would focus on capturing Luhansk and Donetsk, where fighting has taken place since 2014.

Labor also called on the international community to investigate and prosecute war crimes committed in Ukraine.

"Those responsible must be held to account - and in the first instance there must be immediate diplomatic consequences," Mr Albanese said.

"Labor supports all efforts to ensure these crimes are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted through the International Criminal Court process, including the provision of Australian experts to assist the investigation."

But federal government sources told The Daily Telegraph while the National Security Committee had considered expelling Russian diplomats from Australia this week, it had ultimately decided not to based on advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The source said the matter had been "under active consideration for some time," but the advice remained not to do so because it would "almost certainly" result in the closure of the Moscow embassy and it puts Australians living in Russia at risk.

It is understood the government will move in lockstep with Five Eyes partners, which have all so far opted not expel Russian diplomats.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will meet with NATO foreign ministers to discuss the issue before considering again.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/anthony-albanese-calls-on-government-to-kick-out-russian-diplomats/news-story/d88712143c8f3dbd7f67acd3b75b61b6

#16008518 at 2022-04-04 09:38:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Millionaire Chinese property developer quietly expelled for 'harming security interests'

Nick McKenzie - April 4, 2022

1/2

The federal government has expelled a millionaire businessman from Australia after accusing him of carrying out tasks for a Chinese intelligence operative and working covertly in a way that advanced Beijing's interests.

The recent expulsion of property developer Zheng Jiefu is one of several cases in which long-time Australian residents have been deported or barred entry into the country because of their suspected ties to Beijing's security or foreign interference apparatus.

Over the past three years, spy agency ASIO has quietly deported several Chinese businessmen and journalists, accusing them of ties to the Ministry of State Security or Chinese foreign interference agencies. ASIO, the federal government and human rights groups have warned for a number of years that Beijing was directing its proxies to approach members of the Chinese diaspora in Australia to put pressure on their relatives in China.

Official sources who cannot be named because they are not authorised to speak publicly, say ASIO accused Mr Zheng of engaging in foreign interference in Australia on behalf of China, a claim the wealthy businessman has denied.

Mr Zheng's alleged activities are said to include offering money to an Australian student in a way that could place pressure on his father, a human rights activist detained in China. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have spoken to multiple sources, including government insiders and supporters of Mr Zheng, to confirm elements of Mr Zheng's expulsion case.

Mr Zheng, a Brighton resident who has a wife and children in Australia and has invested an estimated $40 million into Australian property and other business ventures, is also accused by ASIO of repeatedly interacting with a suspected Chinese spy who was carrying out operations in Australia.

Mr Zheng visited Australia in 2008 to attend a daughter's graduation before applying for residency and buying an $8.25 million Brighton mansion. While living in Melbourne, Mr Zheng has been appointed to the board of at least one Chinese cultural group.

The revelation of the Zheng expulsion case, as well as Mr Zheng's decision to fight the Australian government from China, is likely to inflame ongoing tensions between Canberra and Beijing. Australia and China have spent years accusing each other of covert meddling in their respective internal affairs.

Two Australians, news broadcaster Cheng Lei and writer Yang Hengjun, are currently detained in China, accused of breaching national security laws. Their charging and detention has sparked repeated rebukes of Beijing from Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

The federal government's most high-profile resident expulsion is that of Huang Xiangmo, a Chinese billionaire gambler and political donor in Sydney who was barred from Australia in February 2019 after ASIO accused him of being prone to engage in acts of foreign interference. Mr Huang denies any wrongdoing.

(continued)

#16002473 at 2022-04-03 08:54:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15939896
Solomon Islands, China military deal: What it means for Australia

A Solomon Islands pact with Beijing will bring the Chinese military just 2000 km from Australia's shores. This is what happened and what it means.

Charles Miranda - April 2, 2022

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Two years ago, Australia quite literally connected with Pacific neighbour the Solomon Islands.

A 4700km long undersea fibre-optic data cable largely funded by the Federal Government to bring high speed internet to the Pacific was laid, connecting capital Honiara to Australia via Tamarama Beach on Sydney's eastern beaches.

Australia's more than $136 million commitment was specifically designed, on strategic security advice of Australia's intelligence services, to shut-out China's Huawei which also wanted to do the Pacific cable connection project.

Such was the concern of a Chinese telco effectively linking Australia and the Solomon Islands, with plug in to both, in 2017 Australian Secret Intelligence Service spy chief Nick Warner personally spoke with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare who had long sought a China input.

Fast forward to August 2019 and Australia made the achievement in what Foreign Minister Marise Payne noted "without any exaggeration this will change lives".

Well it did but perhaps not in the way the Federal Government would have liked.

Solomon Islands this week confirmed it was now signing a security pact with China that will allow not only the deployment of Chinese troops in the Pacific under the auspices of the Solomon Islands but also potentially establish a naval base there under an agreement to allow the Chinese PLA military a "replenish port".

This effectively will now place China's military assets just 2000km from Australia's shores, metaphorically and physical half the distance than Australia thought its cable deal would strategically tie the Solomon Islands to Australia and keep China out.

The move exposes for the first time China's military intent for the region and rightly has both Australia and New Zealand, and further afield the US military's Indo-Pacific Command, concerned.

The significance of the move cannot be overstated, this is a disaster for Australian foreign policy makers and brings into question the government's much touted more than $1.4 billion Pacific Step Up program introduced in 2018 to fund the Pacific Islands with critical infrastructure including military training, hardware, intelligence sharing and aid designed in part to counter China's offers of huge regional loans and spending.

"We find it very insulting, Mr Speaker, to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs," Mr Sogavare told his parliament this week of Australia's concern of his move for a pact with China, that some analysts have likened to Australia's own Cuban missile crisis standoff.

The leader said his country would welcome anyone who wanted to support security and labelled as "utter nonsense" claims China's presence in the Pacific was a security threat.

He insisted the Solomon Islands security pact with Australia remained intact.

But will it really? Probably yes but with a caveat.

(continued)

#15994733 at 2022-04-02 04:04:52 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15939896
Solomon Islands won't allow Chinese military base, says PM's office

Kirsty Needham - April 1, 2022

SYDNEY, April 1 (Reuters) - Amid a regional backlash, the Solomon Islands said it would not allow a Chinese military base in the Pacific islands nation despite its plans to sign a security pact with Beijing.

A day after officials from the two countries initialled a draft agreement on security, the office of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said on Friday the agreement does not invite China to establish a military base.

"Government is conscious of the security ramification of hosting a military base, and it will not be careless to allow such initiative to take place under its watch," a statement said.

Sogavare has not released details of the security agreement with China, amid concern sparked by a leaked draft that allowed Chinese navy ships to replenish in the islands. Ministers have not yet signed it.

When asked about the most recent comments from the Solomon Islands, China's foreign ministry said the "starting point" of the security agreement is to safeguard people's safety and property security.

"It does not have any military overtones," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing on Friday.

"The relevant remarks and speculation in the media are groundless."

Four people were killed during violent anti-government protests and much of the Chinatown neighborhood of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, was destroyed during violent anti-government protests in November.

The leader of the Federated States of Micronesia on Thursday urged the Solomon Islands not to sign the security pact, saying he had "grave security concerns" and feared the Pacific could become embroiled in war between China and the United States.

New Zealand has also warned against the pact, which it says could upset long-standing regional security cooperation. Australia's Defence Minister Peter Dutton on Friday said he respected Sogavare's perspective but urged caution.

China had established 20 points of military presence in the South China Sea despite telling the United States it would not militarize the region, and Canberra feared Beijing was on a similar pathway in the Pacific islands, Dutton said in an interview with Sky News.

"They want a military port in PNG [Papua New Guinea]. They've got one in Sri Lanka, and they're looking obviously at other places where they can put them," he said.

China offered to redevelop a naval base in Papua New Guinea in 2018 but Australia's closest northern neighbour decided to have Australia to develop the base instead.

A Chinese state company runs the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota under a 99-year lease, although Sri Lanka has previously said the port cannot be used for Chinese military purposes.

A Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would prompt Australia to significantly increase its military deployment to the region because the islands are very close to Australia, Dutton said.

Australia's foreign minister Marise Payne said the security agreement between Solomon Islands and China would undermine stability in the region.

"We don't believe that there is a need for countries outside the Pacific family to have a security role," she said on local radio on Friday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/solomon-islands-says-wont-allow-chinese-military-base-knows-ramification-2022-04-01/

#15989759 at 2022-04-01 14:24:24 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15989752

2/2

The Morrison government has spent the week claiming that it was not surprised by the deal, but the truth is, inside the government there was shock at the speed and scale of the agreement. They were aware of China's broad intentions but had no idea of the specifics. There was no intelligence, briefing from the Solomons or any other information that indicated this deal was about to be signed. In crucial months last year when Solomons was gripped by protest, Australia's High Commissioner Lachlan Strahan was stuck in Australia recovering from a back operation. He met with Sogavare in Honiara hours before the draft was released, unaware of the agreement that could reshape the Pacific order.

There are active discussions underway about how to get Pacific Minister Zed Seselja or Foreign Minister Marise Payne to Solomon Islands, but more than a week after the draft deal was first released, neither has been sent there because of concerns about how it would be received by Honiara. The relationship has become so sensitive that the Australian government is urging Washington to speak up on the issue.

Australia's careful, quiet diplomacy has for decades been predicated on giving agency to local governments while focussing on health and education programs. These are good, principled tactics, but they lack the teeth to compete with a strategic adversary. Part of this problem is structural. Beijing does not have to answer to voters about why it is spending billions on overseas infrastructure while Australian voters are unlikely to cop state-backed largesse. But this has meant that Beijing has been able to build stadiums while Australia is funding schools.

The major Australian infrastructure project - a $92 million undersea internet cable to the Solomons from Australia - is as much about giving islanders high-speed internet as it is trying to ensure China does not control the islanders' bandwidth.

China is building a $74 million 2023 Pacific Games stadium in Honiara. In 2019, the Chinese state-owned Sam group made a bid for the 75-year lease for the entire island of Tulagi, a resource-rich hub, that it wanted to turn into a special economic zone. Then in 2021, China refurbished an entire isolation ward of the National Referral Hospital for COVID-19 patients.

China is cashed up, ambitious and getting more bang for its buck, but it is also becoming better at subtler areas of cooperation traditionally championed by Australia and New Zealand.

Last Monday 80 Solomon Islanders left for China on university scholarships sponsored by the Chinese government. Among them were relatives of government MPs and Sogavare.

The flight was mutually beneficial. On its return, the flight brought back Chinese workers to build the infrastructure projects that will now require a Chinese security force to protect them.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/how-china-stole-a-march-on-australia-in-the-pacific-20220330-p5a9ia.html

#15981958 at 2022-03-31 10:16:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15939896
Solomon Islands inks security deal with China, ignoring Australian protests

Eryk Bagshaw - March 31, 2022

Singapore: Solomon Islands has initialled a security deal with Beijing, paving the way for China to take its first major stake in security in the Pacific and testing Australia's century-long influence over the region.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele will now formally sign off on the deal after details of the draft agreement were ironed out on Thursday by officials from both sides.

Honiara's Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet said in a statement on Thursday that officials have "initialled elements of a bilateral security cooperation framework" with China. The office said the government would continue to work with all partners "in providing a safe and secure nation where all people are able to co-exist peacefully".

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the agreement was "beyond reproach".

"It is beneficial to social stability and lasting security of Solomon Islands and the common interest of regional countries," he said.

But the imminent signing of the deal is a firm rejection of days of lobbying from Australian and New Zealand to reconsider and a failure of decades of engagement with the Pacific region. China will now be elevated alongside Australia as Honiara's major partner less than three years after Solomon Islands switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China.

The draft agreement will allow Chinese navy ships and defence forces to be based in Solomon Islands to protect billions of dollars in Chinese infrastructure investment in the developing country. The deal followed protests and riots in November in which Chinese buildings in Honiara were attacked.

"Solomon Islands reiterate that the framework of cooperation is to respond to Solomon Islands' soft and hard domestic threats," the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet said. "Solomon Islands continue to roll out the implementation of its national security strategy and uphold its foreign policy of friends to all and enemies to none."

Lieutenant General Greg Bilton, the Australian Defence Force's Chief of Joint Operations, told reporters in Canberra on Thursday that any stationing of Chinese navy vessels in the Pacific nation would "change the calculus" for Australia's defence forces.

"We would change our patrolling patterns and our maritime awareness activities," he said.

Honiara, the capital, is less than 2000 kilometres from Australia's east coast. Solomon Islands is a key strategic point in the Pacific, providing access to shipping lanes from Australia and New Zealand up through Asia. The presence of Chinese navy ships would drain Australian defence resources and potentially cut off supply lines in the event of a conflict.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Marise Payne, New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta urged Solomon Islands to remember their contributions to the Pacific in the days before the deal was signed.

But Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare described their warnings about China's intentions in the region as "nonsense" in a speech to Parliament this week, arguing that they had been consumed by "geopolitical and ideological hatred".

"The time has come for nation-states to face the realities about all the nonsense we are made to believe," he said.

China has militarised three islands in the disputed South China Sea and flown hundreds of warplanes toward Taiwan's airspace over the past year.

Sogavare explicitly linked Chinese investment in the nation's infrastructure to the proposed security deal and suggested Beijing would be given the right to protect its investments by force.

"Lack of development, especially in major infrastructure in our provinces continues to plague us. Lack of development leads to security issues," he said. "That affects our national security."

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said China had targeted Australia, Japan and India.

"I mean this all adds up to a course of conduct that China's embarking on," he said on Thursday. "The aggression that we're seeing in the South China Sea, the military presence now in 20 points in the South China Sea, the East China Sea activities against Japan, are all deeply concerning."

Dutton said Australia did not believe it is in the best interests of Honiara to be engaging in an exercise that could lead to a military presence in Solomon Islands.

"Frankly, I think that's the view of many of the neighbours and others within the Indo-Pacific, and we've been very clear about that," he said.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/solomon-islands-inks-security-deal-with-china-ignoring-australian-protests-20220331-p5a9tr.html

#15968700 at 2022-03-29 08:30:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15939896
'Insulting': Solomon Islands lashes out at Australia, New Zealand over China deal

COURTNEY GOULD - MARCH 29, 2022

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has launched a fiery defence of a leaked deal that could lead to China having a military presence in the nation.

A draft agreement between Solomon Islands and China was leaked last week, prompting concerns from Australia and New Zealand that a deal could lead to regional instability.

Addressing parliament on Tuesday, Mr Sogavare confirmed Honiara was in negotiations with China, adding the backlash to the agreement was "insulting".

"We have no intention, Mr Speaker, of pitching into any geopolitical power struggle," he said

"We find it very insulting to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs."

Earlier on Tuesday, Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern expressed apprehension about the security pact.

In a read out of the discussion, the pair said they shared concerns about "any actions that would undermine the security and stability of the Pacific region".

Mr Sogavare insisted the Solomon Islands' security arrangement "remained in place" and added he would "not pick sides".

He said he had written to Mr Morrison and exchanged text messages with him on the matter.

It comes as Labor piles on the pressure for the government to ramp up its presence in the Pacific, claiming it has dropped the ball with maintaining relations with our neighbours.

"There is no logical reason why China needs to have a presence, in terms of a base, in the Solomons," Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese told the ABC.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has flown to Fiji to discuss the proposed deal with Pacific leaders.

Asked if Marise Payne should do the same, Mr Albanese remained coy.

"Well, that's a matter for the government," he said.

"But what they should be doing, I'll say this, whether they're doing it physically or virtually, is engaging in full diplomatic efforts with all of our neighbours in the Pacific."

Mr Morrison on Monday denied he had let relationships with Australia's Pacific neighbours slip.

"Absolutely not. We've been aware of the risks right across the Pacific," he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

"The reports that we've seen are not a surprise to us and are a reminder of the constant pressure and threats that present in our region to our own national security."

But New Zealand Defence Minister Peeni Henare said he and his Australian counterpart Peter Dutton were caught off guard by the reports.

"We were both surprised because the intelligence we were getting didn't exactly match that," he said.

"We knew that there were some challenges there, with respect to China, but the leaked draft agreement ... it did catch me as a surprise and even Minister Dutton."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/concerns-pms-call-with-jacinda-on-chinas-interest-in-solomon-islands/news-story/66ea5bffa3d2201399239f16db369d8d

#15968687 at 2022-03-29 08:23:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Joe Biden acclaims 'essential' ANZUS

BEN PACKHAM - MARCH 29, 2022

Scott Morrison has marked the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS Alliance by announcing a cyber and critical technology centre to be established within the nation's peak intelligence ?assessment agency to deploy cutting-edge technologies to protect Australia's security.

The Prime Minister announced the new centre at a dinner to mark the milestone for the alliance - a pact US President Joe Biden declared on Monday was "essential to our shared safety and prosperity".

Mr Biden's "Asia tsar" Kurt Campbell relayed the President's words to guests including leading figures in politics, business and defence at the Parliament House dinner, saying the Australia-US alliance was not only a historical document but essential to strengthening Indo-Pacific security into the ?future.

Mr Morrison said Australia and the US's shared intelligence commitments were a major pillar of the alliance, and with "changing geopolitical realities", Australia was "stepping up to do more".

The new Cyber and Critical Technology Intelligence Centre will be located within the Office of National Intelligence to harness rapidly evolving technology and meet the security challenges that technology presents.

"This multi-agency centre will ensure Australia, working with our allies, can better anticipate and capitalise on emerging technologies," Mr Morrison told guests at the dinner, hosted by the American Australian Association, the United States Studies Centre and the Perth USAsia Centre.

He said the centre would work across the intelligence community and with non-?government R&D partners "to fund, shape and deploy cutting-edge science, research and technology to deliver better capa?bilities into the future".

"Beyond defence and intelligence, today Australia and the US work together on a wide and expanding canvass - cyber ?security, space, supply chain resilience, critical minerals, quantum computing, low emissions technologies and more," Mr Morrison said.

In his message, Mr Biden commended Australia's "strong response" to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and "the strength of your voice in upholding the values that guide us as ?democracies".

"Seventy years ago, our countries came together at the Presidio in San Francisco and established an enduring partnership - as stated in the ANZUS Treaty - to strengthen the fabric of peace in the Indo-Pacific region," the White House Indo-Pacific co-ordinator said, reading the letter from Mr Biden.

"Today, the ANZUS partnership is essential to our shared safety and prosperity."

Mr Morrison said the alliance was one of "trust, commitment and sacrifice" that "continues to be renewed for our times".

"We come to this partnership as equals. We come to this partnership bringing everything we have, and to share it ... standing equal," he said.

Guests at the dinner included Labor leader Anthony Albanese, US charge d'affaires Mike Goldman, Foreign Minister Marise Payne, her Labor counterpart Penny Wong, former prime minister John Howard, former foreign minister Julie Bishop and former US ambassador Joe Hockey.

ONI director-general Andrew Shearer, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess and Australian Secret Intelligence Service director-general Paul Symon were also among the guests, along with ?Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty, Foreign Affairs secretary Kathryn Campbell and Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo.

News Corp co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch and chief executive Robert Thomson attended, along with Herald and Weekly Times chair Penny Fow?ler, Pratt Foundation chair ?Heloise Pratt, and Boeing Australia president Brendan Nelson, a former defence minister and Liberal leader.

The Australian's editor-in-chief Christopher Dore said Sir Keith Murdoch, who established the Australian American Association in 1948, saw clearly "the shift in Australia's interests from our sentimental and emotional attachment to Britain to our practical and actual relationship with the US". He said Sir Keith would be "extremely proud" the alliance continued to thrive.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/joe-biden-acclaims-essential-anzus/news-story/22488a6b29466e7ff6d0da6917cb85ae

#15962027 at 2022-03-28 08:12:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15962023

2/2

Slights and obstructions

At the same time, the junior frontbencher experienced a series of slights and obstructions that made her work life difficult and unpleasant, according to people who knew her.

During Melbourne's long lockdowns, the Senate tactics committee would not hold video-meetings, which meant she could not participate, according to a friend, even though she was deputy manager of opposition business in the Senate.

No-one called to let her know, last January, when her portfolio changed from government accountability - which covered swaths of the bureaucracy - to government services and the NDIS, which was concentrated on welfare payments.

Senator Tim Ayers, an ally of Wong's, was assigned to monitor her and sometimes wouldn't acknowledge her presence at meetings and the two parliamentary committees they were members of, the source said. (Ayers has said he won't discuss Kitching.)

Gallagher sometimes turned her back on Kitching when Kitching was speaking in internal meetings, according to the source. (Gallagher's office didn't respond to a request for comment.)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is often criticised on social media for a photograph that shows him sitting with his back to Labor MP Tanya Plibersek while she speaks in Parliament.

Wong, who wore her hair short and naturally gray, allegedly and pointedly made a reference to Kitching's frequent change of hairstyles.

"Are you going to keep dying your hair?" Wong asked, according to a close associate of Kitching's.

'They blanked her," the source said. "There were a series of microaggressions. She was basically being frozen out. She was a pro and dealt with it the best she could."

Disloyalty?

Kitching's willingness to advocate foreign policy positions independently of Wong contributed to the tension. The Labor Party was also wary of Kitching's friendly relations with Liberal MPs and right-wing commentators. Wong is from the left faction. Kitching is from the right.

The distrust hardened when then Defence Minister Linda Reynolds told Wong and Keneally last June that Kitching had tipped her off about plans to publicise allegations of a rape in Reynold's office, which would turn out to involve a junior press secretary, Brittany Higgins.

Kitching was then removed from Labor's tactics committee.

In a seven-page letter Kitching wrote, but did not send, to Keneally on June 21, 2021, she emphatically denied warning Reynolds, who is now the minister for government services and the NDIS.

"I think that it is self-evident to everyone who has observed Senator Reynolds in this workplace that she is not in good mental health and has not reacted to entirely reasonable and orthodox questioning from Labor senators in a way we might reasonably expect of a minister of the Crown when asked about her conduct in office, her treatment of her own staff and related issues," Kitching wrote.

"I take no pleasure in making that observation about someone's distress and I hope she recovers but her state of mind is clearly an issue here."

Liberal MPs still insist Reynolds was forewarned by Kitching in the Senate chamber in the first week of February, 2021. The rape allegation was first reported February 15, that year, by the news.com.au website.

Reynolds has said she is not allowed to comment on the Higgins matter because another of her former advisers, Bruce Lehrmann, has been charged with rape. He has pleaded not guilty.

As for China's Belt and Road initiative, Foreign Minister Marise Payne last April said the federal government would veto Victoria's participation. Wong agreed with the decision.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/two-years-of-micro-aggressions-kitching-felt-frozen-out-by-labor-20220325-p5a7vc

#15961917 at 2022-03-28 07:35:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15873706
Labor senator Kimberley Kitching remembered in teary parliamentary tribute

Stephanie Dalzell and Henry Belot - 28 March 2022

1/2

The life and legacy of late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching has been remembered by politicians across the divide in a special parliamentary tribute, with tearful colleagues describing her as a friend, patriot and warrior.

The Victorian Labor stalwart was 52 when she died suddenly earlier this month from a suspected heart attack.

During a short Senate sitting today, politicians spoke on a condolence motion for Senator Kitching as her husband Andrew Landeryou and other loved ones watched on from the gallery.

As they remembered her, senators placed her favourite flowers, white roses, on her empty chair.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne also brought in a gift from Senator Kitching - a signed copy of Bill Browder's Red Notice, about Vladimir Putin's Russia - and broke down in tears as she paid tribute to her friend.

She spoke about Senator Kitching's fierce campaigning for "Magnitsky"-style laws, allowing Australia to impose sanctions on human rights violators in step with allies.

"She was a very frank interlocutor, she was always honest and direct, a wonderful representative of the state of Victoria, who I admired and respected," she said.

"She was also a friend."

Senator Payne said she wanted to establish a memorial for all senators who died in office.

"Perhaps we might plant a white rose there for Senator Kitching," she said.

The government's Senate leader Simon Birmingham paid tribute to his Upper House colleague, describing her as a bright and friendly addition to the chamber.

"Kimberley connected in ways that could break down any barriers - a broad smile, an effervescent personality, a sparkling wit, a caring concern and an ability to light up a room," he said.

His Labor counterpart Penny Wong used her condolence motion to describe the late senator as courageous and intelligent.

But she also acknowledged intense speculation surrounding the party's internal politics, after weeks of claims she and colleagues Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher chastised, ostracised and isolated Senator Kitching during her time in parliament.

Those claims have been strongly denied.

"Much has been said and written in the days since Senator Kitching's passing," Senator Wong said.

"Many are hurting and many are grieving. I understand that grief and loss can be so profound that it can provoke anger and blame.

"I've made my views clear outside this place about some of that misplaced anger and blame, I will not return anger with anger, or blame with blame."

Senator Keneally echoed that sentiment.

"Today in this place, I will treat her life and her legacy as I did prior to her tragic death - with deep respect for her intelligence and capacity," she said.

"She was never to be underestimated, she made her own decisions."

(continued)

#15947654 at 2022-03-26 11:36:53 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15947641
Australia wants 'basic standards of justice' in trial of journalist Cheng Lei

Lia Timson - March 26, 2022

The Australian government says it expects basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment when Australian citizen Cheng Lei goes on trial in Beijing next week.

Cheng Lei, who worked as a television anchor for Chinese state media for a decade before being detained in 2020, was formally arrested a year ago on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.

The mother of two was jailed after she made a series of Facebook posts critical of the Chinese government's response to the initial outbreak of COVID-19.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne's office confirmed in a statement on Saturday that the government had been notified by Chinese authorities of Lei's hearing on March 31.

The statement said the government had asked that Australian officials be permitted to be in attendance in line with China's obligations under the Australia-China bilateral consular agreement.

"We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms," the statement said.

It added: "Officials have regularly raised serious concerns about Ms Cheng's welfare and conditions of detention." They have visited her regularly, most recently on March 21.

Australia has previously said it was concerned by what it said was a "lack of transparency" over the case. Cheng's family members have said they are convinced she is innocent.

China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has said previously Cheng's rights were being fully guaranteed.

She has been separated from her children, aged nine and 11, who were visiting their grandmother in Australia when she was detained.

Cheng was born in China but moved with her parents to Australia as a child.

She built a television career in China, first with CNBC and later as a television anchor for the English-language channel CGTN, and is a high-profile member of the Australian community in Beijing.

Another Australian, pro-democracy blogger Yang Hengjun, is languishing in prison awaiting a sentence that could range from three years to death under national security charges. He has refused to admit to espionage charges despite being subjected to rounds of torture, dragging out the process in a confession-driven legal system.

Yang's verdict after a one-day closed-court hearing in May last year was originally scheduled to be handed down in October, but is now due on April 9. The Chinese justice system has a 99 per cent conviction rate.

Diplomatic relations between Australia and China have worsened in recent years, after Canberra called for an international investigation into the source of the pandemic in 2020 and Beijing responded with trade reprisals.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/australian-journalist-cheng-lei-to-be-tried-in-beijing-next-week-20220326-p5a85n.html

#15947641 at 2022-03-26 11:33:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Australian journalist Cheng Lei to be tried in Beijing on state secrets charges next week

Bill Birtles - 25 March 2022

An Australian television journalist detained in China for more than 19 months will be put on trial, likely in a closed court, on state secrets charges that could see her face anything from a short sentence to life behind bars.

Cheng Lei, a former high-profile anchor for the Chinese government's English-language broadcaster CGTN, is facing accusations of providing state secrets or intelligence to foreigners or foreign organisations.

She has been held in Beijing since August 2020 and was initially denied access to lawyers while being detained under an extra-judicial interrogation process called "residential surveillance" at a prison.

Two people close to the case have confirmed to the ABC that Ms Cheng is due to be tried next Thursday in the Beijing No.2 People's Intermediate Court at 9am local time.

It is unlikely Australian diplomats will be permitted to observe the trial.

In May last year they were barred from attending the closed trial of Yang Hengjun, another Australian citizen who, like Ms Cheng, faced national security-related charges.

A Beijing-based lawyer representing Ms Cheng told the ABC he could not comment on any details of the trial.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne's office has been contacted for comment, as has the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Under China's criminal law, anyone who "provides state secrets or intelligence for an organisation, institution, or personnel outside the country faces a sentence of between five and 10 years, but particularly serious cases can be jailed for life".

The law states in "relatively minor" circumstances, an offender faces a maximum of five years with no stipulated minimum.

China's secretive Public Security authorities have revealed no details of the allegations against Ms Cheng, and government officials have only said that her case is being dealt with "strictly in accordance with law".

A friend of Ms Cheng, Beijing-based Bloomberg journalist Haze Fan, was also taken away by state security police in late 2020 and remains behind bars, but authorities have not publicly commented on whether the two cases are related.

China's embassy has previously accused the Australian government of "interference" after Senator Payne publicly called for a more transparent judicial process.

Ms Cheng's 10- and 12-year-old children live with family members in Melbourne.

Last year a spokeswoman for the family told the ABC she believed Ms Cheng would not have done anything intentionally to harm China's state security.

"We don't know if she's just been caught up in something that she herself didn't realise," her cousin Louisa Wen told the ABC in February 2021.

Her family has been contacted for comment.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-25/cheng-lei-to-be-tried-in-beijing-on-state-secrets-charges/100941300

#15947631 at 2022-03-26 11:30:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15940039
Scott Morrison rules out meeting with Chinese ambassador until Beijing's diplomatic freeze starts to thaw

Matthew Doran - 26 March 2022

Scott Morrison believes it would be inappropriate for him to meet with China's new ambassador to Australia while Beijing's diplomatic freeze continues, arguing the Foreign Minister's door is open for any talks.

The new envoy to Canberra, Xiao Qian, has struck a more friendly and conciliatory tone than his predecessor, two months into his new posting in Canberra.

Relations between the two countries have been incredibly strained in recent years, with the Chinese government slapping a trade sanctions on a range of products in retaliation for Australia's advocacy on matters such as an investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

Last month, a Chinese warship pointed a military grade laser at an Australian surveillance aircraft in the Arafura Sea, north of Australia - something the Morrison government said put Australian Defence personnel lives at risk.

The new ambassador met with Foreign Minister Marise Payne a couple of weeks back, but it has since been revealed he did not secure an audience with the Prime Minister.

When asked why he did not clear time in his diary, Mr Morrison said it was for the same reason Australian ambassadors to China do not hold meetings with President Xi Jinping.

"Ambassadors don't regularly meet with heads of government, and that is the case in Australia as well," Mr Morrison said.

"On occasions we do, but when we have a situation where China has completely blocked any ministerial, minister-to-minister dialogue between Australia and China, then until those arrangements are removed, and that block is removed by China, well, I think Australians would think it would be very inappropriate for me to engage in that dialogue with an ambassador.

"So long as China continues to refuse to have dialogue with Australian ministers, and indeed the Prime Minister, than I think that's an entirely proportional response."

The Coalition and Labor have attacked each other about Australia's relationship with China frequently over the past few years, but Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese would not criticise Mr Morrison for his stance with the ambassador.

"I have not met with the ambassador for China, or indeed, with any other officials from the Chinese Embassy," Mr Albanese said on Saturday morning.

"My Foreign Affairs spokesperson has, Penny Wong, and the Foreign Minister I know and other ministers have, from time to time, had contact with the Chinese Embassy, and that's appropriate.

"But I respect and I support the Prime Minister's decision."

Labor says government has allowed China to muscle in on Australia's backyard
The bipartisanship did not extend to China's growing influence in the South Pacific, following revelations Beijing was seeking to deepen its security and defence ties with Solomon Islands.

Labor accused the government of numerous foreign policies fumbles, which allowed China to muscle in on Australia's backyard.

"It was a mistake for this government, when it came into office, to cut our foreign aid in the region," Mr Albanese said.

"That was short sighted, it was aimed again at sending a message domestically without putting our national interest first."

The Labor leader also argued Australia was seen as a pariah on tackling climate change.

"Whilst Australia sits in the naughty corner, with Saudi Arabia and Brazil and some countries going to international conferences, refusing to increase our 2030 target, then Australia's status in the region is undermined by our failure to act on climate change," he said.

"This is an existential threat to many countries in the Pacific."

Mr Morrison rejected the claim that Australia had failed to counter China's desire to expand its influence in the Pacific.

"I think what these events highlight is the reason why our government increased our overseas development assistance to the Pacific by 50 per cent," Mr Morrison said.

"We will respond as a family of Pacific nations, of which Australia is one, New Zealand is another."

Mr Morrison said the government would "ensure there is a keen understanding" of the risks and threats greater cooperation with China would pose.

He said Australia's High Commissioner to Solomon Islands had discussed the matter with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, and talks with other countries would continue over the weekend.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-26/scott-morrison-refuses-to-meet-with-chinese-ambassador/100942242

#15945979 at 2022-03-26 03:08:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15945974

2/2

With Chinese ministers refusing to pick up the phone to their Australian counterparts, Scott Morrison has refused formal requests to meet Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian and delegated the meeting to Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

In the wake of Beijing's campaign of trade retaliation measures and sanctions, Canberra has been seeking to draw the US back into the region economically to provide an economic counterweight to China's growing influence in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Mr Tehan said the Strategic Economic Dialogue discussions would focus on economic ?coercion, critical minerals and ?regional supply chains.

Critically, it would also push for an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) which would provide a vehicle for the US to ?re-engage economically in the ?region, which could involve direct investment, infrastructure loan facilities and other economic ?assistance.

"Strategic competition is ?playing out increasingly in the economic sphere, and this dialogue will strengthen co-?operation with Australia's most important strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific," Mr Tehan said.

"Australia and the US are working hard to shape an open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific and to address the ?impacts of economic coercion in our region.

"The dialogue is an important new component of the Australia-US bilateral architecture and will serve as the main forum for deepening co-operation on strategic economic issues.

"The dialogue will be held ?annually and will complement existing forums including the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN)."

The forum would be confined to strategic economic issues facing Australia and the US amid the rise of China in the region and would not involve discussions on the direct trade relationship ?between the US and Australia.

Mr Tehan will take a delegation of chief executives from the critical minerals and rare earths sector to Washington for a roundtable with Ms Raimondo that will discuss ways to counter threats to critical minerals supply chains.

Mr Tehan will also meet US Trade Representative Katherine Tai to discuss the IPEF and World Trade Organisation reform.

In 2019-20, the US was Australia's second-largest two-way trading partner in goods and services, worth $80.8bn.

Australian goods and services exports to the US were worth $27.4bn while Australia's total imports from the US were $53.4bn.

The US is the largest investor in Australia, with total American investment in Australia standing at $929bn in 2020. America is also the largest destination for Australian foreign investment.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/usaustralia-economic-pact-to-fight-china-sanctions/news-story/d0042531c86989d864b6d7a6248c5909

#15940215 at 2022-03-25 11:59:29 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Statement

International Engagement Strategy on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery

25 March 2022

The Coalition Government has today released Australia's second International Engagement Strategy on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, increasing our strategic cooperation with partners, and strengthening the systems in our region to detect, prevent and respond to these crimes.

We will always shine a light on these abhorrent crimes of coercion and control, which have a life-long impact on survivors and inflict lasting damage on communities. At the end of last year, we also legislated to enable the Government to sanction for serious human rights abuses, such as these crimes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the likelihood of people (especially women and children in our region) falling prey to modern slavery, exacerbated by rising instability and aggression, and frequent natural disasters around the world.

Our Government will continue to work with partners on all fronts to protect individual human rights and to bring an end to exploitation in our region and around the world.

Building on existing work, the Strategy also includes funding to support research to address data gaps and provide targeted assistance to Pacific governments to strengthen labour standards and enforcement, particularly in the fisheries sector.

Australia will work through the ASEAN Australia Counter Trafficking program, which is an $80 million commitment until 2028, to counter trafficking in Southeast Asia.

We will also continue to work closely with Co-Chair Indonesia through the important Bali Process to promote and share best practice and emerging policy in supply chain transparency, ethical recruitment and worker remedy.

The Coalition will confront the perpetrators of modern slavery with the costs that they deserve, whoever they are. We have zero tolerance for those who exploit the vulnerable.

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/international-engagement-strategy-human-trafficking-and-modern-slavery

—

International Engagement Strategy on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery: Delivering in Partnership (2022)

Summary

The International Engagement Strategy provides a comprehensive and coordinated framework to inform Australia's international efforts to help eradicate human trafficking and modern slavery, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Australia will deepen its engagement in the Pacific over the life of the Strategy. Our vision is a future where no one is subjected to human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery, and the human rights of all are valued equally.

https://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/international-relations/international-engagement-strategy-human-trafficking-and-modern-slavery-delivering-partnership-2022

https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/dfat-international-strategy-human-trafficking-modern-slavery-2022.pdf

#15940039 at 2022-03-25 10:49:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15708079
>>15827045
PM Scott Morrison declined to meet new Chinese ambassador

James Massola and Jonathan Kearsley - March 25, 2022

1/2

Prime Minister Scott Morrison declined a meeting with China's new ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, despite a formal request from the Asian nation's new top diplomat.

Instead, Mr Xiao met Foreign Minister Marise Payne in Sydney several weeks ago in what was the most senior contact between the two nations in years, though they failed to resolve any outstanding disagreements.

While it is relatively rare for ambassadors to meet with the prime minister, diplomats from key Australian allies including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and Singapore do have some access.

Ambassadors from strategically significant international partners, including China and Indonesia, are also granted access in special circumstances.

Former prime ministers Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull all met with China's ambassadors to Australia during their time in office. However, foreign ministers typically take the lead in meeting ambassadors because of a prime minister's relative seniority. The Australian Ambassador in Beijing has not met President Xi Jinping or Premier Li Keqiang.

A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister confirmed Mr Morrison had not met the Ambassador.

"The Foreign Minister has met Ambassador Xiao, as is appropriate".

A senior government source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Beijing's request to meet an Australian prime minister would have to come from a higher office - potentially that of President Xi or Premier Li.

The relationship between the two countries has been in the diplomatic deep freeze for close to two years and Mr Xiao's request for a meeting came as Mr Morrison attacked Labor as relatively weak on China and questioned whether it would stand up to Beijing.

In meetings with Australians in the private sector in recent weeks, Mr Xiao said he was carrying a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping for the Australian government: "Australia has been treating China like the enemy. Australia has to decide whether it is China's enemy or China's friend".

John Blaxland, a professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies at the Australian National University said it was likely the meeting was declined because "I don't think it works for the PM's rhetorical posturing on national security and the characterisation of China in adversarial terms".

"To be fair, [a meeting] is something both sides would probably want to avoid until the election is clear, and the ambassador would know that. Anthony Albanese wouldn't want to be too sympathetic either," he said.

"China would be eager to capitalise on the optics of a meeting and use it for its own purposes in terms of demonstrating that it is being the more magnanimous and broad-minded of the parties."

(continued)

#15939927 at 2022-03-25 10:15:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15939923

2/2

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd earlier accused the government of neglecting its Pacific Island neighbours and claimed the coalition had cut "hundreds of millions of dollars" in international aid.

In a highly-critical radio interview on Friday morning, the former prime minister said Australia's foreign affairs minister should be immediately dispatched to Solomons' capital Honiara to smooth things over with diplomatic officials there.

Mr Rudd on Friday said the reported Beijing-Honiara security deal was in his judgment the result of a "high degree of negligence" on the part of Mr Morrison and senior frontbenchers including Defence Minister Peter Dutton.

"Relations with the island states has got to such a threadbare level over climate change, over the aid cuts and the rest that we now see the Chinese being welcomed into our immediate neighbourhood by these countries," he told the ABC.

He pointed out that Solomon Islands' government has only recognised the People's Republic of China since 2019, when it voted to sever longstanding diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Mr Rudd is a Mandarin speaking former diplomat who has become a regular public commentator on Chinese-Australian relations since his retirement from politics.

He held the prime ministership from 2007 to 2010 and again briefly in 2013 before Labor lost to the coalition, who have held power since.

Mr Rudd said Pacific nations were "turning to China" in part because Australia had "dropped the ball" on both international aid and climate change in the past decade.

"You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to work out where island sentiment across the states of the Pacific Islands Forum has turned in relation to Australia under this conservative government on (these) two core questions," he said.

"You have the island states saying Australia ultimately under this government doesn't give a damn about our interests (with) rising sea waters and the rest.

"And therefore it creates the conditions where other countries like China are able to make a pitch (to them)."

Anthony Albanese said the government's decision to withdraw funding for Pacific nations including Solomon Islands had been a mistake.

"If the reports are correct, then this (security agreement) would have real implications for the region and is of concern," the Opposition Leader said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne has been contacted for comment.

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/scomo-responds-to-leaked-security-deal-between-china-and-solomon-islands/news-story/128e3bee952a836485ee04cb2331fbdb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc0rmrWGz9E

#15932366 at 2022-03-24 09:21:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15708079
China's Ambassador is seeking friendship again but its Foreign Ministry still rails against Australia

Stephen Dziedzic - 24 March 2022

China's new ambassador in Canberra has again declared that he wants to reset the relationship with Australia, saying his country wants to seek "friendship" with Australia.

Beijing has not ended its two-year long freeze on top-level meetings with Chinese leaders, nor meaningfully eased any of the sweeping trade sanctions it has imposed on a long list of Australian products in retaliation for a series of political disputes.

It is also still trying to rally international opposition to the federal government's plan to develop nuclear-powered submarines with the United Kingdom and the United States under the AUKUS agreement.

Tensions between the nations flared again last month when a Chinese warship pointed a military-grade laser at an Australian surveillance aircraft in the Arafura Sea, an action which the Morrison government said put lives at risk.

And, most recently, Australia has lashed Beijing for its stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, accusing the Chinese leadership of offering Moscow an economic lifeline and undermining US-led efforts to financially isolate it.

However, the new ambassador, Xiao Qian, told reporters in Canberra that, while there were some "problems" in the relationship, he had a clear mission to get it back on the right track.

"We are here to seek a friend. We want to develop a friendly, constructive relationship with Australia because, we believe, there are so many areas where Australia and China share common ground," he said.

"There are certain areas [where], undeniably, we have different views but there is no area, so far as China is concerned ... that [is] confrontational in nature."

"So, there is every reason Australia and China should be friends, could be friends, could be partners for cooperation, instead of the other way round."

Chinese Foreign Ministry takes a different approach

The ambassador's tone is in stark contrast to that taken by China's Foreign Ministry spokespeople in Beijing, who have repeatedly berated Australia over a series of political disputes involving trade, defence, cyber attacks and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It is also unlikely to sway the federal government, which says that it is not willing to make any concessions that harm the national interest simply to resume dialogue with China.

When the ambassador declared last month that China was willing to meet Australia "half way" to resolve disputes, the Prime Minister said he would not accede to any of the so-called 14 demands issued by the Chinese Embassy in 2020.

This morning, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said her decision to meet recently with Xiao Qian "should not be read as an indication that Australia would in any way, shape or form compromise the principles that underpin our national interests and our national security"

"We have consistently made that clear. We want constructive relations, but we're not prepared to compromise Australia's national interests, Australia's national security [nor] to have conditions placed on relations," she said.

The ambassador did not say whether Australian officials had pressed him over China's ties to Russia, and he brushed off a question about Defence Minister Peter Dutton's claim that China "backed" Labor to win the approaching federal election.

"We never interfere with the domestic affairs of any country ... the election of this country is the domestic affair of Australia. We have no intention, no interest, to get involved" he said.

"Whoever is going to be the ruling party after the election, we are looking forward to a more positive relationship [and] we are ready to work with the new government."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/chinese-ambassador-australia-relations-friendly/100936124

#15932292 at 2022-03-24 08:37:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15932290

2/2

What is Australia saying?

Australia has joined the United States' government in labelling Russia's attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine as war crimes.

"The intentional targeting of civilians is a war crime, the bombing of civilian infrastructure, targeting schools where civilians are sheltering ... targeting air strikes onto a theatre where civilians were known to be sheltering, bombing maternity hospitals ... is a war crime," Australia's Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, said.

Senator Payne says the federal government is keeping the option of expelling the Russian ambassador on the table.

But Senator Payne has reiterated that having Alexey Pavlovsky in the country allows the government to continue to communicate with the Russian government.

"That does not mean the government has excluded that option [of expelling the ambassador]," she said.

The Foreign Minister also said the international community was facing the "sensitive" issue of whether to allow Russia to take part in the G20 meeting later this year in Indonesia.

"We are dealing not just in relation to the G20 but multiple international and multilateral organisations and gatherings where this is a matter that we have to address.

"We'll work closely with other members of the G20 on this," Senator Payne said.

"But Russia's participation ... is a serious issue and it's one the international community has to continue to examine."

Questions about Putin's attendance at G20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has raised his and the federal government's concerns about Vladimir Putin attending a G20 meeting later this year.

The Russian President has signalled his intention to attend the meeting of the world's largest economies in Indonesia later this year, backed by China.

"[The invasion of Ukraine] is a violent and aggressive act that shatters the international rule of law, and the idea of sitting around a table with Vladimir Putin - who the United States are already in a position of calling out for war crimes in Ukraine, is for me, a step too far," Mr Morrison said.

"We have been making very clear statements and representations about our very strong concerns about the involvement of Russia in the G20 this year.

"We want the Indonesian G20 to be a great success we want it to focus particularly on the challenges of our region."

Senator Payne said it was ultimately up to the G20 to decide if Mr Putin could attend the November meeting.

"These are very sensitive issues, we are dealing in not just in relation to the G20 but multiple international and multilateral organisation where this is a matter we have to address," she said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/us-russia-war-crimes-diplomat-expelled-war-ukraine-australia/100935434

#15889738 at 2022-03-18 09:47:33 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15697731
>>15819116
Australia sanctions Russian billionaires with mining industry links

Kirsty Needham - March 18, 2022

SYDNEY, March 18 (Reuters) - Australia imposed sanctions on Friday on two Russian oligarchs with links to its mining industry, one of them a billionaire with an investment connection to Rio Tinto's Gladstone alumina refinery joint venture.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was working in close cooperation with international partners to increase sanctions pressure on oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.

"Australia has now added two billionaires with links to business interests in Australia, Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg," Payne said in a statement.

The measures are in addition to curbs on 41 oligarchs and immediate family members who already face targeted financial sanctions and travel bans, she said.

Payne said the government welcomed Australian companies taking a principled stand with moves to cut ties with Russia "in protest of Moscow's illegal, indefensible war against Ukraine".

Russia says it is carrying out "a special military operation" to stop the Ukrainian government from committing "genocide" - an accusation the West calls a fabrication.

Vekselberg is an investor in the Russian energy sector, who has interests in a company working with Origin Energy on a gas project in the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.

Origin said it was seeking clarification on the sanctions from the Australian government, and told Reuters the Beetaloo Basin project was not a producing asset and had no earnings.

"Origin reiterates that it is appalled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will comply with all Australian rules and laws," Origin said in a statement.

It said Vekselberg owned Lamesa Holdings, which was a minority shareholder in Falcon Oil & Gas, the parent company of Origin's junior partner in the Beetaloo Basin.

"Neither Lamesa Holdings nor Mr Vekselberg are a party to the Beetaloo Basin joint venture. They have no role in, involvement or dealings with, Origin or the Beetaloo Basin joint venture," it said.

Big Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the impact of the sanctions on Deripaska, who holds 44.9% of EN+ Group, a Russian aluminium and power group.

EN+ Group is the major shareholder in Russian company Rusal, which has a 20% share in the Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) refinery in Gladstone, in a joint venture with Rio Tinto.

Rio Tinto previously said it was cutting ties with Rusal as part of its overall withdrawal from Russia.

Queensland Alumina Ltd did not respond to a request for comment.

Deripaska reduced his controlling stake in EN+ Group from 70% in 2019 - to lift a prior round of U.S. sanctions from the major aluminium producer.

https://www.reuters.com/business/australia-sanctions-russian-billionaires-with-mining-industry-links-2022-03-18/

#15873711 at 2022-03-16 08:21:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15873706

2/4

Coalition partnership

When Kitching continued to hit a brick wall with her Labor colleagues, she formed a partnership with chair of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security James Paterson, then a backbencher. The pair worked with Foreign Minister Marise Payne's chief of staff, Justin Bassi.

Initially, Payne was open to the legislation but soon became very enthusiastic about it, playing a critical role in persuading her cabinet colleagues to support the new sanctions regime.

At times, Bassi and Kitching would have multiple phone calls a day about the act. They decided the best way to get Labor on board with the legislation, which would need bipartisan support, would be as a result of recommendations from a bilateral committee.

Payne sent a reference for the Magnitsky Act to be considered to the human rights sub-committee, chaired by Kevin Andrews, of the over-arching committee on foreign affairs, defence and trade in December 2019.

It meant there would be hearings into the proposed legislation.

This sparked in Kitching an idea that delighted her. It was a plan she workshopped with Danby over coffee at her favourite hangout, The Lavender Cafe, in Melbourne's upmarket suburb of Albert Park.

"She believed if Amal Clooney testified in favour of Magnitsky, Wong would support it," Danby recalls with a chuckle.

"She thought they won't be able to stop it if we get these two, (Geoffrey) Robertson and Clooney, to testify."

Star power

Over the following months, Kitching connected with inter?national human rights lawyer Robertson, global A-lister ?Clooney and Bill Browder, head of the Global Magnitsky Justice campaign.

Through perseverance and the force of her personality, Kitching convinced them all to agree to testify at the parliamentary hearings.

"Kimberley had actually organised for them to fly out here but then Covid restrictions prevented them from coming and they zoomed into the committee," Danby said.

Clooney, in a glamorous black dress, beamed into an Australian Senate inquiry via video link in May 2020 as Covid-19 was ravaging the globe, stunning the politicians as she implored them to introduce the new laws.

Her star-power at a mundane foreign affairs hearing meant the niche issue of new sanctions legislation attracted headlines.

Just two months later, Wong gave the interview to the SMH where she called for Magnitsky laws to be introduced.

The first line of that July 2020 article read: "Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong is calling for Australia to introduce its own Magnitsky Act to target human rights abusers after the United Kingdom unveiled its much-anticipated laws."

Kitching was furious. "When I saw the article, that was the first I knew about it," she told The Australian. "The story went up quite late in the day. I was going to yoga and I was so angry she hadn't told me or even sent a text saying 'Oh by the way' ... It took me half the yoga class to relax."

The Morrison government interpreted the move as Wong re?alising which direction Payne was heading and trying to front-run it.

Kitching shared a similar view.

"At that point, Penny realised she was going to be left behind and tabled my bill," Kitching said.

"She didn't want to be seen in a bad light."

(continued)

#15859797 at 2022-03-14 08:06:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Australia and Netherlands seek millions from Russia in global aviation tribunal over MH17 attack

GEOFF CHAMBERS - MARCH 14, 2022

1/2

Australia and the Netherlands have launched legal action against the Russian Federation seeking millions of dollars in reparations for the 2014 missile strike on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over east Ukraine, which killed 298 people, including 38 Australians.

Joint legal proceedings were lodged with the International Civil Aviation Organisation on Monday on behalf of Australian and Dutch families who lost loved ones after a Russian Buk-TELAR surface-to-air missile system shot down MH17 on July 17, 2014.

As international pressure builds on Russian President Vladimir Putin over his bloody invasion of Ukraine, the office of international law in the Attorney-General's department will prosecute Australia's case in the ICAO, arguing that the downing of MH17 was a "breach for which Russia bears responsibility".

The action, announced by Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, Attorney-General Michaelia Cash and their Dutch counterparts on Monday night, comes after more than seven years of evidence was "collected, examined and verified through painstaking investigations".

In a joint statement from Scott Morrison, Barnaby Joyce, Senator Payne and Senator Cash, the government said "while we cannot take away the grief of those whose loved ones died as a result of Russia's actions, (we) will pursue every available avenue to ensure Russia is held to account so that this horrific act never happens again".

"Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of its aggression underscores the need to continue our enduring efforts to hold Russia to account for its blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter, including threats to Ukraine's sovereignty and airspace," the statement said.

"The Russian Federation's refusal to take responsibility for its role in the downing of Flight MH17 is unacceptable and the Australian government has always said that it will not exclude any legal options in our pursuit of justice."

The statement said the case lodged with the ICAO, a specialised UN agency falling under the International Court of Justice, was a "major step forward in both countries' fight for truth, justice and accountability for this horrific act of violence".

"Today's joint action under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation is in addition to the Dutch national prosecution of four suspects for their individual criminal responsibility in the downing of Flight MH17," the statement added.

Senator Payne on Monday announced fresh sanctions targeting 33 Russian oligarchs, prominent business identities and immediate family members who have "facilitated, or directly benefited, from the Kremlin's illegal and indefensible actions in Ukraine since 2014".

High-profile Russian billionaires targeted by the new sanctions, which brings Australia in line with Britain and the US, include Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, Gazprom chief executive Alexey Miller, Rossiya chair Dmitri Lebedev, Rostec chair Sergey Chemezov and Transneft chief executive Nikolay Tokarev.

(continued)

#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

#15827045 at 2022-03-10 08:23:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15708079
Marise Payne meets China's new ambassador Xiao Qian

Peter Hartcher and Jonathan Kearsley - March 10, 2022

1/2

An Australian government minister has met China's new ambassador, the most senior contact between the two nations in years, but they failed to resolve any outstanding disagreements.

China's new ambassador to Canberra, Xiao Qian, sought a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, several weeks ago and Senator Payne eventually granted him an appointment in Sydney on Wednesday.

Mr Xiao has struck a conciliatory tone in public comments since arriving in Australia in January but without any sign of any substantive relenting from Beijing nor any initiative from Canberra, according to the Australian overview of the meeting.

The essential impasse is that China's government has demanded Australia make concessions in 14 areas of its sovereignty while under Chinese trade boycotts on more than $20 billion worth of its exports, but Australia has refused to yield.

According to the readout provided to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Senator Payne "set out frankly Australia's positions on a range of issues, including the importance of appropriate ministerial and other high level dialogue and engagement, stability in the Indo-Pacific, free and open trade, human rights and the welfare of Australians detained in China".

"She also articulated Australia's expectation that China use its influence to encourage and advise Russia to end the illegal invasion of Ukraine," the overview said.

The only affirmative offering in the Australian version was the phrase that "Australia remains committed to a constructive relationship with China in which we can pursue areas of co-operation" but this was conditioned on "remaining consistent with our own national sovereign interests and focused on stability".

The head of ANU's National Security College, Rory Medcalf, said it was a positive signal that pointed to the realisation on China's side that Australia was not going to change, that coercion isn't working and they couldn't completely do without dialogue.

"This is a more measured approach from the Chinese embassy," said Professor Medcalf, "but the problem is that it's at odds with the rhetoric coming out of Beijing." This includes the criticism this week from Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi that Australia was one of the "acolytes" in a "sinister move" by the United States to "establish an Indo-Pacific version of NATO".

Mr Wang dubbed America's policy in the region a "5432 posture" with a strengthened Five Eyes intelligence partnership, the four-member Quad grouping, the three-member AUKUS agreement and bilateral military alliances.

(continued)

#15819116 at 2022-03-09 08:11:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15697731
Russian 'propagandists and purveyors of disinformation' targeted as Australia announces further sanctions

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has revealed Australia is placing further sanctions on Russia, targeting "propagandists and purveyors of disinformation".

Bryant Hevesi - March 8, 2022

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia and its partners will "drive Russia out of our economies, supply chains and airwaves" as she announced further sanctions on the nation over its war on Ukraine.

The new sanctions will target "Moscow's propagandists and purveyors of disinformation" who are trying to justify the brutal invasion by using "false narratives".

Ms Payne said the additional measures are aimed at ensuring those who are responsible for - and complicit in - Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine pay a high price for their actions.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been accompanied by a widespread disinformation campaign, both within Russia and internationally," she said in a statement.

"Tragically for Russia, President Putin has shut down independent voices and locked everyday Russians into a world characterised by lies and disinformation.

"The addition of sanctions on those responsible for this insidious tactic recognises the powerful impact that disinformation and propaganda can have in conflict."

Ms Payne said 10 people of "strategic interest" to Russia will be sanctioned for encouraging hostility towards Ukraine and promoting the Kremlin's propaganda lines.

She said the pro-Russian lines being disseminated to legitimise the invasion include "false narratives about the 'de-Nazification' of Ukraine" and "erroneous allegations of genocide against ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine".

Other propaganda being pushed out is "promoting the recognition of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic as independent".

The new round of sanctions will also see financial constraints placed on Russia's armed forces and six senior military commanders who will also cop travel bans.

It comes after Australia last week placed sanctions on a further 11 financial institutions economically significant to Russia, including the Central Bank of Russia.

"With our global partners, we will collectively work to remove Russia's ability to continue financing its war by targeting its most significant banks, including those critical to its defence sector," Ms Payne said.

"Australia and partners will continue to impose costs on Russia's egregious, unlawful and completely unjustified war on Ukraine. We again call upon Russia to withdraw its military forces immediately from Ukraine."

Meanwhile, Ms Payne has joined international counterparts in condemning Russia for targeting "civilian populations".

Russian attacks on civilians in Kharkiv, Kyiv and other major cities has led to 406 civilian deaths and 801 injuries, according to the United Nations.

Ms Payne said Australia "strongly supported" referring Russia to the International Criminal Court for investigation of war crimes, following reports forces were deliberately attacking civilian targets.

"There is no question that there is targeting occurring we're seeing reports of a targeting of a civilian populations," Ms Payne told Sky News Australia's Laura Jayes.

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/russian-propagandists-and-purveyors-of-disinformation-targeted-as-australia-announces-further-sanctions/news-story/fb3ff9e97be09106c8b56db323145608

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FwWRJC7BEc

#15792631 at 2022-03-05 23:03:24 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Morrison speaks with Ukraine president

Colin Brinsden - 6 March 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a phone call he deeply appreciates Australia's military and humanitarian assistance after his country was invaded by Russian forces.

Mr Zelenskiy tweeted on Saturday night that he had updated Mr Morrison on the course of the war "as well as risks to people and the environment due to the threat to Ukrainian nuclear and chemical facilities".

Foreign Minister Marise Payne had earlier expressed Australia's concerns over shelling and a fire at a building near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Friday.

The fire was extinguished and international nuclear experts later said the facility was safe, with no radiation spikes reported.

Mr Zelenskiy said he deeply appreciated the military and humanitarian support from Australia, according to an official readout of the call, while Mr Morrison told him Australia stood with Ukraine against Russia's aggression and unprovoked assault.

The prime minister also praised Ukraine's incredible courage and condemned Russia's actions on behalf of all Australians.

Australia is also supporting resolutions in the United Nations and backing International Criminal Court action in support of Ukraine.

The government has told superannuation funds it has a "strong expectation" they would review their investment portfolios and divest any holdings of Russian assets.

Liberal senator James Paterson, who chairs the parliamentary joint committee and intelligence and security, is currently on an official trip to the US where he was briefed in Washington and the United Nations.

He says there is some cautious optimism at the remarkable united response that the global community has presented Russia and President Putin.

"There has been incredible resolve about enacting the highest possible costs on Putin and his cronies to deter and and deflate him from this course of action and hopefully get them to rethink the course of action they have embarked upon," Senator Paterson told Sky News' Sunday Agenda program.

Federal Labor's defence spokesman Brendan O'Connor also told the program the Australian government has done the right thing in joining the condemnation and appropriate action and that includes lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine.

"Our hopes of course that through such action we'll see an end to this violence and this conflict, and until we see anything like that, we need to ratchet up the pressure," Mr O'Connor said.

"If the government has any other options in so far as increased sanctions, whether it is targeting the oligarchs or is providing lethal aid through NATO, Labor supports that."

https://thewest.com.au/news/conflict/morrison-speaks-with-ukraine-president-c-5948332

—

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Tweet

I continue negotiations with partners. Told (Australian) Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP about the course of war. As well as risks to people and the environment due to the threat to Ukrainian nuclear and chemical facilities. Thanked for the defense and humanitarian support. #StopRussia

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1500059185215688704

—

Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet

Just spoke with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He thanked Australia for our military & humanitarian support & extensive sanctions. We discussed ways we could assist further. I praised Ukraine's courage against Russia's aggression & condemned Russia's actions on behalf of us all.

https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1500061922091474948

#15751378 at 2022-03-01 08:18:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15751375

2/2

It's reported at least 20 Australians have registered their interest with the Ukrainian Embassy in Australia to fight in the wake of Mr Zelensky's call for foreign fighters to join the resistance.

Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the waters were murky about how Australians could fight in Ukraine.

"Australian law, existing Australian law, prohibits Australian citizens and residents and holders of Australian visas from engaging in hostile activities unless serving in the armed forces of a foreign country," Senator Payne said on Monday.

"So, Australians who travel in Ukraine with a non-government armed group on either side of the conflict, or recruit someone else to do so, may be committing a criminal offence."

Mr Dutton said he could understand the "passion" people had, but travelling to Ukraine should be avoided.

"People from around the world are horrified by the slaughter of men, women and children in Ukraine by Russian soldiers now. That will increase," Mr Dutton said.

"As the Russian forces move closer to the capital, they will become more intense and this is not an easy situation to state the obvious, but it's going to become more and more difficult.

"The reality is, as the Prime Minister points out, many people will die unless President Putin changes the course of action he is on at the moment."

Under the latest travel advice, Australians have been told not to travel to Ukraine, with a warning now in place for Australians to leave Russia.

Mr Romaniw will meet with Mr Morrison on Tuesday to discuss how else Australia can help Ukraine and Ukrainians.

"We believe the Russian ambassador should be expelled," he said.

Mr Romaniw said Australians wanting to help should donate to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

https://www.ukrainecrisisappeal.org/

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/australians-wanting-to-fight-in-ukraine-warned-against-being-a-liability/news-story/e07afc03defc57bb4f203ca83d92254d

#15735495 at 2022-02-27 06:41:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15697731
'Lethal aid': Australia's vow to help Ukraine

Australia could soon be providing 'lethal aid' to Ukraine after the Prime Minister made a surprising admission.

Courtney Gould - February 27, 2022

Scott Morrison has left the door open to providing lethal aid to Ukraine to assist in its fight against Russia.

"I've just spoken to the Defence Minister and we'll be seeking to provide whatever support we can for lethal aid through our NATO partners, particularly the US and the UK," he said.

"We'll be working through those channels because that's the most effective way to do it."

It means Australia will provide funding through NATO for weapons and offensive capability rather than sending its own weaponry.

Australia has previously committed to sending non-lethal aid but had categorically ruled out sending troops.

The Prime Minister joined hundreds of Ukrainian Australians attending a solemn church service in Sydney to pray for their homeland.

Speaking after the service, Mr Morrison said Russia must pay for its actions.

"Russia must pay a heavy price, they must pay a heavy price," he said.

"We will continue to add to that price as we consider every single option that is in front of us.

"I've taken nothing off the table."

Earlier, Opposition foreign spokeswoman Penny Wong indicated Labor would be willing to support further sanctions on Russia.

"I've said we will give bipartisan support to the most comprehensive and heaviest sanctions that Australia can and should take, so I extend that invitation to the Government again," she told the ABC.

Queensland Liberal National Senator James McGrath also posted on social media that Australia should be "sending weapons" rather than thoughts and prayers.

"Instead of sending thoughts and prayers to Ukraine we should be sending weapons," he tweeted on Saturday night.

"Instead of sanctions we should be confiscating the assets of Putin's regime and giving them to Ukraine.

"The Russian Ambassador should be expelled and put on a plane today."

Australia on Sunday slapped Russian President Vladimir Putin with sanctions directly, but stopped short of kicking diplomats out of the country.

"I confirm that we are taking action against President Putin and his Foreign Minister and we will continue to add names to these lists," Mr Morrison said.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne indicated it was a live option but at this stage the government wanted to keep lines of communication open.

Mr Morrison repeated his intention to give visa applications from Ukrainians the highest priority but could not confirm how many would be on offer for those fleeing the region.

It comes after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet declared he is "more than willing" to help Ukrainians fleeing the war zone.

In an open letter to Mr Morrison, Mr Perrottet said NSW is "ready to assist the Commonwealth in whatever way necessary".

"My government is more than willing to facilitate the resettlement of Ukrainians seeking to make Australia their new home," Mr Perrottet wrote.

"We have a strong Ukrainian community here in Sydney and I am confident any new arrivals will be welcomed with open arms."

https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/penny-wong-hits-out-an-inconsistent-china/news-story/2d776a265ccb34e86c3b18c0ac15c552

https://twitter.com/SenatorMcGrath/status/1497488611335622656

#15727210 at 2022-02-26 10:20:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15697731
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet

I spoke today with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne to discuss our mutual efforts to hold the Russian government accountable for its premeditated and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1497406071975067649

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Important call with @SecBlinken today, discussing the vital, united (global) response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Australia) has announced further sanctions including preparing sanctions against President Putin & FM Sergei Lavrov. Russia's egregious aggression on Ukraine must stop.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1497385478626344962

#15697731 at 2022-02-23 06:51:53 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Australia imposes sanctions on Russia over Ukraine invasion

Stephen Dziedzic - 23 February 2022

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia will join other western nations to impose financial sanctions on Russia, as punishment for its actions in Ukraine.

Mr Morrison said targeted travel bans and financial sanctions will be imposed on eight individuals on Russia's national security council who are "aiding and abetting" the invasion, and broader sanctions will be extended to the separatist Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The financial punishments bring Australia into line with the United States and United Kingdom, who announced sanctions overnight.

"The invasion of Ukraine has effectively already begun. This invasion is unjustified, it's unwarranted, it's unprovoked and it's unacceptable," Mr Morrison said.

"We cant have some suggestion that Russia has some just case here they're prosecuting - they are behaving like thugs and bullies.

"Australians always stand up to bullies, and we will be standing up to Russia."

Sanctions extended to the separatist regions will target transport, energy, telecommunications, oil, gas and mineral reserves, as well as several Russian banks.

The Prime Minister said he also expected to impose sanctions on more Russian citizens and entities who seek to benefit from a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Morrison said Ukrainian visa applications would be moved to "the top of the pile", and further support was being planned.

"There are some 430, roughly, applications from Ukrainian citizens to come to Australia, they're across a range of different visa classes; student visas, family visas and others, so I have asked for those to be concluded," Mr Morrison said.

"We will work very closely with [neighbouring countries] to deal with the likelihood of displaced persons. This is where we think we can provide some quite effective assistance."

He warned a full-scale invasion of Ukraine was "likely to occur" within 24 hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially been given parliamentary approval to deploy troops abroad hours after reports that Russian forces had already rolled into rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine.

Ministers warn Russia may retaliate for sanctions

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has warned Russia may hit Australian critical infrastructure with cyber attacks in retaliation for fresh sanctions from the federal government.

"We are concerned about protecting Australia's interests. We are concerned about the potential for a cyber attack on our critical infrastructure in Australia," Ms Andrews said.

"[But] that doesn't mean we are going to go lightly in our response to Russia because their behaviour needs to be called out."

Mr Morrison said several companies had already been alerted privately of possible attacks from Russia and "other actors".

Foreign Minister Marise Payne - who is in Europe attending security meetings - also left the door open to expelling Russia's ambassador to Australia.

"Dealing with diplomats in that way, whether it is expulsions or recalls, is always an option," Senator Payne said.

"Our focus at the moment, though, is targeted sanctions that will have an impact on those responsible.

"So, whilst there are other options and other tools, if you like, in the toolkit - such as how we deal with diplomats - that's a matter I'll turn my mind to at an appropriate time."

Earlier, Ukraine's representative in Australia, Volodymyr Shalkivskyi, thanked Australia and other countries for their support and said that sanctions should be directed toward the "most-vulnerable" areas of Russia: energy and finance.

"We believe there's need for significant expansion of sanctions, but this will depend on the situation on the ground," he said.

Mr Shalkivskyi said there were "clear signs" Ukraine had been invaded but that his country would not retaliate while diplomatic options were still on the table.

"We do not want to give the Kremlin pretext for the invasion," he said.

"We are ready to defend our territory... but we do hope that sanctions, increasing sanctions, will work and it will make [the] Kremlin think about further escalation of this situation."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-23/national-security-committee-russia-sanctions-ukraine-invasion/100852876

#15672473 at 2022-02-20 08:50:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Australian police cracking down on protesters who try to incite violence

STEPHEN RICE - FEBRUARY 20, 2022

Protest leaders who have called for the execution of politicians and other public officials will be targeted for prosecution as federal and state police forces change tactics and crack down on incitements to violence, in a bid to avert a feared "lone wolf" terror attack.

Police are expected to charge high-profile leaders of the "freedom" movement with incitement to commit offences of violence and deprivation of liberty, following explicit death threats to MPs, state premiers and other officials.

In one recent case, a prominent leader of the Convoy to Canberra protests publicly called for Foreign Minister Marise Payne to be hanged by a wire cable.

In Western Australia, police have already charged a leader of the so-called Sovereign Citizen movement who threatened Premier Mark McGowan, under rarely used incitement provisions.

Counter-terrorism authorities have been reluctant to use incitement laws for fear of provoking further violence from extremists but now believe that risk is outweighed by the threat of an attack by an unbalanced individual spurred on by others.

ASIO boss Mike Burgess last week warned that the greatest ?security threat facing the nation was from conspiracy theory ?extremists and anti-government "sovereign citizens" who did not fit on the traditional left-right spectrum.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw last week vowed to ramp up enforcement action against those inciting violence, even if not committing it themselves.

"Where disinformation reaches a criminal threshold - particularly where it urges or advocates violence - the AFP will be exercising the full force of its powers," he said. Mr Kershaw told a parliamentary inquiry the AFP was very concerned about the risks to MPs and their staff, noting the murder of British MP Sir David Amess four months ago.

Risk assessments for MPs would be "a growth part of our business", he said, pointing to more than 20 arrests at the Canberra protests, including that of a Sovereign Citizen leader found with what police allege was a loaded sawn-off rifle and plans of Parliament House in his truck.

Sovereign Citizens believe they - not politicians, judges or police - should decide which laws to obey and which to ignore.

Among those being monitored is an ex-SAS officer, Riccardo Bosi, who has figured prominently in the Convoy to Canberra ?protests, often dressed in military fatigues.

Mr Bosi, who leads the unregistered AustraliaOne Party and has more than 40,000 followers on Telegram, has called several times for politicians and others to be charged with treason and hanged.

In one recent video, he made vile remarks about Senator Payne.

"That bloated cow ... if we hang her ... we're going to have to get an arrestor cable off an aircraft ?carrier to suspend the weight," he said.

Mr Bosi has openly called for the execution of media figures ranging from Sky's Peta Credlin and Andrew Bolt to the ABC's Ita Buttrose for their alleged roles in protecting pedophiles.

"Watch them hang by their necks till they're dead ... we'll draw a lottery to see who gets to pull the lever," he said in one obscenity-filled rant.

State Security Investigation Group officers in Western Australia last week charged Sovereign Citizen and former policeman Wayne Glew after he allegedly posted videos inciting others to ?arrest government ministers including Mr McGowan.

The videos also allegedly threatened those who "guard" Mr McGowan.

Two other people have been charged with impersonating commonwealth public officials after they allegedly sent "arrest warrants" to government ministers.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/australian-police-cracking-down-on-protesters-who-try-to-incite-violence/news-story/0f3daeacbcb9917ade7aadfafc63acb0

#15640432 at 2022-02-16 09:27:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15640390
Australia looks to landlocked Czech Republic to win European support for contentious AUKUS submarine plan

Andrew Greene and Stephen Dziedzic - 16 February 2022

Stunning gothic architecture, a medieval Old Town square and the historic Charles Bridge typically draw millions of tourists to Prague each year and, for the first time in almost 20 years, an Australian foreign minister will soon get a chance to experience the picturesque city on an official visit.

The ABC can reveal that Foreign Minister Marise Payne will fly to the Czech capital next week for a visit, where discussions will focus on shared concerns, such as cyber security and the growing fear of war in Ukraine.

Diplomatic sources say they are hopeful the landlocked, former Cold War foe could help Australia's efforts in Europe to fight back against Beijing's efforts to stymie the controversial AUKUS nuclear submarine plan.

Last week the ABC revealed that Australia is bulking-up specialised diplomatic teams in both Canberra and Vienna to win international acceptance for the AUKUS initiative as it braces for a massive "disinformation" campaign from China as well as Russia.

A public announcement of Senator Payne's Prague stopover is yet to be made, as diplomats work to confirm meetings with key figures in the new Czech government led by its Prime Minister, Petr Fiala.

Closer cooperation on cyber security is expected to be discussed by Senator Payne, as well as concerns over Chinese and Russian foreign interference operations, and the growing military ties between those two military powers.

Czech officials have privately claimed credit for helping convince some European nations to back a campaign to have former finance minister Mathias Cormann elected as the new head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Last month, the Czech ambassador to Canberra lodged a diplomatic protest with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade after tennis player Renata Vor?cov? was deported, ahead of the Australian Open.

Concerns over Russia and China front of mind during European visit

Alexander Downer was the last Australian foreign minister to visit the Czech Republic in 2005, when questions about the Iraq War dominated.

However, in 2022, concerns over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine are top of mind.

Since the Velvet Revolution, Czech lawmakers have remained wary of Moscow's continued efforts to interfere in the small NATO member's affairs, but in recent years there has been growing alarm about Chinese Communist Party's influence.

Last year the Czech Republic expelled dozens of Russian diplomats and their families after accusing Moscow of deploying intelligence agencies to carry out two explosions at a military arms depot in 2014.

Tensions between the Czech Republic and China also flared last year when the Taiwanese Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, was welcomed by legislators to the central European nation's parliament.

Senator Payne will also travel to Germany to attend the high-profile Munich Security Conference, which brings together political leaders and top officials from around the region.

While the conference will focus on a broader array of security challenges, this year's event is likely to be consumed by discussions about whether Russia is on the brink of invading Ukraine and how NATO can deter Moscow.

Ahead of her arrival in Prague, the Foreign Minister will visit Paris, where the government is still smarting at Australia's decision last year to scrap the $90 billion French submarine project, in favour of a yet-to-be-chosen nuclear powered fleet.

During her brief stopover in Paris, Senator Payne will attend a meeting of Indo-Pacific foreign ministers organised by the French government.

The trip may also offer Senator Payne a chance to begin patching-up ties with France, although it is not yet clear if she has secured any bilateral meetings with her French counterparts.

The Foreign Minister was expected to visit Thailand on her way home, but she told Senate Estimates that leg of the trip was no longer occurring.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-16/foreign-minister-to-visit-czech-republic-over-ukraine-submarines/100832342

#15631554 at 2022-02-15 08:03:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Prime Minister Scott Morrison calls on Beijing to speak up against Russian aggression

China's criticism of Australia for hosting peaceful diplomatic talks while Beijing remains 'chillingly silent' on Russian troops gathering on the Ukraine border has been condemned by Scott Morrison.

Clare Armstrong - February 13, 2022

THE hypocrisy of China criticising Australia for hosting peaceful diplomatic talks, while remaining "chillingly silent" on Russian troops gathering on the Ukraine border has been condemned by Scott Morrison.

The Prime Minister called out the double standard after Beijing accused Australia of using its "Quad" alliance with the US, Japan and India to "contain" China, but has not spoken out against Russian aggression.

"Australia has been criticised by the Chinese Government for peacefully coming together with our partners in the Quad ... and working together to promote peace and prosperity in our own region," he said.

"The Chinese government is happy to criticise Australia for engaging in such peaceful activities, but yet remains chillingly silent on Russian troops amassing on the Ukrainian border."

In some of his strongest language yet against Beijing, Mr Morrison said the "coalition of autocracies" around the world seeking to "bully other countries" was not an issue Australia would ever take a "light position" on.

"My government has always stood up for anyone who seeks to bully or coerce Australia," he said.

"And the bullying and the coercion that we're seeing take place on the borders of Ukraine is an example of that.

"It's unacceptable there, and it's unacceptable anywhere else."

Mr Morrison said Beijing worked with Russia to shut down the UN Security Council on even basic discussions about issues like Ukraine and Taiwan.

"When autocracies start working together and co-operate and partner in this way, then that obviously raises real concerns for freedom-loving liberal democracies, like Australia," he said.

"That's why it's important that we have taken such a strong stand on these issues."

Mr Morrison said he had never had an "each way bet" on national security, accusing Labor leader Anthony Albanese of entertaining ideas of "trade offs" with China to de-escalate tensions.

But Mr Albanese said he supported the Quad "very strongly," noting Australia was dealing with a "different China" now than in 2013.

He said this made Australia's relationship with the US its "most important".

China's Foreign Minister spokesman Zhao Lijian was highly critical of the Quad meeting held in Melbourne on Friday between Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne, US Secretary of State Antony ?Blinken, India's ?Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japan's Yosh?imasa Hayashi, calling it a "tool for containing and besieging China to maintain US hegemony".

"It aims to stoke confrontation and undermine international solidarity and co-operation," he told reporters.

A joint statement from the Quad leaders included commitments to support efforts to advance an open Indo-Pacific region and protect the interests of their people, free from coercion.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/prime-minister-scott-morrison-calls-on-beijing-to-speak-up-against-russian-aggression/news-story/5ee508b8a15f4983ab3cef281c94a023

#15615627 at 2022-02-13 06:35:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Australian embassy in Kyiv evacuated as Russia invasion of Ukraine feared

Lisa Visentin and Shane Wright - February 13, 2022

The Australian government has ordered the evacuation of its embassy in Kyiv amid concerns that Russian troops massing on Ukraine's border are preparing to invade.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the remaining three staff members at the Australian embassy had been directed to leave as the situation becomes increasingly dangerous, and he condemned Russia's actions as "utterly unacceptable".

"I want to send a very clear message on behalf of Australia - a liberal democracy who believes in freedom and the sovereignty of states, not just in Europe but in our own region as well - that the autocratic, unilateral actions of Russia to be threatening and bullying Ukraine is something that is completely and utterly unacceptable," Mr Morrison said.

He said the government had already relocated other Australian-based staff and their families from the mission in Kyiv.

"They have already departed some time ago," Mr Morrison said. "We have three remaining staff, and they have been instructed now to move - as other Five Eye countries are - to Lviv.

"But the situation, as you are all hearing as well, is deteriorating and reaching a very dangerous stage."

Mr Morrison thanked the three staff members, who had remained to provide consular support to Australians, many of whom were dual Australian-Ukrainian citizens.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government had established a temporary office in Lviv while operations were suspended at the Kyiv embassy.

She said the government's advice remained that Australians leave Ukraine immediately by commercial means. Security conditions could change at short notice.

"Russian military action in Ukraine will severely limit our ability to provide consular assistance to Australians," Senator Payne said.

"Australia continues to support Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We remain in close contact with our Five Eyes and other like-minded partners on the ground."

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said there was no excuse for Russia's actions.

"Russia should back off," he told Sky News. "The threats and intimidation that's occurring to a sovereign state like the Ukraine are entirely inappropriate in 2022, and we respect Ukraine sovereignty and that should be respected by all, including by Russia."

Australians in Ukraine seeking consular assistance should call the Australian government 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135 or +61 2 6261 3305 outside Australia.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/australian-embassy-in-kyiv-evacuated-as-russia-invasion-of-ukraine-feared-20220213-p59w03.html

#15607773 at 2022-02-12 05:26:44 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

'Cold War is long over': China hits out at Australia, US after Quad meeting

China has accused Australia and its allies of undermining international solidarity and trying to maintain US dominance.

Angie Raphael - February 12, 2022

1/2

China has hit out at Australia and its allies following a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue meeting, claiming the group is merely a "tool for containing and besieging" the Asian country to maintain US dominance.

At a meeting in ?Melbourne on Friday, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne, US Secretary of State Antony ?Blinken, India's ?Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japan's Yosh?imasa Hayashi vowed to support efforts to advance an open Indo-Pacific region and protect the interests of their people, free from coercion.

"We reiterate the importance of adherence to international law, particularly as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the South and East China Seas," a joint statement read.

The ministers committed to "deepen ?engagement with regional partners, including through ?capacity-building and technical assistance, to strengthen maritime domain awareness" and protect nations' ability to develop offshore resources consistent with the UN Law of the Seas.

They also reaffirmed commitment to uphold and strengthen the rules-based multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organisation at its core.

"We oppose coercive economic policies and practices that run counter to this system and will work collectively to foster global economic resilience against such actions," they said.

Further, they said they welcomed progress on the practical co-operation they led to address "regional challenges, including humanitarian assistance and disaster response, maritime security, counter-terrorism, countering disinformation and cyber security".

But China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian was quick to criticise the Quad meeting.

"China believes that the so-called Quad group cobbled together by the US, Japan, India and Australia is essentially a tool for containing and besieging China to maintain US hegemony," he told reporters.

"It aims to stoke confrontation and undermine international solidarity and co-operation.

"I want to stress that as the Cold War is long over, the attempt to forge a so-called alliance to contain China wins no support and leads nowhere.

"Relevant countries should abandon the antiquated Cold War mentality, correct the wrong approach of bloc confrontation and geopolitical games, and contribute to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific."

(continued)

#15600535 at 2022-02-11 11:18:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15592415
Quad pledges to counter China maritime aggression

BEN PACKHAM - FEBRUARY 11, 2022

1/2

Australia, the US, Japan and India have vowed to ensure freedom of navigation in the East and South China Seas to counter Chinese maritime aggression, and pledged to work more closely with Indo-Pacific nations to help them protect their offshore resources.

In a historic meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in Melbourne, Foreign Minister Marise Payne, US Secretary of State Antony ?Blinken, India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japan's Yosh?imasa Hayashi, also reaffirmed their support for a free Taiwan.

They pledged to work more closely to oppose Chinese disinformation and cyber attacks and secure undersea cables.

Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the US pivot to the Indo-Pacific during the meeting, saying his presence in Australia during the Ukraine crisis underscored US resolve to ensure the region remained free and open.

"Indeed, these efforts are part of one whole," he said. "One of the reasons we are working so intensively to defend the core principles threatened by Russia in Ukraine, is because those very same principles are crucial to enduring stability in this region and every other part of the world."

The Quad ministers also expressed deep concern over the military dictatorship in Myanmar, backing ASEAN's plan to resolve the crisis, and condemned North Korea's "destabilising" ballistic missile launches.

"Quad partners champion the free, open, and inclusive rules-based order, rooted in international law, that protects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of regional countries," the ministers said in a joint statement.

Japan, which will host a Quad leaders' meeting by mid-year, expressed particular concern over the Chinese activities in the East and South China Seas which Beijing treats as its own sovereign waters.

Minister Hayashi said: "I expressed serious concerns about the unilateral attempts to alter the status quo (in the seas) by force ... and the four foreign ministers agreed to work together to counter the challenges against the maritime order."

In the joint statement, the ministers committed to "deepen engagement with regional partners, including through capacity-building and technical assistance, to strengthen maritime domain awareness" and protect nations "ability to develop offshore resources" consistent with the UN Law of the Seas.

The ministers also backed Australia's pushback against Chinese economic coercion, pledging to "work collectively to foster global economic resilience against such actions".

They denounced violent extremism in the region and urged countries to work together to eliminate terrorist safe havens and disrupt terrorist networks.

Senator Payne said Australia supported a world order that favoured freedom, "where rules, not power and coercion, resolve disputes".

"Today, in Melbourne, our overarching focus was on the Indo-Pacific," she said.

"We agreed to strengthen Quad cyber and counter-terrorism co-operation, including by co-ordinating efforts to address the threat of ransom ware.

"We discussed humanitarian and disaster response and vital infrastructure delivery, which is climate adapted and resilient, in consultation with our partners.

"We agreed to boost maritime security support for Indo-Pacific partners to strengthen their awareness and ability to develop offshore resources to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight and to combat challenges such as illegal fishing."

(continued)

#15600521 at 2022-02-11 11:03:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15592415
Quad ministers address Indo-Pacific 'coercion', climate, COVID

Humeyra Pamuk and Kirsty Needham - February 11, 2022

MELBOURNE, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The United States, Australia, Japan and India on Friday pledged to deepen cooperation to ensure the Indo-Pacific region was free from "coercion", a thinly-veiled swipe at China's growing economic and military expansion, as their top diplomats convened to also tackle climate change, COVID and other threats.

Foreign ministers of the so-called Quad, the informal grouping of the four countries, vowed to work on humanitarian relief, terrorism, cyber and maritime security and global supply chain challenges.

Despite being outside the group's scope, an escalating crisis between the West and Russia over Ukraine was also a top agenda item, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken casting Moscow's build-up as a challenge to the international rules-based order, which he said Quad would work to preserve.

"That includes championing the rights of all countries to choose their own path, free from coercion and the right to have their sovereignty and territorial integrity, respected. Whether that's here in the Indo-Pacific, in Europe, or anywhere else in the world," he said in his opening remarks of the meeting.

Blinken arrived in Australia this week as Washington grapples with a dangerous standoff with Moscow, which has massed some 100,000 troops near Ukraine's border and stoked Western fears of an invasion. Russia denies it has such plans.

The Biden administration wants to show the world its long-term strategic focus remains in the Asia-Pacific and that a major foreign policy crisis in one part of the world does not distract it from key priorities.

Asked by reporters on Friday if confrontation with China in the Indo-Pacific was inevitable, Blinken replied "nothing is inevitable".

"Having said that, I think we share concerns that in recent years China has been acting more aggressively at home and more aggressively in the region," he said.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Quad's cooperation on the region's COVID response was "most critical", with cyber and maritime security, infrastructure, climate action and disaster relief - especially after the recent Tonga volcanic eruption - also in focus.

New pledges are unlikely to be announced before a May summit of Quad leaders in Japan that President Joe Biden plans to attend.

Payne also said Ukraine, China and North Korea would also be discussed.

"More than one authoritarian regime is presenting itself in the current world climate as a challenge. DPRK (North Korea), China as well and they will be part of our discussions today. We strongly support U.S. leadership on these challenges," she said before a bilateral meeting with Blinken.

Britain said the "most dangerous moment" in the West's standoff with Moscow appeared imminent, as Russia held military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea following the buildup of its forces near Ukraine.

The Quad nations have begun holding annual naval exercises across the Indo-Pacific to demonstrate interoperability, and the United States itself conducts freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea.

China has previously denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and a clique "targeting other countries".

Blinken's trip comes after China and Russia declared last week a "no limits" strategic partnership, their most detailed and assertive statement to work together - and against the United States - to build a new international order based on their own interpretations of human rights and democracy.

U.S.-Chinese ties are at their lowest point in decades as the world's top two economies disagree on issues ranging from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the South China Sea and China's treatment of ethnic Muslims.

Biden told Asian leaders in October the United States would launch talks on a new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. But few details have emerged and his administration has been reluctant to offer the increased market access Asian countries desire, seeing this as threatening American jobs.

Critics say the lack of U.S. economic engagement is a major weakness in Biden's approach to the region, where China remains to be the top trading partner for many of the Indo-Pacific nations.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/quad-ministers-convene-address-indo-pacific-coercion-climate-covid-2022-02-10/

#15600272 at 2022-02-11 08:18:57 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

>>15592415
Quad foreign ministers meet amid divergent expectations

Targeting China, Russia only serves US strategic demand: expert

Yang Sheng and Liu Caiyu - Feb 09, 2022

1/2

The tone of the 4th Quad foreign ministers' meeting scheduled for Friday in Australia is still based on ideological differences and a cold war mentality, as US and Australian officials stressed the meeting will discuss the "challenges" posed by China and Russia to so-called "democracy and rules-based order."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said the US image of democracy has already collapsed, and using democratic values to form cliques for confrontation is a "betrayal of democracy."

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the remarks at a routine press conference on Wednesday, saying that "democracy is a common value shared by humanity, rather than a patent owned by a few countries."

For the "rules-based order," Zhao said China, just like most countries around the world, acknowledges and upholds the international system with the United Nations at its core, and international order based on international laws, rather than a "rules-based order" unilaterally defined by one or a few countries.

Zhao's remarks came after US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne made remarks to the media that the upcoming Quad meeting will discuss the "challenges" that China and Russia posed to them.

Kritenbrink said at a briefing on February 4 ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Australia that the discussion of the top diplomats from four Quad members "will relate to the challenges that China poses" to their shared "values" and "rules-based order" in a number of sectors.

Similarly, Payne said in an interview with ABC on Wednesday that "The approach of authoritarian regimes," naming Russia, China and North Korea, "are not contributing to security. They are not contributing to stability." She said China and Russia's "vision of the global order is completely at odds with the vision that Australia has and our allies and our partners have."

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that "emphasizing democracy or ideological elements is just an attempt to justify and beautify the Quad mechanism, to make it look more legitimate. But in fact, the Quad is driven by US strategic demand, which fabricates fears over China and Russia that the US uses to scare its allies. It's never been driven by democracy."

Stressing "democracy" or using the term "authoritarian regimes" to smear China and Russia and other countries is "a very outdated approach," and is just like "finding excuses to legitimize the crusaders' invasions of the Middle East," Li said. The values are just pretexts and tools, the interests and ambition of expansion are the real purposes, he noted.

Differences within Quad

Chinese analysts said that although the US, Japan, India and Australia can sit together and talk, what they want and what they want to get from each other are very different. This makes it hard for the mechanism to have any influence and presents obstacles for enacting concrete cooperation.

Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, said that Payne's point is nonsense, and making Australia a rival or enemy to China and Russia is extremely unwise.

"China and Russia have never treated Australia as a threat. But Canberra, under the instruction of Washington, is willing to fight harder for the US while ignoring Australia's own interests and security. This is absolutely immature," Chen noted.

(continued)

#15600267 at 2022-02-11 08:17:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Lithuania plays 'coercion card' against China in joining 'exclusive club' with Aussies

Vilnius' stunt exposes desperation, a laughingstock for immature actions

Liu Xin - Feb 09, 2022

1/2

In an attempt to hype so-called China coercion and play "victims" to win sympathy, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister claimed on Wednesday that his country is in an "exclusive club" with Australia against China, a move that would not help Lithuania solve its problems but exposed its desperation like a drowning person clutching at a straw, analysts said. Analysts mocked the exclusive club as an international laughing stock for immature, imprudent and impenitent actions that provoke other countries' sovereignty.

China has unsurprisingly become the main topic for Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis' meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Wednesday. Landsbergis, at a joint conference with his Australian counterpart, reiterated the accusation of China for acting as the global disruptor and called Australia as one of the "main examples" when China was using economy and trade as "a political weapon."

Seemingly to stress their "shared experience," the Lithuanian Foreign Minister added that Lithuania joined the "exclusive club" with Australia, and the two foreign ministers agreed to step up cooperation on strategic challenges, especially from pressure from China.

Lithuania is trying to gang up with Australia in playing "victims" to win sympathy from the international community. But unlike the US, which also imposes unilateral economic sanctions, China is never the one that makes coercive economic sanctions, Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times.

"The 'exclusive club' is more like an exclusive club of laughingstocks that ate the bitter fruits of immature, imprudent and impenitent actions by Lithuania and Australia," Chen said.

In November 2021, China downgraded ties with Lithuania after the latter's wrong move of allowing the Taiwan authorities to open a "representative office" under the name of "Taiwan" in Vilnius. Bilateral trade also suffered due to the deteriorating relations.

By voicing its support to Lithuania, Australia has also descended into Lithuania's tool. "The current problems between China and Lithuania are rooted in Lithuania's provocations over China's bottom line. However, relations between China and Australia have not been downgraded, despite the current low ebb, and trade has continued. Why does Australia risk worsening relations with China for Lithuania?" Chen asked.

The expert noted that there is also one similarity shared by Lithuania and Australia - turning themselves into pathetic tools for the US to contain China at the cost of their own country and people's interests.

(continued)

#15592415 at 2022-02-10 09:42:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Quad unease at China, Russia 'no limits' pact

BEN PACKHAM - FEBRUARY 10, 2022

China and Russia's new "no limits" partnership to stand up to the West will be at the top of the agenda at Friday's Quad meeting in Melbourne, with Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne declaring the pact was "completely at odds" with Australia and its allies' vision for the global order.

Senator Payne said on Wednesday that her meeting with US Secretary of State Antony ?Blinken, India's Subrahman-yam Jaishankar and Japan's Yosh?imasa Hayashi was part of a wider push to protect sovereignty and democratic freedoms, and ensure nations were free from coercion by authoritarian nations.

Mr Blinken flew into Melbourne on Wednesday afternoon, after spending "a chunk of this trip" on the phone to global counterparts about the Ukraine crisis.

While the US remains on high alert for a potential Russian attack on its neighbour, Mr Blinken said the Biden administration had a "sustained focus" on the Indo-?Pacific, "and that's why we're heading to Australia". He said the Quadrilateral ?Security Dialogue was emblematic of US efforts ?towards "building, energising, (and) driving different coalitions of countries" to deal with pressing regional issues.

"The Quad is becoming a powerful mechanism for delivering; helping to vaccinate a big part of the world and getting a lot of vaccines out there; strengthening maritime security to push back against aggression and coercion in the Indo-Pacific region; (and) working together on emerging technologies and making sure that they can be used in positive ways, not negative ways," he said.

In Canberra on Wednesday, Senator Payne met with her ?Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis, whose country - like Australia - has borne the brunt of Chinese economic ?coercion. Mr Landsbergis, who is ?visiting Canberra to open the first local Lithuanian embassy, said China and Russia were working together "as disrupters of the global rule-based order".

Australia has vowed to back Lithuania in its World Trade ?Organisation battle against Chinese trade bans, which were instituted after Vilnius agreed to host a Taiwanese trade office that bore the territory's name rather than that of its capital, Taipei.

"For quite a while Australia was probably one of the main ?examples where China is using economy and trade as a political instrument, or one might say even as a political weapon," Mr Landsbergis said.

"Now Lithuania joins this ?exclusive club ... But it is apparent that we're definitely not the last ones, especially if these practices are not stopped with the instruments that we have."

Senator Payne said it was vital for "like-minded nations" to band together to counter coercion and authoritarianism.

The Quad foreign ministers will work to ramp up vaccine distribution across the region, boost co-operation on cyber and critical technologies, tackle Chinese disinformation and economic ?coercion, and improve collective efforts to address climate change.

The meeting comes a week after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed unprecedented co-operation, backing each other over stand-offs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to collaborate more against the West.

Senator Payne said the new authoritarian partnership "sets out a vision of the global order that is at odds with that of Australia and that of our allies and ?partners, and I'm confident that includes all of our Quad ?partners".

ANU National Security College head Rory Medcalf said the increasing closeness of China and Russia would "put India on the spot" over its longstanding ties to Moscow.

"India has its own distinct relationship with Russia which is weaker than it used to be - it has leaned more closely to the US in recent years - but it still has a relationship where it wants to position itself as not aligning against Russia," he said.

"So this Quad meeting will be an interesting barometer on how much India has shifted."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/quad-unease-at-china-russia-no-limits-pact/news-story/72f4eeccf07dd795a81b83af579adc33

#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"

#15592241 at 2022-02-10 08:40:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #21: MIL-CIV ALLIANCE Edition

Notables
are not endorsements

#20 - Part 1
Australian Politics and Society - Part 1
>>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
>>15185173 Video: Australia-South Korea deal the largest defence arrangement with any Asian nation - Sky News Australia
>>15185212 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Great to meet with my good friend @MarisePayne today. We reaffirmed both our nations' deep commitment to a peaceful and secure Indo-Pacific, COVID-19 economic recovery and resilience, and cooperating to deliver results for our citizens and partners around the region.
>>15185212 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (United States) & (Australia) are the closet of friends and allies. @SecBlinken and I discussed our work to promote a free, open & inclusive #IndoPacific, & to progress the AUKUS partnership. We share experiences & democratic values that make our alliance an anchor of stability for our region.
>>15186803 Scott Morrison promises to give Australians their "freedom" back and get big government out of their lives - Coalition anchors its re-election pitch with pledge to keep the nation "stronger, safer, together"
>>15186809 Scott Morrison pledges to keep the nation 'stronger and safer together' - Sky News Australia
>>15200685 Joe Biden nominates Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former president John F. Kennedy, to be the next US ambassador to Australia
>>15200689 Joe Biden has nominated Caroline Kennedy as his ambassador to Australia. She's more than a symbolic choice
>>15200710 Q Post #703 - "Rest in peace Mr. President (JFK), through your wisdom and strength, since your tragic death, Patriots have planned, installed, and by the grace of God, activated, the beam of LIGHT. We will forever remember your sacrifice. May you look down from above and continue to guide us as we ring the bell of FREEDOM and destroy those who wish to sacrifice our children, our way of life, and our world. We, the PEOPLE." Prayer said every single day in the OO. JFK - Secret Socities. Where we go one, we go all. Q
>>15201047 Video: JFK's daughter Caroline Kennedy to become US ambassador to Australia - 9 News Australia

>>15201173 Biden DOJ partners with Australia to speed up sharing digital data on crime
>>15206674 Australia more exposed to cyber attack after AUKUS: Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews
>>15210819 'Australia has lost its way': Keating flays both leaders - Paul Keating has savaged Scott Morrison for wilfully surrendering our sovereignty and lashed Anthony Albanese for his complicity
>>15217277 White House promises Australia's nuclear subs will arrive 'at earliest possible date'
>>15223559 Former Liberal Senator and Senate President Scott Ryan named as Australia's new High Commissioner to Canada
>>15229914 This will be India's century, says Australian envoy O'Farrell, talks of more military exercises, Canberra hopeful of interim trade pact by 2021 end
>>15229924 Video: AUKUS is good for entire Indo-Pacific region: Australian envoy O'Farrell - ThePrint
>>15235742 Video: Riccardo Bosi interviews General Flynn - AustraliaOne - Lieutenant General (Retired) Michael T Flynn and Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Riccardo Bosi discuss past and current affairs in the US and Australia
>>15235865 Millions of Australians face "cyber security ticking time bomb" - Cyber attack via compromised Log4j Java-based software - Children, parents and businesses under threat of being "hunted" and attacked by sophisticated cyber actors exploiting new software vulnerabilities across more than 100,000 devices, apps and online games
>>15235866 Australian Cyber Security Centre - CISA Log4j (CVE-2021-44228) Affected Vendor & Software List - Advice and mitigations are available for all Australian organisations - https://www.cyber.gov.au/ - ACSC National Hotline 1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371)

#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"

#15592173 at 2022-02-10 08:19:47 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

Notables
are not endorsements

#20 - Part 1
Australian Politics and Society - Part 1
>>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
>>15185173 Video: Australia-South Korea deal the largest defence arrangement with any Asian nation - Sky News Australia
>>15185212 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Great to meet with my good friend @MarisePayne today. We reaffirmed both our nations' deep commitment to a peaceful and secure Indo-Pacific, COVID-19 economic recovery and resilience, and cooperating to deliver results for our citizens and partners around the region.
>>15185212 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (United States) & (Australia) are the closet of friends and allies. @SecBlinken and I discussed our work to promote a free, open & inclusive #IndoPacific, & to progress the AUKUS partnership. We share experiences & democratic values that make our alliance an anchor of stability for our region.
>>15186803 Scott Morrison promises to give Australians their "freedom" back and get big government out of their lives - Coalition anchors its re-election pitch with pledge to keep the nation "stronger, safer, together"
>>15186809 Scott Morrison pledges to keep the nation 'stronger and safer together' - Sky News Australia
>>15200685 Joe Biden nominates Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former president John F. Kennedy, to be the next US ambassador to Australia
>>15200689 Joe Biden has nominated Caroline Kennedy as his ambassador to Australia. She's more than a symbolic choice
>>15200710 Q Post #703 - "Rest in peace Mr. President (JFK), through your wisdom and strength, since your tragic death, Patriots have planned, installed, and by the grace of God, activated, the beam of LIGHT. We will forever remember your sacrifice. May you look down from above and continue to guide us as we ring the bell of FREEDOM and destroy those who wish to sacrifice our children, our way of life, and our world. We, the PEOPLE." Prayer said every single day in the OO. JFK - Secret Socities. Where we go one, we go all. Q
>>15201047 Video: JFK's daughter Caroline Kennedy to become US ambassador to Australia - 9 News Australia

>>15201173 Biden DOJ partners with Australia to speed up sharing digital data on crime
>>15206674 Australia more exposed to cyber attack after AUKUS: Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews
>>15210819 'Australia has lost its way': Keating flays both leaders - Paul Keating has savaged Scott Morrison for wilfully surrendering our sovereignty and lashed Anthony Albanese for his complicity
>>15217277 White House promises Australia's nuclear subs will arrive 'at earliest possible date'
>>15223559 Former Liberal Senator and Senate President Scott Ryan named as Australia's new High Commissioner to Canada
>>15229914 This will be India's century, says Australian envoy O'Farrell, talks of more military exercises, Canberra hopeful of interim trade pact by 2021 end
>>15229924 Video: AUKUS is good for entire Indo-Pacific region: Australian envoy O'Farrell - ThePrint
>>15235742 Video: Riccardo Bosi interviews General Flynn - AustraliaOne - Lieutenant General (Retired) Michael T Flynn and Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Riccardo Bosi discuss past and current affairs in the US and Australia
>>15235865 Millions of Australians face "cyber security ticking time bomb" - Cyber attack via compromised Log4j Java-based software - Children, parents and businesses under threat of being "hunted" and attacked by sophisticated cyber actors exploiting new software vulnerabilities across more than 100,000 devices, apps and online games
>>15235866 Australian Cyber Security Centre - CISA Log4j (CVE-2021-44228) Affected Vendor & Software List - Advice and mitigations are available for all Australian organisations - https://www.cyber.gov.au/ - ACSC National Hotline 1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371)

#15575053 at 2022-02-08 07:46:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

>>15575052

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While much of the focus of AUKUS had been centred on the development of submarines, Courtney said, the Biden administration had made it clear it was part of a much larger strategy and would also result in a broader suite of technologies.

Therefore, he said, there was good reason to create a broader bipartisan group with links to other countries that could benefit, such as New Zealand and Japan.

If created, the "AUKUS caucus" would be yet another sign of the growing importance of Australia's alliance with America.

Another potent example emerged last month when a Washington think-tank, the Centre for International and Strategic Studies, launched an inaugural Australia Chair position to sharpen its focus on US-Australia relations.

Former US State Department policy planning staffer Dr Charles Edel, who was also an associate professor of Strategy and Policy at the US Naval War College was appointed to the role. He said that while the alliance was mostly positive, there was "some major work ahead of us if it's going to achieve lift".

"That's especially true when it comes to sharing sensitive technology, accelerating force posture initiatives, building the necessary industrial and logistical capabilities to support these moves, and figuring out how to secure supply chains on everything from energy to critical minerals," he said.

Edel added that "we are also now seeing something of a role-reversal between the US and Australia".

"It used to be that the US wanted Australia to be more involved in their own region. Now, we're seeing Australia - after mounting pressure by China in multiple domains over the past half-decade - doubling-down on the United States."

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken travels to Australia, Fiji and Hawaii this week for talks with America's Indo-Pacific allies.

In Canberra, he will meet with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

Blinken will also attend the fourth foreign ministers meeting of the so-called "Quad" alliance, which also takes in the US, India and Japan.

The meeting is the first Quad get together since Biden hosted leaders at the White House in September.

In a briefing to reporters, Daniel Kritenbrink, who is US assistant secretary of state of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said "the key message that the secretary will take with him on this trip is that our partnerships deliver".

"In this era of intense competition, changing strategic landscapes, economic coercion and, of course, this very difficult global pandemic, there is no greater partnership than what we are trying to accomplish through the Quad with Australia, India and Japan," he said.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/aukus-caucus-republicans-and-democrats-find-a-topic-they-can-agree-on-20220208-p59um4.html

#15551303 at 2022-02-05 10:29:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

>>15507808
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with Australia, Japan and India in bid to counter China during Olympics

Pacific nations including India, Japan and Australia are moving to counter China's swelling economic, diplomatic and military presence and its emboldened ally.

Megan Palin - February 5, 2022

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed he will travel to Australia next week for a Quad group ministerial meeting to discuss maritime security and Covid, the State Department announced on Friday.

Starting on Wednesday, Mr Blinken will meet his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan to discuss multiple bilateral and global priorities, as tensions with Russia over Ukraine ratchet up in Europe.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will host the talks in Melbourne with India's Foreign Minister, ?Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japan's Foreign Minister, Yoshimasa Hay?ashi also scheduled to attend.

China's threat to stability in the Indo-Pacific is expected to be a major focus of discussion during the two-day meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) foreign ministers.

China has previously denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and a clique "targeting other countries".

"With our Quad partners, we are delivering results for our populations and the region, including by advancing co-operation on Covid-19 vaccination delivery, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, maritime security, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, countering disinformation, climate change, and critical and emerging technologies," according to the State Department.

Joe Biden held an in-person summit at the White House last September with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan as they highlighted the Quad's role in safeguarding a stable, democratic Asia-Pacific.

Mr Blinken - who is the US President's top diplomat - will also head to Fiji, in the first visit by a US secretary of state to the island nation since 1985, to discuss what the department called "ways to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific," using the administration's term for the Asia-Pacific region.

After Fiji, Mr Blinken will go to Honolulu, Hawaii on February 12 to host a trilateral meeting with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea to "deepen our co-operation in addressing threats from the DPRK's (North Korea's) nuclear and missile programs" and other current global "challenges." China was not mentioned in the statement announcing Blinken's trip, but the Quad grouping is focused on countering a rising Beijing.

And while the phrase "free and open" was mentioned in the context of the Fiji visit, the wording has become code for expressing the big regional powers' worry about swelling Chinese economic, diplomatic and military presence - including threats to vital international sea lanes.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-to-travel-to-australia-next-week/news-story/5cd901272442bf26a970789a3c09e3d4

#15507808 at 2022-01-31 06:49:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heading to Melbourne for meeting of Quad Foreign Ministers

GREG SHERIDAN - JANUARY 31, 2022

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Australia in mid-February for a meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue foreign ministers, with China's threat to stability in the Indo-Pacific a major focus of the talks.

The foreign ministers of India and Japan will join their US and Australian counterparts in Melbourne for the two-day summit, which will also discuss the crisis in Ukraine, and threats to national and regional security.

Maritime security, territorial integrity and cyber threats will also be discussed, as well as issues raised by working groups.

These working groups have ?focused on vaccine distribution, countering disinformation (mainly from China and Russia), cyber and critical technology, infrastructure and space.

The highest level visit yet to Australia by a member of the Biden administration underlines the importance the US places on the Australian relationship and sends a clear message that even with the Ukraine crisis, concern over China and the maintenance of stability in the Indo-Pacific ?remains one of the most important challenges Washington faces.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who will host the Melbourne meeting, said the talks were a strategic coup for Australia. "I look forward to welcoming Quad foreign minister counterparts to Australia," she said.

"We are a vital network of liberal democracies co-operating to give our region strategic choices, with a focus on practical steps to build the resilience and sovereignty of all states.

"This is a further demonstration of the Morrison gov?ernment's efforts to actively shape and influence our region and world by deepening partnerships at a time of strategic competition, threats to liberal international order and increasing uncertainty."

India's Foreign Minister, ?Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, is scheduled to attend, as is Japan's Foreign Minister, Yoshimasa Hay?ashi. Given all the difficulties Covid places on international travel and the many issues running hot in the international system, the summit is a sign of the importance that all four nations place on the Quad and on the strategic challenge of China. The ministers will also have separate meetings with Scott Morrison.

As The Australian revealed last year, the Quad has also established a formal intelligence ?dialogue at the top of each ?nation's intelligence establishment, called the Quadrilateral Strategic Intelligence Forum.

The timing of the meeting is complicated by Mr Jaishankar testing positive for Covid some days ago.

It is hoped he will have recovered in time and be able to record a negative Covid test result, which would enable him to travel to Australia for the meeting.

Senator Payne has developed a close working personal relationship with Mr Jaishankar, which was crucial in getting the Quad re-established as a formal group in 2019.

Senator Payne and Mr Blinken will talk to their counterparts about the evolving AUKUS agreement involving the US, Australia and Britain and the ambition for this group to see Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

Japan and India have been supportive of AUKUS. Both want technology co-operation to be at the beating heart of the Quad.

Tokyo has been especially supportive of AUKUS and helped Canberra neutralise early suspicion of the new body among Southeast Asian nations. This suspicion was exaggerated by ?intense Chinese and Russian disinformation campaigns against AUKUS.

"Quad partners champion ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN-led architecture in the Indo-Pacific," Senator Payne said.

(continued)

#15472754 at 2022-01-27 07:24:00 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

China's new ambassador was conciliatory, but Australian MPs are sceptical of Chinese 'tactics'

Stephen Dziedzic - 27 January 2022

Senior federal government ministers have brushed off a relatively conciliatory message from China's new ambassador to Australia, who has vowed to get the bilateral relationship "back to the right track".

Xiao Qian - who most recently served as China's Ambassador to Indonesia - landed in Sydney earlier this week and issued a public statement saying ties between Canberra and Beijing were at a "critical juncture, facing many difficulties and challenges as well as enormous opportunities and potential".

"I look forward to working with the Australian government … to enhance mutual understanding and trust, eliminate misunderstanding and suspicion, promote mutually beneficial exchanges and cooperation in all areas between the two sides, and jointly push the China-Australia relations back to the right track," he said.

The new ambassador also hailed the 50th anniversary of the China-Australia relationship, saying "the older generation of Chinese and Australian leaders promoted the establishment of diplomatic relations with the foresight and pioneering spirit of statesmanship".

"Since the door of communication and exchanges was opened, we have witnessed frequent exchanges and fruitful cooperation outcomes in various fields," he said.

While the new ambassador didn't signal any policy changes in his remarks, it still represents a significant shift in tone from China's government.

Chinese officials in both Beijing and Canberra have continued to berate Australia in recent months and the bilateral relationship remains mired in mutual acrimony and suspicion.

Only last week, the Chinese embassy accused the United Kingdom and Australia of "recycling and making groundless accusations" and "fabricating lies to smear China" after the two countries again criticised Beijing's aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea as well as human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

The usually antagonistic Chinese state-owned newspaper the Global Times also quoted Chinese "analysts" who called the message "a gesture of kindness and goodwill to reset and improve relations which are at their lowest ebb" while also stressing Australia had to "correct" its "wrong China policies".

Defence Minister: China remains 'belligerent'

So far, Morrison government ministers and MPs have responded to the remarks with caution or scepticism.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who has been sharply critical of China's government, said he "hoped" the new ambassador was sincere but it was important to keep international focus on China's "belligerent" approach to other countries and human rights abuses.

"At the moment, China is in conflict not just with us, where they're cutting off markets and the cyber attacks and other activities going on, but [also] with the Philippines, they're at loggerheads with the Indians, with the Vietnamese, with many other countries - and it's a belligerent approach, it's unacceptable," Mr Dutton told radio station 2GB.

"These are the issues the world needs to speak about and if we remain silent and we remain weak, and [to] block our ears and pretend it will go away, the problem will just compound."

Another Morrison government source said that while the more friendly tone was welcome, they were sceptical there would be any significant shift in China's approach towards Australia until after this year's federal election.

Liberal MP and former Australian diplomat Dave Sharma said the new ambassador's message might signal that Beijing was willing to resume diplomatic dialogue with federal government ministers, but it was important not to "over-interpret the potential for a relationship reset."

"China might be changing its tactics but its ultimate goals and objectives I think have not shifted here," he told Sky News.

"We should certainly welcome the tone and prospect and welcome the prospect of resumed dialogue but we shouldn't be naive or delusional about ultimately what it means."

In a brief statement, a spokesman for Foreign Minister Marise Payne said: "The Australian Government welcomes the new Chinese Ambassador-designate to Australia and looks forward to engaging with him."

Lowy Institute analyst Natasha Kassam said the new ambassador "appears to be taking a cautious approach and testing the waters as he arrives in Canberra".

"Knowing that Australia is edging towards an election campaign, and Australian public views of China are at historic lows, the relationship may be in holding pattern for now," she said.

"The early response from the defence minister would indicate no thaw is coming in the frosty relationship."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-27/new-china-ambassador-wants-reset-diplomatic-relations-australia/100785202

#15472704 at 2022-01-27 07:12:47 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian offers olive branch

GEOFF CHAMBERS - JANUARY 27, 2022

1/2

China's new ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, has extended an olive branch months out from the federal election and described his ambassadorship as a "noble mission".

After arriving in Sydney on Australia Day, Mr Xiao said the China-Australia relationship was at a "critical juncture facing many difficulties and challenges as well as enormous opportunities and potentials".

Mr Xiao, who follows the firebrand Cheng Jingye as China's 15th ambassador to Australia, said he would work closely with government officials and business leaders to "jointly push the China-Australia relations back to the right track".

"I see my ambassadorship as a noble mission and, more importantly, a great responsibility," Mr Xiao said.

"I look forward to working with the Australian government and friends in all sectors to increase engagement and communication, enhance mutual understanding and trust, eliminate misunderstanding and suspicion, promote mutually beneficial exchanges and co-operation in all areas between the two sides."

After spending the past four years as Xi Jinping's top diplomat in Jakarta, Mr Xiao is not considered a proponent of the "wolf warrior diplomacy" that dominated Mr Cheng's tenure in Canberra. In recent years, Beijing has targeted Australia with economic coercion and slapped trade bans on local exports including coal, barley, beef, wine, seafood and timber.

Under Mr Cheng's leadership, the Chinese embassy issued an ?extraordinary list of 14 grievances with Australia that were ?purportedly "poisoning bilateral relations".

The list of grievances triggered an Australian government freeze on the Chinese embassy.

Diplomatic sources told The Australian in November that Mr Xiao was well-regarded by international counterparts and his appointment might signal a "more sophisticated approach" by Beijing in its engagement with Australia. While he is considered a tough and smart negotiator, Mr Xiao has been a strong promoter of Beijing's talking points.

A spokesman for Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Morrison government "welcomes the new Chinese ?ambassador-designate to Australia and looks forward to ?engaging with him".

(continued)

#15448036 at 2022-01-24 08:28:05 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

>>15448033
Herald indulges UK Foreign Secretary's demented remarks on China

Paul Keating - Jan 23, 2022

Australia's foreign and defence ministers are giving respectability to Britain's lunge for old-time glory.

Remarks by the British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss that China could engage in military aggression in the Pacific, encouraged by Russia's contingent moves against Ukraine, are nothing short of demented.

Not simply irrational, demented.

And this piece of nonsense by Truss commanded the front pages of The Sydney Morning Herald in a piece written by the press gallery's most celebrated beat-up merchant, Peter Hartcher.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/aggressors-working-together-uk-s-truss-warns-china-could-follow-russia-into-war-20220121-p59q8p.html

Truss said such a move by China 'could not be ruled out'.

And on those fleeting words, Hartcher pounced, carrying the notion to the readership of the Herald - and the Melbourne Age - that China and Russia are working in concert, justifying the headline, that 'China could follow Russia into war'.

The irresponsibility of the story and Hartcher's writing of it is breathtaking.

But it is a measure of how far the Herald has sunk in accommodating Hartcher's extreme and unworldly positions - especially as they relate to China.

The underlying story is the government's desperate promotion of Britain as a strategic partner of Australia in a policy of containment of China.

The reality is Britain does not add up to a row of beans when it comes to East Asia. Britain took its main battle fleet out of East Asia in 1904 and finally packed it in with its 'East of Suez' policy in the 1970s. And it has never been back.

Britain suffers delusions of grandeur and relevance deprivation. But there they were at Admiralty House kidding the rest of us that their 'co-operation' added up to some viable policy.

Australia's great Foreign 'non minister', Marise Payne, supported by the increasingly strident Defence Minister Peter Dutton, standing beside the British Foreign Secretary looking wistfully for Britain's lost worlds of the 19th and 20th centuries. Really.

Truss would do us all a favour by hightailing it back to her collapsing, disreputable government, leaving Australia to find its own way in Asia.

Xi Jinping told the audience at Davos this week that 'major economies should see the world as one community'.

Hardly the sort of sentiment that sits contemporaneously with someone about to spring an aggressive military action. A point perhaps way too subtle for the Herald.

Paul Keating was the prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996.

https://johnmenadue.com/herald-indulges-uk-foreign-secretarys-demented-remarks-on-china/

#15427341 at 2022-01-21 07:26:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

>>15411907
Australia, U.K. Work on Security Ties as China's Clout Grows

Ben Westcott - 21 January 2022

Britain's top foreign and defense officials held talks with their Australian counterparts in Sydney on Friday, focusing on advancing a security pact involving nuclear-powered submarines and sharing notes on countering China's growing clout.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss and Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace met with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Defense Peter Dutton for the first time since Canberra signed the deal in September.

Under the so-called AUKUS partnership, which cover a range of new security agreements, Australia would be able to build and operate nuclear-powered submarines for the first time with the help of the U.K. and U.S. The deal immediately prompted China and its neighbors to warn of an escalating arms race in the region.

"AUKUS represents an enormous opportunity for us, not just in relation to the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines but also, rightly, as Marise points out, other capabilities which will deter acts of aggression," Dutton told reporters in Sydney.

For Britain and America the AUKUS deal was an opportunity to grow their presence in the Indo-Pacific while Australia strengthened its ties with old allies as it grappled with rising aggression from Beijing and high Chinese tariffs on some exports.

In an interview with The Australian published before the talks, Truss said the security pact was a "fantastic agreement to be taking forward" and the intention was to foster closer industrial collaboration.

"It is also about much closer technological collaboration because this is where a lot of the battle for the future will be fought," she told the newspaper. "It won't just be fought in traditional defense. It will be in cyber space, the use of quantum technology, and of artificial intelligence. These are the areas where we do want AUKUS to go very deep," she added.

Local media had suggested a plan to deploy British nuclear submarines to Australia might be announced after the talks on Friday. When asked, the U.K.'s Wallace said it was still "early days." "We'll take it one step at a time," he said.

Strained ties

Australia and the U.K. have seen diplomatic relations with Beijing grow chilly in recent recent years. The two have spoken out publicly against China's military posturing toward Taiwan, while concerns over human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong led both countries to join Western nations in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

China has denied the allegations of human rights abuses and said politicizing the Olympic Games runs "counter to the spirit of the Olympic Charter."

Payne and Truss signed an agreement the day before to "maintain an Internet that is open, free, peaceful and secure," which will, in part, target state-based hackers and work to protect Asia Pacific nations from malicious cyber activity.

News of the U.K. parliament speaker warning that an agent of China was involved in political interference activities has resonated in Britain, said Rory Medcalf, head of the Australian National University's National Security College.

The U.K. incident was similar to events in Australia in late 2017, which led to the government unveiling new laws to limit foreign interference in domestic politics, including a ban on overseas donations. China saw Australia's legislation as squarely targeted at them, which led to a long downturn in relations between Canberra and Beijing.

"Of course Australia was the canary in the coal mine when it came to Chinese influence operations in democratic politics," Medcalf said. "The British security establishment has its eye on the long term," he added.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-20/australia-u-k-work-on-security-ties-as-china-s-clout-expands

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1484330230269739016

#15412466 at 2022-01-19 08:48:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

>>15403917
China says Australia is trying to interfere with its legal system in case of Australian writer Yang Hengjun

Michael Doyle - 19 January 2022

China's foreign ministry spokesman says Australia is trying to interfere with its "judicial sovereignty" after Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne called for the immediate release of writer Yang Hengjun.

Dr Yang has been held by Chinese authorities for three years since being detained at Guangzhou airport in January 2019.

The Australian national is awaiting a verdict following a one-day espionage trial, which took place in Beijing last year.

Dr Yang, 56, is a democracy advocate who has said authorities "treat me like dirt here and they tortured me".

Ms Payne's call for his release came after friends of the writer feared his growing health problems would lead to him dying behind bars.

During the daily press briefing on Tuesday, China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Dr Yang was being treated fairly.

"China's judicial organs handle the case in strict accordance with law and fully protect the lawful rights and interests of Yang Hengjun," Mr Zhao said.

"China firmly opposes Australia's unreasonable obstruction in China's handling of the case in accordance with law and gross interference in China's judicial sovereignty."

Dr Yang is believed to be suffering severe problems with gout, high blood pressure, impaired vision and dizzy spells.

Recent blood tests have revealed rising levels of creatinine, prompting fears Dr Yang could suffer kidney failure, but a Chinese prison doctor has been unable to provide any treatment or advice on treatment.

Ms Payne said the federal government was concerned for Dr Yang.

"Neither Dr Yang nor the Australian government have been provided with details as to the charges against him or of the investigation, reinforcing our view that this constitutes the arbitrary detention of an Australian citizen," she said.

"We therefore call for Dr Yang's immediate release and his return to Australia.

"Australia is also extremely concerned about Dr Yang's health. We call on Chinese authorities to meet their obligations to ensure that all necessary treatment for his physical and mental health is provided."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-19/china-says-australia-is-trying-to-interfere-over-yang-hengjun/100765430

–

Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on January 18, 2022

Bloomberg: The Australian writer Yang Jun's health condition has deteriorated since his arrest in China three years ago. His family now warned he could die in jail if he doesn't get urgent medical attention. And Australia has called for his immediate release. Does the ministry have a comment on that?

Zhao Lijian: China has made clear on many occasions its position on the case of Yang Jun. I would stress again that China is a country with rule of law. China's judicial organs handle the case in strict accordance with law and fully protect the lawful rights and interests of Yang Jun. China firmly opposes Australia's unreasonable obstruction in China's handling of the case in accordance with law and gross interference in China's judicial sovereignty.

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/202201/t20220118_10629940.html

#15411907 at 2022-01-19 06:59:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

Nuclear subs, China aggression to top UK talks

GREG BROWN - JANUARY 19, 2022

1/2

Scott Morrison will host Britain's foreign affairs and defence ministers in Sydney for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic this week, ahead of senior ministerial-level talks aimed at strengthening defence co-operation and advancing the AUKUS nuclear submarine agreement.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will arrive in Sydney this week and meet the Prime Minister at Kirribilli House on Thursday, as the government pushes for Western allies to have a stronger presence in the Indo-Pacific as a counterbalance to China.

Ms Truss and Mr Wallace will attend a formal meeting on Friday with Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton as part of the annual Australia-United Kingdom ministerial consultations.

The discussions will focus on how the allies can better co-?ordinate to respond to "threats and challenges" to the liberal international order and how Britain can be a bigger player in the Indo-Pacific region.

With Australia and Britain both being members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, the talks will canvass how to maintain cyber security and protect critical technology.

They follow Australia, Britain and the US striking the AUKUS deal last September, which will ?facilitate Australia obtaining ?nuclear-powered submarines.

Tensions in the Asia-Pacific amid China's campaign of economic coercion are also expected to be discussed.

Senator Payne said the meetings would consider how the ?nations could increase their ?strategic ties given the "inter?national environment is becoming more complex and challenging". "AUKMIN is a demonstration of the strong partnership between Australia and the United Kingdom, underpinned by a shared commitment to deliver on practical actions that reinforce the sovereignty, resilience and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific," Senator Payne said.

Mr Dutton said the talks would consider ways to strengthen collaboration in defence capability, cyber security, critical technology, deterrence and sustainable investment in infrastructure.

"I've spoken with Defence Secretary Wallace on many occasions, but this trip will mark the first time Ben I meet in person, which I'm very much looking forward to," Mr Dutton said.

"With the United States under AUKUS, we're advancing our plans for Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines. But we are also making good progress in many other areas of collaboration, such as in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, cyber and undersea capabilities."

(continued)

#15403917 at 2022-01-18 07:35:49 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

Fears Australian writer Yang Hengjun could die in Chinese prison as medical condition worsens

Andrew Greene - 18 January 2022

Friends of an Australian writer detained by China on suspicion of spying fear his deteriorating health could see him eventually die behind bars.

Yang Hengjun has again pleaded his innocence ahead of the third anniversary of his arrest by Chinese authorities at Guangzhou airport in January 2019.

"Sometimes, I'm pessimistic and sometimes, I'm optimistic - I'm confident I didn't do what they said I did," Dr Yang said in a message conveyed to supporters before Christmas from a Beijing prison.

"According to Chinese law, I'm not guilty. But they treat me like dirt here and they tortured me, I don't know why."

Supporters say they are extremely concerned about the democracy advocate's worsening condition and warn the jailed Chinese-born Australian citizen is being denied proper medical treatment.

The 56-year-old is believed to be suffering severe problems with gout, high uric acid, high blood pressure, impaired vision, and dizzy spells.

Recent blood tests have revealed rising levels of creatinine, prompting fears Dr Yang could suffer kidney failure, but a Chinese prison doctor has been unable to provide any treatment or advice on treatment.

Writer calls for Beijing to reveal details of his case

Last year, Dr Yang faced a one-day secret trial in Beijing, but relatives and Australian diplomats were denied access to the closed-court hearing because of apparent COVID-19 restrictions and national security grounds.

A verdict in the case has again been delayed until at least April, with supporters urging he be immediately released on bail for medical treatment, fearing he could die in prison like fellow Chinese dissidents including Liu Xiaobo.

As he awaits a decision by a Chinese judge, the Australian citizen is demanding local authorities "open my case and publish it" to "provide details to the world, the Australian government, and the country".

"We should apply to open the case, and you can see for yourself. They said it's about espionage. I hope it's just about Chinese judicial corruption."

"I have seen news that China is smashing corruption in the legal system. This is just one instance of it," Dr Yang has told family and supporters.

Australian diplomats have had limited access to Dr Yang since he was detained, and he is currently being held in a crowded cell with no sunlight, where lights are kept on all night and detainees share a communal, open toilet and sleep on a hard floor with not enough room to stretch.

The Australian government has repeatedly protested against China's secret handling of Dr Yang's espionage charges, accusing Beijing of "arbitrary detention" of the writer.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said the government would continue to advocate for Dr Yang.

"Neither Dr Yang nor the Australian government have been provided with details as to the charges against him or of the investigation, reinforcing our view that this constitutes the arbitrary detention of an Australian citizen," she said.

"We therefore call for Dr Yang's immediate release and his return to Australia.

"Australia is also extremely concerned about Dr Yang's health. We call on Chinese authorities to meet their obligations to ensure that all necessary treatment for his physical and mental health is provided."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-18/yang-hengjun-could-die-in-chinese-prison-supporters-fear/100762112

#15395937 at 2022-01-17 06:22:00 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

>>15395935

2/2

The saga caused a row between Canberra and Belgrade, with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic calling the court decision "scandalous".

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Monday that she and Morrison had been in touch with Brnabic during the legal process last week.

"I am absolutely confident that the very positive relationship, bilateral relationship between Australia and Serbia will continue on the strong footing that it currently enjoys," Payne told reporters.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke had said Djokovic could be a threat to public order because his presence would encourage anti-vaccination sentiment amidst Australia's worst coronavirus outbreak.

The Federal Court judges noted their ruling was based on the lawfulness and legality of the minister's decision, but did not address "the merits or wisdom" of the decision. They have yet to release the full reasoning behind their decision.

POLITICAL TOUCHSTONE

The Serbian tennis player's visa troubles fuelled global debate over the rights of people who decline to get vaccinated as governments take measures to protect people from the two-year pandemic.

Djokovic had been granted a visa to enter Australia, with a COVID-19 infection on Dec. 16 providing the basis for a medical exemption from Australia's requirements that all visitors be vaccinated. The exemption was organised via Tennis Australia and the Victoria state government.

That exemption prompted widespread anger in Australia, which has undergone some of the world's toughest COVID-19 lockdowns and where more than 90% of adults are vaccinated.

The controversy became a political touchstone for Morrison as he prepares for an election due by May, amid wrangling over responsibility between his centre-right federal coalition government and the centre-left Victoria state government.

Morrison on Monday defended his handling of the situation and differentiated Djokovic's case from vaccine sceptics within his own government.

"If you're someone coming from overseas, and there are conditions for you to enter this country, then you have to comply with them," he said. "This is about someone who sought to come to Australia and not comply with the entry rules at our border."

The men's tennis governing body ATP said the decision "marks the end of a deeply regrettable series of events", adding it respected the decision, a comment echoed by Tennis Australia.

On the tennis circuit, fellow players have become impatient for the media circus to end.

"The situation has not been good all round for anyone. It feels everything here happened extremely last minute and that's why it became such a mess," said former world number one Andy Murray.

https://www.reuters.com/article/tennis-australia-djokovic/australia-leaves-door-open-for-djokovic-to-play-at-next-years-open-idUSKBN2JR01X

#15235776 at 2021-12-22 07:59:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

>>15190138
>>15190141
Barnaby Joyce urged to intervene in Julian Assange case by hundreds of doctors

Hundreds of doctors from around the world have called for urgent moves to save Julian Assange's life.

Andrew Koubaridis - December 22, 2021

Doctors from around the world have made an extraordinary direct appeal to deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, urging him to intervene in the Julian Assange case.

More than 300 doctors added their names to the letter to Mr Joyce, asking him to seek Mr Assange's immediate release from a United Kingdom jail because they feared for his life.

"We are concerned that Mr. Assange's apparent mini stroke may be the tip of a medical iceberg. Indeed his symptoms suggest as much. It is therefore imperative that Mr Assange be released from prison, where his health will otherwise continue to deteriorate and where his complex medical needs cannot be met," the letter read.

The doctors said his life was at risk if he wasn't released.

The letter said: "Perhaps our concerns were previously dismissed by your colleagues as hyperbolic. They are not. On the issue of cardiovascular pathology, we have been proven right. We do not wish to be proven right on the issue of Mr. Assange's survival."

The United States wants to put Assange on trial for WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of thousands of top-secret military documents about the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Assange's lawyers have previously raised concerns about the effects of his lengthy incarceration on his physical and mental health in a bid to halt the extradition.

Assange spent seven years in Ecuador's London embassy until 2019, after jumping bail in connection with sexual assault allegations in Sweden.

He was then jailed for 50 weeks for breaching bail in that case but detained ever since on the grounds he was a flight risk.

The letter was accompanied by previously unreleased correspondence with the federal government where they warned of Mr Assange's heart problems.

The authors said they had previously cautioned the Foreign Affairs Minister, Marise Payne, "should Mr Assange die in a British prison, people will want to know what you, Minister, did to prevent his death."

In their letter the doctors reject US assurances, accepted by the UK High Court, prison conditions in the US would be humane. They note that the US "retains the power to impose Special Administrative Measures on Mr Assange, and to assign him to ADX Florence, two of the harshest, most brutal prison conditions in the US. Both facilities violate the Convention Against Torture, to which Australia is a party."

"We implore you, as Deputy Prime Minister, to intervene with the UK Government to seek Mr Assange's immediate release on urgent medical grounds. We reiterate that he is an Australian citizen innocent in the eyes of the law, and guilty of and charged with nothing in the UK," the letter concluded.

Mr Joyce wrote in an editorial earlier this month Mr Assange should be tried for crimes committed on British soil or returned to Australia.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/barnaby-joyce-urged-to-intervene-in-julian-assange-case-by-hundreds-of-doctors/news-story/70db02255b0fc4ad8400e7344eaa3175

https://doctorsforassange.org/letter-to-barnaby-joyce-mp-deputy-prime-minister-of-australia/

https://twitter.com/Doctors4Assange/status/1473428202643148802

#15229800 at 2021-12-21 07:01:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

>>15225175
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

Daniel Hurst - 21 Dec 2021

1/2

China has accused the Australian government of "violently interfering" in its internal affairs after Australia joined with its Five Eyes allies to voice grave concerns about the "erosion of democratic elements" in Hong Kong.

Pro-Beijing candidates have been confirmed to occupy nearly every seat in Hong Kong's new legislature after an overhaul of the electoral system that authorities said would ensure "patriots run Hong Kong".

Elections on Sunday were marred by record low voter turnout and held 18 months after authorities began a crackdown on political dissent in the name of national security.

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, joined with her counterparts from the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand to say Sunday's vote had reversed the trend of candidates with diverse political views having contested elections in Hong Kong.

They said the overhaul of Hong Kong's electoral system had reduced the number of directly elected seats and established a new vetting process to severely restrict the choice of candidates on the ballot paper - which "eliminated any meaningful political opposition".

The Five Eyes ministers said many of the city's opposition politicians remained in prison pending trial, with others in exile overseas, while last year's national security law was having a wider "chilling effect". The statement said media freedoms were "being curtailed at pace".

"Actions that undermine Hong Kong's rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy are threatening our shared wish to see Hong Kong succeed," said the joint statement, which was issued late on Monday.

"Protecting space for peaceful alternative views is the most effective way to ensure the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.

"We urge the People's Republic of China to act in accordance with its international obligations to respect protected rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, including those guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration."

The PRC responded by saying it "firmly opposed and strongly condemned" the joint statement, which it argued "recklessly disregarded the facts and reversed the truth".

The Chinese embassy in Canberra said the new members of Hong Kong's legislative council had been "elected smoothly" and it was a "crucial" moment in "the transition period of Hong Kong from chaos to stability and prosperity".

"In recent years, the Australia side has gone all out to hype up its opposition to so-called 'foreign interference', while in the meantime, constantly finding various excuses to violently interfere in China's internal affairs which fully reveals its hypocritical nature of 'double standards'," an embassy spokesperson said.

"China strongly urges the Australia side to reflect on itself and stop undermining the stability and development of other countries under any pretext."

The embassy spokesperson added that "all attempts by certain countries to meddle" in China's internal affairs were "futile and doomed to fail".

(continued)

#15225175 at 2021-12-20 17:42:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

Hong Kong election has Five Eyes seeing red

BEN PACKHAM - DECEMBER 20, 2021

The Five Eyes nations have issued a joint statement expressing "grave concerns" over the outcome of Hong Kong's first legislative elections since Beijing dictated only so-called patriots could govern the city.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne joined her counterparts from the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand in condemning the "erosion of democratic elements of the Special Administrative ?Region's electoral system", which prompted a boycott of the Legislative Council ballot on Sunday.

"Actions that undermine Hong Kong's rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy are threatening our shared wish to see Hong Kong succeed," they said in the statement issued late on Monday night.

"Since the handover, candidates with diverse political views have contested elections in Hong Kong. This election has reversed this trend."

The Five Eyes ministers said the changes to Hong Kong's electoral system earlier this year, which reduced the number of ?directly elected seats and established a new vetting process for candidates, had "eliminated any meaningful political opposition".

They also remained "gravely concerned at the wider chilling ?effect" of the CCP-imposed national security law in Hong Kong, and "the growing restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, which are being felt across civil society".

"Protecting space for peaceful alternative views is the most effective way to ensure the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.

"We urge the People's Republic of China to act in accordance with its international obligations to respect protected rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, including those guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration."

The statement was authorised by Senator Payne, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

New Zealand's decision to join the statement is significant, after Ms Mahuta said this year she was "uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes" beyond intelligence sharing.

The position followed criticism by China's Foreign Ministry the Five Eyes intelligence sharing partners had "taken co-ordinated steps to gang up on China".

In a stinging rebuke for Beijing, Hongkongers turned out in historically low numbers to cast votes under the new "patriots only" rules that dramatically cut directly elected seats, official results showed on Monday.

Figures showed just 30 per cent of the electorate cast ballots.

It was the first legislature poll under a new political blueprint China imposed on Hong Kong in response to massive and often ?violent pro-democracy protests two years ago.

The Five Eyes, including New Zealand, previously issued a joint statement on Hong Kong in November last year, after Chinese authorities arrested Hong Kong politicians Ted Hui, Eddie Chu, and Raymond Chan.

Mr Hui, who has since relocated to Australia, said the low turnout for the "sham election" reflected the anger of ordinary people about the loss of their democratic freedoms.

"The message to Beijing is very clear," the now-Adelaide resident told The Australian. "(Hongkongers) feel that the election is irrelevant and illegitimate, and they don't want to recognise it."

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Labor was "deeply disappointed" at the restrictions that were placed on election candidates.

"Unfortunately, the Legislative Council elections are yet another illustration of the con?tinuing erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy and democratic freedoms, as guaranteed in the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration, to which China had committed," Senator Wong said.

"This further undermining of Hong Kong's democracy and the One Country, Two Systems arrangement is not the behaviour of a responsible global power."

According to CCP mouthpiece China Daily: "Despite continuous smearing and slander from radicals and backstage manipulators, polling in Hong Kong's first Legislative Council election under the revamped system concluded smoothly."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/hong-kong-election-has-five-eyes-seeing-red/news-story/942c08542e1a0b7690985bac268cb74b

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/joint-statement-legislative-council-elections

#15223559 at 2021-12-20 08:03:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

Former Senate president Scott Ryan named as new envoy to Canada

BEN PACKHAM - DECEMBER 20, 2021

Former Liberal Senator and Senate President Scott Ryan has been named as Australia's new High Commissioner to Canada, lifting the number of political appointees to senior diplomatic posts to a record high.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced the appointment of her former colleague on Monday, lifting the number of ambassadors, high commissioners and consuls-general drawn from the ranks of former politicians to 11.

The appointment is significant, given Canada's status as a longstanding ally and member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network.

Mr Ryan replaces career diplomat Natasha Smith.

"Australia and Canada have a close relationship founded on shared values and experiences. We are proud liberal democracies and federal systems," Senator Payne said.

"Australian and Canadian defence personnel have served side-by-side for over 100 years. We also share a deep commitment to celebrating our indigenous heritages."

Australia and Canada have a strong economic relationship with two-way trade standing at $6.4bn last year.

Canada is Australia's 11th-largest source of foreign investment, with two-way investment currently standing at $159bn.

Senator Payne said Canada was also a vital partner in key international bodies, particularly the UN, APEC, WTO, G20 and the OECD.

"Our two countries work together closely through the Five Eyes group. We co-operate on international issues such as climate change, global peace and security, human rights, and the empowerment of women and girls," she said.

Mr Ryan, who was travelling on Monday and unavailable for comment, was senator for Victoria from 2008-2021, and served as 25th president of the Senate from 2017-2021.

He previously served as special minister of state; minister assisting the prime minister for cabinet, minister for vocational education and skills, and assistant cabinet secretary.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, said Mr Ryan would make "a great High Commissioner to Canada".

"His political credentials mean he will be able to plug into senior decision-makers in Ottawa, whilst his connections to the federal government in Canberra will make him a trusted counterpart for this important Five Eyes partner," he said.

"This is one of those roles where a political appointment will often prove more effective than a career diplomat."

The number of political appointees to top diplomatic posts has risen from two under the Whitlam government in 1974.

The Morrison government has now made nine political appointments to lead diplomatic missions, including former frontbencher Arthur Sinodinos as ambassador to the US, replacing former treasurer Joe Hockey, and former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell as High Commissioner to India.

Other Morrison government political appointees include former Liberal frontbencher Mitch Fifield (UN), former NSW premier Nick Greiner (New York), former Liberal senator David Bushby (Chicago), former Tasmanian premier Will Hodgman (Singapore), and former NSW Liberal MP Patricia Forsythe (Wellington).

Not all of the Coalition government's political appointments have been Liberals, with former Labor minister Gary Gray named ambassador to Ireland by the Morrison government.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/former-senate-president-scott-ryan-named-as-new-envoy-to-canada/news-story/623aa1fbe560f06808fa083e26ec1660

#15185212 at 2021-12-13 08:30:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet

Great to meet with my good friend @MarisePayne today. We reaffirmed both our nations' deep commitment to a peaceful and secure Indo-Pacific, COVID-19 economic recovery and resilience, and cooperating to deliver results for our citizens and partners around the region.

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1469806012936900619

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

(United States) & (Australia) are the closet of friends and allies. @SecBlinken and I discussed our work to promote a free, open & inclusive #IndoPacific, & to progress the AUKUS partnership. We share experiences & democratic values that make our alliance an anchor of stability for our region.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1470122892096536576

#15180162 at 2021-12-12 07:00:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

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

Daniel Hurst - 12 Dec 2021

China has responded "irrationally" to the Aukus pact between Australia, the United States and Britain, the defence minister Peter Dutton says.

The conservative Australian minister continues to mount forthright criticism of the Chinese government, accusing it of "bullying" countries that stand up to Beijing.

Dutton on Sunday said the Australian government had formed the Aukus partnership with the US and the UK because it wanted to see "see increased stability and peace in our region".

"The response by China to that, I think, was irrational," Dutton told Sky News Australia.

He said it was wrong to suggest Australia was the one fuelling an arms race in the region "when we're talking about acquiring eight nuclear-powered submarines at a time when China has 355 vessels in its [naval] fleet, going to 400 within the next nine years".

"And they are producing on a tonnage rate more naval assets every 18 months than what the Royal Australian Navy has in its entire fleet," Dutton said.

China has sought to portray the Aukus deal as an "Anglo-Saxon clique" and a threat to the nuclear non-proliferation system.

China's acting ambassador to Australia, Wang Xining, likened Australia to "a naughty guy", saying it would be branded as a "sabre wielder" rather than a "peace defender" as a result of the plan.

But the concerns are not confined to China, with the Australian government moving to allay Malaysia and Indonesia's worries that the Aukus deal could add to a regional arms race and pose nuclear non-proliferation issues.

Tensions with Beijing are set to increase, after Australia joined the US and the UK last week in announcing a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in protest over human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region.

China's foreign ministry said those countries would pay a price for their "mistaken acts" and "posturing". When asked on Sunday about this threat, Dutton said China issues such comments "regularly and not just against Australia".

The defence minister said China had also "threatened" Lithuania with trade actions in recent weeks, adding: "We see it more and more regularly and it's unsettling and it's unnecessary to be honest."

Dutton - who has been accused of ramping up national security rhetoric for political purposes as a federal election looms - said it was important to "be realistic" about how China's outlook had "changed quite dramatically" under Xi Jinping's leadership.

He said the Australian government's "problem is with the Chinese government, not with the Chinese people".

He said Australia had "an incredibly successful diaspora community" with more than a million people of Chinese origin "who have made an enormous contribution to our country".

Dutton attracted controversy last month when he said it would be "inconceivable" that Australia wouldn't come to Taiwan's aid if the US defended the democratically governed island against an invasion by China. He denied this amounted to pre-committing Australia to war.

The Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne, discussed tensions across the Taiwan Strait during a meeting with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in the UK on Saturday.

The US state department said the pair had "reiterated support for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues without resorting to threats or coercion and emphasised Taiwan's important contributions to global health development".

Payne and Blinken met on the sidelines of a G7 foreign and development ministers' meeting in Liverpool. They also "agreed on the importance of having a Senate-confirmed Ambassador in place in Canberra as soon as possible in light of the scope and scale of shared challenges we face".

The Biden administration is yet to name an ambassador to Australia but there has been speculation that it may nominate Caroline Kennedy, the former ambassador to Japan and daughter of John F Kennedy.

Amid continued competition for regional influence, the Australian government announced on Sunday it would join with the US and Japan to fund a new undersea telecommunications cable in the Pacific.

The project, estimated to cost up to $A104m, aims to improve internet services in Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia. Payne said such partnerships "meet genuine needs" and "respect sovereignty".

Regional security will be one of the main topics on the agenda when South Korea's president, Moon Jae-in, meets with Australia's prime minister Scott Morrison in Canberra on Monday.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/12/chinas-response-to-aukus-deal-was-irrational-peter-dutton-says

#15175290 at 2021-12-11 09:53:44 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

#19 - Part 14
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>14793399 Australia urged to draw 'lines in the snow' against China's flouting of Antarctic Treaty consensus
>>14794959 'Extreme urgency': Tony Abbott calls for nuclear submarine stop gap, concerned the new AUKUS security pact won't deliver new submarines fast enough to counter Chinese aggression
>>14795778 Australia considers world-first laws giving the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) authority to take over computer systems of any critical infrastructure business unable or unwilling to defend itself against a crippling cyber attack
>>14812775 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on October 18, 2021
>>14820622 Australian Government denounces China as a threat to the global trading system in a scorching statement to the World Trade Organisation
>>14832044 Wuhan clan: the price I paid for my lab leak expos? - Sharri Markson - spectator.com.au
>>14838617 China renews attack on AUKUS, says the three countries are pursuing 'the rule of the jungle'
>>14838633 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on October 22, 2021
>>14838675 Video: The threat posed by AUKUS to regional peace & security couldn't be explained away ... - SpokespersonCHN
>>14838763 Hypocritical double standards in US, UK and Australia's statements crystal clear: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>14840356 Australia asks why Hong Kong considers lobsters national security risk
>>14852974 Telstra seals $US1.6b deal to buy South Pacific telco operator Digicel - Agreement ensures Digicel is kept out of Chinese hands and boosts Australia's footprint in the region
>>14859530 Video: War with China is a 'question for the Chinese': Peter Dutton - Sky News Australia
>>14859534 Dutton's prospect of war with China rhetoric inexplicable - Yu Ning - globaltimes.cn
>>14870974 Australia eases COVID-19 travel advisory ahead of border reopening
>>14871020 Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye heads home without farewell from Marise Payne
>>14871023 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Ambassador Cheng Jingye Bids Farewell to All Walks of Life in Australia - 2021/10/28
>>14871131 Australia's move at WTO on wine tariffs unlikely to succeed - Chu Daye - globaltimes.cn
>>14871135 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on October 27, 2021
>>14871140 Video: Chinese investment in Australia plummeted 61% in 2020 - SpokespersonCHN

>>14877602 GT Voice: Australia's empty gestures won't hinder China-ASEAN ties - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14885197 Video: Liberal Senator Eric Abetz calls for full diplomatic relations with Taiwan and an end to Australia's 'One China' policy
>>14903633 Anti-China senator shames Australia by meddling in Taiwan question
>>14912947 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on November 2, 2021
>>14920502 AUKUS deceitful pact should not deter level-headed New Zealand - Ning Tuanhui - globaltimes.cn
>>14920525 Australia reluctant to tackle climate crisis, blames it on developing world and China - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>14923019 Chinese FM urges Australia to correct irresponsible moves, fulfill its nuclear non-proliferation obligations - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14923019 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on November 4, 2021
>>14928205 Andrews, Morrison part ways again over China trade - Victorian government attends China International Import Expo while federal government and all other states and territories have no presence
>>14942555 Spooked Chinese brace for ominous winter of shortages, high prices and lockdowns

#15175281 at 2021-12-11 09:50:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

#19 - Part 5
Australian Politics and Society - Part 5
>>15025693 Controversial plan for private security to guard secretive naval communications base in WA scrapped - Harold E Holt Naval Communications Station, Exmouth, Western Australia
>>15032618 Dangerous disinformation and "arbitrary incursions on liberties" are the technology red lines that Australia won't allow to be crossed: Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne
>>15032649 Ex-Japan PM Abe calls for Tokyo's cooperation with AUKUS in AI, cyber
>>15032652 The Sydney Dialogue keynote address: Former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe - ASPICanberra
>>15032863 Video: 'Bit rich to get a lecture': War of words between states, PM heats up
>>15042145 AUKUS: Australia, US military 'melded like never before' - President Biden's top adviser for Asia, Dr Kurt Campbell
>>15047902 AUKUS causing Xi 'heartburn', says White House
>>15054048 AUKUS: Treaty signing opens door to subs training
>>15054104 Historic moment Australia signs landmark deal with the US and UK to learn how to build nuclear submarines under AUKUS deal
>>15054317 Video: 'Operation Phobetor' - Australian Federal Police, NSW Police and the Australian Crime Intelligence Commission work together to disrupt organised crime

>>15061053 Jacqui Lambie fires up again, slamming Scott Morrison as 'worst PM on record'
>>15064544 South Korea President Moon Jae-in's Australian visit to strengthen strategic and economic ties
>>15068915 Australia lists neo-Nazi group The Base and Hezbollah as terrorist organisations
>>15068991 Dutton accuses Labor of 'crab-walking' away from AUKUS defence pact
>>15076199 Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare has asked for Australian help to regain control of the nation's capital Honiara
>>15076205 Video: Here's what's behind the violent protests in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara - How are China and Taiwan involved?
>>15076385 Video: Australia to send troops and police to Solomon Islands amid unrest
>>15081812 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern open to alliances beyond Five Eyes
>>15087527 Video: Huge crowds attend vaccine mandate protests in Sydney and Melbourne
>>15087552 'Freedom' rally fills Melbourne's streets again to protest vaccine mandates

#15175277 at 2021-12-11 09:49:54 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #20 - INSURGENCY Edition

#19 - Part 3
Australian Politics and Society - Part 3
>>14912747 Video: Scott Morrison refuses to apologise to President Emmanuel Macron after claims PM lied about submarine deal
>>14912814 Foreign Minister Marise Payne to visit South-East Asia to ease fears over AUKUS, submarine plan
>>14915439 World's huge reaction to discovery of four-year-old Cleo Smith
>>14920386 US has capacity to supply Aussie nuclear subs, says congressman Joe Courtney
>>14920417 Scott Morrison right to put our defences first - Andrew Hastie, Assistant Minister for Defence - theaustralian.com.au
>>14920561 Submarine fallout: Peter Dutton slams Malcolm Turnbull for trying to bring down Australian government
>>14927847 Q Post #3724 - It must be done right. It must be done according to the rule of law. It must carry weight. It must be proven in the court of law. There can be no mistakes. Good things sometimes take time. Attempts to slow/block the inevitable [Justice] will fail.
>>14928264 Japanese Ambassador Shingo Yamagami calls for an end to AUKUS 'spat' - says there's no time to argue while tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific
>>14928571 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) & (United States) are the strongest of allies & friends. This morning @SecBlinken & I discussed how #AUKUS will contribute to an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific. Through (global) partnerships, (Australia) is promoting a regional balance in which all countries' sovereignty & rights are respected.
>>14928571 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: I was glad to speak with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today about our easy #mateship, our shared commitment to a peaceful, secure Indo-Pacific, and our efforts to support COVID-19 economic recovery and resilience.

>>14930225 Victorian Parliament online forum - Labor's Pandemic Bill and The Premier's New Powers
>>14935929 Japan Ministry of Defense/Self-Defense Forces Tweet: On Nov 4, #DefenceMinisterKishi received a courtesy call from LTG BURR,Chief of @AustralianArmy. Minister stated the advanced complexity & sophistication of (Japan and Australia) exercises as well as the expectations for further enhanced cooperation of #JGSDF& #AusArmy for #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific.
>>14935929 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: It's great to see LTGEN BURR in (Japan). Even during the COVID pandemic, the journey of (Japan and Australia) to strengthen #FOIP continues.
>>14942536 'You've had your time': Downer tells Rudd and Turnbull to get on with their lives
>>14942547 New Zealand PM Ardern welcomes signs of U.S. greater presence in Indo-Pacific
>>14949476 Barnaby Joyce urges Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd to 'get off the political horse'
>>14965252 AUKUS about 'projecting power' north, says Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's ambassador to the US
>>14965257 Video: What's Next for AUKUS? A Discussion with Amb. Sinodinos - Hudson Institute
>>14967559 Australia won't buy nuclear submarines from US, UK: Arthur Sinodinos
>>14973174 Australian War Memorial Tweets: At 11am today, we ask you to observe a minute's silence to remember the service men and women who have served and continue to serve our nation. Lest we forget.

#15175255 at 2021-12-11 09:31:39 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

#19 - Part 14
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>14793399 Australia urged to draw 'lines in the snow' against China's flouting of Antarctic Treaty consensus
>>14794959'Extreme urgency': Tony Abbott calls for nuclear submarine stop gap, concerned the new AUKUS security pact won't deliver new submarines fast enough to counter Chinese aggression
>>14795778 Australia considers world-first laws giving the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) authority to take over computer systems of any critical infrastructure business unable or unwilling to defend itself against a crippling cyber attack
>>14812775 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on October 18, 2021
>>14820622 Australian Government denounces China as a threat to the global trading system in a scorching statement to the World Trade Organisation
>>14832044 Wuhan clan: the price I paid for my lab leak expos? - Sharri Markson - spectator.com.au
>>14838617 China renews attack on AUKUS, says the three countries are pursuing 'the rule of the jungle'
>>14838633 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on October 22, 2021
>>14838675 Video: The threat posed by AUKUS to regional peace & security couldn't be explained away ... - SpokespersonCHN
>>14838763 Hypocritical double standards in US, UK and Australia's statements crystal clear: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

>>14840356 Australia asks why Hong Kong considers lobsters national security risk
>>14852974 Telstra seals $US1.6b deal to buy South Pacific telco operator Digicel - Agreement ensures Digicel is kept out of Chinese hands and boosts Australia's footprint in the region
>>14859530 Video: War with China is a 'question for the Chinese': Peter Dutton - Sky News Australia
>>14859534 Dutton's prospect of war with China rhetoric inexplicable - Yu Ning - globaltimes.cn
>>14870974 Australia eases COVID-19 travel advisory ahead of border reopening
>>14871020 Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye heads home without farewell from Marise Payne
>>14871023 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Ambassador Cheng Jingye Bids Farewell to All Walks of Life in Australia - 2021/10/28
>>14871131 Australia's move at WTO on wine tariffs unlikely to succeed - Chu Daye - globaltimes.cn
>>14871135 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on October 27, 2021
>>14871140 Video: Chinese investment in Australia plummeted 61% in 2020 - SpokespersonCHN

>>14877602 GT Voice: Australia's empty gestures won't hinder China-ASEAN ties - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14885197 Video: Liberal Senator Eric Abetz calls for full diplomatic relations with Taiwan and an end to Australia's 'One China' policy
>>14903633 Anti-China senator shames Australia by meddling in Taiwan question
>>14912947 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on November 2, 2021
>>14920502 AUKUS deceitful pact should not deter level-headed New Zealand - Ning Tuanhui - globaltimes.cn
>>14920525 Australia reluctant to tackle climate crisis, blames it on developing world and China - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>14923019 Chinese FM urges Australia to correct irresponsible moves, fulfill its nuclear non-proliferation obligations - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14923019 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on November 4, 2021
>>14928205 Andrews, Morrison part ways again over China trade - Victorian government attends China International Import Expo while federal government and all other states and territories have no presence
>>14942555 Spooked Chinese brace for ominous winter of shortages, high prices and lockdowns

#15175250 at 2021-12-11 09:28:47 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

#19 - Part 5
Australian Politics and Society - Part 5
>>15025693 Controversial plan for private security to guard secretive naval communications base in WA scrapped - Harold E Holt Naval Communications Station, Exmouth, Western Australia
>>15032618 Dangerous disinformation and "arbitrary incursions on liberties" are the technology red lines that Australia won't allow to be crossed: Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne
>>15032649 Ex-Japan PM Abe calls for Tokyo's cooperation with AUKUS in AI, cyber
>>15032652 The Sydney Dialogue keynote address: Former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe - ASPICanberra
>>15032863 Video: 'Bit rich to get a lecture': War of words between states, PM heats up
>>15042145 AUKUS: Australia, US military 'melded like never before' - President Biden's top adviser for Asia, Dr Kurt Campbell
>>15047902 AUKUS causing Xi 'heartburn', says White House
>>15054048 AUKUS: Treaty signing opens door to subs training
>>15054104 Historic moment Australia signs landmark deal with the US and UK to learn how to build nuclear submarines under AUKUS deal
>>15054317 Video: 'Operation Phobetor' - Australian Federal Police, NSW Police and the Australian Crime Intelligence Commission work together to disrupt organised crime

>>15061053 Jacqui Lambie fires up again, slamming Scott Morrison as 'worst PM on record'
>>15064544 South Korea President Moon Jae-in's Australian visit to strengthen strategic and economic ties
>>15068915 Australia lists neo-Nazi group The Base and Hezbollah as terrorist organisations
>>15068991 Dutton accuses Labor of 'crab-walking' away from AUKUS defence pact
>>15076199 Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare has asked for Australian help to regain control of the nation's capital Honiara
>>15076205 Video: Here's what's behind the violent protests in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara - How are China and Taiwan involved?
>>15076385 Video: Australia to send troops and police to Solomon Islands amid unrest
>>15081812 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern open to alliances beyond Five Eyes
>>15087527 Video: Huge crowds attend vaccine mandate protests in Sydney and Melbourne
>>15087552 'Freedom' rally fills Melbourne's streets again to protest vaccine mandates

#15175247 at 2021-12-11 09:27:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

#19 - Part 3
Australian Politics and Society - Part 3
>>14912747 Video: Scott Morrison refuses to apologise to President Emmanuel Macron after claims PM lied about submarine deal
>>14912814 Foreign Minister Marise Payne to visit South-East Asia to ease fears over AUKUS, submarine plan
>>14915439 World's huge reaction to discovery of four-year-old Cleo Smith
>>14920386 US has capacity to supply Aussie nuclear subs, says congressman Joe Courtney
>>14920417 Scott Morrison right to put our defences first - Andrew Hastie, Assistant Minister for Defence - theaustralian.com.au
>>14920561 Submarine fallout: Peter Dutton slams Malcolm Turnbull for trying to bring down Australian government
>>14927847 Q Post #3724 - It must be done right. It must be done according to the rule of law. It must carry weight. It must be proven in the court of law. There can be no mistakes. Good things sometimes take time. Attempts to slow/block the inevitable [Justice] will fail.
>>14928264 Japanese Ambassador Shingo Yamagami calls for an end to AUKUS 'spat' - says there's no time to argue while tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific
>>14928571 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) & (United States) are the strongest of allies & friends. This morning @SecBlinken & I discussed how #AUKUS will contribute to an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific. Through (global) partnerships, (Australia) is promoting a regional balance in which all countries' sovereignty & rights are respected.
>>14928571 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: I was glad to speak with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today about our easy #mateship, our shared commitment to a peaceful, secure Indo-Pacific, and our efforts to support COVID-19 economic recovery and resilience.

>>14930225 Victorian Parliament online forum - Labor's Pandemic Bill and The Premier's New Powers
>>14935929 Japan Ministry of Defense/Self-Defense Forces Tweet: On Nov 4, #DefenceMinisterKishi received a courtesy call from LTG BURR,Chief of @AustralianArmy. Minister stated the advanced complexity & sophistication of (Japan and Australia) exercises as well as the expectations for further enhanced cooperation of #JGSDF& #AusArmy for #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific.
>>14935929 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: It's great to see LTGEN BURR in (Japan). Even during the COVID pandemic, the journey of (Japan and Australia) to strengthen #FOIP continues.
>>14942536 'You've had your time': Downer tells Rudd and Turnbull to get on with their lives
>>14942547 New Zealand PM Ardern welcomes signs of U.S. greater presence in Indo-Pacific
>>14949476 Barnaby Joyce urges Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd to 'get off the political horse'
>>14965252 AUKUS about 'projecting power' north, says Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's ambassador to the US
>>14965257 Video: What's Next for AUKUS? A Discussion with Amb. Sinodinos - Hudson Institute
>>14967559 Australia won't buy nuclear submarines from US, UK: Arthur Sinodinos
>>14973174 Australian War Memorial Tweets: At 11am today, we ask you to observe a minute's silence to remember the service men and women who have served and continue to serve our nation. Lest we forget.

#15144501 at 2021-12-06 08:18:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>15121153
>>15126605
US to announce diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

Matthew Knott and Eryk Bagshaw - December 6, 2021

1/2

The Biden administration's planned diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics has paved the way for Australia to join a US-led coalition and formalise its response to alleged human rights abuses by Beijing.

The Australian government has no plans to send any representatives to the Winter Games in February but an imminent announcement of a US boycott has fuelled a debate within the Coalition about an official boycott, as several other countries including the United Kingdom and Canada considering joining the US.

That will give Australia cover to avoid being singled out by China as it was last year when it pushed for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 and lobbied for a ban on Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei, triggering $20 billion in trade strikes from Beijing and an extended diplomatic freeze.

Government MPs, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said the US announcement would tip the government in favour of a formal diplomatic boycott. Labor has also given its public support for a diplomatic boycott.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday that the government "was considering those matters and working through those issues".

Canberra's position has hardened since last week when the government was considering an unofficial boycott by not sending any ministers while blaming the decision on COVID restrictions.

A spokesman for Foreign Minister Marise Payne said a decision on whether the government would be represented at the Games, and how, had not been made.

Several US media outlets, including CNN, reported on Monday that the White House is preparing to announce this week that no American officials will attend the Games next year to protest against human rights violations in China.

A diplomatic boycott is seen as a compromise position that allows nations to send a message to China while still allowing their athletes to compete in the Games.

Australia and 19 other countries including the United States and Japan last week refused to sign the United Nations Olympics truce to ensure that conflicts do not disrupt the Games.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the 173 other sponsors showed the overwhelming support of a majority of countries "for the Beijing Games and international Olympic movement".

Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only world leader who has so far confirmed he will be attending the Games in Beijing in February.

Biden's expected announcement comes in the same week that he will host an online summit of the world's leading democracies. The leaders of China and Russia have not been invited to the event.

Earlier this year, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a close Biden ally, called for a diplomatic boycott of the Games.

"We cannot proceed as if nothing is wrong about the Olympics going to China," Pelosi told a House of Representatives hearing on human rights in May. "Silence is inexcusable. It enables China's abuses."

Pelosi continued: "For heads of state to go to China, in light of a genocide that is ongoing while you're sitting there in your seats, really begs the question.

"What moral authority do you have to speak about human rights any place in the world if you're willing to pay your respects to the Chinese government as they commit genocide?"

(continued)

#15121153 at 2021-12-02 16:51:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

Labor to back Scott Morrison on Beijing's Winter Olympics boycott

BEN PACKHAM - DECEMBER 2, 2021

Labor has offered to work with Scott Morrison to come to an agreed national position on a ?potential diplomatic boycott of next year's Beijing Winter Olympics, amid growing internal pressure on the government to block officials from attending.

The move follows the Women's Tennis Association's announcement on Thursday of a ban on tournaments in China over concerns for the welfare of Chinese player Peng Shuai.

"The case of Peng Shuai raises serious concerns about athlete safety," opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong told The Australian.

"In light of this and ongoing concerns about the human rights situation in China, Labor is willing to work with the government to agree a bipartisan, national position on the level of Australia's ?diplomatic representation at the Winter Olympics."

The Prime Minister told the Coalition partyroom on Tuesday that he was carefully considering whether Australia would mount a diplomatic boycott of the games.

The Australian understands Sports Minister Richard Colbeck will not attend the Olympics even if the government stops short of an official boycott.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, who has argued strongly against a diplomatic boycott, said it was up to the government whether Mr Colbeck attended the games.

"It is not an issue for the International Olympic Committee or the AOC. It's the government's call, other than to note in our case there is still much to observe and learn looking ahead to Brisbane 2032, and our minister sits on the (World Anti-Doping Agency) board as a government representative," Mr Coates said.

Liberal MP Kevin Andrews called on Mr Morrison in the ?Coalition party room this week to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Games, thereby allowing Australia's athletes to compete while also taking a stand against China's human rights abuses.

Mr Morrison replied that he was "very carefully considering the issues" with Mr Colbeck and Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

Liberal senators Eric Abetz and David Fawcett have also called on Mr Morrison in an August letter to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Games, while Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and Labor MP Peter Khalil have publicly called for one. Senator Colbeck's office said there had been no decision on whether the minister would attend the Games, which will be held from February 4-20 in a "closed-loop" bubble without foreign spectators.

However, multiple senior government sources told The Australian he would not travel to China for the event. It is understood the government is set to blame Senator Colbeck's non-attendance on strict Covid rules introduced for the Games, which would restrict his movement around the capital.

"It's all but pointless from a diplomatic perspective for (Senator Colbeck) to go," one source said.

The bigger question for the government is whether or not Australia's ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, will represent the government at the Games.

Peng, the former women's doubles world No.1, recently alleged on social media that she was assaulted by China's former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli. She then promptly disappeared from view.

Chinese media reported Peng had attended a junior tournament in Beijing and spoke with Thomas Bach, the IOC president, saying she was "safe and well".

But the WTA said it still had "serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, ?coercion and intimidation".

It's expected Australia will wait until the US announces a decision on sending American officials to the Olympics in Beijing before ?announcing its own position.

President Joe Biden has been facing calls from both sides of congress for a US diplomatic boycott, revealing last month it was something he was considering.

China has condemned calls for such a boycott as "malicious hype", while saying it has no plans to invite a large number of foreign officials because of Covid-19 risks.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/labor-to-back-scott-morrison-on-beijings-winter-olympics-boycott/news-story/6100ad9949d3b13dba198410c55bddcc

#15076385 at 2021-11-25 08:05:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>15076199
Australia to send troops and police to Solomon Islands amid unrest

abc.net.au - 25 November 2021

Australian Defence Force personnel and federal police will be deployed to Solomon Islands as the Pacific Island nation faces a second day of rioting.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 23 members of the Australian Federal Police's Specialist Response Group would be deployed "immediately".

Another 50 AFP officers will be deployed to support critical infrastructure tomorrow, as well as 43 Defence Force personnel from Army units based in Townsville.

"Our purpose here is to provide stability and security," Mr Morrison said following a meeting of the National Security Committee of cabinet this afternoon.

The Defence deployment includes around 30 troops from the Army's 3rd Brigade, medical personnel and military police.

Solomon Islands' capital Honiara has been wracked with unrest in recent days.

Yesterday police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse large crowds demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

Mr Sogavare announced a 36-hour lockdown of Honiara after the protests, which saw buildings including a police station set on fire.

Fresh protests broke out in the capital on Thursday, with smoke seen rising from Honiara's Chinatown district.

The unrest relates to anger over government services, corruption, and disputes over Solomon Islands government's move to more closely align itself with China.

Mr Morrison said he had received reports of buildings being burned in the centre of the city, including a large commercial building and a bank branch.

He said Mr Sogavare had requested Australian help under a security treaty the country signed with Australia in 2017.

Australian deployment not an intervention in political affairs, PM says

The PM said he expected the Australian deployment to last "a matter of weeks".

"Our purpose here is to provide stability and security to enable the normal constitutional processes, within the Solomon Islands, to be able to deal with the various issues that have arisen," he said.

"It is not the Australian government's intention in any way to intervene in the internal affairs of the Solomon Islands, that is for them to resolve.

"In a situation like this where there is once again civil unrest, we are there to help them, because they are very dear to us as part of our Pacific family."

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said staff and families at the Australian mission in Honiara were safe.

Senator Payne said the Department of Foreign Affairs was advising Australians to avoid demonstrations and roadblocks, and monitor local media.

A Regional Assistance Mission was sent to Solomon Islands in 2003 and maintained a presence there until 2017.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-25/australia-to-send-defence-police-to-solomon-islands/100651476

#15064550 at 2021-11-23 17:45:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>15064544

2/2

Scott Morrison and Mr Moon have struck up a strong personal friendship, meeting most recently in Rome on the sidelines of the October G20 Summit, after an earlier meeting at the G7 summit in Cornwall in June.

Lowy Institute senior fellow Richard McGregor said the planned visit was "long overdue".

"Australia has been keen to ?engage with South Korea at a much more strategic level for some time," he said.

"South Korea is obviously very focused on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea, but there is also an increasing debate there - ?especially among young people - about China."

Like Australia, South Korea's largest trading partner is China. The country has also been on the receiving end of Chinese economic coercion, after its decision to deploy US-made THAAD missiles to protect key bases from North Korean attack.

It was hit by at least $10bn in trade boycotts targeting tourism, consumer and luxury goods, its big car makers, and even its K-Pop stars.

"Australia and South Korea face very similar dilemmas, except South Korea's is more difficult ?because China is a neighbour and it has historically had leverage over the Korean Peninsula as a smaller state," Mr McGregor said.

At a "2+2" meeting in September between Foreign Affairs Marise Payne, Defence Minister Peter Dutton and their South Korean counterparts, the nations' reaffirmed their strong relationship "underpinned by the shared ?values of freedom, democracy, universal human rights and rule of law".

Mr Dutton and South Korean Defence Minister Suh Wook committed to strengthening the bilateral defence relationship by "leveraging on the strengths of each other's domestic defence ?industrial bases".

Peter Lee, from the ANU's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said the contract to build 450 infantry fighting vehicles would, if it went to Hanwha, be the country's largest-ever defence ?export deal.

He said defence industry contracts could no longer be seen as commercial deals between firms and governments, but must be viewed as "a key component in the region's security linkages". "South Korean leaders have tended to view high-profile defence exports as anchors to cement partnerships and build national prestige," he said. "Defence products comprise only a tiny fraction of South Korea's $600bn annual exports, yet their political value often surpasses the semiconductor chips, container ships and cars that Korea is better known for."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/south-korea-president-moon-jaein-visit-to-strengthen-ties/news-story/cb62918c6a4668d2d9ff66ff7318239f

#15032618 at 2021-11-19 08:17:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

Marise Payne outlines nation's 'red lines' on tech

Joseph Brookes - 19 November 2021

Dangerous disinformation and "arbitrary incursions on liberties" are the technology red lines that Australia won't allow to be crossed, according to Foreign Affairs minister Marise Payne. On Friday she warned against the unchecked influence of Big Tech, which she said should have been addressed "yesterday".

Speaking at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Sydney Dialogue on Friday, Ms Payne warned about the threat of disinformation to Australia and its Asia Pacific neighbors, particularly in public health areas like vaccines.

Ms Payne said the federal government was still trying to strike the "balance" between reigning in big tech and protecting free speech and open marketplaces, and time was running out to achieve it.

"My suggestion is we should be starting yesterday, which in fact is what we are doing in terms of the sorts of conversations and discussions that are being had," she said.

The scrutiny follows an attack on large technology companies by the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week.

"Where there are arbitrary incursions on liberties, where there's the use of dangerous disinformation, where there's the theft of intellectual property, or malicious cyber activity and cyber behaviour to undermine stability [then] they are pretty clearly unacceptable," Ms Payne said at the event jointly sponsored by the government and Facebook parent Meta.

"There are red lines, I guess, that are broadly agreed: technology being used to perpetrate disinformation, social disharmony, or as a propaganda tool. But I think the best antidote to disinformation, frankly, is sunlight."

Ms Payne said platforms need to both remove dangerous content and promote authoritative sources, something the biggest companies had struggled to do during the pandemic as billions of users spent more time online.

Ms Payne said her department had established a taskforce to "pre-empt" and respond to disinformation and build resilience in neighbouring countries.

"Vaccines have been the best and worst example of this [disinformation] that that I have seen. And, certainly during the last months as vaccines have been the subject of great discussion, I've made sure that we're very focused on that."

The government was criticised for failing to condemn comments of then-Liberal MP Craig Kelly earlier this year. The rogue backbencher has routinely promoted dangerous COVID-19 misinformation through online platforms. He eventually quit the Liberal party and now sits on the crossbench but has guaranteed supply to the Coalition.

The Foreign Affairs Minister advocated for better governance of the internet in the way "rules of the road" reduce road accidents and remain relatively consistent as technology changes.

Ms Payne said Australia had made it "very clear" where the responsibility for technology governance lies, but a global approach is needed.

"It doesn't matter where the technology is derived. If we can come together to agree on the sort of rules of the road that we should be adopting in cyberspace, so online, in that way, then the genesis of the technology should not should not be the issue.

"I'm not naive. I understand that is perhaps easier said than done in some ways."

Meta vice-president of global affairs and communications Nick Clegg said platforms like Facebook do need to be more transparent but it was up to legislatures to establish more ways to do it.

"My own my own view is that in the in the long run, we need something close to a sort of Bretton Woods moment of the internet to create the international institutions to really underpin the principles of openness, transparency, accountability, and privacy, which has made the internet such an extraordinary, extraordinary phenomenon in recent years," Mr Clegg said.

https://www.innovationaus.com/Marise-Payne-outlines-nations-red-lines-on-tech/

#15032599 at 2021-11-19 08:07:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

'Naughty guy': top Chinese diplomat accuses Australia of 'sabre wielding' with nuclear submarine deal

Exclusive: Acting ambassador to Australia, Wang Xining, says politicians including Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott are not serving Australia's interests

Daniel Hurst - 19 Nov 2021

1/2

A top Chinese diplomat has likened Australia to "a naughty guy" over the Aukus nuclear submarine deal, saying it jeopardises Australia's peace-loving reputation and the Australian people "should be more worried".

China's acting ambassador to Australia, Wang Xining, said Australia would be branded as a "sabre wielder" rather than a "peace defender" as a result of the plan to acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, which would also affect the nuclear non-proliferation system.

"There's zero nuclear capacity, technologically, in Australia, that would guarantee you will be trouble free, you will be incident free," Wang said. "And if anything happened, are the politicians ready to say sorry to people in Melbourne and in Adelaide?"

He also called on Australian politicians to "refrain from doing anything that's destructive to our relationship" after the defence minister, Peter Dutton, signalled Australia would be likely to participate if the US came to Taiwan's aid in a conflict with China.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, Wang gave no indication Beijing was about to end the freeze on calls between Chinese and Australian ministers, saying speculation about Australia's engagement in a military conflict was "not a conducive environment" for high-level talks.

Amid increasing strains in the relationship between Australia and its top trading partner, Wang said he would not be surprised if Canberra decided to cancel a Chinese company's long-term lease of the Port of Darwin, but asked: "I wonder whether Australia can afford to break another contract?"

Aukus an 'Anglo-Saxon clique'

Australia cancelled a French contract for 12 diesel-electric submarines in favour of a new security partnership with the US and the UK aimed at acquiring at least eight nuclear-powered submarines - triggering a significant diplomatic backlash from France.

The Morrison government says the decision is driven by the deteriorating security situation in the Indo-Pacific, with the Australian ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos, saying the more capable submarines will allow Australia to "project our power further up" from its shores.

Wang said the Australian people should be worried about the impact of Aukus on the "nation's branding", given Australia portrayed itself as a supporter of the international system.

"By trying to acquire a nuclear-powered submarine, it certainly has an impact on the ongoing non-proliferation system. So are you going to be a naughty guy?" he asked, with a chuckle at the end.

Wang said people of his age in China saw Australia as a peace lover, "but nowadays people know that a nuclear-powered submarine is designed to launch long-range attack against a target far away".

"So who are you going to attack? You are no longer a peace lover, a peace defender, you become a sabre wielder in certain form," he said.

China is rapidly modernising its own military force, and already has the largest navy in the world with a battle force of about 355 ships and submarines, according to a Pentagon report last month. China currently operates 12 nuclear-powered submarines and, like the US, is a nuclear weapons state.

The Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne, has sought to allay Malaysia and Indonesia's concerns about Aukus, travelling to south-east Asia earlier this month to say Australia was "one of the world's strongest proponents of the global non-proliferation regime" and would work with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Payne reassured her south-east Asian counterparts that Aukus would "make us a more capable partner that is better able to contribute to the security and stability of our region".

But Wang described the Aukus deal among Australia, the US and the UK as an "Anglo-Saxon clique", saying it "shows that certain people in your country still have a mentality of concentric stratification of people according to their cultural and ethnic background".

(continued)

#15012727 at 2021-11-16 17:44:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>15012721

2/2

The AUKUS work plan will include exchanges of information, personnel, advanced technologies and capabilities, joint planning, collaboration in science and technology, and developing common and complementary security and defence-related science and industrial bases.

The three-day Sydney Dialogue - organised by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute to establish the nation's leading security summit and complement Singapore's Shangri-La Dialogue and India's Raisina Dialogue - is headlined by speeches from Mr Morrison, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Mr Morrison will introduce Mr Modi on Thursday, with former prime minister John Howard introducing Mr Abe on Friday.

Expert panels at ASPI's annual summit for emerging, critical and cyber technologies include Facebook vice-president and former British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, Indian Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy, chief scientist Cathy Foley and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews.

In the 29-page Blueprint for Critical Technologies framework document, Mr Morrison says "critical technologies are enabling rapid military modernisation, economic coercion, foreign interference and cyber threats".

"As shifting global currents place liberal democratic values of openness and transparency increasingly under threat, Australia has a responsibility to shape the development and adoption of critical technologies internationally," he says. "We must ensure that critical technologies and their applications embody the values that define our society and allow us to uphold the rule of law and human rights."

Mr Morrison, who will invest $70m in a quantum commercialisation hub and task Dr Foley to develop Australia's first national quantum strategy, will say that by setting critical technology priorities "we intend to drive consistency in decision making and focused investment".

"Quantum science and technology has the potential to revolutionise a whole range of indus?tries, including finance, comm?uni?cations, energy, health, agri?culture, manufacturing, trans?port, and mining.

"Quantum sensors, for example, could improve the discovery of valuable ore deposits and make groundwater monitoring more efficient; and quantum communications could provide for secure exchange of information to better secure financial transactions."

He will say the rapid technological advances come amid ?"immediate threats posed by Covid-19 and related economic disruption to climate change and geostrategic competition".

"We are guided by our values as a liberal democratic nation - based on respect for the rule of law, human rights, economic and religious freedom, gender equality, and independent institutions.

"Australia ... is committed to playing our part so that rules and norms around technology reflect the values of our open societies."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/hitech-race-to-combat-china/news-story/e6a04b76653b46104047324b13eea996

#14928571 at 2021-11-05 08:37:31 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

(Australia) & (United States) are the strongest of allies & friends. This morning @SecBlinken & I discussed how #AUKUS will contribute to an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific. Through (global) partnerships, (Australia) is promoting a regional balance in which all countries' sovereignty & rights are respected.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1456043955552849922

—

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet

I was glad to speak with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today about our easy #mateship, our shared commitment to a peaceful, secure Indo-Pacific, and our efforts to support COVID-19 economic recovery and resilience.

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1456029363988844554

#14912814 at 2021-11-03 06:29:31 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>14825530
Foreign Minister Marise Payne to visit South-East Asia to ease fears over AUKUS, submarine plan

Stephen Dziedzic - 3 November 2021

1/2

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will conduct a major visit to South-East Asia in the coming days as the federal government moves to calm anxieties about Australia's nuclear submarine program and bed down a new strategic partnership with peak regional body ASEAN.

Senator Payne is expected to visit Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam on the trip.

Cambodia has just taken over the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while both Malaysia and Indonesia have sharply criticised Australia's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS technology pact with the United Kingdom and the United States.

The ABC has been told Indonesia's President Joko Widodo "repeatedly and forcefully" raised concerns about the nuclear submarines program when Prime Minister Scott Morrison met virtually with ASEAN leaders last week, reiterating Indonesia's concerns the program could fuel an arms race in South-East Asia.

Australian officials have dismissed that argument in private, pointing out that Australia's nuclear submarines will only be conventionally armed and contrasting the government's defence ambitions with China's massive military build-up.

China ramping up pressure

Late last week Defence Minister Peter Dutton also suggested some South-East Asian nations were criticising the arrangement largely to placate Beijing, which has lashed the nuclear submarines proposal and accused Australia of trying to undermine the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.

"We need to recognise also that China is a country that has significant economic investments and equities across countries in the region," Mr Dutton said.

"So there will be nuance in language."

Chinese ministers and officials have tried to ramp up pressure on Australia by bringing up the nuclear submarines during bilateral meetings with their South-East Asian counterparts.

Last week China's Foreign Ministry said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi both "expressed grave concern over the risk of nuclear proliferation" caused by the submarine plan.

But Mr Dutton suggested military leaders across the region were overwhelmingly in favour of Australia's nuclear submarine ambitions, in part because they were keen for other countries to maintain a significant naval presence that would help to balance China's growing military might.

"All I can say to you is, in the discussions that I've had with our partners across the region, there has been support for AUKUS and support for a greater presence from the UK, the US, Japan, India and others," he said.

(continued)

#14897817 at 2021-11-01 05:59:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>14891631
'I don't think, I know': Emmanuel Macron accuses Scott Morrison of lying over submarine deal

GEOFF CHAMBERS - NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Scott Morrison has rejected Emmanuel Macron's claim that he "lied" to the French President over the scrapping of Naval Group's $90bn submarine contract, sparking a new flashpoint in souring relations between the leaders.

Minutes before the Prime Minister was due to deliver a press conference following the conclusion of the G20 summit in Rome, Mr Macron walked past and delivered a stinging rebuke of Mr Morrison and the federal government, declaring "you have to respect allies and partners ... and this was not okay".

Asked whether Mr Morrison had lied to him about exiting the future submarines contract, the French President said: "I don't think, I know."

The pair had earlier on Sunday been photographed together smiling after Mr Morrison approached him in the G20 leaders' lounge the day before to shake his hand and break the ice.

Mr Morrison repeatedly denied lying to Mr Macron and reiterated he had been clear with the French leader when the pair met at the Elysee Palace in June that "conventional submarines were not going to be able to meet our strategic interests and we were going to have to make a decision in our national interest".

Asked if he had lied to Mr Macron, Mr Morrison responded: "No ... I don't agree with that.

"I will always stand up for Australia's interests."

Mr Morrison, who spoke to Mr Macron on the phone last Thursday for the first time since the AUKUS announcement, said he had spoken with the French president several times during the G20 summit and would "speak again a bit more before I head back to Australia".

"Let me very clear, the decision I've taken as Prime Minister, the decision my government has taken was in Australia's national interests. These decisions are difficult. Of course it has caused disappointment and it has caused an impact on the relationship with France," he said.

"But I'm not going to put that interest higher than Australia's national interest. And I don't think any Australian would expect me to do the same. Would expect me to surrender that interest for the sake of another.

"We had dinner together ... I explained very clearly that the conventional submarine contract was not going to meet Australia's interests."

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne is due to meet with French Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault on Monday, after the diplomat was recalled to Paris following the AUKUS nuclear submarine announcement in September.

Mr Thebault will also deliver a speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

In an unprecedented public attack on a military ally and fellow G20 leader, Mr Macron mocked Australia's 18-month review into how it will acquire nuclear submarines from the US and Britain.

"You have 18-months before a report. Good luck," he said.

Mr Macron has ramped up his rhetoric on domestic issues in recent months as he prepares for a close fight at the April presidential election.

In addition to his public attacks on Mr Morrison and Australia over the AUKUS military pact, Mr Macron has clashed with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over post-Brexit fishing rights.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/i-dont-think-i-know-emmanuel-macron-accuses-scott-morrison-of-lying-over-submarine-deal/news-story/55052c44c8918f68573fed2ed0572950

#14871020 at 2021-10-28 07:31:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye heads home without farewell from Marise Payne

BEN PACKHAM - OCTOBER 28, 2021

China's top diplomat in Canberra, who spearheaded Xi Jinping's campaign of economic coercion against Australia, is heading home to Beijing after completing his posting in Australia.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne told a Senate estimates hearing that Ambassador Cheng Jingye was "about to depart if he has not already departed".

She said she had not spoken to Mr Cheng to farewell him.

"I spoke to the Chinese ambassador some time ago now. My office spoke to him last week prior to his departure," Senator Payne said.

Mr Cheng's departure was only announced to Canberra's diplomatic community on Tuesday, and he is due to leave Australia by the end of the month.

Senator Payne said Beijing had notified the government of his proposed successor, but the government was yet to formally approve the candidate in a diplomatic process known as "agreman".

His looming departure comes as Foreign Affairs officials warned the security situation between China and Taiwan had deteriorated significantly, with the potential for "catastrophe" due to miscalculation by military forces.

"It is very serious. We are concerned about the increase in air incursions into the air defence identification zone," Deputy Secretary Justin Hayhurst told the committee.

"We consider the risk of some sort of miscalculation is higher than it was before."

However, he said conflict was "still something that we judge is not likely in the immediate term".

Mr Cheng arrived in Australia in 2016, later adopting the "Wolf Warrior" style of Chinese diplomats across the world amid growing international criticism of the country.

He was one of the first to raise the prospect last year that Australia could be economically punished by Beijing over its calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.

The threat later became a reality, with more than $20 billion in trade bans subsequently slapped on Australian exports including beef, barley, lobsters, coal, copper and wood.

The Chinese Embassy under his leadership also issued an extraordinary list of 14 grievances with Australia that were purportedly "poisoning bilateral relations".

They included Australia's ban on Huawei participating in the 5G network, its move to end Victoria's Belt and Road agreement with Beijing, and its diplomatic protests against China's behaviour in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

Senator Payne confirmed she had not spoken to her Chinese counterpart since early in the Covid pandemic, despite her best efforts.

Ambassador Cheng had become isolated from Canberra's diplomatic community before he finished in his role.

One of his last public events as Ambassador was to host a staged press event called "Xinjiang is a Wonderful Land", in which he sought to undermine credible independent reporting of repression, forced labour and sterilisation of Muslims in China's northern region.

"Any people, any country, should not have any illusion that China would swallow the bitter pill of interfering or meddling in China's internal affairs trying to put so-called pressure on China," he said.

"We will not provoke but if we are provoked, we will respond in kind."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/chinese-ambassador-cheng-jingye-heads-home-without-farewell-from-Marise-Payne/news-story/63a0ca64e306a78a03124c9dc820934d

#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

#14870974 at 2021-10-28 07:11:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>14798254
Australia eases COVID-19 travel advisory ahead of border reopening

Renju Jose - OCTOBER 28, 2021

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia on Thursday eased its COVID-related travel advice for several countries including the United States, Britain and Canada as it prepares to reopen its borders next week for the first time in over 18 months.

Australia will lift its outbound travel ban for fully vaccinated residents from Nov. 1 following a strong uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, as Sydney and Melbourne, its biggest cities, look to welcome overseas travellers without quarantine.

"The changes announced today are a vital next step in re-uniting Australian families and safely re-opening Australia to the world," Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Thursday.

The updated country-specific travel advice will also help Australians to access travel insurance more readily, Payne said.

As Australia begins to ease COVID-19 travel curbs, Victoria on Thursday recorded its deadliest day of the Delta outbreak with 25 deaths and 1,923 cases, the biggest rise in infections in four days. Neighbouring New South Wales, home to Sydney, logged 293 new cases, down from 304 on Wednesday.

Despite the Delta wave, national coronavirus numbers are still relatively low by global standards, with about 166,000 cases and 1,694 deaths.

Australia has been gradually easing tough restrictions in Sydney and Melbourne, helped by higher vaccination levels after a third wave of infections fuelled by the highly infectious Delta variant spread rapidly across its southeast.

The relaxation in travel rules, however, is not uniform across Australia, as the country's states and territories have differing vaccination rates and health policies.

Under the updated travel advice framework, the 'do not travel' advisory, put in place for all destinations in March 2020, has been removed. But no destination will be set lower than 'level 2 - exercise a high degree of caution'.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-australia/australia-eases-covid-19-travel-advisory-ahead-of-border-reopening-idUSKBN2HH2XX

#14859308 at 2021-10-26 06:41:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>14852889
'You can't pretend it didn't happen': Labor MP calls on government to press US on alleged Assange plot

Rob Harris - October 26, 2021

Labor MP Julian Hill says the United States government must answer a "credible allegation" that its spy agency planned to kidnap or even kill Julian Assange while he evaded possible charges in Ecuador's embassy in London.

He said the Australian government must challenge its closest security ally after a media report last month claimed the Central Intelligence Agency raised the prospect of capturing the WikiLeaks founder because it feared the Australian was plotting an escape of his own.

The report, published by Yahoo News, relied on interviews with 30 former US officials and said three detailed an alleged plot to kill Assange.

Mr Hill, who is a prominent figure in the 23-member bipartisan Bring Julian Assange Home parliamentary group, said the claims should not be treated like "the James Bond premiere".

"This is real life. This is a credible allegation, not by some fringe nutty conspiracy website," Mr Hill told an online "Politics in the Pub" event hosted by veteran journalist Mary Kostakidis earlier this month.

"This is an allegation that has sources behind it, that the intelligence agency of our biggest ally and security partner was seriously drawing up plans to murder one of our own citizens in an extraterritorial killing.

"It sounds kind of mad when you say it ... but this is ridiculous, you can't pretend it didn't happen. It requires a formal discussion with the US government."

Assange, who has been detained in London's Belmarsh Prison since Ecuador revoked his asylum in April 2019, is trying to avoid extradition to the US to face charges over the hacking and publication of classified documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and diplomatic cables a decade ago. His next legal hearing is set for later this month.

Assange's lawyers have repeatedly argued the US attempt to extradite him is politically motivated.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne most recently raised Assange's case with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during her visit to Washington DC last month as part of the annual Australia-US Ministerial (AUSMIN) talks.

She conveyed the federal government's expectations that Assange was "entitled to due process, humane and fair treatment, access to proper medical and other care and access to his legal team", the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

However, her face-to-face meeting with Mr Blinken was 11 days before the original story was published.

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has refused to either confirm or deny the specific allegations, but said last month Yahoo News' sources "didn't know what we were doing". Former US president Donald Trump denied he ever considered having Assange assassinated, telling the news website: "It's totally false."

Mr Hill was a part of a cross-party delegation of Australian MPs who met the US embassy's Charge d'Affaires, Michael Goldman, in March, arguing the Australian citizen should be allowed to return home.

Mr Hill said it "wasn't hard" to get an appointment at the US embassy.

"If I can do it, as an opposition backbencher, I'm sure the Foreign Minister can get in there to convey the view and ask the important question. It's not acceptable," he said.

Mr Hill attempted to formalise the Australian Labor Party's position on Assange at its virtual national conference earlier this year. A motion that Labor believes "it is now time for this long-drawn-out case against Julian Assange to be brought to an end" was passed.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/you-can-t-pretend-it-didn-t-happen-labor-mp-calls-on-government-to-press-us-on-alleged-assange-plot-20211025-p5931c.html

#14852974 at 2021-10-25 07:21:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

Telstra seals $US1.6b deal to buy Digicel with a helping hand from Canberra

Zoe Samios and Anthony Galloway - October 25, 2021

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Taxpayers will provide $1.9 billion to help Telstra buy South Pacific telco operator Digicel from Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien, under an agreement that will ensure it is kept out of Chinese hands and boost Australia's footprint in the region.

Telstra will own 100 per cent of the new entity as part of the $US1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) deal, which is expected to be completed within six months. The sale follows almost a year of discussions between the telco giant and the federal government about the asset, which was subject to interest from Chinese telco operators.

While Telstra called it a "commercially attractive asset", there is concern among some in the government and industry that the threat of the asset falling into Chinese hands was hyped up to drive a sale to an Australian company with the help of the government.

Industry and government sources confirmed that a Chinese company was never close to buying Digicel's Pacific assets. But senior figures within the Australian government believed Chinese companies such as China Mobile may have been interested and they assessed it was important to help Telstra purchase the asset for strategic reasons.

William Stoltz, a senior adviser at the Australian National University's National Security College, said it remained "somewhat opaque" exactly how real the possibility of a Chinese bid for Digicel ever was. But he said the government's move showed that Australia "wasn't going to take any chances".

Dr Stolz said Mr O'Brien was selling Digicel because it had become a "bit of a stranded asset", but in the tension between economic and security considerations Australia is "going to have to make more decisions like this where security wins out because we're in an era of ideological contest for the future of our region".

"The development needs of the Pacific island countries demand wealthier states invest in bolstering their infrastructure and modernising their economies so they can be more prosperous and stable," he said.

Both Telstra and the government don't believe they will have to rip up the 4G infrastructure placed by Chinese company Huawei, with the technology not as vulnerable to penetration as the next-generation 5G networks.

Telstra chief executive Andy Penn said Digicel was a commercially attractive asset the move was an "important milestone in the company's relationship with the Australian government".

"The Board unanimously believes the transaction is in the best interests of shareholders and it is on this basis that Telstra has agreed to proceed with the acquisition," he said.

Telstra will contribute $US270 million of equity to the $US1.6 billion purchase price and the Australian Government, through Export Finance Australia, is providing the remaining $US1.33 billion through a combination of debt facilities and equity finance. A further $US250 million will be paid subject to business performance over the next three years.

In a joint statement, Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Trade Minister Dan Tehan and Pacific Minister Zed Seselja said Digicel Pacific has been a successful and growing telecommunications provider in the Pacific for the past 15 years.

"Telstra's acquisition sends an important signal about the company's potential and about wider business confidence in the future of the Pacific region," they said.

"Digicel Pacific has been a successful and growing telecommunications provider in the Pacific for the past 15 years. "

"EFA is providing financing that enables Telstra to take this commercial opportunity and will bring valuable experience in managing financial and other risks."

(continued)

#14838763 at 2021-10-23 02:54:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>14789393
Hypocritical double standards in US, UK and Australia's statements crystal clear: Global Times editorial

Global Times - Oct 23, 2021

A US State Department spokesperson issued a statement on Thursday, claiming the US "remains seriously concerned at the continued erosion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including political participation, in Hong Kong." It points a finger at the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for disqualifying certain district councilors according to law. On the same day, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne issued similar statements on Twitter. The spokesperson of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the HKSAR condemned on Friday the US' blatant and clumsy intervention in HKSAR affairs and China's domestic affairs.

This is a joint action against Hong Kong since the US, the UK and Australia formed the new clique - AUKUS. Everyone on Earth knows that the US is the head of the gang, while the UK and Australia are merely two yes-men.

The US has focused its attention on Hong Kong, tossing out statements on Hong Kong affairs every few days ranging from the Legislative Council to "diplomacy" and administrative agencies. This has become routine. The US is utilizing the statements, which cost nothing, to pave the way for future attempts to contain China with Hong Kong as an excuse, in public opinion. It also encourages anti-China rioters, which have almost come to a dead end, preventing them from falling into total despair. The US government issued an announcement on Thursday to allow Hong Kong residents in the US, who can extend their date of mandatory departure from the US, to apply for work permits. This is a move to offer a safe haven for anti-China rioters in exile.

The US and other Western countries' statements are often covered under so-called democracy and human rights. They claim to protect the rights and interests of people in Hong Kong. Yet their rhetoric is highly deceptive. They are actually talking about the same thing over and over again.

They say they stand with Hong Kong people, but they are in reality standing with the criminals who have been sentenced by the Hong Kong judicial system, bomb-making rioters, secessionists and political conspirators. Worse, they are now blatantly playing the role to save rioters in the city. They are not concerned about the rights and freedom of Hong Kong people. What they really intend to do is disrupt the city's rule of law, undermine its stability, and see Hong Kong in disorder.

Seeing the consequences their actions have brought to the city, their hypocrisy and ill-intensions behind the statements are crystal clear.

If the US and the West really care about the people of Hong Kong, they should truly safeguard Hong Kong's status as a bridge between the East and West, and as the Pearl of the Orient. The US should immediately lift all sanctions against Hong Kong, let the people of Hong Kong interact with the people of the world, and create conditions for them to realize their well-being.

If the US and the West really care about the people of Hong Kong, they should pay attention to whether their right to live in safety can be guaranteed. During the riots, Hong Kong's airport was paralyzed, the MTR was destroyed, shops were smashed and innocent citizens were injured. If the US had even a little care and love for Hong Kong, it would feel distressed about such a situation. However, such a Hong Kong was called a "beautiful sight to behold" by US politicians. Their true intention was obvious.

It is Hong Kong citizens who have endured a painful price in the riots. Given the profound lesson, they now cherish the restoration of Hong Kong's security, stability and economic restoration after the implementation of the national security law. Facts have proved, the better Hong Kong, which has integrated into the entire country's development, is built, the fewer political leverages the US and the West will have in Hong Kong. Their statements and sanctions can no longer intimidate anyone. Foreign forces which have been interfering in Hong Kong affairs are swallowing the bitterness of failure. Hong Kong patriotic forces are becoming more confident. The trend of Hong Kong heading toward prosperity thanks to the good governance is unstoppable.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202110/1237067.shtml

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1451294795905712130

#14832044 at 2021-10-22 05:34:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

Wuhan clan: the price I paid for my lab leak expos?

Sharri Markson - 23 October 2021

On 12 March last year, I texted a trusted source connected to Australia's foreign intelligence agency. 'What do you think about the theory that the virus came from a virology lab in China? Does that have credibility? I know it's officially a conspiracy theory but China is not exactly a picture of transparency so I thought it's possible.'

He replied to say he knew someone 'very involved in the observation of that lab and its activities' and it was a definite possibility the virus leaked from the facility. It was a surprising response because, at the time, this view contradicted every utterance by scientists and world leaders, who insisted the virus had a natural origin. Most media outlets dismissed the lab-leak theory as a conspiracy.

A month after this exchange, I confirmed and reported on a global scoop for my paper in Australia, that the Five Eyes intelligence network of the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were seriously examining the possibility of a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The story went global. For the following year, as I developed new sources around the world and unravelled the complexities of the Chinese Communist party's suppression of the theory, I wrote a book on the topic and my reporting made me a target of the CCP.

There have been many personal attacks by the CCP newspaper Global Times, the English-language propaganda newspaper China Daily and the China Global Television Network, which have repeatedly tried to smear and discredit me. The Global Times called me a 'bugler for American lies on China'. Another piece accused me of 'fabricating anti-China rumours' in order to 'slander China'. China Daily said I had 'helped to poison the international community's rhetoric'. After the Australian foreign minister Marise Payne called for an investigation into the origins of Covid-19 in April last year, Chinese authorities claimed my stories were sanctioned by, or even commissioned by, the Australian government.

Perhaps most bizarrely, China Daily created a video about me, which it tweeted to its 4.2 million followers. The clip incorrectly claimed I was a 'social butterfly in the right-wing circle' who had 'made big money and big fame'. China Daily reporters Xu Pan Yiru and Meng Zhe said: 'If you think about the Wuhan lab-leak theory, you would probably think the US media played a major role in promoting the conspiracy. But as we look closer at the origin of Covid-19, we find actually it is an Australian journalist who has pushed the conspiracy.'

There have been hacking and malware attempts as well. My Wikipedia page is subject to constant trolling from IP addresses registered in China. The night after my first Wuhan scoop, I received anti-Semitic death threats that also targeted my family.

It wasn't until I spoke with officials who had led intelligence agencies that I properly understood the motivation behind such a concerted campaign against me in the Chinese media. The former US secretary of state and CIA director Mike Pompeo told me that the CCP was desperate to control the narrative about how the virus began and to deflect any attention from the Wuhan lab.

'The CCP disseminate information through their media outlets, the Global Times, China Daily, and all the organisations, the propaganda arms that you know. Their diplomats around the world share this with their international counterparts, all with the central message being driven from Beijing,' he said. 'It's something that they have professionalised, they are very good at it, and this was an example of their capacity to flood the zone with a storyline and have that storyline become the narrative in the western media as well.'

His comments were supported by Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6. He told me that China was leading a 'bloody outrageous global disinformation operation... You can bet your bottom dollar that the ministry of state security has been in control of the narrative from day one'.

'This is what the CCP have spent decades since Tiananmen preparing for,' says Matt Turpin, the White House's former Director for China on the staff of the National Security Council. 'They've got the influence and the media and propaganda apparatus to be able to control the story.'

As someone who became fodder for the Chinese propaganda machine, I certainly discovered this to be the case. But what I found most remarkable in the past 18 months was the number of western scientists, government officials and tech giants who willingly accepted the CCP line. In doing so, they not only helped push China's narrative, but shamefully aided and abetted the CCP's vituperative attacks on people like me who dared question that narrative.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2021/10/wuhan-clan/

#14825530 at 2021-10-21 07:16:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

>>14789393
'We feel the heat': Malaysia cool on Australian submarines

Chris Barrett - October 21, 2021

Singapore: Australia's attempts to ease south-east Asian anxiety about its submarine ambitions continue to fall short, with Malaysia deeply concerned despite acknowledging the difference between nuclear power and nuclear arms.

The Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam have welcomed the AUKUS pact between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as Australia's plans to enhance its military capability with varying degrees of enthusiasm. But Indonesia and Malaysia are fearful its acquisition of nuclear-propelled submarines will ramp up tension and trigger an arms build-up in the region.

It is a view not disputed by Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who on Wednesday said the prospect of other countries seeking to follow Australia and develop their own nuclear-powered submarines "cannot be excluded".

The Morrison government has sought to address consternation in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur by sending Vice Admiral David Johnston, the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, to the region for talks but two of Australia's most important neighbours are unconvinced.

"Marise Payne, the Foreign Minister, spoke to me twice on the phone. Immediately after the announcement [last month] and also last week after they sent their Vice Admiral to brief us on what the submarine [plan] is all about," Malaysia Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah told the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia on Wednesday during a visit to Jakarta.

"She tried her level best and her team tried their level best to impress upon us that it is a nuclear-propelled submarine but not a nuclear-armed submarine. We take it at face value that's what it is because it is still a work in progress. But we were very clear about sending our message of concern to Canberra."

Saifuddin said nuclear power was "not something that will make Malaysians and I believe many ASEAN people comfortable".

"We know the difference between nuclear arms and using nuclear for scientific purposes," he said. "But when I talk to my friends they always remind me 'it is a submarine'. Whether it is nuclear-propelled and not nuclear armed, it is a submarine. What do you use a submarine for?"

He said some ASEAN member nations would raise the issue with Australia, a dialogue partner of the regional bloc, when leaders convened for a three-day virtual summit next week.

"During the next ASEAN [leaders meeting] there is the ASEAN-Australia summit. I believe some member states want to raise the issue with Australia during the summit," he said.

"I don't think it is useful to evaluate whether we are satisfied with [Australia's] explanation. The issue is still there."

Saifuddin was speaking a day after Australia and Malaysia celebrated 50 years of the Five Power Defence Arrangements, which also includes the UK, Singapore and New Zealand, with a flyover in Singapore.

He said Malaysia didn't want to have to choose sides in the geopolitical rivalry between the US and China.

"We feel the heat but we want to maintain our neutrality," he said.

Malaysia has faced increasing incursions into its airspace and waters by China, and as recently as a fortnight ago it summoned Beijing's ambassador to lodge its latest protest.

Even so, Saifuddin said Malaysia's relations had improved with China, its top trading partner and investor, "despite what happened in the South China Sea".

Grossi, the head of the IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, said Australia's pursuit of a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines as a non-nuclear armed nation needed to be closely monitored.

"We have to have specific agreements to make sure that whatever they receive technology-wise or material-wise, is under safeguards," he said.

"There has to be a specific arrangement with the IAEA… which has never been done before and it's a very, very demanding process."

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/we-feel-the-heat-malaysia-cool-on-australian-submarines-20211020-p591o6.html

#14789318 at 2021-10-15 09:01:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

#18 - Part 8
Australian Politics and Society - Part 8
>>14641767 Nancy Pelosi Tweet: Today, I was honored to welcome @ScottMorrisonMP, Prime Minister of Australia, to the United States Capitol ahead of a bipartisan leadership meeting.
>>14641767 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Thank you for the warm welcome, @SpeakerPelosi. Great to be able to discuss our new #AUKUS partnership and progressing that forward across all levels of government.
>>14641885 Overseas Christmas trips to spread joy - Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan believes the international border will be open by Christmas at the latest, urges Australians to get vaccinated to trigger the threshold necessary to resume flights overseas
>>14649123 Scott Morrison, Joe Biden, Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga gather for their first in-person Quad meeting
>>14649132 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Great to meet with my good friend and a great friend of Australia, Indian PM @narendramodi, during my visit to the US. A wide-ranging and productive discussion ahead of the first in-person Quad meeting as we look to further deepen the partnership between our two countries.
>>14649132 Narendra Modi Tweet: It is always wonderful to interact with my good friend, PM @ScottMorrisonMP. We had wide-ranging deliberations on strengthening cooperation in the fields of commerce, trade, energy and more.
>>14649261 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Shoot for the Stars - U.S. Marine Corps with Alpha Battery, 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Platoon fire a FIM-92 Stinger missile at a drone during a live-fire training event at Bradshaw Field Training Area, NT, Australia. The range marked the first time Stinger missiles have been fired in Australia and consisted of Marines and Australian Army soldiers utilizing their respective missile systems to take down notional enemy surveillance drones.
>>14657185 Quad leaders press for free Indo-Pacific, with wary eye on China
>>14657225 Scott Morrison touts new global security alliances during UN meeting
>>14657414 Detained Australian Sean Turnell appears in Myanmar court on official secrets charges

>>14657564 Morrison wins over Biden's White House, erasing doubts over Trump ties
>>14662393 President Biden Tweet: It was an honor to host the Prime Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan this afternoon for the first-ever in-person Quad Leaders Summit. We share a common vision for the future, and we're coming together to meet the key challenges of the 21st century.
>>14662393 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Excellent discussions at our first in-person Quad leaders' meeting in the US. Honoured to meet with PM @sugawitter, PM @narendramodi & @POTUS on our shared vision of a free, open & resilient Indo-Pacific region & responding to the challenges we face in a complex & changing world.
>>14663996 Scott Morrison issues threat to premiers to open borders by Christmas
>>14664726 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Rocket Man - During Exercise Koolendong, U.S. Marine Corps Marines with MRF-D conducted emergency fires missions with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System at Bradshaw Field Training Area, NT, Australia.
>>14670595 OPINION: Morrison is making an enemy of China - and Labor is helping him - Paul Keating - smh.com.au
>>14670606 OPINION: Paul Keating is wrong, AUKUS doesn't turn Australia's back on Asia - Marise Payne - smh.com.au
>>14670619 Opinion: Christopher Pyne - What the AUKUS pact means for Australia cannot be underestimated - adelaidenow.com.au
>>14684564 CNN denies Australians access to its Facebook pages, cites defamation risk
>>14684618 Turnbull accuses Morrison of damaging Australia's national security with submarine deal

#14789314 at 2021-10-15 09:00:55 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

#18 - Part 6
Australian Politics and Society - Part 6
>>14592862 Beijing views Australia's US pact as a military threat: analysts
>>14592946 Minnesota Supreme Court overturns murder conviction of former police officer Mohamed Noor, in shooting death of Australian woman Justine Damond
>>14592993 Is Nancy Pelosi pulling General Mark Milley's strings? - Miranda Devine - nypost.com
>>14593058 AUKUS another hostile signal to China, worsens Asia-Pacific security - Nuke sub deal could make Australia 'potential target in nuclear war' - Yang Sheng - globaltimes.cn
>>14593064 AUKUS to bring 'nuclear-powered submarine fever' across globe: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14593101 Defence Minister Peter Dutton Tweets: It was an absolute pleasure to have met face-to-face with @SecDef at the Pentagon to discuss the Alliance, ANZUS, Australia-US defence cooperation & #AUKUS - an enhanced trilateral security partnership with the United States & United Kingdom.
>>14593108 United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: Video: It was my pleasure to welcome my Australian counterpart @PeterDutton_MP to the Pentagon today. The 70-year U.S. and Australia #UnbreakableAlliance is as strong as ever, and I'm greatly looking forward to #AUSMIN at the @StateDept tomorrow.
>>14593120 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Ahead of the 31st #AUSMIN2021, United States' Secretary of @StateDept @SecBlinken and I discussed the significance of #ANZUS70 & renewed our commitment to supporting an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific region. There are no greater friends than (Australia and the United States).
>>14593120 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Foreign Minister @MarisePayne and I discussed our shared commitment to ensuring the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and discussed tomorrow's Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations. #AUSMIN
>>14595363 Australia's nuclear sub deal 'gravely undermines regional peace' says China

>>14600225 'Stab in the back': French foreign affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian hits out at Aukus alliance with fears it threatens Indo-Pacific partnerships
>>14600341 Australian PM says he made clear to France possibility of scrapping submarine deal
>>14600380 China responds angrily to Australia-US joint statement a day after AUKUS submarine deal was announced
>>14600631 Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III Announces Increased Air Operations, Force Deployments to Australia
>>14600665 Video: Defence Minister Peter Dutton delivers a blunt warning over the prospect of conflict with China
>>14605002 Aukus: France recalls ambassadors in the US and Australia for consultations amid security pact row
>>14605060 OPINION: Morrison's China 'strategy' makes us less, not more, secure - Kevin Rudd, Former Australian prime minister - smh.com.au
>>14605373 Marines rewarded for role in fighting December 2020 Puckapunyal Primary School fire - Master Sergeant John "Ricky" Farrell IV and Gunnery Sergeant Ryan Accornero awarded the US Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
>>14605389 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: 17 September 2021 - On #POWMIARecognitionDay, we honor the memory of Americans who were prisoners of war, and those missing in action who have yet to return home. Thank you to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for their continuing efforts…You are not forgotten. Semper Fidelis #Marines #USMC #HonorThem #UntilTheyAreHome
>>14606882 Recalled French ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault accuses Australia of 'treason in the making'

#14789312 at 2021-10-15 09:00:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

#18 - Part 5
Australian Politics and Society - Part 5
>>14554461 Terrorists failed in their bid to crush us and our way of life - Scott Morrison, September 11 2021 - theaustralian.com.au
>>14557146 Scott Morrison set for first one-on-one with Joe Biden to talk China
>>14557296 Office of the Secretary of the Air Force Tweet: For 70 years, the U.S.-Australia alliance has been vital to Indo-Pacific prosperity. Today, SecAF Kendall met w/ @CAF_Australia Air Marshal Hupfeld to discuss deepening the robust & wide-ranging relationship between the Department of the Air Force & @AusAirForce. #OneTeamOneFight
>>14557688 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: September 11, 2021, marks 20 years since the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. These attacks shook the American people and many others around the world, and continue to serve as a day unforgotten by history.
>>14563305 Australia and India vow to strengthen military ties during first meeting of defence and foreign ministers
>>14563849 Narendra Modi Tweet: Was happy to meet Ministers @MarisePayne and @PeterDutton_MP. The 1st Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue between India and Australia was very productive. I thank my friend @ScottMorrisonMP for his focus on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between our nations.
>>14569170 Terror threats on rise following Afghanistan, coronavirus shutdowns: Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews
>>14569284 S. Korea, Australia vow to boost defense cooperation during ministerial talks
>>14569286 South Korean President Moon Jae-in emphasizes strategic communication with Australia over global issues
>>14569297 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: As Australia & Korea mark 60 years of diplomatic relations, @PeterDutton_MP & I met with (South Korean) President Moon @moonriver365 to reflect on our rich history & discuss our cooperation to support regional security & #COVID19 recovery under a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

>>14576884 Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne's South Korea talks boost military ties
>>14576908 Scott Morrison to meet with US President Joe Biden in Quad meeting next week, September 14, 2021
>>14576998 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: The (Australia - South Korea) relationship was forged during the Korean War, when 17,000 Australians defended freedom on the Korean Peninsula. 340 made the ultimate sacrifice. Today, @PeterDutton_MP & I visited Australia's Roll of Honour at the War Memorial of Korea to pay our respects to the fallen.
>>14577003 Defence Minister Peter Dutton Tweet: @MarisePayne & I laid wreaths at the War Memorial of Korea to remember the 340 Australians who lost their lives during the conflict. I thank the ROK for their commitment to help us recover & identify the remains of the Australian service personnel who remain unaccounted for.
>>14584745 Cyber new battleground as pandemic increases reliance on web: Australian Cyber Security Centre
>>14585927 Ministers granted border exemptions to attend urgent, top-secret meeting in Canberra
>>14586056 Biden to announce joint deal with U.K. and Australia on advanced defense-tech sharing - source says there is a nuclear-defense infrastructure to the three-way pact known as AUUKUS
>>14586170 Australia, US and UK to form AUKUS under a new nuclear defence pact
>>14592776 Video: US, UK, Australian leaders establish AUKUS partnership - Sky News Australia
>>14592826 Not in our waters: Ardern says no to visits from Australia's new nuclear subs

#14789309 at 2021-10-15 08:59:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #19 - THE ONLY WAY IS THE MILITARY Edition

#18 - Part 3
Australian Politics and Society - Part 3
>>14490537 Australia, India, Japan, U.S. Kick Off Exercise Malabar 2021 - U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
>>14490548 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: U.S.-Australian Integration - During Exercise Koolendong 21 the #Australian #Army integrated with Marine Rotational Force Darwin's #Marine Air Ground Task Force.
>>14495902 Conspiracy theorist Karen Brewer among 19 arrested in failed bid to overthrow Government - Scott Palmer - newshub.co.nz
>>14496037 To land of the free, we're a weirdly authoritarian mob - Adam Creighton - theaustralian.com.au
>>14496084 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Spoke this evening with @MarisePayne to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and determine ways we can continue to work together to support those in need. We deeply appreciate Australia's support during this challenging period.
>>14496084 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: We continue to coordinate closely with our allies & partners on Afghanistan. We are focussed on next steps, which I discussed with @SecBlinken today. We continue to call on the Taliban to allow safe freedom of movement for those wishing to leave Afghanistan at this time.
>>14496109 U.S. Marine Corps Facebook Post: Bring the Rain - a simulated enemy target is about to meet its end in a unique demonstration of expeditionary, precision-strike operations by the United States Marine Corps and Australian Defence Force together.
>>14496113 MRF-D BRINGS THE HIRAIN TO EXERCISE LOOBYE - Capt. Thomas deVries, Marine Rotational Force - Darwin
>>14501858 Australia and US pay tribute to 70 years of 'mateship' - Australia and the US have celebrated the anniversary of their 'unbreakable alliance' during the most 'challenging environment in decades'
>>14501878 U.S. Department of State Tweet: Video - .@POTUS Biden on the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty, highlighting the U.S.-Australia relationship: An enduring partnership to "strengthen the fabric of peace."

>>14501879 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Today marks 70 years since the signing of the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty. We're proud to celebrate this significant milestone and keystone of our relationship with Australia, which represents an enduring force for stability in the wider region.
>>14501898 United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: Today we celebrate 70 years of #ANZUS and the U.S.-Australian #UnbreakableAlliance. Together, the United States and Australia are committed to the Alliance's next 70 years and beyond.
>>14501898 Statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on the 70th Anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty - AUG. 31, 2021
>>14501919 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: Our #ANZUS partnership is as essential today as it was 70 years ago, for the security and prosperity of both our countries, the #IndoPacific region, and the world.
>>14501931 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: Charg? d'Affaires Goldman joined Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP and Defense Min. @PeterDutton_MP today in a wreath laying ceremony to mark 70th anniversary of #ANZUS, and honor those men and women who have served our two nations, and fought for our ongoing freedom and prosperity
>>14501946 Defence Minister Peter Dutton Tweet: Today we mark the 70th anniversary of Australia's most important strategic and military partnership, the US Alliance. This is a partnership based on our shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and the right of all people and all nations to choose their own destiny.
>>14501956 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Today, the 70th anniversary of the #ANZUSTreaty, is a reminder that, as we continue to face new & emerging (global) challenges, our two nations do not stand alone. There are no greater allies & friends than Australia & the United States.
>>14502104 Video: Capability put to the test in Exercise Malabar - Department of Defence Australia
>>14502114 Video: United States Marines & ADF join forces in Exercise Koolendong 2021 - Department of Defence Australia
>>14507606 Victoria to be the first state to ban public display of Nazi symbols

#14789233 at 2021-10-15 08:39:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#18 - Part 8
Australian Politics and Society - Part 8
>>14641767 Nancy Pelosi Tweet: Today, I was honored to welcome @ScottMorrisonMP, Prime Minister of Australia, to the United States Capitol ahead of a bipartisan leadership meeting.
>>14641767 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Thank you for the warm welcome, @SpeakerPelosi. Great to be able to discuss our new #AUKUS partnership and progressing that forward across all levels of government.
>>14641885 Overseas Christmas trips to spread joy - Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan believes the international border will be open by Christmas at the latest, urges Australians to get vaccinated to trigger the threshold necessary to resume flights overseas
>>14649123 Scott Morrison, Joe Biden, Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga gather for their first in-person Quad meeting
>>14649132 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Great to meet with my good friend and a great friend of Australia, Indian PM @narendramodi, during my visit to the US. A wide-ranging and productive discussion ahead of the first in-person Quad meeting as we look to further deepen the partnership between our two countries.
>>14649132 Narendra Modi Tweet: It is always wonderful to interact with my good friend, PM @ScottMorrisonMP. We had wide-ranging deliberations on strengthening cooperation in the fields of commerce, trade, energy and more.
>>14649261 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Shoot for the Stars - U.S. Marine Corps with Alpha Battery, 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Platoon fire a FIM-92 Stinger missile at a drone during a live-fire training event at Bradshaw Field Training Area, NT, Australia. The range marked the first time Stinger missiles have been fired in Australia and consisted of Marines and Australian Army soldiers utilizing their respective missile systems to take down notional enemy surveillance drones.
>>14657185 Quad leaders press for free Indo-Pacific, with wary eye on China
>>14657225 Scott Morrison touts new global security alliances during UN meeting
>>14657414 Detained Australian Sean Turnell appears in Myanmar court on official secrets charges

>>14657564 Morrison wins over Biden's White House, erasing doubts over Trump ties
>>14662393 President Biden Tweet: It was an honor to host the Prime Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan this afternoon for the first-ever in-person Quad Leaders Summit. We share a common vision for the future, and we're coming together to meet the key challenges of the 21st century.
>>14662393 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Excellent discussions at our first in-person Quad leaders' meeting in the US. Honoured to meet with PM @sugawitter, PM @narendramodi & @POTUS on our shared vision of a free, open & resilient Indo-Pacific region & responding to the challenges we face in a complex & changing world.
>>14663996 Scott Morrison issues threat to premiers to open borders by Christmas
>>14664726 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Rocket Man - During Exercise Koolendong, U.S. Marine Corps Marines with MRF-D conducted emergency fires missions with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System at Bradshaw Field Training Area, NT, Australia.
>>14670595 OPINION: Morrison is making an enemy of China - and Labor is helping him - Paul Keating - smh.com.au
>>14670606 OPINION: Paul Keating is wrong, AUKUS doesn't turn Australia's back on Asia - Marise Payne - smh.com.au
>>14670619 Opinion: Christopher Pyne - What the AUKUS pact means for Australia cannot be underestimated - adelaidenow.com.au
>>14684564 CNN denies Australians access to its Facebook pages, cites defamation risk
>>14684618 Turnbull accuses Morrison of damaging Australia's national security with submarine deal

#14789229 at 2021-10-15 08:37:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#18 - Part 6
Australian Politics and Society - Part 6
>>14592862 Beijing views Australia's US pact as a military threat: analysts
>>14592946 Minnesota Supreme Court overturns murder conviction of former police officer Mohamed Noor, in shooting death of Australian woman Justine Damond
>>14592993 Is Nancy Pelosi pulling General Mark Milley's strings? - Miranda Devine - nypost.com
>>14593058 AUKUS another hostile signal to China, worsens Asia-Pacific security - Nuke sub deal could make Australia 'potential target in nuclear war' - Yang Sheng - globaltimes.cn
>>14593064 AUKUS to bring 'nuclear-powered submarine fever' across globe: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14593101 Defence Minister Peter Dutton Tweets: It was an absolute pleasure to have met face-to-face with @SecDef at the Pentagon to discuss the Alliance, ANZUS, Australia-US defence cooperation & #AUKUS - an enhanced trilateral security partnership with the United States & United Kingdom.
>>14593108 United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: Video: It was my pleasure to welcome my Australian counterpart @PeterDutton_MP to the Pentagon today. The 70-year U.S. and Australia #UnbreakableAlliance is as strong as ever, and I'm greatly looking forward to #AUSMIN at the @StateDept tomorrow.
>>14593120 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Ahead of the 31st #AUSMIN2021, United States' Secretary of @StateDept @SecBlinken and I discussed the significance of #ANZUS70 & renewed our commitment to supporting an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific region. There are no greater friends than (Australia and the United States).
>>14593120 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Foreign Minister @MarisePayne and I discussed our shared commitment to ensuring the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and discussed tomorrow's Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations. #AUSMIN
>>14595363 Australia's nuclear sub deal 'gravely undermines regional peace' says China

>>14600225 'Stab in the back': French foreign affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian hits out at Aukus alliance with fears it threatens Indo-Pacific partnerships
>>14600341 Australian PM says he made clear to France possibility of scrapping submarine deal
>>14600380 China responds angrily to Australia-US joint statement a day after AUKUS submarine deal was announced
>>14600631 Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III Announces Increased Air Operations, Force Deployments to Australia
>>14600665 Video: Defence Minister Peter Dutton delivers a blunt warning over the prospect of conflict with China
>>14605002 Aukus: France recalls ambassadors in the US and Australia for consultations amid security pact row
>>14605060 OPINION: Morrison's China 'strategy' makes us less, not more, secure - Kevin Rudd, Former Australian prime minister - smh.com.au
>>14605373 Marines rewarded for role in fighting December 2020 Puckapunyal Primary School fire - Master Sergeant John "Ricky" Farrell IV and Gunnery Sergeant Ryan Accornero awarded the US Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
>>14605389 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: 17 September 2021 - On #POWMIARecognitionDay, we honor the memory of Americans who were prisoners of war, and those missing in action who have yet to return home. Thank you to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for their continuing efforts…You are not forgotten. Semper Fidelis #Marines #USMC #HonorThem #UntilTheyAreHome
>>14606882 Recalled French ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault accuses Australia of 'treason in the making'

#14789224 at 2021-10-15 08:36:36 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#18 - Part 5
Australian Politics and Society - Part 5
>>14554461 Terrorists failed in their bid to crush us and our way of life - Scott Morrison, September 11 2021 - theaustralian.com.au
>>14557146 Scott Morrison set for first one-on-one with Joe Biden to talk China
>>14557296 Office of the Secretary of the Air Force Tweet: For 70 years, the U.S.-Australia alliance has been vital to Indo-Pacific prosperity. Today, SecAF Kendall met w/ @CAF_Australia Air Marshal Hupfeld to discuss deepening the robust & wide-ranging relationship between the Department of the Air Force & @AusAirForce. #OneTeamOneFight
>>14557688 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: September 11, 2021, marks 20 years since the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. These attacks shook the American people and many others around the world, and continue to serve as a day unforgotten by history.
>>14563305 Australia and India vow to strengthen military ties during first meeting of defence and foreign ministers
>>14563849 Narendra Modi Tweet: Was happy to meet Ministers @MarisePayne and @PeterDutton_MP. The 1st Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue between India and Australia was very productive. I thank my friend @ScottMorrisonMP for his focus on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between our nations.
>>14569170 Terror threats on rise following Afghanistan, coronavirus shutdowns: Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews
>>14569284 S. Korea, Australia vow to boost defense cooperation during ministerial talks
>>14569286 South Korean President Moon Jae-in emphasizes strategic communication with Australia over global issues
>>14569297 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: As Australia & Korea mark 60 years of diplomatic relations, @PeterDutton_MP & I met with (South Korean) President Moon @moonriver365 to reflect on our rich history & discuss our cooperation to support regional security & #COVID19 recovery under a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

>>14576884 Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne's South Korea talks boost military ties
>>14576908 Scott Morrison to meet with US President Joe Biden in Quad meeting next week, September 14, 2021
>>14576998 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: The (Australia - South Korea) relationship was forged during the Korean War, when 17,000 Australians defended freedom on the Korean Peninsula. 340 made the ultimate sacrifice. Today, @PeterDutton_MP & I visited Australia's Roll of Honour at the War Memorial of Korea to pay our respects to the fallen.
>>14577003 Defence Minister Peter Dutton Tweet: @MarisePayne & I laid wreaths at the War Memorial of Korea to remember the 340 Australians who lost their lives during the conflict. I thank the ROK for their commitment to help us recover & identify the remains of the Australian service personnel who remain unaccounted for.
>>14584745 Cyber new battleground as pandemic increases reliance on web: Australian Cyber Security Centre
>>14585927 Ministers granted border exemptions to attend urgent, top-secret meeting in Canberra
>>14586056 Biden to announce joint deal with U.K. and Australia on advanced defense-tech sharing - source says there is a nuclear-defense infrastructure to the three-way pact known as AUUKUS
>>14586170 Australia, US and UK to form AUKUS under a new nuclear defence pact
>>14592776 Video: US, UK, Australian leaders establish AUKUS partnership - Sky News Australia
>>14592826 Not in our waters: Ardern says no to visits from Australia's new nuclear subs

#14789216 at 2021-10-15 08:35:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#18 - Part 3
Australian Politics and Society - Part 3
>>14490537 Australia, India, Japan, U.S. Kick Off Exercise Malabar 2021 - U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
>>14490548 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: U.S.-Australian Integration - During Exercise Koolendong 21 the #Australian #Army integrated with Marine Rotational Force Darwin's #Marine Air Ground Task Force.
>>14495902 Conspiracy theorist Karen Brewer among 19 arrested in failed bid to overthrow Government - Scott Palmer - newshub.co.nz
>>14496037 To land of the free, we're a weirdly authoritarian mob - Adam Creighton - theaustralian.com.au
>>14496084 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Spoke this evening with @MarisePayne to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and determine ways we can continue to work together to support those in need. We deeply appreciate Australia's support during this challenging period.
>>14496084 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: We continue to coordinate closely with our allies & partners on Afghanistan. We are focussed on next steps, which I discussed with @SecBlinken today. We continue to call on the Taliban to allow safe freedom of movement for those wishing to leave Afghanistan at this time.
>>14496109 U.S. Marine Corps Facebook Post: Bring the Rain - a simulated enemy target is about to meet its end in a unique demonstration of expeditionary, precision-strike operations by the United States Marine Corps and Australian Defence Force together.
>>14496113 MRF-D BRINGS THE HIRAIN TO EXERCISE LOOBYE - Capt. Thomas deVries, Marine Rotational Force - Darwin
>>14501858 Australia and US pay tribute to 70 years of 'mateship' - Australia and the US have celebrated the anniversary of their 'unbreakable alliance' during the most 'challenging environment in decades'
>>14501878 U.S. Department of State Tweet: Video - .@POTUS Biden on the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty, highlighting the U.S.-Australia relationship: An enduring partnership to "strengthen the fabric of peace."

>>14501879 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Today marks 70 years since the signing of the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty. We're proud to celebrate this significant milestone and keystone of our relationship with Australia, which represents an enduring force for stability in the wider region.
>>14501898 United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: Today we celebrate 70 years of #ANZUS and the U.S.-Australian #UnbreakableAlliance. Together, the United States and Australia are committed to the Alliance's next 70 years and beyond.
>>14501898 Statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on the 70th Anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty - AUG. 31, 2021
>>14501919 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: Our #ANZUS partnership is as essential today as it was 70 years ago, for the security and prosperity of both our countries, the #IndoPacific region, and the world.
>>14501931 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: Charg? d'Affaires Goldman joined Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP and Defense Min. @PeterDutton_MP today in a wreath laying ceremony to mark 70th anniversary of #ANZUS, and honor those men and women who have served our two nations, and fought for our ongoing freedom and prosperity
>>14501946 Defence Minister Peter Dutton Tweet: Today we mark the 70th anniversary of Australia's most important strategic and military partnership, the US Alliance. This is a partnership based on our shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and the right of all people and all nations to choose their own destiny.
>>14501956 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Today, the 70th anniversary of the #ANZUSTreaty, is a reminder that, as we continue to face new & emerging (global) challenges, our two nations do not stand alone. There are no greater allies & friends than Australia & the United States.
>>14502104 Video: Capability put to the test in Exercise Malabar - Department of Defence Australia
>>14502114 Video: United States Marines & ADF join forces in Exercise Koolendong 2021 - Department of Defence Australia
>>14507606 Victoria to be the first state to ban public display of Nazi symbols

#14691650 at 2021-09-30 07:18:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14684618
>>14635259
>>14670595
Peter Dutton tells Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating to 'move on'

Ellen Ransley - 30 September 2021

Peter Dutton has taken aim at former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating for their "sad" attempts to try and remain relevant in Australian politics, telling them to "just move on".

Mr Dutton's comments to 2GBs Ray Hadley come off the back of Mr Turnbull's address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, where the former leader confirmed he would be attending COP26 in Glasgow and suggested it would be a bad look if Scott Morrison did not also make the trip.

Mr Turnbull gave a scathing critique of his successor in the address, labelling the signing of the AUKUS alliance a "big double cross" and refusing to confirm if he would vote Liberal at the next election.

He also reaffirmed his criticism of the government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccine rollout.

Responding to comments by Hadley that Mr Turnbull, like other former prime ministers, was suffering "relevancy deprivation syndrome", an affiliation he would "wear for the rest of his life", Mr Dutton said it was "sad".

"I think that's the only word to describe it and I don't want to go into a tit-for-tat," Mr Dutton said.

"I think you're looking at somebody like Paul Keating who was out attacking the Labor Party recently and attacking the government ... taking on the Prime Minister and Marise Payne and myself over the deal we've done with the US and the UK.

"Keating was voted out in 1996. So we're talking 25 years on. Every day must be a miserable existence for him.

"And ... Kevin Rudd is publishing opinion pieces in French newspapers. This guy is paid for by the Australian taxpayers to this very day.

"I just think if you look at the grace, and the gracious way in which Julia Gillard and John Howard and Tony Abbott have conducted themselves since they've left (the prime ministership) ... I think that is the model.

"Why not celebrate the wins you had in office ... Why live with the bitterness of your loss ... Move on."

Hadley suggested Mr Dutton use his influence to "find a cure" for the syndrome, but Mr Dutton quickly asked to steer the conversation in another direction.

"You've already drawn me much further than I intended to comment ... You need to move on, what's the next topic please," Mr Dutton said.

"I'm not opposed to your idea, I just don't want to comment on it."

Mr Dutton is currently in quarantine in the ACT after returning from a trip to Washington.

https://thewest.com.au/news/peter-dutton-tells-malcolm-turnbull-kevin-rudd-and-paul-keating-to-move-on-c-4109569

#14684715 at 2021-09-29 07:45:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14670595
>>14670606
A relic of a bygone age? I might be, but I'm not a defeatist

Paul Keating, Former prime minister - September 29, 2021

1/2

Marise Payne, who has made an art form of hiding her light under a bushel, dashed onto the national stage on Monday, completely unfazed by the blazing footlights.

The purpose of this daring appearance was to attack me for having the temerity to say that the government's AUKUS agreement re-staples us to the Anglosphere - the world of the Atlantic, while stridently turning its back on our geography, Asia, in the same awkward movement.

Payne and the Prime Minister were bedazzled by the grand reception they were afforded in Washington - a reception any strategic client of the United States would have received had they turned over control of their armed forces to the US. But in our case, turning over effective control of our foreign policy into the bargain. Any prime minister that shops Australia's prerogatives and interests to another power will always be feted and celebrated by that power. And this is precisely what Scott Morrison and Marise Payne experienced.

The US submarine decision was not just about under-sea warfare, it was about donating eight submarines paid for by us to the command of the United States, as an integral part of its Pacific fleet. Try and think of another country that would do anything this submissive.

But more than that, in the doing of it, rudely affronting Europe's sole international power, France - the one European state which possesses a sophisticated military, nuclear submarines and nuclear weapons. And along with that, real Pacific national assets. A genuine Pacific power. One could have hardly dreamt up a more adequate or a more appropriate military partner than France. But Morrison, who has spent but a dogwatch thinking about strategic issues and the arraignment of international power, did the French in, to ideologically console himself, preferring instead, the safety of the sweaty armpit of the United States. When should we stop clapping?

But with Broadway well and truly part of America's DNA, the White House hosted the first face-to-face meeting of the so-called Quad, with decorated desks in its East Room.

The Quad has only one objective and that is to contain China. The fact that somehow, the rise of 20 per cent of humanity from abject poverty into something approaching a modern state, is illegitimate - but more than that, by its mere presence, an affront to the United States. It is not that China presents a threat to the United States - something China has never articulated nor delivered - rather, its mere presence represents a challenge to United States pre-eminence.

How dare a state, as large as the United States, so represent itself. But not just represent itself, possess the wherewithal to possibly become twice as large. Nowhere is such an eventuality to be found in the American playbook. But this is what the Quad is all about. And, naively, we are in it.

(continued)

#14684581 at 2021-09-29 06:59:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Australia reveals it raised case of Julian Assange with US, amid 'kidnap plot' claim

Foreign minister Marise Payne discussed WikiLeaks founder with US counterpart in Washington DC, a spokesperson says

Daniel Hurst - 29 Sep 2021

1/2

Australia's foreign minister, Marise Payne, raised the case of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange with the US secretary of state during her visit to Washington DC this month, the government has revealed.

But Australian parliamentarians who support Assange say the government should demand his immediate release, after a US news report this week claimed CIA officials during the Trump administration had discussed abducting and even assassinating the Australian citizen.

Assange remains in Belmarsh prison in London as the US government appeals against an earlier court ruling that blocked his extradition to face charges, including allegedly obtaining and publishing classified documents in violation of the US Espionage Act.

In response to questions, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Guardian Australia: "Minister Payne has raised the situation of Mr Assange with her US and UK counterparts, most recently with US Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken on 15 September."

The spokesperson said the Australian government conveyed its "expectations that Mr Assange is entitled to due process, humane and fair treatment, access to proper medical and other care, and access to his legal team".

But it is unknown what assurances, if any, Payne secured from those conversations with American and British counterparts.

The case is back in the spotlight after Yahoo News published a detailed account of how the CIA had allegedly discussed kidnapping Assange in 2017, when the fugitive Australian activist was entering his fifth year sheltering in the Ecuadorian embassy.

Those deliberations reportedly sparked heated debate among Trump administration officials over the legality and practicality of such an operation.

Yahoo News reported that some senior officials inside the CIA and the Trump administration went as far as to request "sketches" or "options" for killing Assange. "There seemed to be no boundaries," a former senior counterterrorist official was quoted as saying.

The then CIA director, Mike Pompeo, and his top officials were said to be furious about WikiLeaks' publication of "Vault 7", a set of CIA hacking tools, a breach which the agency deemed to be the biggest data loss in its history.

The CIA declined to comment. Malcolm Turnbull - who was prime minister at the time the deliberations in the US reportedly took place - told Guardian Australia on Tuesday: "The first I heard about this was in today's media."

Guardian Australia also asked Dfat whether the US had ever briefed or consulted the Australian government on the reported option of the CIA kidnapping or killing Assange, but it did not answer that question. The department is believed to be reluctant to comment on unconfirmed reports.

(continued)

#14680443 at 2021-09-28 18:38:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Five Eyes nations set intelligence trap on Wuhan

SHARRI MARKSON - SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

1/2

The Five Eyes foreign ministers deliberately discussed highly classified intelligence about their investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic on an unsecured line in a bid to gauge the reaction of Chinese authorities intercepting the call.

Mike Pompeo, then US secretary of state, hosted the call in early January with his Five Eyes partners including Foreign Minister Marise Payne and then British foreign secretary Dominic Raab to discuss intelligence that Wuhan Institute of Virology scientists had been infected with Covid-19 in November 2019, the suspected first cluster.

In a sophisticated intelligence operation, the Five Eyes call was classified but it was deliberately held on an open line in the knowledge the Chinese would be likely tapping the call, according to What Really Happened in Wuhan, a new book about the origins of the pandemic.

"Let them hear you and then listen to their reaction. Let them know you know and see what reverberates back through the system," a senior source said.

A second source said: "Anyone who had the ability to collect any communications probably knew that it was happening, especially the Chinese."

The intelligence that formed the subject of the Five Eyes call also included information that tied the Chinese military to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and even indicated the laboratory had been undertaking secret military projects.

Five Eyes is the intelligence-sharing agreement between the US, Australia, the UK, New Zealand and Canada. While the intelligence had already been shared among them, the call's purpose was to discuss making it public.

During the call, Mr Raab was profusely thankful to Mr Pompeo for releasing this information. Senator Payne also supported declassification, advocating transparency over secrecy.

"The free world expects the US to lead and not kowtow," a senior source familiar with the call said.

While the foreign ministers agreed with the decision to declassify the intelligence, there was serious pushback among some senior figures in the intelligence community who rejected the idea that the information should be thrust into the public domain.

"That decision by Pompeo to declassify the intelligence was contested, and parts of (the) US intelligence community didn't agree," a Five Eyes source said.

(continued)

#14670606 at 2021-09-27 07:32:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14670595
OPINION: Paul Keating is wrong, AUKUS doesn't turn Australia's back on Asia

Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs - September 27, 2021

1/2

Much of the focus of the past two weeks has, understandably, been on AUKUS. This new partnership is indeed a major step in cooperation that will benefit Australia's future security.

However, AUKUS must be seen in the context of the many other ways in which the Australian government is taking a more active role in our region and the world, expanding our presence, strengthening our contribution and amplifying our voice.

The claim by some commentators, including former prime minister Paul Keating, that AUKUS orientates us towards an anachronistic Anglosphere, shows a deliberate disregard of the many relationships that through hard work we are deepening and enriching.

We can have friends in more than one linguistic sphere, on more than one continent, of more than one political persuasion. It is not one or the other. We must and will seize every opportunity, whether that is AUKUS, the rapid and positive evolution of the Quad, our strategic partnership with ASEAN, our energetic work as a member of the Pacific Islands Forum and with the European Union on the Indo-Pacific, or the strong bilateral friendships we have forged across the region.

Why must we do this? Because the world is changing, not around the margins but in quite fundamental ways that will impact the prosperity and security of all Australians for decades to come.

China as a major power is asserting itself and pressuring the system of rules that enjoys broad international support and provides broad international benefit. Many countries are competing more vigorously on this new strategic terrain. The rising intensity of this competition need not provoke us into despair or paralysis: it means rather that there are new risks and opportunities and that passive spectatorship is not an option.

As I have said a number of times at international engagements over the past fortnight, Australia must compete to preserve and shape the international order that has underpinned decades of prosperity and economic stability in the Indo-Pacific. We have influence and agency to do so as a significant regional power.

Through our potent and practical diplomacy, Australia is promoting a regional balance that ensures all countries' sovereignty and rights are respected, regardless of their size and their levels of economic development.

During these past two weeks, the Defence Minister and I have travelled to, and held substantive 2+2 foreign and defence talks with, Indonesia, India, South Korea and the United States. In New York, I also met with a range of counterparts from Southeast Asia, South Asia, Europe, Britain, the Middle East and United Nations agencies.

The Prime Minister has taken part in the first face-to-face Quad leaders' meeting, a historic affirmation of the practical and ambitious agenda that Australia, India, Japan and the US are advancing together.

Across these engagements, we and our partners have agreed to deepen cooperation in areas such as equitable vaccine distribution, COVID-19 economic recovery, low-emissions technology, infrastructure investment, critical technologies, education, cyber security, space and countering disinformation.

(continued)

#14670595 at 2021-09-27 07:30:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

OPINION: Morrison is making an enemy of China - and Labor is helping him

Paul Keating, Former prime minister of Australia - September 22, 2021

1/2

The Liberals, having no faith in the capacity of Australians and all we have created here, could not resist falling back, yet again, to do the bidding of another great power, the United States of America.

Menzies, even after World War II, did Britain's bidding against the international community in attempting to wrest the Suez Canal from Egypt just as he deceptively committed Australian troops to Vietnam to appease the United States.

Howard, another US appeaser extraordinaire, committed us to an illegal war in Iraq with tragic consequences.

And now, Morrison, a younger throwback to the Liberals' Anglosphere, shops Australia's sovereignty by locking the country and its military forces into the force structure of the United States by acquiring US submarines.

And all in the claim of a so-called "changed security environment". That change is China's more aggressive international posture - the posture of now, the world's largest emerging economy. This change in China's domestic and foreign posture is labelled by Morrison and his government not as the shifting posture of a re-emerging great power, but as "the China threat". As though China, through its more abrupt and ruder foreign policy, has also presented a military threat in its dealings with Australia.

A threat that, in fact, has never been made and that has never materialised.

The word "threat" explicitly connotes military aggression or invasion, a threat China has never made against Australia or even implied making.

Chinese tariffs on wine or seafood do not constitute a military threat any more than does China's intolerance of Hong Kong domestic political management.

Hong Kong and its affairs do not and cannot be represented as some military threat to Australia - an event that requires from us consideration of a military response. Even Chinese island-pumping in the South China Sea does not represent a military threat to Australia, unwise on China's part, as I believe it to be.

But this is the construction Scott Morrison and his government have placed on China and its relationship with Australia.

It is a "threat", implying by use of the word, that it is a military one.

This false representation of China's foreign policy has also been condoned by the Labor Party, if not explicitly. In her five years as Labor's opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, by her muted complicity with the government's foreign policy and posture, has neutered Labor's traditional stance as to Australia's right to strategic autonomy - an autonomy unconstrained by any power, including, that of the United States.

Instead, Wong went along with the stance of Julie Bishop and Marise Payne - calculatedly, with not a cigarette paper of difference between her and them. And did it with licence provided by Bill Shorten as leader and, now, Anthony Albanese.

Now that long policy void is being exploited by Scott Morrison. At Morrison's instigation, Australia turns its back on the 21st century, the century of Asia, for the jaded and faded Anglosphere - the domain of the Atlantic - a world away.

(continued)

#14621075 at 2021-09-20 07:42:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14576908
PM heads to US for Quad leaders' summit

Paul Osborne and Matt Coughlan - 20 September 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has departed for the United States for a series of meetings culminating in the first face-to-face Quad leaders' summit.

The White House meeting of the leaders of the US, Australia, India and Japan comes as senior Morrison government figures and defence officials warn of a "deteriorating strategic environment" in the Indo-Pacific region.

A more assertive China flexing its diplomatic, trade and military muscle is a key driving force behind the Quad.

Mr Morrison will also meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Washington, after last week announcing a security pact between Australia, the UK and US known as AUKUS.

The prime minister said the trip was about keeping Australians safe.

"This is always about ensuring that Australia's sovereign interests will be put first to ensure that Australians here can live peacefully with the many others in our region," he said at Sydney Airport on Monday.

"That's what we desire as a peaceful and free nation."

The AUKUS agreement brought with it a deal to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines to replace Australia's Collins-class vessels.

Mr Morrison said the government lifting defence spending to two per cent of gross domestic product sent a clear message.

"Australia will always look to others, but we will never have to leave it to others," he said.

"We'll be able to sit at the table with our partners and our friends to create a more secure and more stable world, particularly here in the Indo-Pacific."

It is expected the Quad leaders, who met virtually in March, will announce partnerships in the areas of COVID-19 vaccines production and supply, climate, and critical and emerging technologies.

There are fears China is using vaccine supply as a strategic tool in winning over governments in the region.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who was in Washington for ministerial talks last week, said nations struggling with the pandemic's impact on health and their economies needed confidence "there are options available".

"We are guided by the priorities of our partner countries as we support them in their recovery from COVID-19 through enhanced access to vaccines and strengthened health security infrastructure," she said.

"Our question is 'what do you need?' Not 'how can you serve our strategic interests?'."

The Quad leaders are expected to agree on further areas of cooperation to be worked on over the coming year.

Mr Morrison will address the United Nations General Assembly, but rather than travelling to New York it will be a prerecorded virtual speech.

In his first White House meeting with Joe Biden, the prime minister is expected to discuss regional security and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Morrison is not expected to make any announcements on climate policy, as he and other leaders prepare for the COP26 talks in Glasgow in November.

https://thewest.com.au/politics/pm-heads-to-us-for-quad-leaders-summit-c-4010711

#14606888 at 2021-09-18 04:45:57 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14606882
Australia 'regrets' French ambassador recall but makes no apology for new subs deal

James Massola and Bevan Shields - September 18, 2021

The federal government has hit back at criticism from France over the decision to tear up a contract to buy 12 French submarines, defending the move as in Australia's "clear and communicated national security interests".

As the diplomatic row between Canberra, Paris and Washington escalates, the Morrison government has also "noted with regret" the French government's disappointment over the move, emphasising that France is an important partner it hopes to work with again.

Paris' decision overnight to take the extraordinary step of withdrawing its ambassadors to Australia and the United States has underscored French President Emmanuel Macron's fury over the move.

Australia now plans to buy at least eight nuclear-powered submarines that will use tecnology from the United States and United Kingdom, rather than following through on the $90 billion deal to buy 12 diesel-electric French submarines.

French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement that the abandonment of the ocean-class submarine project "had linked Australia to France since 2016, and the announcement of a new partnership with the United States aimed at launching studies on possible future co-operation on nuclear-powered submarines, constitute unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners".

In a short statement issued on Saturday morning, a spokeswoman for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said "we note with regret France's decision to recall its Ambassador to Australia for consultations following the decision on the Attack Class [submarine] project.

"Australia understands France's deep disappointment with our decision, which was taken in accordance with our clear and communicated national security interests.

"Australia values its relationship with France, which is an important partner and a vital contributor to stability, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. This will not change.

"We look forward to engaging with France again on our many issues of shared interest, based on shared values."

Shortly before the French announced the recall, Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC that she "absolutely" understood the disappointment of the French.

"My task is to work as hard as I can ... to make sure that they do understand the value we place on the role that they play and do understand the value we place on the bilateral relationship and the work we want to continue to do together."

On an interview with news channel France 24, Macron's European Affairs Minister Clement Baune said the rupture of trust following the cancellation of the submarine contract could compromise Australia's free trade deal negotiations with the European Union.

"If we no longer have confidence, we cannot move forward and I do not see how we can trust the Australian partners," Mr Baune said.

Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said this was not the first time Prime Minister Scott Morrison had "blindsided an international partner or failed to do the diplomatic leg work before an announcement".

"It's about time Mr Morrison learnt to prioritise Australia's relationships and national interest over photo ops. France is a country with shared interest in our region. The Morrison-Joyce Government must outline what steps it is taking to repair this important relationship."

Following the first recall of a French ambassador to Washington DC in more than two centuries, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement: "We have been in close contact with our French allies. We understand their position, and we are aware of their plans to recall Ambassador Etienne to Paris for consultations.

"France is a vital partner and our oldest ally, and we place the highest value on our relationship. We hope to continue our discussion on this issue at the senior level in coming days."

The recall of Jean-Pierre Thebault, the French ambassador to Australia, and Philippe Etienne, the ambassador to the US, for "consultations" is understood to be the first in a rolling series of protests from Paris, which is furious at Australia for abandoning the contract and the US for benefiting from the switch.

Lowy Institute foreign policy expert Herve Lemahieu said the decision to dump the French boats would "take years to repair and will leave a lasting legacy of mistrust" between Australia and France.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-regrets-french-ambassador-recall-but-makes-no-apology-for-new-subs-deal-20210918-p58ssk.html

#14606882 at 2021-09-18 04:44:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14592776
>>14605002
Recalled French ambassador accuses Australia of 'treason in the making'

Anthony Galloway - September 18, 2021

1/2

France's recalled ambassador to Australia has likened Canberra's actions to treason after the Morrison government dumped a $90 billion submarine contract with Paris and instead decided to build nuclear-powered submarines with the United States and Britain.

France on Saturday has taken the extraordinary step of recalling its ambassadors from Australia and the US, as the fallout grows from a new defence pact that has infuriated French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age hours before he was recalled, France's ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, did not rule out suspending talks to allow French troops greater access to Australian military bases after his nation was "stabbed in the back".

"Adding insult to the process… we have very reliable reports from the independent press, which I thank, about the fact that all this was in the making for 18 months. Which means we have been blind-sided intentionally for 18 months.... The crime was prepared for 18 months," he said.

"If the reports that were published... on the treason in the making and the intentional double language, is true - and it has not been contradicted - then it is a major breach of confidence and a very bad signal."

Mr Thebault, the first French ambassador ever to be recalled from Australia, confirmed that Defence Minister Peter Dutton only contacted his French counterpart about the decision after it was reported by media outlets on Wednesday night, adding there were "no warnings whatsoever" during the 18 months that the plan was being hatched between Australia, the US and Britain.

He slammed Australia for allowing a meeting to go ahead between Mr Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne late last month with their French counterparts where they spoke about enhancing defence ties between the two countries.

"It is us, through letters that were sent by the President [Macron] some months ago to the Prime Minister [Scott Morrison], who proposed to look at more ambitious and new ambitious cooperations," Mr Thebault said.

"We thought that we were opening a new avenue for a substantial deepening of our bilateral cooperation. In the meanwhile, just 15 days after, we were stabbed in the back…. The most symbolic and key project that was symbolising a link between a European country and Australia was cancelled without any forewarning. This is really very sad.

"For us clearly, such a decision announced without any prior consultation - not just a phone call, but real consultation due to the scope of the consequences - marks a real breach of trust."

(continued)

#14605002 at 2021-09-17 23:52:33 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14592776
>>14600225
Aukus: France recalls envoys amid security pact row

Barbara Plett Usher - 18 September 2021

France has said it is recalling its ambassadors in the US and Australia for consultations, in protest at a security deal which also includes the UK.

The French foreign minister said the "exceptional decision" was justified by the situation's "exceptional gravity".

The alliance, known as Aukus, will see Australia being given the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines.

The move angered France as it scuppered a multibillion-dollar deal it had signed with Australia.

The agreement is widely seen as an effort to counter China's influence in the contested South China Sea. It was announced on Wednesday by US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.

France was informed of the alliance only hours before the public announcement was made.

In a statement late on Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who had described the pact as a "stab in back", said the ambassadors were being recalled at the request of President Emmanuel Macron.

The deal "constitute[s] unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners whose consequences directly affect the vision we have of our alliances, of our partnerships and of the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe," Mr Le Drian said.

A White House official said the Biden administration regretted the move and would be engaged with France in the coming days to resolve their differences.

Speaking in Washington, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she understood the "disappointment" in France and hoped to work with the country to ensure it understood "the value we place on the bilateral relationship".

A recall of ambassadors is highly unusual between allies, and it is believed to be the first time France has recalled envoys from the two countries. French diplomats in Washington had already cancelled a gala to celebrate ties between the US and France which was scheduled for Friday.

Paris was blindsided by Australia's move. That was an economic hit.

But French officials were even more incensed that they only heard about the arrangement just hours before the public announcement, and that it was part of a new security agreement involving three countries including the UK - also a complete surprise, they said.

France's decision to recall its ambassadors is probably unprecedented. The country is America's "oldest ally," as a White House official noted. He said Washington would be engaged with France in the coming days to resolve their differences.

But this looks at the very least like an embarrassing misjudgement by an administration that has promised to work closely with allies.

The pact means Australia will become just the seventh nation in the world to operate nuclear-powered submarines. It will also see the allies share cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and other undersea technologies.

The announcement ended a deal worth $37bn (?27bn) that France had signed with Australia in 2016 to build 12 conventional submarines. China meanwhile accused the three powers involved in the pact of having a "Cold War mentality".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58604677

#14595363 at 2021-09-16 18:36:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14592776
Australia's nuclear sub deal 'gravely undermines regional peace' says China

Chris Barrett - September 16, 2021

China has declared the new defence pact between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom "gravely undermines regional peace and stability" while branding Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines a damaging setback to global non-proliferation efforts.

Chinese government spokesman Zhao Lijian also rejected Prime Minister Scott Morrison's suggestion he had extended an "open invitation" to President Xi Jinping to reopen talks between the two countries, saying he was not aware of that.

The announcement of a new trilateral security partnership between Australia, the US and the UK was accompanied by a dramatic ramping up of Australia's defences as it looks to secure itself against a rising China.

Along with the planned acquisition of nuclear submarines, Morrison said Australia wanted to enhance its arsenal with long-range US Tomahawk missiles.

The historic new AUKUS alliance was slammed by Zhao in a press briefing in Beijing late on Thursday.

He described it and Australia's plan to buy the submarines as extremely irresponsible and said they would intensify the arms race in the region.

"The US, UK and Australia are engaging in co-operation in nuclear-powered submarines that gravely undermines regional peace and stability, aggravates the arms race and hurts the international non-proliferation efforts," he said.

"Australia is a non-nuclear weapon state party to the NPT [non-proliferation treaty] and a party to the nuclear weapon-free zone in the Southern Pacific. Now it is importing nuclear-powered submarine technology with strategic military value. The international community, including neighbouring countries, have reason to question its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation. China will closely monitor the situation."

Diplomatic relations between Australia and China have deteriorated to their lowest ebb in many decades and Zhao said that was entirely Australia's fault.

Zhao, who enraged Morrison in November by tweeting a faked image of an Australian soldier killing an Afghan child, delivered a broadside as other nations in the region digested the huge strategic development.

Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said the presence of the submarines in Australia should be a concern for south-east Asian countries as well and was "not good for regional stability".

Morrison said he had called outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and India's Narendra Modi about the enhanced security pact and was ringing Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday.

Most foreign ministries across ASEAN countries and in Japan and South Korea did not immediately react publicly to the establishment of AUKUS and Australia's plans, but Lee said he hoped the alliance would "contribute constructively to the peace and stability of the region and complement the regional architecture".

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said only that Foreign Minister Marise Payne had called her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on Thursday morning "regarding the procurement of nuclear submarines".

But Evan Laksmana, a political scientist with National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, revealed there was consternation in Indonesia, Australia's near neighbour and the largest country in south-east Asia.

"Publicly, officials are unlikely to come out strongly one way or the other. We know we cannot offer a serious alternative to the regional flux. We also know that regional countries are rightly developing non-ASEAN options," he said.

But he said "more than a few" officials were privately concerned about whether AUKUS would compound regional tension, and about the nuclear trajectory of the developments.

It comes as the strategic competition between the US and China intensifies in the region, with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on a sweep through south-east Asia this week, a month after US Vice-President Kamala Harris' visits to Singapore and Vietnam.

Wang made stops in Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore, urging Hanoi not to "magnify conflicts through unilateral moves" and calling on it to resist "interference and incitement from regional outsiders".

Lee welcomed him to Singapore's presidential palace on Tuesday, saying the city-state "welcomes China's continued contribution in our part of the world".

"We will continue working with China to build a more harmonious and peaceful world," the Singaporean leader said.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/australia-s-nuclear-sub-deal-gravely-undermines-regional-peace-says-china-20210916-p58sbk.html

#14593120 at 2021-09-16 09:40:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Ahead of the 31st #AUSMIN2021, United States' Secretary of @StateDept @SecBlinken and I discussed the significance of #ANZUS70 & renewed our commitment to supporting an open, inclusive & resilient #IndoPacific region. There are no greater friends than (Australia and the United States).

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1438280797858013186

—

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet

Foreign Minister @MarisePayne and I discussed our shared commitment to ensuring the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and discussed tomorrow's Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations. #AUSMIN

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1438236835965190147

#14586170 at 2021-09-15 14:06:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14585927
>>14586056
Australia, US and UK to form AUUKUS under a new nuclear defence pact

Scott Morrison will announce Australia's submarine program will "go nuclear" under a new defence pact that could spell bad news for China.

Samantha Maiden - September 15, 2021

Scott Morrison is set to announce Australia's submarine program will "go nuclear" under a new defence pact with the US and the UK that has been described as "China's worst nightmare."

The new grouping to be known as AUUKUS will advise Australia on how to identify the best way to acquire nuclear-powered submarine capability and share advanced technologies involving artificial intelligence.

The US-based Politico website reports that President Joe Biden will announce a new working group with Britain and Australia to share advanced technologies to counter China at 7am AEST.

"The trio, which will be known by the acronym AUUKUS, will make it easier for the nations to share information and know-how in key technological areas like artificial intelligence, cyber, underwater systems and long-range strike capabilities,'' the report states.

There would be a "nuclear element to the pact in which the US and UK share their knowledge of how to maintain nuclear-defense infrastructure."

Senior ministers were rushing back to Canberra on Wednesday night for national security meetings ahead of the major announcement.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese and several Labor frontbenchers were also briefed with Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, who are overseas, dialling in for the meetings.

Diplomatic and defence sources suggest it could involve operating US submarines out of Perth's HMAS Stirling.

But there was also speculation that the British Government could be involved to support Australia secure the technology required to service nuclear submarines.

The proposal for Australia to tear up existing contracts for French subs and purchase US nuclear technology has previously been described as "China's Worst Nightmare" in the region - which could "tip the military balance in Asia."

In June, the Prime Minister held discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron over growing concerns regarding the $90 billion project that will not deliver submarines until 2030

The Australian Naval Institute has recently been promoting the option as the best 'Plan B' for Australia's troubled submarine program.

"With regional tensions increasing, then building our own one-off type submarines which will arrive in the early 2030s is not good enough. We have no guarantee they will work,'' the article stated.

"When we built the Collins class submarines (at exorbitant expense) they did not work properly for several years. It is only now - after decades of operation - that they are reasonably functional.

"Submarines are the ultimate deterrent and attack weapon: their location is hopefully unknown, and they can strike at targets without warning. But we need to expand beyond the capabilities of the Collins, and also the French Attack boats which we should abandon.

"Instead we should buy 12 of a proven design which is already in the water. We want long-range hunter-killer vessels. We also want them to be able to stay submerged for long periods to avoid detection. Nuclear does this in spades."

The Prime Minister is scheduled to fly to Washington next week for talks with the US President. He has recently been jetting between Sydney and Canberra for national security meetings that his office said could not be conducted remotely.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/federal-ministers-fly-to-canberra-amid-big-us-australia-news-announcement/news-story/72b68a5756b0acb81845137c8157951b

#14585927 at 2021-09-15 13:18:52 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Ministers granted border exemptions to attend urgent meeting in Canberra

Anthony Galloway and Rob Harris - September 15, 2021

Several federal cabinet ministers were called to a top-secret meeting in Canberra on Wednesday ahead of a major international development expected out of the United States on Thursday morning.

Sources familiar with the development said some members of cabinet were granted border exemptions to urgently fly to Canberra for the hastily arranged meeting, which sources say will have international significance.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who are in Washington for a series of meetings over the next two days, were said to have joined the meeting via a secure connection.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and three other senior members of his frontbench were also given the rare opportunity to be briefed on the highly sensitive matter.

Several Coalition MPs told this masthead they had been ordered at short-notice to dial into a rare conference call for 9.30am on Thursday, but none were aware of the reason for the briefing.

Australian and foreign diplomats will also be briefed on the development on Thursday.

The announcement, also significant to the United States and British governments, will be made at 7am Australian time.

The White House said US President Joe Biden would deliver "brief remarks about a national security initiative".

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will travel to Washington next week for a meeting of the Quad alliance which includes the US, India Japan and Australia. Mr Morrison will have his first in-person one-on-one meeting with Mr Biden during the trip.

Mr Dutton and Senator Payne are to meet face-to-face with their US counterparts Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin

Measures to counter China's trade strikes and other "grey zone" attacks, as well as an Australian request to be granted greater access to US missile technology, will be on the agenda in the meetings.

The withdrawal from Afghanistan and the potential for future terrorism threats will also be discussed.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/ministers-granted-border-exemptions-to-attend-urgent-meeting-in-canberra-20210915-p58rzn.html

#14576998 at 2021-09-14 09:07:11 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14576884
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

The (Australia - South Korea) relationship was forged during the Korean War, when 17,000 Australians defended freedom on the Korean Peninsula. 340 made the ultimate sacrifice. Today, @PeterDutton_MP & I visited Australia's Roll of Honour at the War Memorial of Korea to pay our respects to the fallen.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1437672722889252867

#14576884 at 2021-09-14 08:08:32 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14569284
South Korea talks boost military ties

Andrew Tillett and Michael Smith - Sep 13, 2021

1/2

An agreement to bolster military ties with South Korea is the final leg of a three-country sweep through Asia by Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne to shore up regional security alliances ahead of the first face-to-face Quadrilateral Security Dialogue leaders meeting in Washington DC.

The upgraded links mean the two countries' troops will step up military training drills, with the likelihood of an increased South Korean presence in Australia's flagship war games, Exercise Talisman Sabre.

A trilateral agreement between Australia, South Korea and the US has also been struck on defence research co-operation, at a time when the Australian army is evaluating selecting a South Korean armoured troop carrier for a $27 billion contract.

Other initiatives include multilateral trade co-operation, such as World Trade Organisation reform; a memorandum of understanding on setting global rules and norms for cyberspace and critical technology; and working together on building supply chain resilience, a response to both lessening dependence on China and disruption wrought by the pandemic.

The South Korean agreements come after Mr Dutton and Senator Payne visited New Delhi and Jakarta last week, inviting India to take part in Exercise Talisman Sabre and greater maritime intelligence sharing, while Indonesian military units will undertake training on Australian soil.

Mr Dutton and Senator Payne will also lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Scott Morrison's participation in the Quad leaders' summit next week and likely first bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden when they travel to the US for annual talks with their American counterparts.

The Quad leaders' meeting - comprising Mr Morrison, Mr Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan's outgoing leader Yoshihide Suga - is expected to take place on September 24 in Washington.

In New Delhi and Seoul, Senator Payne and Mr Dutton also had meetings with Mr Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who welcomed stronger "strategic communication" with Australia.

"Korea and Australia are middle powers and exemplary democracies representing the Asia-Pacific region," Mr Moon said.

Australian Institute of International Affairs president Allan Gyngell said the choice of Indonesia, India and South Korea to visit before Senator Payne and Mr Dutton reached the US was significant.

"They will arrive in the US having taken the temperature of west Asia, north Asia and south-east Asia," he said.

"Indonesia is the country that matters most to Australia in south-east Asia. We have to manage an increasingly complex relationship with China with one eye on what our partners in south-east Asia are thinking as well.

"South Korea is a country which more than any other is geographically in China's armpit and has a very sensitive antenna about what is going on in the region. It is independent of Japan and it is always interesting to get a sounding from Seoul on regional affairs because it will be very different to what you get from Tokyo."

(continued)

#14569297 at 2021-09-13 08:15:54 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14569284
>>14569286
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

As Australia & Korea mark 60 years of diplomatic relations, @PeterDutton_MP & I met with (South Korean) President Moon @moonriver365 to reflect on our rich history & discuss our cooperation to support regional security & #COVID19 recovery under a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1437271329296642050

#14569286 at 2021-09-13 08:08:57 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14569284
Moon emphasizes strategic communication with Australia over global issues

en.yna.co.kr - September 13, 2021

SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Yonhap) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Monday that his country and Australia should strengthen strategic communication in various global fields, such as the response to infectious diseases, climate change, disarmament and nonproliferation.

Moon made the remarks in his meeting with visiting Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defense Minister Peter Dutton at Cheong Wa Dae, while defining the two countries as middle powers and exemplary democracies representing the Asia-Pacific region.

The two ministers are in Seoul to hold "two plus two" talks with their South Korean counterparts, as this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Moon said the two ministers' simultaneous visits to South Korea demonstrate Australia's strong commitment to further strengthening its strategic partnership.

"South Korea also attaches great importance to diplomatic and security cooperation with Australia," the president said.

Moon and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed to elevate their relationship to a "comprehensive strategic partnership" during their meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 7 summit in Britain in June.

Moon said South Korea feels grateful to Australia for fighting in the Korean War, and shedding blood to protect its peace and freedom.

"In addition, Australia is South Korea's largest trading partner in the Oceania region, and South Korea is Australia's fourth-largest trading partner," he said, expressing hope that bilateral relations will be further strengthened, and exchanges and cooperation between the two countries will become active again.

In response, the Australian ministers said both countries are friendly and important strategic partners.

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20210913005400315

#14563305 at 2021-09-12 05:32:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14551779
Australia and India vow to strengthen military ties during first meeting of defence and foreign ministers

Stephen Dziedzic - 12 September 2021

Australia and India are vowing to expand their military relationship after holding their inaugural meeting between defence and foreign ministers in New Delhi.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said he had formally invited India to take part in the massive Talisman Sabre military exercises that the United States and Australia hold every two years.

Several other nations - including Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom - took part in the most recent Operation Talisman Sabre in northern Queensland, which involved around 17,000 military personnel.

India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not say if India would accept the invitation to the next Talisman Sabre, which will not be held until 2023.

But drawing India into Talisman Sabre would broaden the coalition of participating nations and stir suspicion in China, which sent two spy ships to monitor the exercises earlier this year.

Mr Singh said there had been "remarkable progress" in the Australia-India relationship and both countries wanted to pursue "greater military engagements, better information sharing, and cooperation in emerging defence technology".

Australia's role in the Malabar naval exercises - with India, Japan and the United States - appears to have been cemented, with Mr Dutton saying Australia would "continue to participate" in Malabar in future years.

Australia and India have also agreed to intensify information sharing between their two navies, which have been participating in bilateral maritime exercises off the coast of the Northern Territory this week.

Both countries hailed the inaugural 2+2 meeting as a significant milestone in the relationship and analysts have said it is a sign that Australia and India's strategic interests are continuing to converge.

That is partly because both countries share unease and uncertainty about China's growing military might.

Beijing and New Delhi are still locked in a standoff in the wake of violent border clashes, while Mr Dutton intensified his criticism of China earlier this week, accusing it of engaging in "increasingly coercive" behaviour.

Both Mr Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne emphasised India's growing heft in the region while visiting New Delhi, with Mr Dutton calling it a "rising Indo-Pacific great power and an increasingly significant security partner for Australia."

"We both depend on free and open access to sea lanes ... and we share an unwavering commitment to upholding the rules based in international order," he said.

Senator Payne said both Australia and India wanted to see "a natural multipolarity" prevail in the region.

"Australia is confident about our role in such a region and it is obvious that India is a natural leader within the rules-based system," she said.

Mr Jaishankar said Australia and India's shared democratic values also gave them common ground.

But he pressed Senator Payne over the fate of Indian students who have been unable to travel to Australia to commence their studies because of Australia's closed borders, saying their frustrations were "completely understandable".

Senator Payne said she understood India's concerns and stressed Australia would welcome international students back in as soon as its vaccination rollout permitted borders to reopen.

Ian Hall from the Griffith Asia Institute said the 2+2 meeting was an "important moment" that "showed how far we've come in this relationship in a relatively short period of time".

But he said the recent revival of long-stalled free trade negotiations between the two nations showed there was plenty of work still to be done to develop economic ties.

"While an 'early harvest' economic deal would be good, it is obvious that we're a long way from a full agreement," Dr Hall said.

"It is also clear that Australia is still doing a lot of the lifting, as it were, bringing new things like Talisman Sabre to the table."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-12/australia-and-india-vow-to-strengthen-military-ties/100454992

#14551786 at 2021-09-10 08:32:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14551785

2/2

Former prime minister Tony Abbott originally promised the first submarine would be operational in the mid-2020s. But it is now estimated it won't be in the water until 2035 even though Defence officials warned last year the country no longer had a 10-year window to defend itself from an attack.

After meeting with their French counterparts last month, Mr Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne agreed in a joint communiqu? to begin negotiations on "enhancing and diversifying France's military co-operation with Australia, in support of France's force posture in the region".

France and Australia's relations in the region haven't always been smooth, with Canberra uneasy about French nuclear testing in the 1990s and the bombing of Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior in 1985. But France has been looking to boost its alliances in the region in recent years, and in a speech at the Garden Island military base in Sydney in 2018, President Emmanuel Macron described his country as an "Indo-Pacific power" for the first time.

Mr Jennings said there was room for France to project more of a military presence throughout the Indo-Pacific and it would be ideal to do this from Australia.

"That could lead to a bigger and regular French military presence in Australia," he said.

"The possibility of a French naval ship being based at HMAS Stirling [in Western Australia] or even in Sydney Harbour would be a powerful way for France to demonstrate its interests in Indo-Pacific security. And if they were to do that, there is no country better than Australia to host that presence."

French fighter aircraft will next year participate in the Royal Australian Air Force's "Pitch Black" exercises, while France will for the first time in 2023 join the Talisman Sabre naval exercises being held off the Queensland coast with the US and Australia.

A spokesperson for the French embassy in Canberra said the region was seeing "profound strategic changes and France "as a fully fledged Indo-Pacific country, seeks to maintain an area that is open and inclusive, free of all forms of coercion and founded on multilateralism and the respect of international law".

"In this context, Australia being a major partner of France in the Indo-Pacific, we naturally look to enhance our bilateral defence relationship," the spokesperson said. "In the coming years, the French Armed Forces will continue to look at developing their inter-operability with the Australian Defence Force in order to be able to jointly operate in the region and globally."

There have been a number of visits by French troops to Australia this year. The Vend?miaire frigate made a port visit in Darwin and the French Foreign Legion is currently participating in joint exercises with Australian soldiers.

Canberra is also working with other European countries on boosting their military presence in the region. Australia and Germany in June signed an "enhanced strategic partnership" that committed to enhancing their "security and defence co-operation, including through training and exercises, in particular in the maritime domain and in partnership with countries in the region."

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/france-could-access-australian-military-sites-as-countries-look-to-boost-ties-20210909-p58q7j.html

#14551779 at 2021-09-10 08:25:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Indonesian troops may regularly join training on Australian soil as defence ties deepen

Peter Dutton meets with Jakarta counterpart, who says the two countries 'would like to be even closer friends'

Daniel Hurst - 9 Sep 2021

1/2

Indonesian troops could join regular training exercises on Australian soil, as part of a deepening of defence ties with Australia.

While Indonesia regularly joins naval exercises with Australia, and has participated in occasional joint military exercises on Australian land, the two countries have flagged plans to "step up" their joint training in the coming years.

Australia's defence minister, Peter Dutton, and foreign minister, Marise Payne, met with their Indonesian counterparts in Jakarta on Thursday, on the first leg of a four-country trip that will also include India, South Korea and the United States.

Indonesia's defence minister, Prabowo Subianto, said he and Dutton had discussed "the possibility of Australia opening their training areas for the participation of Indonesian units to be training together with Australia".

"I think this is a historical first," Prabowo said.

Speaking after he and Dutton agreed to update the countries' defence cooperation arrangement, Prabowo said: "We are close neighbours and we would like to be even closer friends."

Increasing joint military training will be seen as a deepening of the relationship between Australia and its northern neighbour, which at times has been strained - including over East Timor, asylum-seeker boat turnbacks and spying revelations.

Indonesian personnel were among observers at this year's Talisman Sabre training exercise between Australian and US military forces in Queensland, whereas Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom actively participated.

Indonesian national armed forces have also "observed" and "shared their significant operational experiences" in the Northern Territory during a disaster relief exercise known as Exercise Crocodile Response, led by Australia and the US.

In 2016 the ABC reported that members of Indonesia's armed forces had joined a comprehensive joint training exercise in Darwin.

Dutton said Australia and Indonesia were bolstering their security cooperation in "an increasingly contested region".

"Of course our navies regularly exercise together already, but there will be more that they can do together," Dutton said.

"Our renewed defence cooperation arrangement will see Australia and Indonesia step up our training initiatives, our joint training initiatives, and defence operational activities over the coming years."

Dutton said Australia would provide 15 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles to Indonesia for use in peacekeeping operations, and the two countries would also deepen their defence education programs.

"I look forward very much to hosting the cadets from the Indonesian National Armed Forces studying at Australian defence education facilities, building relationships among future leaders from both sides," Dutton said.

(continued)

#14538995 at 2021-09-08 06:45:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Peter Dutton's US missile memo: share your know-how

BEN PACKHAM - SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

1/2

Peter Dutton has signalled greater access to US missile technology will be a key test of the ANZUS ?alliance, ahead of an Australian push for unprecedented defence industry co-operation at high-level talks in Washington.

The Defence Minister, who will travel to the US with Foreign Minister Marise Payne next week for the discussions, said the allies needed to "pool our know-how and resources" to develop new long-range strike weapons, ?offensive cyber and unmanned capabilities - including autonomous and "swarming" drones.

But Mr Dutton, speaking at a closed American Chamber of Commerce in Australia session, said doing so would require the US to deliver on its commitment to ?integrate its closest allies' defence industries into its congressionally mandated National Technology and Industrial Base.

The NTIB was expanded in 2017 to include Australia and Britain, after the inclusion of Canada in 1993. Despite promising a ?"defence free-trade area" for America's closest allies, it has so far achieved only limited success in breaking down US export ?control barriers.

Mr Dutton, ahead of the Australia - US Ministerial Consultations, said Washington's support for Australia's proposed sovereign guided weapons enterprise would strengthen the nations' military interoperability. "Bilateral industry support for the enterprise will be a practical demonstration of the strength of our inclusion in the US National Technology and ?Industrial Base," he said.

Mr Dutton and Senator Payne will arrive in the US on September 16 for the "2+2" AUSMIN talks, after meeting counterparts in South Korea, Indonesia and India.

The Defence Minister said he was confident his first face-to-face meeting with Biden administration counterparts Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken would "see our alliance level-up".

Speaking at the same event, US charge d'affaires Michael Goldman said he expected the AUSMIN talks to deliver "ambitious announcements on force posture, joint exercises and deployments".

"Exercise Talisman Sabre and (the US marine deployment in Darwin) are excellent initiatives and I expect them to be built upon," Mr Goldman said.

"On the civilian side I think you will see a renewed focus on Covid, but we will also see clear-eyed recognition of the challenges posed by our strategic competitors and a reinvigorated commitment to dealing with those challenges ?together."

Scott Morrison will seek to progress the meeting's outcomes during an expected trip to Washington in October or November.

Growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea and Beijing's trade bans against $20bn worth of Australian exports will be key AUSMIN agenda items.

Mr Dutton said the Australia-US alliance had become more ?important in combating Beijing's "increasingly coercive" behaviour.

"(China's) activities undermine the sovereignty of other nations and grate against the rules-based international order - an order from which they have happily benefited for decades," he said. "We must invigorate new energy into defence thinking and preparedness, so we are poised and ready for any eventuality."

(continued)

#14533959 at 2021-09-07 07:43:29 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Free trade deal with India on the agenda as Payne, Dutton take Indo-Pacific trip

Anthony Galloway - September 7, 2021

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton will explore new trade opportunities with India and Indonesia on a whirlwind visit to four different countries through the Indo-Pacific region over the next week.

China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, including its new law forcing foreign vessels to submit to Chinese supervision in its "territorial waters", will also be on the agenda.

Senator Payne and Mr Dutton will travel to Jakarta on Thursday for talks with their two Indonesian counterparts before talks in India on Saturday. After stopping off in one other country, they will then travel to Washington for the annual Australia-US Ministerial talks with Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The prospect of a free trade deal with India will be discussed at the meeting in New Delhi after the country's top diplomat this week said there was a "tailwind" behind the negotiations.

The two countries have tried to ink a trade deal in the past but India's comparatively high tariffs, especially on agricultural products, have always proved to be a sticking point.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan last month revealed India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had agreed to resume negotiations and he had dispatched Tony Abbott to New Delhi to kickstart the discussions. During his time as prime minister, Mr Abbott had a close relationship with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Mr Tehan said on Tuesday his government was "working to further enhance and strengthen Australia's relationship with India" and there was "significant opportunity to increase trade between our nations, including Australia's export of resources and other commodities, such as wool".

"In July, I provided a proposal to Minister Goyal on strengthening the economic relationship and I asked former prime minister the Hon Tony Abbott AC to travel to India to reinforce and follow up on this proposal.

"Both countries are committing additional resources towards progressing our trade relationship and Australia welcomes the positive comments from India about this process. While it is very welcome that both countries want to progress the CECA this year, it will require a serious commitment from both sides to get this done in this timeframe."

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told the Australian National University's JG Crawford Oration on Monday night that he had a "real sense that we are progressing this time".

"There is a tailwind, which we hope will get us past the post."

He said there was "a sense at our end that this is a very underperforming relationship", but Prime Minister Narendra Modi was always telling him to "do more with Australia. Find a way of improving this relationship."

Senator Payne and Mr Dutton will talk with their two Indonesian counterparts about how to get more out of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed between the two countries last year. The agreement signed the two nations up to advancing trade and economic opportunities and cooperating to counter security threats in the region.

They will also talk about how to boost the presence of the "Quad" grouping of countries which includes Australia, the US, India and Japan, the re-emergence of which has angered Beijing.

The meetings come on the backdrop of China announcing a new law requiring foreign shipping to give notice before entering any waters it claims as its own, including in the South China Sea.

Senator Payne and Mr Dutton will also look to talk with the US about how to better counter Beijing's "grey zone" attacks including the more than $20 billion in trade strikes against Australia over the past 18 months. China has also refused to return the calls of Australian ministers over Canberra's call for an inquiry into COVID-19 and other national security decisions.

One of Australia's most senior diplomats on Tuesday said Australia would only restart dialogue with China if there were "no preconditions".

"Slowly we have to work through these challenges and I think the government of Australia, as you've seen, isn't going to lurch from one policy position to the other," said Justin Hayhurst, a deputy secretary with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/free-trade-deal-with-india-on-the-agenda-as-Payne-dutton-take-indo-pacific-trip-20210907-p58phe.html

#14507595 at 2021-09-02 07:39:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

China on agenda in Payne, Dutton talks with US counterparts

Anthony Galloway - September 2, 2021

Measures to counter China's trade strikes and other "grey zone" attacks will top the agenda when Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton travel to the United States later this month for talks with the Biden administration.

Senator Payne and Mr Dutton will meet US Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for the annual Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) in Washington DC.

The trip, which comes against the backdrop of the hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan and China's growing presence in the Indo-Pacific, will also include stop-offs in other countries in the region. The meetings are scheduled to take place somewhere between September 13 and 17 and will be Mr Dutton's first face-to-face encounter with his US counterpart.

Australian officials are also hoping Prime Minister Scott Morrison's first one-on-one, in-person discussion with US President Joe Biden will go ahead later this month after a planned meeting of the Quad grouping - Australia, the US, India and Japan - was thrown into doubt by the upcoming Japanese election.

Mr Morrison met Mr Biden for the first time on the sidelines of the G7 summit in June but the encounter was not one-on-one as originally planned, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson joining in. Australian officials viewed Mr Johnson's inclusion as part of a broader plan to get Britain more engaged in the Indo-Pacific region and expect more concrete policies to flow from that meeting in the coming months.

It was Australia's turn to host the AUSMIN talks but the requirement for Mr Blinken and Mr Austin to quarantine for 14 days made it unworkable. A "reverse travel bubble" whereby Senator Payne and Mr Dutton would quarantine after meeting their US counterparts was also ruled out.

The two sides discussed holding the talks virtually but decided it would be preferable to meet in person. Senator Payne and Mr Dutton will enter quarantine on their return to Australia.

Senior government sources confirmed they were expecting measures to combat Chinese economic coercion would be discussed at the meeting. The Biden administration has been forthright in its rhetoric against China's more than $20 billion in trade strikes against Australia over the past 18 months.

A report by the United States Studies Centre, released on Thursday, urged Australia and the US to diversify their economic partners and reduce dependence on any single source to deal with the risk of China's trade strikes.

USSC chief executive Simon Jackman said AUSMIN needed to be reformed to deal with challenges including the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, infrastructure spending, cyber security and "grey zone" attacks from countries such as China. The "grey zone" refers to attacks such as cyber hacks, economic coercion, disinformation campaigns and intellectual property theft, calibrated so they fall short of requiring a military response.

Professor Jackman said Australia would want the US to do something "meaningful" on China's economic coercion.

"We are coming all the way to Washington. The expectation will be there will be a significant statement on that," he said. "Reassuring tweets are great, you would prefer to have them than not have them. But the trick for Australian foreign policy is to convert that goodwill from the Americans to policy facts on the ground … practical measures that flow from that."

While Australia would be looking for more practical measures on China's trade strikes, Professor Jackman said the Americans would be pushing Canberra for more commitments on combatting climate change.

Sam Roggeveen, director of the Lowy Institute's international security program, said there were many questions surfacing over American credibility after the withdrawal from Afghanistan but "the wrong lessons are being taken from that". He said the fact Mr Biden had withdrawn from a part of the world that did not align with American interests was a "good thing" and meant it could be more focused on the Indo-Pacific.

"Previously, the US's military commitments were not being aligned with its national interests. Biden has realigned its military commitments with its national interests," he said.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/Payne-dutton-to-travel-to-us-for-face-to-face-talks-with-american-counterparts-20210902-p58o4e.html

#14501956 at 2021-09-01 07:33:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14501858
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Today, the 70th anniversary of the #ANZUSTreaty, is a reminder that, as we continue to face new & emerging (global) challenges, our two nations do not stand alone. There are no greater allies & friends than Australia & the United States.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1432907228973985795

#14496084 at 2021-08-31 08:51:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet

Spoke this evening with @MarisePayne to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and determine ways we can continue to work together to support those in need. We deeply appreciate Australia's support during this challenging period.

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1432566136525230084

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

We continue to coordinate closely with our allies & partners on Afghanistan. We are focussed on next steps, which I discussed with @SecBlinken today. We continue to call on the Taliban to allow safe freedom of movement for those wishing to leave Afghanistan at this time.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1432571517993308174

#14495885 at 2021-08-31 06:35:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Half a million Pfizer doses from Singapore secured to help Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Stephen Dziedzic - 31 August 2021

Singapore will soon send half a million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses to Australia as part of a "vaccine swap" between the two countries, delivering a boost to the nation's vaccination program.

Under the agreement, Australia will receive 500,000 Pfizer doses that are due to expire.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the doses would arrive this week, to be rolled out across Australia from next week, and would be shared equally with all states and territories on the basis of population.

"We need to vaccinate the whole country and we need for those doses to go from one end of the country to the other and for them to be taken up," he said.

The federal government will then deliver half a million Pfizer vaccines back to Singapore in December, when Australia is expected to have ample supplies.

"This will greatly assist the national vaccination program as it brings in two important age groups into the program - the 16- to 29-year-olds, which have already begun this week - and, of course, the 12- to 15-year-olds," Mr Morrison said.

"I said I'd leave no stone unturned on this and this is further demonstration that that has been the focus of the government."

Singapore has already fully vaccinated well over 80 per cent of its population against COVID-19 - making it one of the most inoculated countries in the world - and has begun the process of easing restrictions.

In a statement, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it might use the 500,000 returned doses from Australia for booster shots later in the year.

"These returned doses would come in more useful for Singapore then, potentially as booster doses for specific segments of our population that could benefit from such boosting," the ministry said.

Mr Morrison has hailed the vaccine swap as an example of international cooperation, saying Australia and Singapore were working together to make sure vaccines were used before they expire.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said as well as working with countries to share vaccines, Australia had dedicated millions to the region.

"We are securing vaccines for the Australian community from a range of sources and, at the same time, providing access to effective vaccines for our region, to underpin that shared recovery," she said.

"We have delivered over 2.1 million vaccines in our region now, particularly focused on the Pacific."

The extra doses are expected to further speed up the vaccine rollout, already set to be boosted in September by the arrival of Pfizer doses from elsewhere, as well as the first shipment of the Moderna mRNA vaccine.

The government is expecting 1 million doses of the vaccine to arrive next month.

Earlier this month the government secured 1 million Pfizer doses from Poland, which were directed to Sydney to help vaccinate younger age groups in hotspot areas.

Mr Morrison thanked Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the country's health minister for facilitating the swap.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-31/pfizer-doses-availability-australia-singapore-covid-19/100421462

#14471822 at 2021-08-27 08:19:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

>>14385947
>>14471808
Prime Minister Scott Morrison mourns deaths of 'American and Afghan friends' in Kabul airport attack

Jake Evans - 27 August 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he grieves with "American and Afghan friends" over the deaths of dozens in a terror attack outside Kabul airport.

"Australia condemns the evil, the calculated and inhuman attacks that were undertaken in Kabul overnight on the innocent and on the brave," Mr Morrison said.

"We join with our American and Afghan friends in mourning their terrible and awful loss."

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the government had been unable to confirm whether or not any Australians or visa holders were injured or killed in the attack.

At least 60 people were killed in twin suicide bombing attacks at the gates of Kabul's international airport.

Mr Morrison said Australian troops had been helping citizens through Kabul airport's Abbey Gate just hours before the attack.

"We are mindful of the reported 13 US military personnel who were murdered at the Abbey Gate at Kabul, a gate at which Australian personnel stood just hours before," he said.

"And like Australians who have been at that same airport and at that same gate and many others like it, over the course of these operations, these brave young Americans stood at that gate to protect lives, to save lives, but lost their own in providing a pathway to freedom for others."

The last Australian troops were pulled out of Kabul airport just before the attack.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton confirmed the Australian evacuation mission out of Afghanistan has ended.

Australian forces evacuated 4,100 people in the nine days between when the Taliban first entered Kabul and the terror attack.

Mr Morrison said the opportunity for remaining Australians to leave with allied forces was "restricted".

Senator Payne said those remaining should keep away from the airport.

"We know that this is a very distressing situation for Australians still in Kabul, for people with visas and for families and friends who are here in Australia," she said.

No plans for Australia to return as US vows revenge

Mr Morrison said he conveyed his condolences to United States President Joe Biden this morning.

Mr Biden has vowed revenge on the attackers, Islamic State Khorasan, a branch of Islamic State group in Afghanistan.

The government decided to airlift its last troops out of Kabul on Thursday, despite some Australians remaining in the city still seeking to flee, on "credible" intelligence a terror attack was being planned.

Mr Dutton said intelligence suggested it was highly likely there would be further attacks.

Mr Morrison said there were no plans for Australian forces to return to the chaos of Afghanistan.

"We have been there for 20 years seeking to turn a failed state into a successful state, and sadly that hasn't proved possible," he said.

"It remains an extremely dangerous place."

'Post-evacuation' plan to bring Afghan refugees begins

Mr Morrison said Australia would now move into a "post-evacuation stage" where the government would seek to resettle people through humanitarian channels.

3,000 places within the national annual intake of refugees have been reserved for Afghans fleeing the Taliban.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said priority for those places would be given to minority groups, women and children and people with family members already in Australia.

"This work is well underway and in the coming weeks and months we will be in a position to welcome more people to Australia to either return home or to call Australia home," Ms Andrews said.

Mr Morrison said Australia will continue to support its allies who remain in Kabul.

"We will continue to stand every single day with our partners, the United States and the United Kingdom. As they stand in the cause of freedom, so will we also," he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-27/scott-morrison-kabul-airport-attack-afghans-us-soldiers/100412192

#14386058 at 2021-08-18 08:49:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

Afghanistan rescue flight carrying Australians lands in UAE, with more Kabul evacuation missions planned

Andrew Greene and Georgia Hitch - 18 August 2021

The first Australian Defence Force evacuation flight from Afghanistan has landed back at a military base in the United Arab Emirates after collecting 26 passengers from Kabul airport.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said more flights would be organised into the Taliban-held Afghan capital in the coming days.

"This is not a simple process," he said. "This was the first of what will be many flights, subject to clearance and weather."

"We will bring out as many people as we can, as quickly and safely as we can."

Earlier, the ABC revealed the flight had made it into, and out of, Kabul, touching down in the UAE.

Mr Morrison said the flight landed at 10:45am AEST.

"That included Australian citizens, Afghan nationals with visas and one foreign official working in an international agency," he said.

"The transfers are done to our base in the Emirates, where capacity has already been established with medical support available, to provide that medical support and to process their further onward transfer to Australia."

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said government officials were on the ground in Kabul, but that people heading to the airport were having to negotiate Taliban checkpoints.

"[It] is obviously a very complex and fluid environment, with a whole range of security issues," she said.

"We are working closely with the US particularly, the UK, others, Germans included, to try to improve or address those security challenges."

Seven people were killed as crowds descended on Hamid Karzai airport after the Taliban seized control of the capital on Sunday.

A number of people were filmed clinging on to an American military jet as it took off, with the US Air Force later confirming it found human remains in the wheel well of one of its aircraft that left Kabul.

Refugee visas for Afghans

Mr Morrison said he believed the government would be able to provide at least 3,000 visas under the humanitarian visa program to Afghans this year.

But he said he wanted to make it clear the government would only resettle Afghans through official and "legitimate" channels.

The current cap on humanitarian visa places is 13,750 after the government reduced the program by 5,000 places last year.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said the 3,000 places would focus on family members of Australians, persecuted minorities including women, girls, children, the Hazara - an ethnic minority group - and other vulnerable groups.

Mr Hawke said visa applications from people fleeing Afghanistan would be given priority, and reiterated the Prime Minister's suggestion that the initial allocation would likely increase in the future.

Flight tracking websites showed the RAAF Hercules flying in and out of Afghanistan this morning, as part of an urgent mission to rescue Australians and Afghans from the city.

A Hercules can carry around 120 passengers, while a C-17 Globemaster, which will also fly into Kabul, can officially carry 134 people.

However, an American C-17 which left Kabul earlier this week was pictured carrying hundreds of people who had crammed into the aircraft's hold as they fled the city.

A federal government spokesperson said the number of evacuees on each RAAF flight was expected to "ramp up" with subsequent flights.

Sources in Kabul said Australians were told to head to the airport last night, and another rescue flight could be launched as early as today.

This week Australia committed 250 troops and several military aircraft to the region with the hope of extracting around 600 people from Kabul.

That will include 100 Australian permanent residents and citizens and around 100 of their family members, plus 300 to 400 local employees.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton also confirmed yesterday that Australia would help get New Zealand citizens out of Kabul as well.

The airport in Kabul has been secured by US troops, something Mr Morrison said was crucial to facilitating Australian flights into the capital.

The PM said a number of states and territories had agreed to quarantine people brought back from Afghanistan above the current international passenger caps.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-18/afghanistan-kabul-rescue-mission-carrying-australians-lands/100386652

#14385829 at 2021-08-18 07:29:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#17 - Part 19
Australia / China Tensions - Part 3
>>14187052 Australia avoids Great Barrier Reef global embarrassment, but the dangers of climate change remain for the reef
>>14187200 Huawei hiring former Democratic super lobbyist Tony Podesta - Back in business after a Mueller-induced hiatus
>>14200948 World Heritage Committee Great Barrier Reef 'in-danger' vote - Bigger agenda in play to reduce Paris Agreement warming target
>>14213610 Tony Abbott: I wouldn't sign a China trade deal now
>>14213613 NZ trade growth with China should give Australia pause for thought - Yu Lei - globaltimes.cn
>>14220869 China Discovers the Limits of Its Power: Beijing's confrontation with Australia should have been an unequal contest - That's not how it worked out in practice
>>14220962 Video: TikTok: Data mining, discrimination and dangerous content on the wildly popular app - Four Corners / ABC News In-depth
>>14229018 The US is the super spreader of coronavirus and political virus - Xin Ping - globaltimes.cn
>>14229033 UK shouldn't tempt own fate in South China Sea: Global Times editorial - "We should also give such advice to Australia and Japan" - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14235081 Defence Minister Peter Dutton's warning: China's rise means Australia cannot afford further delays in construction of navy's new frigates and submarines
>>14235136 Samoa's new leader Fiame Naomi Mataafa confirms scrapping of China-funded port

>>14243226 How foreign spies are infiltrating Australia - Intelligence experts say a "dormant presence" is lurking in Australia's critical networks amid a rise in espionage efforts by foreign governments
>>14243230 Victorian Liberal Senator James Paterson lifts lid on China's "wolf-warrior diplomacy" and the "shocking" level of Chinese subterfuge in Australia
>>14257305 Military lockdown gambit exposes Canberra's double standards - Lu Xue - globaltimes.cn
>>14265795 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks, 2021/07/22 - "Recently, the Japanese ambassador to Australia has made some nasty remarks regarding China."
>>14265799 Chinese embassy in Canberra accuses Japanese ambassador of 'nasty remarks'
>>14265811 Australia all alone on anti-China path despite Japan envoy's empty talks - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn
>>14276698 Marise Payne dismisses China talk terms - Australia will not be cowered into accepting Beijing's preconditions for the recommencement of high-level dialogue with China
>>14282357 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia: Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks, 2021/08/06 - "The recent remarks by Foreign Minister Payne at the Australia China Business Council, as reported by The Australian, mischaracterized the current problem in China-Australia relations."
>>14282364 GT Voice: Enhanced response to Delta variant may affect China-Australia trade - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14289530 Why the Quad Alarms China - Its Success Poses a Major Threat to Beijing's Ambitions - Kevin Rudd - August 2021
>>14303931 India the foil to China threat: Australia's special envoy to India, Tony Abbott

>>14303953 India the sensible substitute for belligerent Beijing - Tony Abbott - theaustralian.com.au
>>14311486 Source refutes Aussie journalist's rumor that researcher at Beijing lab infected with coronavirus at work - Xie Wenting and Bai Yunyi - globaltimes.cn
>>14322440 Scott Morrison urges for 'upgrade' to US-Australian alliance as China's tariffs hit hard
>>14332362 New weapons deal between US and Australia confirmed as tensions with China continue to rise
>>14332404 Upgrading Quad and Malabar exercise shows US anxiety about China - Zuo Xiying - globaltimes.cn
>>14332463 Video: Australian journalist fans flames of conspiracy theory - China Daily
>>14332475 Japan calls on Australia to lead resistance to China's regional sway
>>14342413 `How China 'disappeared' Australian journalist Cheng Lei - nabbed by secret police in Beijing, August 13 2020
>>14342787 Will criticism of Turnbull, Rudd make a difference on Morrison's China policy? - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn
>>14342961 Peter Ben Embarek, Head of World Health Organisation Team Investigating Origins of Covid-19 Calls For Closer Look at China Lab
>>14343347 Wuhan lab door slammed on Covid inquiry by China - China refusing to allow international scientists access to a laboratory in Wuhan
>>14364688, >>14364704, >>14364721 "China insurgency" Bun

#14385828 at 2021-08-18 07:29:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#17 - Part 18
Australia / China Tensions - Part 2
>>14119986 Chinese spy ship returns to waters off Queensland ahead of Defence's largest war-fighting exercise
>>14120147 Australia 'very wary' of Chinese spy ship sitting off Queensland coast
>>14120179 Murdoch and his press empire fuel anti-China feelings using media as a political weapon - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>14120210 Chinese Consulate General in Sydney Tweet: Papua New Guinea(#PNG) is the third pacific island country to administer Chinese #vaccines across the country
>>14120228 Australian exports to China surge to new high
>>14120237 GT Voice: Surging iron ore prices fuel China's diversification efforts - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14120266 US vows to work with Australia to oppose China's 'unfair' trade practices
>>14127248 Western Australian government's venue policy and China link an arts-breaker in Western Australia - Event linked to Taiwan or Tibet prohibited from hiring most of Perth's major performance venues
>>14141341 Australian scientists, environment groups urge UN to put Great Barrier Reef on 'in danger' list, criticize govt's short-sightedness, incompetence - Huang Lanlan and Zhao Juecheng - globaltimes.cn
>>14145027 Video: Second Chinese spy ship en route to Australia ahead of US military exercises - Sky News Australia

>>14147666 Peter Dutton 'surprised' China has sent a second spy ship to monitor Australian operations - China has "obviously made a decision to have a greater presence"
>>14153450 WA Minister for Culture and the Arts David Templeman announces review into Perth Theatre Trust's contentious pro-China venue-hire policy
>>14153456 Coral repair raises hopes for Great Barrier Reef as UNESCO's World Heritage Committee vote looms
>>14153576 Magnifying legal Chinese ship presence near US-Australian military drill unreasonable: experts - Liu Xuanzun - globaltimes.cn
>>14159509 Video: Australia prepares for China retaliation after blaming Beijing for Microsoft hack
>>14159551 Video: China accuses Australia of hypocrisy over Microsoft server hack accusation
>>14159554 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Statement - Australia joins international partners in attribution of malicious cyber activity to China
>>14159568 Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Responding to the Australian Side's Remarks on Cyber Issues - 2021/07/20 - China firmly rejects the groundless accusations made by the Australian government on cyber issues, following the steps and parroting the rhetoric of the US.
>>14159586 GT Voice: Australia's role to the Chinese economy should not be overestimated - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14166016 'Active threat': China's cyber-intrusion on British MPs exposed

>>14166025 The US and its allies may not stop China's 'web of hackers', but it can 'deeply embarrass' Beijing
>>14166032 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on July 20, 2021
>>14166041 US enlisting allies to smear China only exposes diffidence: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14166079 US and Australia move to block China buying Digicel mobile phone networks in the Pacific and Caribbean
>>14166089 GT Voice: Will Australia meet Pacific nations' need for telecom upgrade? - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14166101 Japanese Ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami says Tokyo 'struggles every day' with China
>>14180628 Liberal Party Senator Jim Molan friendly fire over China military threat - warns the Australian Defence Force would be defeated within days in the event of a Chinese attack
>>14180641 US Trade Representative Katherine Tai backs Australia in trade disputes with China
>>14180648 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on July 22, 2021
>>14180656 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying Tweet: It's high time the Australian government stepped up efforts to protect & promote the human rights of #AustralianMuslims

#14385826 at 2021-08-18 07:29:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#17 - Part 17
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>14020059 Human Rights Watch reveals harassment, surveillance of Chinese students studying in Australia
>>14020145 Environment Minister Sussan Ley invites China-chaired UNESCO World Heri?tage Committee to inspect Great Barrier Reef
>>14020149 Australia shouldn't be poster boy for climate change perils: Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley
>>14020238 Chinese rail firm refutes 'forced labor' claims in Australia - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14035922 Exclusive: Planting 'consultants,' blocking vaccine approval, threatening officials - Australia sabotages China-PNG cooperation by all means - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>14042279 50 years after Whitlam's China visit, it's imperative for Canberra politicians to learn his political sagacity - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn
>>14053439 Japan boosts military links with Australia to fend off China - Japanese ambassador Yamagami Shingo says Australia will not resist Chinese economic coercion alone
>>14064520 Australia backed by 11 countries after calling foul play over China's reef 'in danger' push
>>14064525 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on July 5, 2021
>>14064545 Chinese ties 'vital' to trade survival, say resource states Queensland and Western Australia

>>14064583 China accuses Australia of COVID-19 vaccine sabotage in the Pacific
>>14064590 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on July 5, 2021
>>14064624 Exclusive: Western scientists face government probe, death threats for opposing COVID-19 lab-leak theory: source - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>14064631 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on July 2, 2021
>>14071638 Video: 'Settle in for the long haul': White House's Indo-Pacific co-ordinator Kurt Campbell's China warning for Australia
>>14071644 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on July 6, 2021
>>14089200 China criticises Australia's human rights record at the United Nations
>>14089209 Video: United Nations Human Rights Council - Adoption of reports by the Universal Periodic Review Working Group of Australia, 8 July 2021 - Mr. Jiang Duan, China
>>14089243 China urges Australia to face up to severe human rights violations at UN body - Liu Xin - globaltimes.cn
>>14089310 China is the 'big international bully at the moment': Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Peter Jennings - Sky News Australia

>>14089317 Australia browbeating China as a 'bully' only reveals the true oppressors - Li Haidong - globaltimes.cn
>>14092455 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on July 9, 2021
>>14092493 Australia has shown great resilience in the face of China's aggression - Paul Kelly - theaustralian.com.au
>>14098440 Time to abandon One China policy, says Independent senator Rex Patrick
>>14105608 Assertive China has misunderstood Australia's toughness - Alexander Downer - afr.com
>>14112475 China-Australia tensions flare over South China Sea
>>14112479 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Statement - Marking the 5th Anniversary of the South China Sea Arbitral Award
>>14112485 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Spokesperson's Remarks - We deplore the recent statement by the Australian side on the South China Sea issue
>>14112489 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on July 12, 2021
>>14112492 Video: Australia needs to do some soul-searching and put its own house in order - SpokespersonCHN

#14385815 at 2021-08-18 07:27:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#17 - Part 9
Australian Politics and Society - Part 9
>>14311676 Video: The Final Assault - The best of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 - We'll continue to train together, and look forward to seeing you again for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 - Department of Defence Australia
>>14311723 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: .S. Marines with MRF-D and Australian soldiers reviewed the scheme of maneuver and training events during the rehearsal of concept for Exercises #Loobye and #Koolendong 2021
>>14322373 Marise Payne, Peter Dutton planning diplomatic visits to US, India and Indonesia
>>14342881 Australia will work with allied forces to extract citizens and visa holders from Afghanistan - Taliban making rapid battlefield gains
>>14346911 Special Counsel John Durham considering prosecutions and scrutinizing Trump-Russia tipsters: Report
>>14346925 https://qanon.pub/?q=Durham
>>14356371 Scott Morrison flags rescue mission for Afghan angels - locals who helped Australian troops during the two-decade conflict
>>14366085 OPINION: Joe Biden's defeat will echo for eternity - Miranda Devine - nypost.com
>>14366141 Threat of white-power race war 'grave concern' to ASIO, says chief
>>14375620 Scott Morrison delivers heartfelt message to diggers who fought in Afghanistan and asks them to do 'one more thing for us' - as he admits not all locals who fought alongside them will be evacuated
>>14375704 Marcus Jensen faces Perth Magistrates Court charged with impersonating Federal Police officer as part of an alleged operation to bring down the government

#14385811 at 2021-08-18 07:26:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #18 - Talisman Sabre: MAGIC SWORD Edition

#17 - Part 7
Australian Politics and Society - Part 7
>>14236111 Making new mates on exercise Talisman Sabre: Australian-Japanese soldier Private Louii Hornibrook, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment - Captain Dan Mazurek - defence.gov.au
>>14236173 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Tweet: Come out, come out, wherever you are #SouthernJackaroo #YourADF #MRFD #ADF #australianarmy #Australia #Darwin #IIIMEF #Marines #MarineCorps #freeandopenindopacific #JGSDF
>>14236208 Department of Defence Tweet: Ready for action - Preparations are underway for high-end warfighting Exercise #Koolendong, which is set to take place during August and September between elements of #AusArmy's 1 Brigade and the @MrfDarwin
>>14236219 Communications ready for Koolendong - The live-fire exercise will be held during August and September at the Bradshaw Field Training Area, NT - Captain Peter March - defence.gov.au
>>14243180 YouTube restricts Sky News Australia channel over 'COVID misinformation'
>>14245420 Vaccination the gold medal we aspire to - Prime Minister Scott Morrison - theaustralian.com.au
>>14248043 "Thought my Aussie's might enjoy this…. - QClock August 1, 2021 - Australia 5:5" - U.S. Marines Tweet - G'day, mates! @Australian_Navy
>>14249439 U.S. Marines Tweet: G'day, mates! @Australian_Navy - #Marines and Sailors of the America Expeditionary Strike Group greet the crew of HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155) during an underway replenishment of the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) in the Coral Sea
>>14249699 Fake video purports to show Australian Federal Police boss Reece Kershaw plotting to overthrow government
>>14249700 Plot to oust government, replace AFP thwarted by counter-terrorism police

>>14249732 Man charged with impersonating Commonwealth official as search warrants executed in three states - Australian Federal Police - 2 August 2021
>>14249774 Man charged over fake video of AFP chief Kershaw 'plotting coup'
>>14249933 Talisman Sabre Tweet: Video - What's it like training with your Australian comrades? Hear from U.S. Special Operations personnel as they complete jump training with #YourADF from an MC-130J Air Commando II during #TS21
>>14249965 Talisman Sabre Tweet: - The end of #TS21 - #YourADF and International Military personnel who participated in #TalismanSabre this year marked the end of the exercise during a closing ceremony yesterday. But it's not the end of us! We still have lots to show you so stay tuned
>>14249989 U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Australia - Charg? d'Affaires Doug Sonnek Speech: Talisman Sabre Closing Ceremony - August 01, 2021
>>14250019 Defence Minister Peter Dutton flags participation of India in Australia's biggest wargames with the US, saying he'd like to see the nation's Quad partner at Exercise Talisman Sabre in two years' time
>>14257419 Talisman Sabre's theatre of war - Australia's biggest defence exercise with the US has grown into a significant multinational training event
>>14257474 Local, national and calls to mobiles will now be free from Telstra payphones
>>14257486 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) is working with our closest partners on global health security, equitable vaccine access & promoting shared values of democracy & human rights. Today I met with Five Eyes counterparts…on Indo-Pacific priorities & challenges
>>14265858 Video: SkyNews Australia anchor slams YouTube for 'most extreme cancelation of free speech imaginable' - Fox News / Tucker Carlson Tonight

#14019865 at 2021-06-30 06:23:52 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#16 - Part 14
Australia / China Tensions - Part 2
>>13797481 Has Kevin Rudd betrayed China-Australia relations?: Global Times editorial - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13797769 China trying to drive a wedge between Australia and NZ, Scott Morrison says
>>13797794 Jacinda Ardern stresses New Zealand, Australia are in lockstep on China
>>13797852 Australia, New Zealand Call On China to Let UN Visit Xinjiang
>>13804841 China blasts Scott Morrison, Jacinda Ardern over 'irresponsible remarks'
>>13804843 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on May 31, 2021
>>13804852 Wellington continues its pragmatic policy despite Canberra pressure - Ning Tuanhui - globaltimes.cn
>>13804899 'No concrete proof' of espionage: Malaysia on verge of Huawei 5G deal
>>13805144 Chinese diplomat Wang Xining says he has no information on the secretive trial of Australian writer Yang Hengjun
>>13807098 China's population crisis, interview with Wang Xining, and the stand-up comedy scene | China Tonight - ABC News In-depth

>>13827244 Geoff Wade Tweet: Former PM Kevin Rudd speaks via video at General Assembly of Beijing's 2021 International Finance Forum Spring Meetings in late May (see 6:44 to 17.30)
>>13827244 INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL FORUM 2021 SPRING MEETINGS - BEIJING, CHINA - 2021.05.29-30 - SPEAKERS: Kevin Rudd, Jacob Rothschild - https://qanon.pub/?q=Rothschild - https://qanon.pub/?q=ROTHS
>>13848320 New Zealand Supreme Court Clears Way for Murder Suspect's Extradition to China
>>13862167 Beijing's Pressure Drives Alliance Push by Australia at G-7
>>13869043 Japan and Australia affirm importance of peace across Taiwan Strait
>>13869046 Japan, Australia raise concerns about reported abuses in China
>>13869047 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on June 9, 2021
>>13869159 'Not complicated': Dutton says China will never share deep military ties with Australia
>>13869222 West Australian Premier Mark McGowan canes PM's 'mad' rhetoric on China
>>13881984 Warning of Beijing 'grey zone' threat in Australian waters

>>13882053 CSIRO terminates ocean research collaboration with China's top marine science institute following ASIO warning
>>13884673 Wolves in the weeds as Beijing's harsh diplomacy backfires
>>13884812 China accuses Australia of 'abuse', says world trade rules designed to protect western interests
>>13884815 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on June 10, 2021
>>13898754 G7 Summit: Allies rally to Scott Morrison's call on China
>>13899550 'The Last G7': Satirical cartoon mocking bloc's attempt to suppress China goes viral - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13907700 Political boycott of scientific cooperation set to further harm Australia - Yu Lei - globaltimes.cn
>>13915015 Elite universities submit 4000 foreign deals for Marise Payne to scrutinise and possibly cancel
>>13915145 Emmanuel Macron tells Scott Morrison 'we're by your side' on China
>>13915148 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on June 15, 2021

#14019863 at 2021-06-30 06:23:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#16 - Part 13
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>13741432 United States Consulate General in Melbourne Tweet: Thanks to the Uyghur Association of Victoria for hosting us over the weekend. We're proud to stand by our Uyghur friends and speak out for those arbitrarily detained in Xinxiang Province. - CG Mike Kleine
>>13748272 Latest research by 'bat woman' shows novel coronavirus closer to pangolins, 'unlikely from Wuhan lab' - Leng Shumei - globaltimes.cn
>>13748489 Mike Pompeo Tweet: The CCP was actively engaged in viral research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Every piece of evidence points to a leak from this laboratory. The CCP has done everything to cover up and deflect blame, even blaming the U.S. Prove it. They must be held accountable.
>>13748562 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 24, 2021
>>13748782 'A matter of time': New Zealand's foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta warns China 'storm' could be coming
>>13748789 Video: Jacinda Ardern says differences with China becoming 'harder to reconcile' - Guardian News
>>13756731 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 25, 2021
>>13756806 Backstage manipulators: Western press' guide to creating anti-China rumors on hot issues, or out of nothing - Bai Yunyi - globaltimes.cn
>>13757012 Carping about Port of Darwin sends anti-investment message: Landbridge CEO Mike Hughes
>>13764382 Sarah Zheng Tweet: police check the credentials of the Australian ambassador to China Graham Fletcher before he seeks to enter the Beijing court where Chinese Australian writer Yang Hengjun will be tried in closed court today

>>13764382 Sarah Zheng Tweet: Video: Fletcher denied access to the trial, told it's because of Covid-19 but the foreign ministry earlier told them it's because the case involves national security. He says this is "deeply regrettable and concerning and unsatisfactory."
>>13764410 Lijian Zhao Tweet: Video: The smear campaign against #Xinjiang is based on nothing but lies. (Australian Strategic Policy Institute)
>>13764416 Video: The Chinese Forced Labor Lie Collapses - Redacted Tonight / Lee Camp
>>13764427 Alleged Chinese agent of foreign interference Huifeng 'Haha' Liu wins reprieve in court fight to stay in Australia
>>13773025 Eight reasons I think Covid escaped from the lab - Peter Jennings, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
>>13773035 Has NZ chosen China trade over mateship with us? - Mark Watson, Bondi Partners
>>13773053 Closed-door trial of Yang Jun's espionage case 'a common practice,' Canberra urged not to interfere: FM - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn
>>13773056 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 27, 2021
>>13773154 American support for Australia is a mirage - Bruce Haigh - globaltimes.cn
>>13773196 Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defence says Australia's Taiwan comments 'provocative'

>>13773196 China slams Australia for its provocative actions on Taiwan-related issues - Wang Xinjuan - eng.chinamil.com.cn
>>13773348 Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd Speaks at China Trade Forum - Daniel Y. Teng - theepochtimes.com
>>13773357 RCEP Regional Development Media Think Tank Forum was held in Haikou - China Daily - cn.chinadaily.com.cn
>>13779799 Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison to build bridges over China
>>13780035 Don't take on China alone, says ex-Australia PM Kevin Rudd
>>13780350 Foreign Minister Marise Payne labels Dr Yang Hengjun's trial a case of arbitrary detention
>>13790460 NZ to back Australia in WTO China tariff dispute
>>13793285 Taiwan wants FTA with Australia amid rising tensions with Beijing: Edward Tao, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brisbane
>>13793334 Australian Yang Hengjun proclaims his innocence after Chinese espionage trial
>>13797457 GT Voice: NZ doesn't need a lesson in China trade from Australia - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

#14003916 at 2021-06-28 09:41:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13979916
'You can count on us': WA consul general spruiks Japanese relationship as China tensions grow

Hamish Hastie - June 28, 2021

Tokyo's diplomat in Western Australia has trumpeted the shared values between Australia and Japan, saying they could be counted on for stable trade relations.

In the face of escalating trade and diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Australia, WA's Japanese consul general Toru Suzuki stressed his home nation was one of Australia's earliest - and still one of WA's most important - trade partners, offering stability and certainty.

"Stability is a key word in terms of Japan and WA," he said.

"You can count on us and we count on you."

Mr Suzuki, who has been in Perth for 2½ years after stints as a diplomat in Finland, Norway and Hawaii, said this stability came from shared values which differed from China's.

"Japan and Australia share the same values, rule of law is most important, and democracy and freedom of speech and human rights and free trade are most important. So it is easy for us," he said.

"Australia is a natural partner."

Much of the trade focus over the past 12 months has been on Australia's biggest export customer, China, and certain sectors such as meat, grain and wine that have been caught in the crosshairs of a an escalating dispute after the federal government called for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 in May last year.

According to Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation statistics, Japan is WA's second-largest trading partner with trade totalling $20.4 billion in 2020, making up more than 9 per cent of the state's total trade for that year.

That figure still pales in comparison to trade with China, which was valued at $109.7 billion, or 50 per cent of WA's total.

In 1989, Japan became the state's first LNG customer and remains the largest, taking 47 per cent of LNG production ahead of China's 30 per cent.

Mr Suzuki said Japan's investment in WA, particularly in LNG, demonstrated the country's commitment to the state.

"You look at iron ore, sure, over 80 per cent goes to China and the money comes from China to WA but as we said, our relations are long term and long term commitments and stable," he said.

Mr Suzuki said co-operations didn't stop at trade and the country's shared values leached into defence, with the Pacific ocean a common asset.

Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, Defence Minister Peter Dutton and their Japanese counterparts held bilateral talks on foreign affairs and defence issues where they discussed the security of the Indo-Pacific region and denounced "coercive and destabilising behaviour" in the East China Sea.

Mr Dutton has previously said conflict with China should not be discounted as the superpower increasingly flexed its military muscles over Taiwan.

Mr Suzuki said a major area of opportunity for new trade was hydrogen, with Japan committing to carbon neutrality by 2050.

He said he had already discussed opportunities with the WA government.

"You have a huge land and there is a lot of sun and vicinity to Asian market," he said.

"It is interesting to see just a few years ago when I arrived here, nobody discussed hydrogen.

"Japanese businessmen at that time didn't want to discuss hydrogen but now everyone is keen to promote it."

Mr Suzuki was also confident that when international borders reopened Japanese airline ANA would restart its direct Perth to Tokyo route that began in 2019 but was scrapped because of COVID-19.

He said he expected tourism to grow when the flights came back online thanks, in part, to quokkas.

"The quokka is now very popular in Japan, when I met [former tourism minister Paul] Papalia, he was in charge of tourism I just proposed the idea that the quokka can be a good ambassador to promote tourism," he said.

"Now quokka is very popular in Japan and many people want to come to Perth."

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/western-australia/you-can-count-on-us-wa-consul-general-spruiks-japanese-relationship-as-china-tensions-grow-20210618-p582by.html

#13915015 at 2021-06-16 07:54:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

Elite universities submit 4000 foreign deals for Marise Payne to scrutinise and possibly cancel

RICHARD FERGUSON - JUNE 15, 2021

More than 6000 university deals with foreign powers are being scrutinised by Foreign Minister Marise Payne, as she considers vetoing any contrary to the national interest.

The Group of Eight universities alone have submitted more than 4000 foreign deals, including agreements to operate China-linked Confucius Institutes, as the university sector seeks to re-engage with the Morrison government over national security.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was also notified of more than 2000 foreign arrangements from the nation's 30 other higher education institutions before the deadline on Friday.

DFAT will now comb through the university sector's arrangements and memorandums of understanding with foreign entities before Senator Payne makes a determination to cancel any of them, as she did in April with the Victorian government's Belt and Road deal with Beijing.

"I recognise the work universities have put into the (Foreign Arrangements) Scheme and appreciate their engagement," Senator Payne said.

"Universities themselves now have full visibility of their international activity across their various faculties. This will result in improved governance and due diligence of their foreign agreements."

The mass collation of foreign deals comes after more than 2000 pieces of written correspondence and 100 meetings and briefings from DFAT for states, local councils and universities.

Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson said attempts to meet the Friday deadline set by the Foreign Relations Act was a major task for the eight sandstones - which include the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne - and more deals would need to be submitted.

"This process has been a huge logistic and administrative challenge, with the complexity of the legislation putting potentially hundreds of thousands of person-to-person 'agreements' and other minor arrangements in the frame," she said. "There is, however, more to be done as some universities were required to review in detail as many as 75 agreements for every one agreement lodged with the scheme."

The Foreign Relations Act - which orders states, local councils and universities to submit all overseas deals to the Foreign Minister - was brought in amid concerns about links between university researchers and the Chinese military.

A University of Queensland spokeswoman on Tuesday said UQ had submitted 587 foreign agreements and 71 prospective deals to DFAT. The University of Melbourne said it had submitted "several hundred" agreements, and the University of Western Australia said it submitted 180 deals, which were mostly with Chinese partners.

The Australian National University, Monash University and the University of Sydney also confirmed they had submitted foreign arrangements, but would not give any numerical details.

University leaders have been prepared for their on-campus Confucius Institutes to be cancelled by the Foreign Minister.

The institutes purport to be Chinese cultural and language study centres but have been linked with Beijing's attempts to influence foreign universities.

The University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of Adelaide, UNSW, UWA, and the University of Queensland all have Confucius Institutes, and have submitted their contracts for review. The higher education sector unsuccessfully lobbied to be exempted from the Foreign Relations Act over concerns the law was too broad.

Ms Thomson on Tuesday said some foreign partners had begun to either withdraw or pause deals with Australian universities due to the legislation. "The impact of this legislation has not gone unnoticed by current and potential international partners of Go8 universities," she said.

"A number have withdrawn from agreements, not because of any issues concerning alignment with Australia's foreign policy, but on the basis of complexity and what they perceive (to be) unwarranted government overreach into the university sector."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/elite-universities-submit-4000-foreign-deals-for-Marise-Payne-to-scrutinise-and-possibly-cancel/news-story/d9d73da58cca085fabc5b5b170cf6959

#13889065 at 2021-06-12 23:20:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13889054

2/2

The Australian understands G7 leaders will support a suggestion raised by Mr Morrison on Saturday for the WHO to be bolstered with powers similar to weapons inspectors.

Mr Morrison, who confirmed climate change was not the subject of their discussions, on Saturday night said Australia's alliance with the US and UK as never being "has never been stronger.

"It was a meeting of great friends and allies who share a view on the world. It was a great opportunity for my first meeting of course with the President. I've known Boris for many years.

"And there was a very easy understanding among the three of us. As liberal democracies with a great history of friendship and partnership and a shared view on the world and its challenges, and strategic challenges at that. We are very conscious of the environment we face but whatever that environment is we'll always face it together.

"Our alliance with the United States, our alliance with the United Kingdom has never been stronger."

Mr Johnson had earlier formally welcomed Mr Morrison to the G7 in a beach ceremony, alongside other G7-plus members South Korea and South Africa.

Mr Morrison, who met with South Korean president Moon Jae-in at Tregenna Castle on Saturday morning before speaking at a G7 health and pandemic preparedness session, will meet with Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and German chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday.

Mr Morrison's first in-person meeting with Mr Biden was initially intended to focus on ramping-up land force co-operation, the joint development of critical technologies, as well as climate change, new energy technologies and cyber threats.

Mr Johnson, who will hold one-on-one talks at Downing Street with Mr Morrison on Tuesday, has dramatically ramped-up Britain's military presence in the Indo-Pacific, including sending naval carrier strike group led by aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth on a 28-week maiden voyage including movements through the South China Sea and Philippine Sea.

Australia and the US will progress plans to align their strategic approach in the Indo-Pacific later this year when Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne meet with their counterparts Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken at the upcoming AUSMIN meeting.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/scott-morrison-holds-historic-meeting-with-us-president-joe-biden-uk-prime-minister-boris-johnson-at-g7-summit/news-story/7261bf0b48f086f342c073c02f830da5

#13884625 at 2021-06-12 08:05:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13855472
Scott Morrison gives strongest indication yet that Afghan interpreters will be offered protection

The Prime Minister acknowledged time was of the essence, with some of the interpreters placed on Taliban kill lists.

sbs.com.au - 10 June 2021

Scott Morrison has all but confirmed Afghan interpreters who helped Australian troops will be evacuated and offered protection.

But the prime minister has been careful in commenting on how long the process would take, fearful it could put the interpreters at risk of persecution.

"We're working on that right now and I can't go into too much detail because I don't want to put anyone who is the subject of what we're doing there in any position of risk or danger," he told 6PR radio on Thursday.

Mr Morrison said he and the government were well versed on the protection visa process.

"This is a program we know well. We have done it before and we will work through this steadily. Our form and our record is being able to use our special humanitarian visa processes to do the right thing."

At least 300 interpreters are seeking protection in Australia as allied troops depart Afghanistan.

Mr Morrison acknowledged time was of the essence, with some of the interpreters placed on Taliban kill lists.

"We know what we need to do here and we're getting it done," he said.

The last Australian troops will depart Afghanistan by September, following America's decision to end the war before the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

A former major for the Australian Defence Force has told SBS News every effort must be made to help the Afghan interpreters who put their lives at risk to help Australian soldiers.

"To fail at this stage to evacuate them, or at least make the best possible effort that we can as a country - that will just be a catastrophic moral failure on our country's behalf," he told SBS News a fortnight ago.

Retired admiral Chris Barrie said a precedent was set following the Vietnam War, when military supporters brought refugees to Australia before the government officially endorsed the arrivals.

"We have a very serious obligation," he told ABC radio on Tuesday. "It would be unconscionable to leave these people to the mercy of the Taliban. We must do something to help them."

The United Kingdom and the United States have both agreed to fast-track the resettlement of thousands of Afghan interpreters and their families.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has indicated the current process for assessing humanitarian visas for Afghan employees remains in place.

"We are keen to support all those who are eligible to come to Australia and that is an absolute priority," she told reporters.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/scott-morrison-gives-strongest-indication-yet-that-afghan-interpreters-will-be-offered-protection?cid=news:socialshare:twitter

#13869046 at 2021-06-10 07:01:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13869043
Japan, Australia raise concerns about reported abuses in China

reuters.com - June 9, 2021

Japan and Australia voiced "serious concerns" on Wednesday over reports of human rights abuses against Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in China's far western region of Xinjiang, but Beijing dismissed the remarks as a malicious smear.

Calls have grown from some Western nations to investigate if China's actions in Xinjiang amount to genocide, as the United States and parliaments in nations such as Britain and Canada have described China's policies there.

"We share serious concerns about reported human rights abuses against Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang," Japan and Australia said in a joint statement after a meeting of the defence and foreign ministers of both countries.

"We call on China to grant urgent, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent international observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights."

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi met their Australian counterparts, Marise Payne and Peter Dutton, via video conferencing.

In Beijing, the foreign ministry said it strongly objected to the two nations playing up the "China threat" and smearing the country maliciously.

China urged all sides to stop interfering in its internal affairs, and to stop sabotaging regional peace and stability, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing.

The ministers also expressed concern about recent moves they said had weakened Hong Kong's democratic institutions, urged peace and stability in the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and voiced grave concern about the crisis in Myanmar.

"We firmly condemn the violence being perpetrated against the people of Myanmar and call on the military regime to immediately cease the violence and measures to curtail freedom of expression, as well as to release all those arbitrarily detained," they added.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since a Feb.1 military coup, with daily protests and fighting in borderlands between the military and ethnic minority militias.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-australia-raise-concerns-about-reported-abuses-china-2021-06-09/

#13869043 at 2021-06-10 07:00:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

Japan and Australia affirm importance of peace across Taiwan Strait

japantimes.co.jp - Jun 9, 2021

Japan and Australia affirmed Wednesday the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait while agreeing to deepen bilateral security cooperation amid China's rising assertiveness in regional waters.

The move followed similar calls for peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues during Japan's recent summit talks with the United States and the European Union. Tokyo and Canberra also confirmed at the virtual security talks that the Self-Defense Forces will protect Australian military assets in noncombat situations, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said.

At the outset of the "two-plus-two" online meeting, Kishi stressed the significance of Japan-Australia security cooperation, saying, "For peace and stability of the region, unity of like-minded countries will be required more than ever."

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also noted the importance of cooperation over China's growing assertiveness.

"The international order faces a great challenge from unilateral attempts to change the status quo," he said.

China regards Taiwan, a democratic, self-ruled island, as a renegade province to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary.

The Japanese foreign and defense ministers also shared with their Australian counterparts - Marise Payne and Peter Dutton - concerns over a recently enacted Chinese law that enables its coast guard ships to fire on foreign vessels in waters that Beijing deems its territory, Japanese officials said.

As for the SDF protection of Australian military assets, Canberra became the second country, after the United States, whose assets Tokyo is allowed to protect under Japanese security legislation that came into force in 2016.

The two countries had been coordinating the addition of Australia following an accord during their defense ministers' talks last October as part of efforts to strengthen vigilance and surveillance activities amid China's rise.

The SDF's overseas activities are strictly limited under the country's war-renouncing Constitution.

At the talks, the four ministers also discussed a bilateral pact aimed at facilitating joint exercises between their troops and cooperation to maintain supply chains of crucial materials, the officials said.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/09/national/politics-diplomacy/japan-australia-taiwan/

#13855474 at 2021-06-08 09:49:53 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13855472

2/2

'Unconscionable' to leave translators in Afghanistan

Retired admiral Chris Barrie said Australia had a "very serious" obligation to take care of vulnerable translators when military forces were withdrawn later this year.

"It would be unconscionable to leave these people to the mercy of the Taliban," he said.

"We must do something to help them."

The Prime Minister said the government was working urgently to provide protection to Afghan translators, like the man, who fear for their safety.

Scott Morrison said it was a sensitive matter but recognised the government had to move "swiftly".

"We are very aware of it and we are working urgently and steadfastly and patiently to ensure that we do this in the appropriate way as we have done on earlier occasions," he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said she spoke about the matter on a recent visit to Kabul, and the government was "keen" to support all eligible translators.

Translator awaiting fresh decision on visa application

In 2013 the translator applied for an Australian humanitarian visa, which was rejected almost five years later on character grounds by then-Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

That decision was overturned in May last year by the full bench of the Federal Court which found Mr Dutton had not sufficiently weighed up the translator's claim that his wife and child would be killed by the Taliban.

"Had the Minister concluded that the risk that the wife and child would be murdered by jihadists was outweighed by the risk that the appellant might cause harm to the Australian community because of sympathetic links to the same jihadists, the Minister could reasonably be expected to have said so," the justices concluded.

"It is apparent that there was no meaningful engagement given to the assertions made by the declarants concerning the appellant's family.

"[Minister Dutton's decision] neither acknowledges nor grapples with the extraordinary circumstance that the work the appellant had undertaken with the ADF in Afghanistan was said to have placed his family members at risk of being murdered."

Lawyers for the Afghan father resubmitted another visa application in September, seven years after his first attempt, but a decision is yet to be made.

Now-Defence Minister, Peter Dutton said through a spokeswoman "the Australian government recognises the important service of Afghan employees, including interpreters, to our contribution in Afghanistan".

"We are committed to the safety of all personnel working for the Australian government in Afghanistan."

The spokeswoman added that locally engaged Afghan employees who are at risk of harm due to their employment were eligible for resettlement.

"They can apply for humanitarian visas to Australia and are given the highest visa processing priority."

A group of lawyers and other migration experts led by veteran Glenn Kolomeitz is now offering to help the government process paperwork for the former interpreters once they are safely evacuated from Afghanistan.

"If they can get them to possibly Kabul but more likely the United Arab Emirates, we can have a team over there to start acting, representing these people, processing their paperwork," he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-08/australian-soldiers-afghan-translators-threatened-taliban/100196610

#13848191 at 2021-06-07 08:21:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13833648
USS Canberra a shiny new symbol of US-Australia relations

Matthew Cranston - Jun 6, 2021

Washington | A new $US500 million ($645 million) warship christened at the weekend will serve as a symbol for the Australia-US alliance as they celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty.

The USS Canberra - which is the only US Navy ship to be named after a capital city outside the US - was first announced by then-president Donald Trump in 2018 when then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull visited the US.

It was built by Australian-owned Austal.

Mr Trump also presented a model of the USS Canberra to Prime Minister Scott Morrison during his trip to the White House.

It is the second US Navy warship named in honour of the original HMAS Canberra, which was sunk in August 1942 while defending US marines desperately fighting to defend the island of Guadalcanal.

In 2001, then-president George W Bush presented John Howard with the bell from the original USS Canberra.

On Saturday, Australian Ship Commodore Matthew Hudson had to step in for Australian ambassador Arthur Sinodinos and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne at the official christening ceremony in Alabama.

"It is apt that in choosing a name for one of its warships the US chose Canberra. It says a lot of the friendship between our two nations that Australia is the only allied country whose capital has been used to name a ship," Commodore Hudson said.

"As Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken said recently, the US and Australia strive for a region that is unconstrained by coercion and anchored by democratic values."

US Navy Rear Admiral Casey Moton said the ship was a symbol of the relationship between the two countries.

"A month after the attack on Pearl Harbour the first contingent of US Navy planners arrived in Darwin to establish planning operations for the south-west Pacific campaign, initiating the island-hopping strategy with which we as allies secured eventual victory," he said.

He quotes then-prime minister John Curtin, saying: "Without any inhibitions of any kind I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America.

"Those words uttered in the dark early days of WWII helped forge the strong bonds that bind Australia together to this day," Rear Admiral Moton said.

The USS Canberra is the 15th of 19 small surface combatants Austal USA is building for the US Navy. Five are under construction at Austal's Mobile ship-building facility in Alabama.

The high-speed, shallow-draft multi-mission ship, known as a littoral combat ship, is capable of operating independently or in a group. As the name suggests, they are designed to defeat growing littoral (close to shore) threats and provide access and dominance along coastal waters. They offer flexibility to execute focused missions such as anti-submarine warfare.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said Austal was "a great example of the business-friendly climate here in Alabama and the ability we have to partner with businesses from Australia or anywhere in the world".

"We pride ourselves on providing an environment where companies like Austal can thrive, and that's exactly what they're doing," Ms Ivey said, "We're proud of Austal, and we're proud of our continued relationship with Australia."

https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/uss-canberra-a-shiny-new-symbol-of-us-australia-relations-20210606-p57yga

#13833655 at 2021-06-05 07:35:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13833648
U.S. Department of Defense Press Release

Navy to Christen Littoral Combat Ship Canberra

JUNE 4, 2021

The Navy will christen its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Canberra (LCS 30), during a 12 p.m. CDT ceremony Saturday, June 5 in Mobile, Ala.

The Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator the Honourable Marise Payne, serves as the ship's sponsor. As she is unable to attend, His Excellency the Honourable Arthur Sinodinos, Australian Ambassador to the United States will deliver the christening ceremony's principal address. Mr. Todd Schafer, acting assistant secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations, and Environment) and Vice Adm. Ricky Williamson, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics (N4) will also provide remarks. In a time-honored Navy tradition, the Australian Ambassador's wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Sinodinos, will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow on behalf of Foreign Minister Payne.

"Tomorrow we christen the second USS Canberra named for the great capital city of Australia, our stalwart ally and superb naval partner," said acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker. "In so doing we move one step closer to welcoming a new ship to Naval service and transitioning the platform from a mere hull number to a ship with a name and spirit. There is no doubt future Sailors aboard this ship will carry on the same values of honor, courage and commitment upheld by crews from an earlier vessel that bore this name."

LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. The platform is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence.

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom-variant and the Independence-variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The Independence-variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).

LCS 30 is the 15th Independence-variant LCS and 30th in class. It is the second ship named in honor of the city of Canberra. The first USS Canberra (CA 70) was laid down as USS Pittsburgh on Sept. 3, 1941 and renamed Canberra on Oct. 15, 1942. She was named in honor of the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra, which sank after receiving heavy damage during the Battle of Savo Island. CA 70 was the first U.S. Navy cruiser named for a foreign capital. USS Canberra (CA 70) received seven battle stars for her service in World War II. In May 1958, Canberra served as the ceremonial flagship for the selection of the Unknown Serviceman of World War II and Korea. Canberra was decommissioned in a ceremony on Feb. 2, 1970, at the San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard. One of her propellers is preserved at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, while the ship's bell was donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum in 2001.

Media may direct queries to the Navy Office of Information at (703) 697-5342. More information on the Littoral Combat Ship Program can be found at:

https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2171607/littoral-combat-ship-class-lcs/

https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2646551/navy-to-christen-littoral-combat-ship-canberra/

#13833648 at 2021-06-05 07:34:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

U.S. Navy to christen USS Canberra littoral combat ship on Saturday

UPI Defense News - JUNE 4, 2021

June 4 (UPI) – The U.S. Navy's newest littoral combat ship, to be called USS Canberra, will have its christening ceremony on Saturday in Mobile, Ala., its maker, Austal USA, said on Friday.

While the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne is the ship's sponsor, Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's ambassador to the United States, will deliver the principal address at the 1pm EDT ceremony, the Navy said Friday in a press release.

"Tomorrow we christen the second USS Canberra, named for the great capital city of Australia, our stalwart ally and superb naval partner," acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker said in the Navy's release.

Armed with guns and missiles, and capable of carrying helicopters, 412-foot-long littoral combat ships are small, fast surface warships designed to operate in near-shore environments, countering submarines, mines and small craft.

Independence-class vessels, which include the USS Canberra, feature a trimaran hull design, which differs from the steel/aluminum monohull of the Freedom class.

Construction of the vessel began in 2019.

The ceremony at noon on Saturday will be livestreamed on Facebook.

Built by Austal USA in Mobile, it is the first LCS launched by the company this year, and the first to be launched from the shipyards' new floating dry dock, the company said.

It is the second U.S. Navy ship named after in honor of the HMAS Canberra, a Royal Australian Navy heavy cruiser that was sunk in the Battle of Savo Island at the start of the Guadalcanal campaign in World War II.

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/06/04/navy-lcs-canberra-usscanberra-christening/2931622834453/

https://www.facebook.com/AustalUSA/posts/2905144529725513

#13793334 at 2021-05-30 18:47:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13764374
Australian Yang Hengjun proclaims his innocence after Chinese espionage trial

Bill Birtles - 30 May 2021

An Australian citizen tried for espionage in Beijing last week has told supporters he's "100 per cent innocent" and still isn't sure which country he's accused of spying for.

Yang Hengjun conveyed a message to family and supporters on Friday, a day after he was tried behind closed doors in Beijing.

The 56-year-old one-time employee of China's state security agencies and former online political writer also speculated that forced confessions and rough treatment he endured while in detention showed that someone may be "taking revenge" on him.

Since being pounced upon by state security agents at a southern Chinese airport in early 2019, Dr Yang's case has been shrouded in secrecy.

Australian diplomats and his Shanghai-based Chinese wife were barred from observing his trial and authorities have gagged his lawyers from sharing any information about it.

But his message from prison gives the clearest insight yet into the process.

Dr Yang says he was taken from his prison to the court at 6:00am, supposedly to "avoid traffic".

Dressed from head to toe in a full PPE suit, mask and goggles despite Beijing's successful containment of COVID-19, he waited three hours for the trial to begin and said he was "tired and confused" during the hearing.

Dr Yang also said he'd had a pre-trial meeting with the judge three days earlier in which he unsuccessfully requested his interrogation records from the first six months be disallowed as evidence.

"It's illegal. Torture. They had hidden camera records. I will ask the Chinese government to provide the truth," he's quoted as saying, referring to the first six months when he was being held incommunicado in what he described as a "really bad period".

Under China's law, investigators are able to cut off a suspect from lawyers and the outside world and interrogate them under what's called RSDL - Residential Surveillance at a Designation Location.

One of his supporters, UTS Chinese studies academic Feng Chongyi, says using evidence gathered under duress violated China's own criminal law.

"Yang's request to exclude interrogation records under torture during RSDL deserves special attention," he said.

China's criminal procedure law states: "The use of torture to extract confessions is strictly prohibited, as are threats, enticement, trickery and other illegal methods of gathering evidence; no person may be compelled to prove his own guilt."

The crime of espionage carries a sentence of anywhere from three years to the death penalty, and the secrecy around the specific offence has left all but those in the courtroom in the dark about a potential sentence.

In his message, Dr Yang alludes to his previous role working for China's government, which supporters say he abandoned before moving to Australia in the early 2000s.

He later became prominent as a political writer who advocated for democracy, although he wasn't regarded as a dissident and made multiple trips to China.

"I served China when I was young, even secretly, and I helped people," he's quoted as saying.

"This isn't a crime of ideology. The charges are about espionage. But who did I work for?

"I didn't work for Australia or the US. I'm only writing for people. Writing for the rule of law, democracy and freedom," he said.

After diplomats were denied access to the trial in breach of a bilateral agreement, Foreign Minister Marise Payne dubbed Dr Yang's case "arbitrary detention".

"The Australian government has stated a number of times the fundamental importance of procedural fairness, basic standards of justice and international legal obligations," Senator Payne said.

Dr Yang also expressed concern that the current poor bilateral relations may affect the verdict and sentence, which is expected before mid-July but could be delayed.

"I hope Australia can keep communicating with China on good terms to help bring about my release as soon as possible," he's quoted as saying.

"I will keep writing to help China, to promote the rule of law and to help China be strong, prosperous and respectable."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-30/yang-hengjun-message-from-chinese-jail-to-supporters/100177254

#13780350 at 2021-05-29 02:34:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13764374
Payne labels Yang's trial a case of arbitrary detention

Eryk Bagshaw - May 28, 2021

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has labelled jailed Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun's trial a case of arbitrary detention, escalating Australia's response to Beijing as he awaits a verdict on charges of espionage.

Australia's ambassador to China Graham Fletcher was on Thursday denied entry to the Beijing courthouse where Yang was being held in a closed-door trial, a move Australia claimed was a breach of China's treaty obligations.

Fletcher said on Thursday the embassy believed Yang was being held under arbitrary detention, where a person is charged without due process or evidence, but the statement from Payne elevates the allegation to an official government position.

"Given our enduring concerns about this case, including the lack of detail as to the charges and the investigation made available to Dr Yang and to Australia, we consider this to be an instance of arbitrary detention of an Australian citizen," Payne said on Friday.

It is the first time Australia has named China in an arbitrary detention case since diplomatic relations between the trading partners started to sour. In February, Australia signed a declaration against the use of arbitrary detention in state-to-state relations with 55 international partners, but did not name China.

Yang's treatment has been linked to deepening diplomatic animosity between China and Australia after two years of public hostility over national security, human rights and trade.

The writer had spent a decade in Australia pushing for democratic reforms in China and criticising economic policy and corruption within the Chinese Communist Party after earlier working for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. He was visiting China after working in business and academia in the US when he was detained in 2019.

The one-day trial ended on Thursday with the court deferring its verdict and sentence. The 56-year-old now faces months waiting for either outcome, more than two years after he was forced from a plane into detention by Chinese authorities.

The Chinese criminal justice system has a 99 per cent conviction rate. Yang faces a sentence ranging from 3 years in jail to death under the national security charges.

In his final message to his family and supporters released on Wednesday, Yang said that if the "worst comes to the worst, please explain to the people inside China what I did, and the significance of my writing to people in China".

Payne said since Yang's detention in January 2019, the government has repeated the importance of procedural fairness, basic standards of justice and international legal obligations. She confirmed embassy staff had visited Yang on Friday.

"Following today's trial, we renew our calls for China to uphold these principles," she said. "These are well-accepted principles of legal process. Seeking their observation does not amount to interference in the Chinese legal system."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Thursday night said China firmly opposed Australia's "unjustifiable obstruction" in China's handling of the case and its gross interference in China's judicial sovereignty.

"Chinese law stipulates that the cases involving national secrets shall not be tried in an open court or sat in by anyone," he said.

"Currently, the case is under trial and the court will pronounce judgement when the case is closed."

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/Payne-labels-yang-s-trial-a-case-of-arbitrary-detention-20210528-p57w82.html

#13779858 at 2021-05-29 01:35:49 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

Australia's Holy See ambassador under fire for saying she wants to change 'narrative' away from George Pell

Abuse survivors say Chiara Porro should be working to avoid a repeat of the child abuse scandal exposed by the royal commission

Christopher Knaus - 29 May 2021

The new ambassador to the Holy See told a Catholic publication that her aim was to change the Vatican's "narrative" about Australia away from the child abuse royal commission and cardinal George Pell - comments that have infuriated abuse survivors.

In an interview with Catholic Health Australia in September, the newly appointed ambassador Chiara Porro spoke of a recent audience with the Pope, during which she raised the work local Catholic groups were doing on health and education.

She then said: "You know whenever people [in the Vatican] think of Australia they think immediately about cardinal Pell and the royal commission.

"So my aim here is to change that narrative."

The comments, which have since forced a clarification from the foreign affairs minister, angered abuse survivors, who say Australia's ambassador, as a representative of all Australians, should be raising the royal commission as often as possible to help avoid a repeat of the horrific child abuse scandal it exposed.

"Our embassy isn't flying Australia's flag, it's flying the Vatican's flag," one survivor, who requested anonymity, said.

"The frustration is that the ambassador isn't just sitting on the fence, but actively working to ... change the narrative, to divert the attention away from the negative things that happened in the church.

"It's so annoying to watch because the ambassador's job is to try to fix the problems identified by the royal commission."

The foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has since distanced the government from the ambassador's comments.

In response to questions on notice from Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, Payne said the ambassador's words did not reflect the position of the Australian government.

Payne said that neither she nor her department had told Porro that, upon arriving at the Vatican, her aim should be to "change that narrative" away from cardinal Pell and the royal commission.

Pell left a senior position at the Vatican in 2017 to face charges that he sexually molested two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral in 1996. He was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to six years in prison, but the conviction was thrown out by Australia's high court in April last year, which unanimously found there was reasonable doubt in the testimony of his lone accuser.

Porro, a career diplomat and practicing Catholic, was appointed ambassador last year, around the time of her half-hour meeting with Pope Francis.

She also told Catholic Health Australia that she had sought the Pope's views on "how to engage youth, when there is such a crisis of confidence in the Catholic church, particularly in Australia" and how to go about "regaining trust and re-establishing those links".

In the same interview, Porro acknowledged it was not her role to represent the views of the Catholic church in Australia.

She said her role was to represent "the Australian government" and "all Australians".

"I'm here to be able to provide that bridge to the Holy See. There's lots of erroneous reporting [about the Vatican], so where I can try to explain certain things I will."

The department of foreign affairs and trade was approached for a further clarification of Porro's comments.

A spokeswoman said the ambassador had not intended to detract from the importance of the royal commission, or suggest that the Australian government wanted to help the church engage Australian youth.

"Rather, she was emphasising that Australia has a broad relationship with the Holy See and that her responsibilities are to put forward the interests of Australia across the breadth of that relationship," the spokeswoman said.

Australia has had resident ambassadors to the Holy See since 2008.

Porro is the fourth to hold the position, after former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, barrister John McCarthy, and diplomat Melissa Hitchman.

Prior to 2008, the role was typically handled by Australia's ambassador to Ireland.

Survivors say the department should discipline the ambassador by removing her from the post.

"The ambassador should have been pulled into line and told you are not there to work for the church, you are there to work for Australia and the thousands of Australian children abused in the church," the survivor said.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/29/australias-holy-see-ambassador-under-fire-for-saying-she-wants-to-change-narrative-away-from-george-pell

https://www.aph.gov.au/api/qon/downloadquestions/Question-ParliamentNumber46-QuestionNumber3546

#13773053 at 2021-05-28 08:34:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13764374
>>13764382
Closed-door trial of Yang Jun's espionage case 'a common practice,' Canberra urged not to interfere: FM

Xu Keyue - May 27, 2021

The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that a Beijing court on Thursday heard the case of Chinese-Australian Yang Jun, or Yang Hengjun, who is charged with espionage, and the court will give its verdict at a later date.

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the ministry, said at a press conference on Thursday that as state secrets are involved, the trial is not heard in public or attended by spectators according to law, which is also a common practice in many countries.

The Second Branch of the People's Procuratorate of the Beijing Municipality initiated the prosecution against Yang, a Chinese-born Australian writer, to the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court on October 7.

China is firmly opposed to Australia's gross unjustifiable interference in its handling of the case and its judicial sovereignty, Zhao stressed. He noted that China has lodged solemn representations to Australia.

According to Chinese law, cases related to state secrets are not heard in public and no one is allowed to attend, as is the practice of counterparts in many countries, which is legal and reasonable, Zhao said.

The relevant Chinese departments are handling the case strictly in line with laws, fully ensuring and protecting Yang's legal rights, and fully respecting and implementing the relevant Australian personnel's right to visit and receive consular notification, Zhao said.

Under Chinese law, individuals convicted of espionage can be sentenced to between three years and life in prison, depending on severity of the cases.

Zhao's remarks came after Graham Fletcher, Australia's Ambassador to China, said earlier Thursday that he had been denied entry to the Beijing court.

Australian media outlet the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday quoted Fletcher as saying that "Unfortunately, we have just been denied entry to the court. The reason given was because of the pandemic situation, but the [Chinese] Foreign Ministry has also told us it is because it is a national security case. Therefore, we are not permitted to attend it."

"This is deeply regrettable and concerning and unsatisfactory," said Fletcher, accusing the case of "lack of transparency" and "an instance of arbitrary detention."

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in a statement on Friday made a similar complaint. The Chinese embassy in Australia responded by calling Payne's statement "deplorable."

Refuting the Australian politicians' claims, Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the research center for Pacific island countries of Liaocheng University in East China's Shandong Province, told the Global Times on Thursday that Yang's case falls within the scope of domestic law, and foreign countries have no right to interfere in the case.

Their remarks violated the basic principles of international law on sovereign state relations and have interfered in China's judicial sovereignty, Yu noted.

"If the Canberra really believes in procedural justice, please first give due legal process and conduct a fair trial for Australian aboriginal victims of the genocide," Yu said.

China-Australia relations have been on the decline for about two years, which resulted from Australia's politicization of economic and cultural relations with China, said Yu. "This has nothing to do with Yang's case," Yu said.

Amnesty International, a UK-based international non-governmental organization focused on so-called human rights, claimed on Wednesday that Yang's espionage charge is "totally baseless" and "politically motivated" as Yang had written articles critical of the Chinese government.

Yu pointed out such NGOs are often influenced by their donors and they are merely serving as "public stunt" for some Western power under the guise of so-called human rights.

"In terms of Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo issues, its righteous voice is hardly heard," Yu said.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224715.shtml

#13773026 at 2021-05-28 08:17:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13773025

2/2

Fourth, we know serious concerns existed about security at the institute. In late 2017 the US embassy in Beijing flagged these worries in a cable reporting there was "a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory". The embassy was so worried it wanted Washington to help China improve the laboratory's biosecurity. The proposal was never acted on.

Fifth, we know the Wuhan institute was presenting itself as a civilian institution, but a US intelligence judgment reported by Donald Trump's secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, in January was that "the WIV has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017".

Six, a point highlighted in the WHO-China Study, the WIV-linked Chinese Centre for Disease Control laboratory moved on December 2, 2019, to a new location near the Huanan wet market. The study dryly states, "Such moves can be disruptive for the operations of any laboratory."

The seventh point is that it seems at least three workers at the WIV fell ill with Covid-19-like symptoms some time before the first publicly known cases emerged in December 2019. This was mentioned by Pompeo in January and is being bolstered, according to The New York Times, with corroborating information from non-US sources.

Finally, there is the remarkable CCP cover-up of the whole issue: the fatuous claims that Covid-19 was planted by US military personnel visiting Wuhan, or arrived on frozen salmon; the refusal to hand over samples of the original virus as opposed to the genomic sequence; the refusal to grant access to the WIV until the tightly stage-managed WHO-China Study visit on February 3; the over-the-top attempts to prevent international access to research the virus; and the hysterical denunciation of Scott Morrison's request for a credible international examination.

It is almost as though Xi has something to hide.

Put these elements together and it becomes clear that China was working on coronaviruses, was interested in biological weapons, had thought about how to fight with them and had sufficiently shoddy processes to make the laboratory accident scenario a real possibility.

Something else we should be clear about is that once the virus was released, the CCP instantly weaponised its use. It allowed international flights out of Wuhan for weeks while countries dithered about closing borders.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Marise Payne on January 30 last year, "Given the current situation, the epidemic is generally preventable, controllable and curable." This was at precisely the time China was stripping stocks of medical equipment and protective gear from Australia and other democracies.

Again to speculate: I suspect Biden has a clear sense about what his intelligence review will find. We are getting closer to uncovering the reality of what happened in Wuhan. The truth could force a rethink about how the democratic world deals with Xi's China, and domestically Xi's legitimacy as the people's hero in the struggle against Covid-19 will take a significant blow.

Peter Jennings is executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former deputy secretary for strategy in the Department of Defence.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/eight-reasons-i-think-covid-escaped-from-the-lab/news-story/f8f279fc6cc2bcd5cff6f69a39da5928

#13764374 at 2021-05-27 08:43:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

China's trial of Yang Hengjun begins with Australia's ambassador denied access

Sarah Zheng and Linda Lew - 27 May, 2021

1/2

Australian diplomats were denied access to the closed-door trial of Chinese-born Australian writer Yang Hengjun on espionage charges in Beijing on Thursday, in a high-profile case that looks set to put further strain on relations between the two countries.

There was tight security around Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court on Thursday morning as Australia's ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, was prevented from watching the proceedings, with the Covid-19 pandemic given as the reason.

"This is deeply regrettable and concerning and unsatisfactory," he told reporters outside the court, adding that the Chinese foreign ministry had also said it would not be able to access the trial because the case involved national security.

"We've had long-standing concerns about this case, including the lack of transparency, and therefore have concluded that it is an instance of arbitrary detention."

Fletcher said that Yang's condition was "fine", and that the Australian government had been informed about the trial date late last week.

He said that consular officials had access to Yang last month, and would continue to provide support to him and his family. He denied that the case would affect China-Australia relations.

If found guilty - which is likely given China's 99.9 per cent conviction rate - Yang, who has been in detention for more than two years, faces between three years and life in prison.

Australia's government has pushed for its officials to be allowed access to the trial but without success. Foreign Minister Marise Payne said last week that Canberra had raised its concerns over the treatment of Yang and the "lack of procedural fairness in how his case has been managed", including depriving him of access to his family and allowing only limited access to legal representation, and the lack of evidence for the espionage charge.

Payne said on Australian radio on Thursday that Yang's treatment had been "difficult" and that she hoped for a fair process for the writer.

"I very much hope that we have a transparent and open process," Payne told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio programme AM. "We're not interfering in China's legal system; the concerns we have raised are legitimate ones. But we do expect those basic international standards of justice to be met.

"We have not seen any explanation or evidence for the charges that have been brought against him."

(continued)

#13764361 at 2021-05-27 08:30:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

>>13748272
Coronavirus lab leak theory not ruled out by Australia

Andrew Tillett - May 27, 2021

Australian officials continue to believe that the coronavirus emerged naturally but they do not discount the possibility of a laboratory leak, after US President Joe Biden ordered intelligence agencies to re-examine how the pandemic originated.

Mr Biden has set a three-month deadline after US intelligence agencies were divided over whether the virus originated from human contact with an infected animal or was the product of an accident at Wuhan's Institute of Virology in China.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she welcomed Mr Biden's announcement and noted the "contested" views among the US agencies, one of which believed the lab leak was the most plausible source.

"We've been consistent about the need to identify the origins to ensure a pandemic doesn't happen again and to ensure we are all better prepared," Senator Payne told the ABC.

"We will continue to work with our international partners, including the United States, with whom we share concerns on this."

Government sources said Australian intelligence agencies believed the virus crossed over from animals to humans naturally, although the possibility of a lab accident could not be ruled out.

A senior source said Mr Biden's announcement was significant because earlier attempts to raise the lab leak theory got caught up in "anti-Trump politics" after the former US administration pushed that line of thought.

"People floating this as a possibility previously were dismissed as conspiracy theorists and now we've got no less than the President of the US and a Democrat addressing it as a genuine possibility," the source said.

"Until it can be proved it was natural origin, then we've got to keep our mind open it could have been a lab accident. Natural origin has its nose ahead but can't say much more than that."

The source said the idea the virus had been created as a "bioweapon", a theory given publicity by elements of News Corporation, was doubtful. Instead, scientists could have been conducting research on treating and preventing coronaviruses, only to have it escape accidentally. "It's much more likely it was completely innocent."

World Health Organisation investigators said in February that the lab leak theory was "extremely unlikely", but there has been criticism that China's lack of transparency hampered the inquiry.

In recent weeks, scientists have also spoken out that a lab accident remained plausible and should be investigated, and there have been media reports based on US intelligence that several researchers at the Wuhan institute were sick with coronavirus-like symptoms in November 2019.

'Roaring back into fashion'

Richard McGregor, a China expert at the Lowy Institute, said the lab leak theory had "come roaring back into fashion".

"Everything about the COVID-19 origin story is sensitive for the Chinese, whether it came through the wet markets or the lab nearby, they do not want to take responsibility for it or be landed with responsibility for it," he said.

"This is becoming an issue for China of sovereignty and standing up to the West, and once that happens the science gets sidelined."

China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday critics were obsessed with "spreading lab leak theories and other conspiracy theories and disinformation".

"For some people in the US, what they say is 'facts', but what is really on their mind is political manipulation," a spokesman said.

"Every time when the issue of pandemic is brought up, they smear and attack China, while totally ignoring the doubts over the origin-tracing work and failure of pandemic response in the US."

Senator Payne's early call for an independent investigation into the outbreak of the pandemic had angered Beijing and triggered trade sanctions against more than $20 billion of Australian exports.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/lab-leak-theory-not-ruled-out-by-australia-20210527-p57vlv

#13748743 at 2021-05-25 08:36:05 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

Embassy in Kabul packs up as troops prepare to leave

AMANDA HODGE and BEN PACKHAM - MAY 25, 2021

1/2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(continued)

#13741346 at 2021-05-24 09:32:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#15 - Part 18
Australia / China Tensions - Part 6
>>13658147 Video: Australia and the US demonstrate 'democracy delivers': Payne - Sky News Australia
>>13658148 Video: Marise Payne calls for an end to Gaza violence - Sky News Australia
>>13658777 Peter Dutton's 'shadow aggression' talks with global allies - Defence Minister to visit United States and Japan
>>13658933 Global Times editor Hu Xijin warns of missile attack on Australian soil
>>13658947 Hu Xijin Tweet: Preparing for war? Then build an anti-missile system! I believe once Australian troops come to Taiwan Strait to combat against the PLA, there is a high probability that Chinese missiles will fly toward military bases and key relevant facilities on Australian soil in retaliation
>>13658947 Hu Xijin Tweet: Is there any chance that China-US relations can be used as bargaining chip given how bad it's already become? Your coercion against China is meaningless, but your coaxing may work with Australia
>>13671798 Opinion: Defence spending needs to match the risk of conflict now - Peter Jennings, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
>>13674100 Video: Three Reasons Why Australia Dares To Stand Up To The CCP - Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng
>>13700239 Australia has become even keener US 'deputy' - Bruce Haigh - chinadaily.com.cn

>>13700263 Talk of China war 'a political strategy', says Penny Wong
>>13700295 Australia urged to abandon ideological prejudice against China: Foreign Ministry - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13700295 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 18, 2021
>>13708152 Who's to blame for worsening China-Australia relations? - Qin Sheng - globaltimes.cn
>>13717930 Australian Signals Directorate: China could have ordered Huawei to shut down Australia's 5G network
>>13717930 Huawei? No way! Why Australia banned the world's biggest telecoms firm
>>13718126 Australian writer Yang Hengjun to face court in China next Thursday over espionage charge
>>13718277 Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Statement on Dr Yang Hengjun
>>13733239 China says Foreign Minister Marise Payne's request for access to detained writer 'deplorable'
>>13733239 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks - "The Australian side should respect China's judicial sovereignty"

#13741345 at 2021-05-24 09:32:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#15 - Part 17
Australia / China Tensions - Part 5
>>13608366 Beijing praises New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in between blasts at the "insane" Morrison government
>>13609317 OPINION: Ill-disciplined chest-thumping has put war at centre of what's left of the Australia-China relationship - Kevin Rudd
>>13609517 Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu backs hardening of Morrison government's rhetoric towards China, says Taiwan is preparing for a 'final assault' by Beijing
>>13609758 Australian imports to China slow down as decoupling accelerates - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>13609784 China's April imports from Australia rise 49.3%, but a trade decoupling is imminent amid icy relations - Li Xuanmin and Yin Yeping - globaltimes.cn
>>13609963 Global Times Facebook Post: #China suspends economic dialogue with #Australia, marking the first time a diplomatic mechanism was frozen amid souring ties
>>13609963 INFOGRAPHIC: Aussie misdeeds disrupt China-Australia relations - Deng Zijun - globaltimes.cn
>>13609998 China needs to make a plan to deter extreme forces of Australia - Hu Xijin - globaltimes.cn - "The plan should include long-range strikes on the military facilities and relevant key facilities on Australian soil"
>>13618380 Editor of pro-Communist Global Times newspaper, Hu Xijin, advises Beijing to bomb Australia and bring "disaster" should Canberra support US military action
>>13618429 - Military conflict with China: Thinking the unthinkable - Australians aren't used to a defence minister like Peter Dutton speaking to us like adults

>>13618441 'Outstandingly stupid act': can Australia actually defend itself? - Gaps in our capabilities that must be filled immediately - Michael Shoebridge, ASPI
>>13625963 Australian media slammed for twisting open book as 'evidence' of 'China weaponizing COVID-19' - Liu Caiyu and Lou Kang - globaltimes.cn
>>13626133 For whom do Canberra's war drums beat - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn
>>13633893 Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying says the country did not develop, research or produce bio-weapons
>>13633895 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on May 10, 2021
>>13634048 Japanese Ambassador to Australia encourages South Australia to export more wine to Japan to counter the loss from the Chinese market
>>13642264 'Battle ready': Australia's warning to China in Federal Budget - investing $270 billion over 10 years in defence capability
>>13642368 China accuses Australia of 'pathological obsession' with war, claims the Morrison government destroyed the bilateral relationship to appease its American "masters"
>>13642374 "After eating, Australian politicians made the wrong calculation (Observatory)" - Li Jiabao, People's Daily Overseas Edition - people.com.cn
>>13650331 ScoMo says preparing for war with China is doing his job, backs Peter Dutton in warning Australians that we need to be prepared for military conflict with China

>>13650344 Former NSW Labor staffer John Zhang loses High Court battle over validity of warrants used to seize his property
>>13650347 GT Voice: Canberra's defense spending means economic carnage - globaltimes.cn
>>13650379 Japan embarks on joint military maneuvers with US, France, Australia - ARC21
>>13650382 Joint drill by US, allies on Japanese land insignificant: analysts - Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan - globaltimes.cn
>>13658111 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Australia will not be left alone to face China coercion
>>13658120 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia and the United States) are the closest of friends & allies. @SecBlinken & I reaffirmed our commitment to a stable, secure & open #IndoPacific.
>>13658125 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Great to meet with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today to discuss our ongoing commitment to the health, security, and prosperity of the #IndoPacific. We look forward to celebrating the 70th anniversary of #ANZUS alongside our friend and ally Australia later this year. #USwithAUS
>>13658134 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Met with @NSAGov @JakeSullivan46 in Washington DC to reaffirm our nations' shared commitment to a strong, independent & secure #IndoPacific region & the critical importance of the Quad & vaccination cooperation including through #COVAX
>>13658137 Marise Payne and Antony Blinken call for 'real transparency' from China on Covid origins
>>13658141 Foreign Minister Marise Payne: US-Australia alliance should embolden others on China

#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

#13741341 at 2021-05-24 09:31:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#15 - Part 15
Australia / China Tensions - Part 3
>>13498959 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern savaged as British Parliament declares treatment of Uighurs 'genocide', Australia praised for its actions
>>13499300 Victoria's China deal was done through Premier Daniel Andrews' office, not the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources
>>13499309 'Insidious': Former ASIO boss Duncan Lewis warns on Chinese interference in Australia (2019)
>>13499394 Australia tearing up formal Belt and Road deal has little exemplary effect - Shen Yujia - globaltimes.cn
>>13499403 GT Voice: Australia in over its head with provocative action - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13499411 Australia's continued escalation of tensions prompts Chinese companies' diversification drive - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>13500664 Australian defense minister's comments against China confuse right and wrong: Chinese FM - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13500664 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 23, 2021
>>13500714 Push to cut more Chinese accords - Foreign Minister Marise Payne urged to tear up China's Confucius Institute agreements and NT government's 99-year Port of Darwin lease
>>13500719 Time to face down the wolf warriors: Beijing's threats require a united, measured and calm response - Peter Jennings - theaustralian.com.au

>>13515337 Defence Minister Peter Dutton: war with China over Taiwan "should not be discounted" - Potential China war sees audit of deals, including Port of Darwin
>>13515342 Academic Jane Golley backtracks on "anonymous article" casting doubt over human rights abuses in Xinjiang
>>13515355 Australian fruits face delays at Chinese ports due to strict anti-virus inspections: sources - Yin Yeping - globaltimes.cn
>>13517899 'Get ready to fight for our liberty,' Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo
>>13517916 The drums of war are growing louder - Michael Pezzullo - theaustralian.com.au
>>13522368 Video: China says Australia must stick to 'One China' policy after Peter Dutton warns of conflict over Taiwan independence
>>13522384 Australia inflates presence on Taiwan question to show loyalty to US - Li Qingqing - globaltimes.cn
>>13522393 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 26, 2021
>>13522425 Academic's mea culpa on China Uighur abuse comments - Jane Golley - theaustralian.com.au
>>13522894 People's Liberation Army Major General Jin Yinan mocks Australia as 'white supremacist'

>>13529854 Video: 'Drums of war' warnings spread across the world to British news - Sky News Australia
>>13529868 'Drums of war beating' warns Australia as China tension grows - Page 1, The Times Newspaper, UK - April 28 2021
>>13529891 Northern Territory bases' $747m boost after 'drums of war' warning
>>13529937 China says Australia is 'sick', needs to 'take medicine' after Morrison government's most senior diplomat said Beijing wanted to compromise key Australian interests
>>13529942 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 27, 2021
>>13529959 GT Voice: Spiraling of Canberra moves against Chinese interests to backfire - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13530313 Victoria's axed Belt deal 'not end of the road', says Victoria's Acting Premier James Merlino
>>13530328 Deal on Darwin Port under the shadows of Australian politicians - Ai Jun - globaltimes.cn
>>13530344 Let war games begin: ADF training bases upgraded in major strategic step-up aimed at expanding "war gaming" with the US and defending the Indo-Pacific
>>13539534 Prime Minister says no security concerns raised with him about Darwin Port lease to Chinese company Landbridge

#13741340 at 2021-05-24 09:30:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#15 - Part 14
Australia / China Tensions - Part 2
>>13408002 Mike Pompeo Tweet: As a proponent of freedom, enjoying some Taiwanese dried pineapple. Checkmate.
>>13408018 Like Australian wine, Taiwanese pineapples have been targeted by Beijing. If democracies are to stand up to Chinese coercion, they will have to join forces.
>>13408224 'Bewitched' Vicky Xu who fabricates Xinjiang story stokes anti-China sentiment in Australia - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>13414624 Will Australia interfere with NZ's China policy? - Qin Sheng - globaltimes.cn
>>13414892 Australia's exports to China hit new highs - Strong demand for iron ore offsets Beijing's strikes on coal, wine, lobster, timber and barley
>>13429600 The true story of how Jackie Chan and Kevin Rudd met as labourers
>>13445558 Congressman Mike Gallagher Tweet: In light of the CCP's insane tariffs on Australia, we have a duty as mates to drink Australian wine (and Wisconsin beer)
>>13445558 Arthur Sinodinos AO Tweet: Australian wine and Wisconsin beer, an unbeatable combination. Thanks Mike Gallagher a great friend of Australia and decent, humane universal values
>>13452467 Canberra prepares for Taiwan conflict as tensions escalate
>>13460303 Do allies still have strong trust in US security commitment? - Tian Jingling - globaltimes.cn

>>13477187 Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Xining's stinging attack over Huawei - Accuses Australia of turning other countries against China
>>13477192 Video: Senior Chinese diplomat accuses Australia and US of 'conniving' on Huawei ban - Sky News Australia
>>13477194 Video: Chinese diplomat quotes Churchill while defending Chinese sovereignty 0- Sky News Australia
>>13477274 Washington the one undermining Five Eyes solidarity - Zhou Fangyin - globaltimes.cn
>>13477600 Video: Top China academic Professor Jane Golley casts doubt over Chinese human rights abuses in Xinjiang
>>13485007, >>13485013 Victoria's Belt and Road deal with China torn up - April 21, 2021
>>13485018 Decisions under Australia's Foreign Arrangements Scheme - Senator the Hon Marise Payne - Media release - 21 April 2021
>>13485027 Federal government swoops in and cancels controversial Belt and Roads deal - Sky News Australia
>>13485031 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks - "We express our strong displeasure and resolute opposition to the Australian Foreign Minister's announcement on April 21"
>>13485037 China criticises Australia's 'provocative' decision to tear up Victoria's Belt and Road agreement

>>13485047 Video: Beijing hits back as Marise Payne cancels Daniel Andrews' Belt and Road agreements
>>13485059 Scrapping BRI deal will hurt Australia: Chinese Embassy - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13485065 Australia faces serious consequences for unreasonable provocation against China over BRI deals: observer - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13485072, >>13485075 Belt and Road Initiative: Inside Daniel Andrews' secret China deal
>>13485161, >>13485166 Video: Meet Jean Dong - Dan Andrews and China's Aussie influencer - "Journey of Influence" (2020)
>>13485169 Chinese pageant winner Jean Dong's meteoric journey to influence (2020)
>>13485324 Australia was blindsided when Five Eyes ally New Zealand backed away from China criticism
>>13493224 Hu Xijin Tweet (China state-affiliated media): A formal agreement has been cancelled so easily. Australians, is your country a uncivilized rogue that deserves stern admonition and punishment?
>>13493238 Australia leads the world confronting China, for better or worse
>>13493500 Video: We will never surrender to Beijing: Defence Minister Peter Dutton

#13741330 at 2021-05-24 09:27:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#15 - Part 5
Australian Politics and Society - Part 5
>>13633861 Army may have to fight next war with pencils and paper - Axing of $2bn battle management system sets back Army's digital transformation by more than 15 years
>>13642424 U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: I had an excellent call with Australia's MoD @PeterDutton_MP. The Unbreakable Alliance has faced all challenges in its first 70 years, and we stand ready with our Australian mates for the challenges of the next 70 and beyond, strengthening the #FreeandopenIndoPacific
>>13642424 U.S. Department of Defense Press Readout: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton by phone today, reaffirming the strength, endurance, and resilience of the U.S.-Australia Alliance - the Unbreakable Alliance
>>13642586 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Good to see Sec @JohnKerry again including to discuss key outcomes from the #ClimateSummit & the $1.1b (Australia) committed to low emissions technology
>>13650206 What is Australia's space division, and why is it in the military?
>>13650406 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Tweet: Appreciated meeting today with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne of Australia. We discussed our nations' efforts to meet shared challenges, from China's aggression to democracy in Burma and counterterrorism in Afghanistan. It was a good conversation with a great ally
>>13658108 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Honoured to meet with @LeaderMcConnell in Washington DC to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing our nations including #IndoPacific cooperation and Myanmar.
>>13658222 Israeli defence company Elbit Systems to fight ADF axing of $2bn battle management system over 'security' fears
>>13658651 'Entirely undemocratic': Bernard Collaery to challenge court order requiring large parts of his trial to be held in secret

>>13658692 Video: Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell arrested during counter-terrorism raid on Melbourne home
>>13659310 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: Our Chargé d'Affaires Mike Goldman accepted the National Emergency Medal yesterday on behalf of the families of the three Americans who tragically died while fighting fires in NSW. Their sacrifice remains a constant reminder of the unbreakable bond between our two nations
>>13664626 Record $1.3bn boost for ASIO's war on spies and hackers - Spy agency will move to an artificial intelligence war footing in a technology arms race
>>13682300 Video: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to host Scott Morrison later this month
>>13682626 'Not a good look': Malcolm Turnbull questions Scott Morrison's red carpet welcome at RAAF Williamtown Base
>>13692528 Carolyn2813928 Tweet - Giant pipes coming out from the ground marked with Masonic symbols - 1829 New World Infrastructure Commission - Australis Project West - Bunbury, WA
>>13717832 Defence declares war on political correctness, bans morning teas aimed at inclusion and diversity - " primary mission to protect Australia's national security interests"
>>13717834 'We are not pursuing a woke agenda': Dutton bans special morning teas at Defence after International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT)
>>13718168, >>13721113 This week in US Politics: Why a meaningless recount in Arizona might be the most important political story of the year

#13741327 at 2021-05-24 09:27:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#15 - Part 4
Australian Politics and Society - Part 4
>>13569679 U.S. Marines Tweet: Joint Forces - The Honorable @ScottMorrisonMP the Prime Minister of Australia, speaks to Maj. David Femea, aviation combat element operations officer and AH-1Z Viper pilot with @MrfDarwin
>>13586735 Video: 'Donald Trump's desk' feed lets people share his posts on their Facebook or Twitter accounts. But it's not the same as him tweeting
>>13586991 U.S. Department of Defense Tweet: Flight mates - A @HiAirGuard F-22 Raptor flies alongside an @AusAirForce E-7A Wedgetail over Oahu, Hawaii
>>13586995 Hawaiian Raptors Fly with RAAF for Exercise Pacific Edge 21
>>13587004 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: Honoured to lay wreaths at the Japanese and Australian War Cemeteries in Cowra. Lest We Forget
>>13595507 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: Great to exchange candid views with Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo AO
>>13595526 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan - Press Release: Japan-Australia Foreign Ministers' Meeting, May 5, 2021
>>13595629 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) & (United Kingdom) bonds are stronger than ever, as our partnership in the #IndoPacific deepens
>>13595634 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) & (France) are close friends in support of multilateralism, the rules-based international order & cooperation in the Indo-Pacific

>>13595643 High Commissioner to the UK George Brandis Tweet: Australia's values are clear, and we are resolute in our defence of liberal democracy
>>13603946 Israeli company denies 'security rumours' as Defence removes multi-billion-dollar technology and quarantines Army IT systems
>>13604022 U.S. Senator Ted Cruz Tweet: Had a great dinner tonight with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He's in great spirits! We spent the evening talking about working together to re-take the House & Senate in 2022.
>>13604022 Malcolm Turnbull Tweet: "re-take the House & Senate in 2022" like you did on 6 January 2021?
>>13604022 Dr. Carter Pewterschmidt Tweet: C'mon Malcolm, you a former PM of Aus? Openly taking sides...?
>>13604022 Malcolm Turnbull Tweet: Are you kidding? Taking sides? Sure, I am on the side of democracy and the rule of law. I am not on the side of armed mobs trying to overturn an election and hang elected officials. Nor am I on the side of the media that enabled it. What "side" are you on?
>>13608464 Royal Australian Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts to become Australia's first space commander
>>13626313 Pacific Marines Tweet: @USMC with @MRFDarwin and members of the @DeptDefence conduct a site survey in preparation for an upcoming exercise on Tiwi Island, Northern Territory
>>13626313 Pacific Marines Tweet: This year marks the 10-year anniversary of #MRFD, demonstrating the U.S. Marine Corps' sustained commitment to the Australian-U.S. alliance, combined strength, and presence in a #freeandopenindopacific

#13741323 at 2021-05-24 09:26:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #16 - INFILTRATION NOT INVASION Edition

#15 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>13460325 Video: New Zealand 'uncomfortable with expanding the remit' of Five Eyes, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta
>>13460336 1st MAW Marines Tweet: VMM-363 and HMLA-367 joined MRF-D and are prepared to respond to crisis and contingencies in a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific
>>13462856 Feeding Hate With Video: A Former Alt-Right YouTuber Explains His Methods - Focus on conflict Feed the algorithm (Lauren Southern)
>>13477230 New Zealand backs "Five Eyes" alliance, but wants human rights raised in broader group
>>13477249 Japan should join Five Eyes intelligence network, says ambassador Shingo Yamagami
>>13477403 Former US intelligence director James Clapper backs Turnbull and Rudd's call for Murdoch media inquiry
>>13477434 Australia's ambition on climate change is held back by a toxic mix of rightwing politics, media and vested interests - Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull - theguardian.com
>>13485324 Australia was blindsided when Five Eyes ally New Zealand backed away from China criticism
>>13485327 Australia reminds New Zealand of the importance of the Five Eyes alliance during a meeting of trans-Tasman foreign ministers
>>13485332 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Today's Foreign Ministerial Consultations in #Wellington, our first face-to-face meeting since COVID-19, allowed for a deep discussion as friends about shared priorities, including our Pacific partnerships, as we navigate 2021 together

>>13485337 Strengthening trans-Tasman ties: Australia-New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations - Senator the Hon Marise Payne Joint statement with The Hon Nanaia Mahuta - 22 April 2021
>>13485346 Former Director of America's National Security Agency, Admiral Michael Rogers says misinformation a threat to democracy
>>13485350 Video: CyberCX Cyber Dialogue: In conversation with Admiral Michael Rogers and Alastair MacGibbon
>>13493355 'Bankable': Morrison promotes Australia's climate record at US summit
>>13493366 Video: Scott Morrison resists pressure for new emissions target at Joe Biden climate summit
>>13493636 Andrew Greene Tweet: Worth noting the head of ASIS (Paul Symon) joined @MarisePayne's delegation to New Zealand. Wellington's role in 5-Eyes is all the talk inside intelligence circles at the moment
>>13499801 All-gender bathrooms proposed for Victorian workplaces and footy ovals
>>13499932 Arthur Sinodinos AO Tweet: #QUAD Ambassadors and US House Foreign Affairs Committee continue conversation on shared vision for an open, inclusive and resilient Indo Pacifc.
>>13500013 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Marines with MRF-D and ADF members teamed up with the Portuguese and Timorese Social Club in order to prepare a shipment of flood relief supplies donated by the local Darwin community for Timor-Leste
>>13500022 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Heads up Darwin, Marines will be flying at night throughout the rotation! This training keeps our aviation units safe and proficient, and we'll do our best to keep it to times that are respectful to the community

>>13500945 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Facebook Post - Lest We Forget. Tomorrow, Anzac Day, is one of the most sacred days in our national calendar.
>>13500949, >>13500950, >>13500952, >>13500954 Anzac Day 2021 Dawn Service Livestreams - ShrineMelbourne, ABC Australia, 7NEWS Australia and Australia in the US
>>13503677 ANZAC Day 2021 - "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them." Lest We Forget.
>>13507409 Anzac Day: Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Afghanistan withdrawal marks end of 'another chapter'
>>13507484 Video: Defence Minister Peter Dutton reveals how Australian troops will fight greater threats and uncertainty at home
>>13507800 ANZAC Day - PRESS STATEMENT - ANTONY J. BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE - "I express my sincere gratitude to all Australians and New Zealanders on this somber day."
>>13507965 Crowds return for Anzac Day service, but some diggers locked out by fence
>>13507973 Q Post #2480 - With Respect, Honor, and Gratitude. Your sacrifice(s) will never be forgotten. Thank you and God Bless, Veterans!
>>13508029 Video: What can the US learn from Australia's gun reforms? - Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - CNN
>>13508109 'It's an arms race': RedShield - The Kiwi cyber firm that shielded Biden's home state during 2020 election

#13741291 at 2021-05-24 09:12:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#15 - Part 18
Australia / China Tensions - Part 6
>>13658147 Video: Australia and the US demonstrate 'democracy delivers': Payne - Sky News Australia
>>13658148 Video: Marise Payne calls for an end to Gaza violence - Sky News Australia
>>13658777 Peter Dutton's 'shadow aggression' talks with global allies - Defence Minister to visit United States and Japan
>>13658933 Global Times editor Hu Xijin warns of missile attack on Australian soil
>>13658947 Hu Xijin Tweet: Preparing for war? Then build an anti-missile system! I believe once Australian troops come to Taiwan Strait to combat against the PLA, there is a high probability that Chinese missiles will fly toward military bases and key relevant facilities on Australian soil in retaliation
>>13658947 Hu Xijin Tweet: Is there any chance that China-US relations can be used as bargaining chip given how bad it's already become? Your coercion against China is meaningless, but your coaxing may work with Australia
>>13671798 Opinion: Defence spending needs to match the risk of conflict now - Peter Jennings, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
>>13674100 Video: Three Reasons Why Australia Dares To Stand Up To The CCP - Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng
>>13700239 Australia has become even keener US 'deputy' - Bruce Haigh - chinadaily.com.cn

>>13700263 Talk of China war 'a political strategy', says Penny Wong
>>13700295 Australia urged to abandon ideological prejudice against China: Foreign Ministry - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13700295 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 18, 2021
>>13708152 Who's to blame for worsening China-Australia relations? - Qin Sheng - globaltimes.cn
>>13717930 Australian Signals Directorate: China could have ordered Huawei to shut down Australia's 5G network
>>13717930 Huawei? No way! Why Australia banned the world's biggest telecoms firm
>>13718126 Australian writer Yang Hengjun to face court in China next Thursday over espionage charge
>>13718277 Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Statement on Dr Yang Hengjun
>>13733239 China says Foreign Minister Marise Payne's request for access to detained writer 'deplorable'
>>13733239 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks - "The Australian side should respect China's judicial sovereignty"

#13741289 at 2021-05-24 09:12:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#15 - Part 17
Australia / China Tensions - Part 5
>>13608366 Beijing praises New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in between blasts at the "insane" Morrison government
>>13609317 OPINION: Ill-disciplined chest-thumping has put war at centre of what's left of the Australia-China relationship - Kevin Rudd
>>13609517 Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu backs hardening of Morrison government's rhetoric towards China, says Taiwan is preparing for a 'final assault' by Beijing
>>13609758 Australian imports to China slow down as decoupling accelerates - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>13609784 China's April imports from Australia rise 49.3%, but a trade decoupling is imminent amid icy relations - Li Xuanmin and Yin Yeping - globaltimes.cn
>>13609963 Global Times Facebook Post: #China suspends economic dialogue with #Australia, marking the first time a diplomatic mechanism was frozen amid souring ties
>>13609963 INFOGRAPHIC: Aussie misdeeds disrupt China-Australia relations - Deng Zijun - globaltimes.cn
>>13609998 China needs to make a plan to deter extreme forces of Australia - Hu Xijin - globaltimes.cn - "The plan should include long-range strikes on the military facilities and relevant key facilities on Australian soil"
>>13618380 Editor of pro-Communist Global Times newspaper, Hu Xijin, advises Beijing to bomb Australia and bring "disaster" should Canberra support US military action
>>13618429 - Military conflict with China: Thinking the unthinkable - Australians aren't used to a defence minister like Peter Dutton speaking to us like adults

>>13618441 'Outstandingly stupid act': can Australia actually defend itself? - Gaps in our capabilities that must be filled immediately - Michael Shoebridge, ASPI
>>13625963 Australian media slammed for twisting open book as 'evidence' of 'China weaponizing COVID-19' - Liu Caiyu and Lou Kang - globaltimes.cn
>>13626133 For whom do Canberra's war drums beat - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn
>>13633893 Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying says the country did not develop, research or produce bio-weapons
>>13633895 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on May 10, 2021
>>13634048 Japanese Ambassador to Australia encourages South Australia to export more wine to Japan to counter the loss from the Chinese market
>>13642264 'Battle ready': Australia's warning to China in Federal Budget - investing $270 billion over 10 years in defence capability
>>13642368 China accuses Australia of 'pathological obsession' with war, claims the Morrison government destroyed the bilateral relationship to appease its American "masters"
>>13642374 "After eating, Australian politicians made the wrong calculation (Observatory)" - Li Jiabao, People's Daily Overseas Edition - people.com.cn
>>13650331 ScoMo says preparing for war with China is doing his job, backs Peter Dutton in warning Australians that we need to be prepared for military conflict with China

>>13650344 Former NSW Labor staffer John Zhang loses High Court battle over validity of warrants used to seize his property
>>13650347 GT Voice: Canberra's defense spending means economic carnage - globaltimes.cn
>>13650379 Japan embarks on joint military maneuvers with US, France, Australia - ARC21
>>13650382 Joint drill by US, allies on Japanese land insignificant: analysts - Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan - globaltimes.cn
>>13658111 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Australia will not be left alone to face China coercion
>>13658120 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia and the United States) are the closest of friends & allies. @SecBlinken & I reaffirmed our commitment to a stable, secure & open #IndoPacific.
>>13658125 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tweet: Great to meet with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today to discuss our ongoing commitment to the health, security, and prosperity of the #IndoPacific. We look forward to celebrating the 70th anniversary of #ANZUS alongside our friend and ally Australia later this year. #USwithAUS
>>13658134 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Met with @NSAGov @JakeSullivan46 in Washington DC to reaffirm our nations' shared commitment to a strong, independent & secure #IndoPacific region & the critical importance of the Quad & vaccination cooperation including through #COVAX
>>13658137 Marise Payne and Antony Blinken call for 'real transparency' from China on Covid origins
>>13658141 Foreign Minister Marise Payne: US-Australia alliance should embolden others on China

#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

#13741281 at 2021-05-24 09:10:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#15 - Part 15
Australia / China Tensions - Part 3
>>13498959 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern savaged as British Parliament declares treatment of Uighurs 'genocide', Australia praised for its actions
>>13499300 Victoria's China deal was done through Premier Daniel Andrews' office, not the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources
>>13499309 'Insidious': Former ASIO boss Duncan Lewis warns on Chinese interference in Australia (2019)
>>13499394 Australia tearing up formal Belt and Road deal has little exemplary effect - Shen Yujia - globaltimes.cn
>>13499403 GT Voice: Australia in over its head with provocative action - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13499411 Australia's continued escalation of tensions prompts Chinese companies' diversification drive - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>13500664 Australian defense minister's comments against China confuse right and wrong: Chinese FM - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13500664 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 23, 2021
>>13500714 Push to cut more Chinese accords - Foreign Minister Marise Payne urged to tear up China's Confucius Institute agreements and NT government's 99-year Port of Darwin lease
>>13500719 Time to face down the wolf warriors: Beijing's threats require a united, measured and calm response - Peter Jennings - theaustralian.com.au

>>13515337 Defence Minister Peter Dutton: war with China over Taiwan "should not be discounted" - Potential China war sees audit of deals, including Port of Darwin
>>13515342 Academic Jane Golley backtracks on "anonymous article" casting doubt over human rights abuses in Xinjiang
>>13515355 Australian fruits face delays at Chinese ports due to strict anti-virus inspections: sources - Yin Yeping - globaltimes.cn
>>13517899 'Get ready to fight for our liberty,' Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo
>>13517916 The drums of war are growing louder - Michael Pezzullo - theaustralian.com.au
>>13522368 Video: China says Australia must stick to 'One China' policy after Peter Dutton warns of conflict over Taiwan independence
>>13522384 Australia inflates presence on Taiwan question to show loyalty to US - Li Qingqing - globaltimes.cn
>>13522393 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 26, 2021
>>13522425 Academic's mea culpa on China Uighur abuse comments - Jane Golley - theaustralian.com.au
>>13522894 People's Liberation Army Major General Jin Yinan mocks Australia as 'white supremacist'

>>13529854 Video: 'Drums of war' warnings spread across the world to British news - Sky News Australia
>>13529868 'Drums of war beating' warns Australia as China tension grows - Page 1, The Times Newspaper, UK - April 28 2021
>>13529891 Northern Territory bases' $747m boost after 'drums of war' warning
>>13529937 China says Australia is 'sick', needs to 'take medicine' after Morrison government's most senior diplomat said Beijing wanted to compromise key Australian interests
>>13529942 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on April 27, 2021
>>13529959 GT Voice: Spiraling of Canberra moves against Chinese interests to backfire - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13530313 Victoria's axed Belt deal 'not end of the road', says Victoria's Acting Premier James Merlino
>>13530328 Deal on Darwin Port under the shadows of Australian politicians - Ai Jun - globaltimes.cn
>>13530344 Let war games begin: ADF training bases upgraded in major strategic step-up aimed at expanding "war gaming" with the US and defending the Indo-Pacific
>>13539534 Prime Minister says no security concerns raised with him about Darwin Port lease to Chinese company Landbridge

#13741279 at 2021-05-24 09:08:55 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#15 - Part 14
Australia / China Tensions - Part 2
>>13408002 Mike Pompeo Tweet: As a proponent of freedom, enjoying some Taiwanese dried pineapple. Checkmate.
>>13408018 Like Australian wine, Taiwanese pineapples have been targeted by Beijing. If democracies are to stand up to Chinese coercion, they will have to join forces.
>>13408224 'Bewitched' Vicky Xu who fabricates Xinjiang story stokes anti-China sentiment in Australia - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn
>>13414624 Will Australia interfere with NZ's China policy? - Qin Sheng - globaltimes.cn
>>13414892 Australia's exports to China hit new highs - Strong demand for iron ore offsets Beijing's strikes on coal, wine, lobster, timber and barley
>>13429600 The true story of how Jackie Chan and Kevin Rudd met as labourers
>>13445558 Congressman Mike Gallagher Tweet: In light of the CCP's insane tariffs on Australia, we have a duty as mates to drink Australian wine (and Wisconsin beer)
>>13445558 Arthur Sinodinos AO Tweet: Australian wine and Wisconsin beer, an unbeatable combination. Thanks Mike Gallagher a great friend of Australia and decent, humane universal values
>>13452467 Canberra prepares for Taiwan conflict as tensions escalate
>>13460303 Do allies still have strong trust in US security commitment? - Tian Jingling - globaltimes.cn

>>13477187 Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Xining's stinging attack over Huawei - Accuses Australia of turning other countries against China
>>13477192 Video: Senior Chinese diplomat accuses Australia and US of 'conniving' on Huawei ban - Sky News Australia
>>13477194 Video: Chinese diplomat quotes Churchill while defending Chinese sovereignty 0- Sky News Australia
>>13477274 Washington the one undermining Five Eyes solidarity - Zhou Fangyin - globaltimes.cn
>>13477600 Video: Top China academic Professor Jane Golley casts doubt over Chinese human rights abuses in Xinjiang
>>13485007, >>13485013 Victoria's Belt and Road deal with China torn up - April 21, 2021
>>13485018 Decisions under Australia's Foreign Arrangements Scheme - Senator the Hon Marise Payne - Media release - 21 April 2021
>>13485027 Federal government swoops in and cancels controversial Belt and Roads deal - Sky News Australia
>>13485031 Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia - Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks - "We express our strong displeasure and resolute opposition to the Australian Foreign Minister's announcement on April 21"
>>13485037 China criticises Australia's 'provocative' decision to tear up Victoria's Belt and Road agreement

>>13485047 Video: Beijing hits back as Marise Payne cancels Daniel Andrews' Belt and Road agreements
>>13485059 Scrapping BRI deal will hurt Australia: Chinese Embassy - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13485065 Australia faces serious consequences for unreasonable provocation against China over BRI deals: observer - Global Times - globaltimes.cn
>>13485072, >>13485075 Belt and Road Initiative: Inside Daniel Andrews' secret China deal
>>13485161, >>13485166 Video: Meet Jean Dong - Dan Andrews and China's Aussie influencer - "Journey of Influence" (2020)
>>13485169 Chinese pageant winner Jean Dong's meteoric journey to influence (2020)
>>13485324 Australia was blindsided when Five Eyes ally New Zealand backed away from China criticism
>>13493224 Hu Xijin Tweet (China state-affiliated media): A formal agreement has been cancelled so easily. Australians, is your country a uncivilized rogue that deserves stern admonition and punishment?
>>13493238 Australia leads the world confronting China, for better or worse
>>13493500 Video: We will never surrender to Beijing: Defence Minister Peter Dutton

#13741257 at 2021-05-24 09:01:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#15 - Part 5
Australian Politics and Society - Part 5
>>13633861 Army may have to fight next war with pencils and paper - Axing of $2bn battle management system sets back Army's digital transformation by more than 15 years
>>13642424 U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: I had an excellent call with Australia's MoD @PeterDutton_MP. The Unbreakable Alliance has faced all challenges in its first 70 years, and we stand ready with our Australian mates for the challenges of the next 70 and beyond, strengthening the #FreeandopenIndoPacific
>>13642424 U.S. Department of Defense Press Readout: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton by phone today, reaffirming the strength, endurance, and resilience of the U.S.-Australia Alliance - the Unbreakable Alliance
>>13642586 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Good to see Sec @JohnKerry again including to discuss key outcomes from the #ClimateSummit & the $1.1b (Australia) committed to low emissions technology
>>13650206 What is Australia's space division, and why is it in the military?
>>13650406 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Tweet: Appreciated meeting today with Foreign Minister @MarisePayne of Australia. We discussed our nations' efforts to meet shared challenges, from China's aggression to democracy in Burma and counterterrorism in Afghanistan. It was a good conversation with a great ally
>>13658108 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Honoured to meet with @LeaderMcConnell in Washington DC to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing our nations including #IndoPacific cooperation and Myanmar.
>>13658222 Israeli defence company Elbit Systems to fight ADF axing of $2bn battle management system over 'security' fears
>>13658651 'Entirely undemocratic': Bernard Collaery to challenge court order requiring large parts of his trial to be held in secret

>>13658692 Video: Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell arrested during counter-terrorism raid on Melbourne home
>>13659310 US Embassy Canberra Tweet: Our Chargé d'Affaires Mike Goldman accepted the National Emergency Medal yesterday on behalf of the families of the three Americans who tragically died while fighting fires in NSW. Their sacrifice remains a constant reminder of the unbreakable bond between our two nations
>>13664626 Record $1.3bn boost for ASIO's war on spies and hackers - Spy agency will move to an artificial intelligence war footing in a technology arms race
>>13682300 Video: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to host Scott Morrison later this month
>>13682626 'Not a good look': Malcolm Turnbull questions Scott Morrison's red carpet welcome at RAAF Williamtown Base
>>13692528 Carolyn2813928 Tweet - Giant pipes coming out from the ground marked with Masonic symbols - 1829 New World Infrastructure Commission - Australis Project West - Bunbury, WA
>>13717832 Defence declares war on political correctness, bans morning teas aimed at inclusion and diversity - " primary mission to protect Australia's national security interests"
>>13717834 'We are not pursuing a woke agenda': Dutton bans special morning teas at Defence after International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT)
>>13718168, >>13721113 This week in US Politics: Why a meaningless recount in Arizona might be the most important political story of the year

#13741252 at 2021-05-24 09:00:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#15 - Part 4
Australian Politics and Society - Part 4
>>13569679 U.S. Marines Tweet: Joint Forces - The Honorable @ScottMorrisonMP the Prime Minister of Australia, speaks to Maj. David Femea, aviation combat element operations officer and AH-1Z Viper pilot with @MrfDarwin
>>13586735 Video: 'Donald Trump's desk' feed lets people share his posts on their Facebook or Twitter accounts. But it's not the same as him tweeting
>>13586991 U.S. Department of Defense Tweet: Flight mates - A @HiAirGuard F-22 Raptor flies alongside an @AusAirForce E-7A Wedgetail over Oahu, Hawaii
>>13586995 Hawaiian Raptors Fly with RAAF for Exercise Pacific Edge 21
>>13587004 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: Honoured to lay wreaths at the Japanese and Australian War Cemeteries in Cowra. Lest We Forget
>>13595507 Japanese Ambassador YAMAGAMI Shingo Tweet: Great to exchange candid views with Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo AO
>>13595526 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan - Press Release: Japan-Australia Foreign Ministers' Meeting, May 5, 2021
>>13595629 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) & (United Kingdom) bonds are stronger than ever, as our partnership in the #IndoPacific deepens
>>13595634 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: (Australia) & (France) are close friends in support of multilateralism, the rules-based international order & cooperation in the Indo-Pacific

>>13595643 High Commissioner to the UK George Brandis Tweet: Australia's values are clear, and we are resolute in our defence of liberal democracy
>>13603946 Israeli company denies 'security rumours' as Defence removes multi-billion-dollar technology and quarantines Army IT systems
>>13604022 U.S. Senator Ted Cruz Tweet: Had a great dinner tonight with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He's in great spirits! We spent the evening talking about working together to re-take the House & Senate in 2022.
>>13604022 Malcolm Turnbull Tweet: "re-take the House & Senate in 2022" like you did on 6 January 2021?
>>13604022 Dr. Carter Pewterschmidt Tweet: C'mon Malcolm, you a former PM of Aus? Openly taking sides...?
>>13604022 Malcolm Turnbull Tweet: Are you kidding? Taking sides? Sure, I am on the side of democracy and the rule of law. I am not on the side of armed mobs trying to overturn an election and hang elected officials. Nor am I on the side of the media that enabled it. What "side" are you on?
>>13608464 Royal Australian Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts to become Australia's first space commander
>>13626313 Pacific Marines Tweet: @USMC with @MRFDarwin and members of the @DeptDefence conduct a site survey in preparation for an upcoming exercise on Tiwi Island, Northern Territory
>>13626313 Pacific Marines Tweet: This year marks the 10-year anniversary of #MRFD, demonstrating the U.S. Marine Corps' sustained commitment to the Australian-U.S. alliance, combined strength, and presence in a #freeandopenindopacific

#13741245 at 2021-05-24 08:57:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#15 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>13460325 Video: New Zealand 'uncomfortable with expanding the remit' of Five Eyes, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta
>>13460336 1st MAW Marines Tweet: VMM-363 and HMLA-367 joined MRF-D and are prepared to respond to crisis and contingencies in a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific
>>13462856 Feeding Hate With Video: A Former Alt-Right YouTuber Explains His Methods - Focus on conflict Feed the algorithm (Lauren Southern)
>>13477230 New Zealand backs "Five Eyes" alliance, but wants human rights raised in broader group
>>13477249 Japan should join Five Eyes intelligence network, says ambassador Shingo Yamagami
>>13477403 Former US intelligence director James Clapper backs Turnbull and Rudd's call for Murdoch media inquiry
>>13477434 Australia's ambition on climate change is held back by a toxic mix of rightwing politics, media and vested interests - Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull - theguardian.com
>>13485324 Australia was blindsided when Five Eyes ally New Zealand backed away from China criticism
>>13485327 Australia reminds New Zealand of the importance of the Five Eyes alliance during a meeting of trans-Tasman foreign ministers
>>13485332 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Today's Foreign Ministerial Consultations in #Wellington, our first face-to-face meeting since COVID-19, allowed for a deep discussion as friends about shared priorities, including our Pacific partnerships, as we navigate 2021 together

>>13485337 Strengthening trans-Tasman ties: Australia-New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations - Senator the Hon Marise Payne Joint statement with The Hon Nanaia Mahuta - 22 April 2021
>>13485346 Former Director of America's National Security Agency, Admiral Michael Rogers says misinformation a threat to democracy
>>13485350 Video: CyberCX Cyber Dialogue: In conversation with Admiral Michael Rogers and Alastair MacGibbon
>>13493355 'Bankable': Morrison promotes Australia's climate record at US summit
>>13493366 Video: Scott Morrison resists pressure for new emissions target at Joe Biden climate summit
>>13493636 Andrew Greene Tweet: Worth noting the head of ASIS (Paul Symon) joined @MarisePayne's delegation to New Zealand. Wellington's role in 5-Eyes is all the talk inside intelligence circles at the moment
>>13499801 All-gender bathrooms proposed for Victorian workplaces and footy ovals
>>13499932 Arthur Sinodinos AO Tweet: #QUAD Ambassadors and US House Foreign Affairs Committee continue conversation on shared vision for an open, inclusive and resilient Indo Pacifc.
>>13500013 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Marines with MRF-D and ADF members teamed up with the Portuguese and Timorese Social Club in order to prepare a shipment of flood relief supplies donated by the local Darwin community for Timor-Leste
>>13500022 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Facebook Post: Heads up Darwin, Marines will be flying at night throughout the rotation! This training keeps our aviation units safe and proficient, and we'll do our best to keep it to times that are respectful to the community

>>13500945 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Facebook Post - Lest We Forget. Tomorrow, Anzac Day, is one of the most sacred days in our national calendar.
>>13500949, >>13500950, >>13500952 >>13500954 Anzac Day 2021 Dawn Service Livestreams - ShrineMelbourne, ABC Australia, 7NEWS Australia and Australia in the US
>>13503677 ANZAC Day 2021 - "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them." Lest We Forget.
>>13507409 Anzac Day: Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Afghanistan withdrawal marks end of 'another chapter'
>>13507484 Video: Defence Minister Peter Dutton reveals how Australian troops will fight greater threats and uncertainty at home
>>13507800 ANZAC Day - PRESS STATEMENT - ANTONY J. BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE - "I express my sincere gratitude to all Australians and New Zealanders on this somber day."
>>13507965 Crowds return for Anzac Day service, but some diggers locked out by fence
>>13507973 Q Post #2480 - With Respect, Honor, and Gratitude. Your sacrifice(s) will never be forgotten. Thank you and God Bless, Veterans!
>>13508029 Video: What can the US learn from Australia's gun reforms? - Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - CNN
>>13508109 'It's an arms race': RedShield - The Kiwi cyber firm that shielded Biden's home state during 2020 election

#13733239 at 2021-05-23 07:27:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13718126
>>13718277
China says Payne's request for access to detained writer 'deplorable'

Michael Smith - May 22, 2021

China has described as "deplorable" Foreign Minister Marise Payne's call for Australian diplomats to be given access to next week's trial of Australian writer Yang Hengjun.

The Australian government confirmed late on Friday that the trial of Dr Yang, who has been detained in Beijing for more than two years and potentially faces life in prison if convicted of espionage, is scheduled to take place on Thursday next week.

The trial is expected to be held behind closed doors and Beijing signalled on Saturday that it was unlikely China will comply with the Morrison government's requests. Canadian diplomats were banned from attending the trial of two of its citizens in March.

"The statement by the Australian foreign minister on 21 May 2021 is deplorable," the Chinese embassy in Canberra said in a statement on Saturday.

"The Australian side should respect China's judicial sovereignty and refrain from interfering in any form in Chinese judicial authorities' lawful handling of the case."

Ms Payne earlier said the Australian government expected Dr Yang to be granted access to his lawyer and Australian consular officials in advance of his trial. She said China was obligated under a bilateral consular agreement to give Australian officials access to Dr Yang's hearing on May 27.

"This has been a closed and opaque process to date. As a basic standard of justice, access to the trial for observers should be a bare minimum to conform with international norms of transparency," she said in a statement.

Another Australian, journalist Cheng Lei, also remains detained in China on accusations of leaking state secrets. The detention of both Australian citizens on unspecified espionage accusations has been linked to the deterioration in bilateral relations between Australia and China.

Dr Yang's supporter Feng Chongyi, a University of Technology Sydney academic who has been detained in China himself, earlier confirmed the trial date. "The closed door trial is starting at 9am Beijing time on 27 May," he told The Australian Financial Review.

With a conviction rate of 99 per cent, China's courts are not expected to find Dr Yang innocent.

Diplomats from more than 20 countries, including Australia, the US and the UK, gathered in March outside a Beijing courthouse where a trial was under way for former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, who has been detained for more than two years. Canadian businessman Michael Spavor was also trialled on espionage charges.

Dr Yang's trial will take place against the backdrop of deteriorating Australia-China relations, with tensions set to escalate in coming months as the Morrison government prepares to scrap a Chinese company's 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin.

Morrison government officials have raised the prospect of war with China over Taiwan in the past two weeks, drawing strong criticism from the business community and the opposition.

Dr Yang was detained after arriving in China on January 19. 2019, Beijing has accused the writer, who had written articles critical of the Chinese Communist Party, of espionage.

https://www.afr.com/world/asia/australia-calls-for-access-to-detained-writer-s-china-trial-20210522-p57u6c

—

Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Australia

Chinese Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks

2021/05/22

The statement by the Australian foreign minister on 21 May 2021 is deplorable. China has repeatedly made clear its position on the case concerning relevant Australian citizen. Chinese judicial authorities handle the case strictly in accordance with law and fully protect the lawful rights of the relevant person. The Australian side should respect China's judicial sovereignty and refrain from interfering in any form in Chinese judicial authorities' lawful handling of the case.

http://au.china-embassy.org/eng/sghdxwfb_1/t1877856.htm

#13718277 at 2021-05-21 11:23:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13718126
Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Statement on Dr Yang Hengjun

21 May 2021

The Australian Government has been notified by Chinese authorities that Australian citizen, Dr Yang Hengjun (Dr Yang Jun), will face trial on 27 May 2021.

Dr Yang has been detained since January 2019 on allegations of espionage. Despite repeated requests by Australian officials, Chinese authorities have not provided any explanation or evidence for the charges facing Dr Yang.

Since his detention, Dr Yang has had no access to his family, and limited, delayed access to his legal representation.

We have conveyed to Chinese authorities, in clear terms, the concerns we have about Dr Yang's treatment and the lack of procedural fairness in how his case has been managed.

Consistent with basic standards of justice and China's international legal obligations, we expect Dr Yang to be granted access to his lawyer and to Australian consular officials in advance of his trial.

In line with China's obligations under the Australia-China bilateral consular agreement, we ask also that Australian officials be permitted access to Dr Yang's hearing on 27 May. This has been a closed and opaque process to date. As a basic standard of justice, access to the trial for observers should be a bare minimum to conform with international norms of transparency.

The Australian Government will continue to advocate strongly for Dr Yang's rights and interests and to provide consular assistance to Dr Yang and his family.

Our thoughts are with them during this extremely difficult period.

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/statement-dr-yang-hengjun-0

#13682432 at 2021-05-17 07:52:06 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13658111
>>13658137
US, Australia call for transparency on COVID-19 origins

Sky News Australia

17 May 2021

Former Pentagon adviser Jason Israel says a major thing that came from the US-Australia diplomatic talks was further demands for an independent inquiry into COVID-19 origins.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington DC where the two held a joint press conference.

"Australia did say the most likely origin was due to an animal being a part of the chain rather than being part of a failed experiment in Wuhan," Mr Israel told Sky News.

"But (Australia is) still demanding that China provides evidence to the world and actual lab testing data that backs it up."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34iyiS3NwCw

#13682300 at 2021-05-17 07:09:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to host Scott Morrison later this month

Michael Neilson and Derek Cheng - 17 May, 2021

How the region will open up to the rest of the world will be a key topic when Jacinda Ardern hosts Australian counterpart Scott Morrison in Queenstown at the end of the month.

It will be a "milestone and a pleasure" to resume discussions face-to-face, Prime Minister Ardern said in her post-Cabinet press conference today - but she would not be inviting Morrison to bungy-jump.

"I would never ask a politician to do something that I myself would not do with a camera present."

Climate change, geo-strategic issues and easing border restrictions will be discussed.

"Our borders are quite closely linked, so I'd like to have a conversation - what does our region's re-connection with the world look like?"

Last week Ardern talked about the possibility of welcoming vaccinated people into the country before New Zealand's vaccination rollout was finished.

She said she wanted to hear Australia's view on the risk of a vaccinated person mingling in an unvaccinated group - which immunologists say could lead to an outbreak.

"We're keeping an open mind because we are continuing to see the data and evidence come out. We're not rushing to conclusions either way," Ardern said.

"Given our transtasman arrangement, there is real benefit in us talking about how we view that possibility, how our health officials view some of the data on the risk of vaccinated persons in terms of transmission, and our views on vaccine passports."

The last meeting they had was in February last year, the day of New Zealand's first Covid case.

Morrison, accompanied by his wife, will arrive in Queenstown on May 30 and talks will take place the following day.

Ardern and Morrison will engage with Australian and New Zealand business, tourism, and community leaders, and lay a wreath at the Arrowtown War Memorial.

They will also attend the Otago Highlanders-Melbourne Rebels game.

Ardern has previously used such meetings to press home her dissatisfaction with Australia's 501 deportation policy.

Ardern may also seek an update on Suhayra Aden, the former Australian-New Zealand dual citizen alleged by Turkish authorities to be an Islamic State terrorist. Australia revoked Aden's Australian citizenship, prompting a sharp rebuke from Ardern for abdicating its responsibilities to its citizens.

Both countries' relationships with China are also likely to be discussed.

This follows questions over whether New Zealand's stance on China is soft due to a reluctance to upset its biggest trading partner, and why New Zealand has been absent from some Five Eyes' statements critical of China limiting Hong Kong elections.

New Zealand has at times joined the Five Eyes' statements, and other times spoken out on the Hong Kong issue by itself.

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has said that she was "uncomfortable" using Five Eyes to comment on non-security matters.

Last month Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, in a visit to New Zealand, declined to criticise New Zealand for not endorsing more of Five Eyes' statements.

Payne also did not push for New Zealand to take a stronger line on China, saying she had learned "not to give advice to other countries".

She said Australia's stance on China has offered "clarity, consistency and confidence", which has contributed to the security and prosperity of the region.

Ardern is also leading a business delegation to Australia in July.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-to-host-scott-morrison-later-this-month/6THSF73OQWCO6YV6C4HDMAGPWY/

#13671798 at 2021-05-16 00:03:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13642264
>>13650347
Defence spending needs to match the risk of conflict now

If Beijing wanted to slow down the growth of Australian-US defence co-operation in the Top End, surely a very clever way to do it would be to take control of the area's most viable port …

PETER JENNINGS - May 15, 2021

In an expansionary budget, one area that felt a bit underdone was Defence. Here, the government delivered what it promised 12 months ago: $44.6bn, an increase over last year's budget of 4.1 per cent in real terms.

At any time in the last 25 years a Defence budget growing at that level would have been welcome. But now Australia and the wider region faces the direst strategic outlook perhaps since the end of World War II.

It's clear that Scott Morrison and his ministers understand that the region is facing a crisis brought on by an increasingly bellicose Chinese Communist Party. Taiwan is the immediate flashpoint, with the level of risk peaking in perhaps four to five years' time. In that period, according to the US Defence Department, the People's Liberation Army will gain a strong military edge over the Straits of Taiwan in air power, missiles and ships.

Would Xi Jinping risk his own future, as well as that of the Chinese Communist Party, to stage an attack on Taiwan? Xi has learned to turn risky situations to his advantage. In the illegal annexation of the South China Sea, in cyber spying and intellectual property theft, the imposition of Communist authority in Hong Kong and in the economic coercion of Australia, Xi took significant risks to strengthen his rule and largely got away with them.

Xi will apply the same strategy to Taiwan, using all means short of war and indeed some measures that cross that offensive line right up to the limits of US tolerance.

I'll come to what this might mean for Australia and for the defence budget soon, but first consider a remarkable phenomenon, which is the ability of so many in Australia to deny what is obvious about Beijing's intentions.

Writing in the Australian Financial Review last week, Gareth Evans judged that "no Chinese political or military preparations suggest an invasion is remotely imminent". That is an astonishing misjudgment. On April 24, Xi presided over a ceremony commissioning three major warships for China's Southern Fleet.

The Communist Party newspaper the Global Times declared: "These vessels will play important roles in solving questions in places like the island of Taiwan and the South China Sea." Hardly a day goes by without PLA aircraft, often in large numbers, encroaching Taiwanese airspace. Communist Party rhetoric about taking Taiwan by force if necessary is increasingly being used in speeches and editorials.

Xi will hope that this show of strength will deter the US and the allies from stepping in and that his aims can be realised short of war, but we all need to understand that the risk of conflict is sharply growing.

In Washington on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Marise Payne held talks and gave a press conference, underlining the closeness of the alliance relationship.

The Secretary of State stressed the Biden administration's interest in "reaffirming and revitalising America's alliances and partnerships" and, in the 70th year of the ANZUS Treaty, finding ways for the alliance "to evolve to meet the challenges we face".

Blinken said: "The United States will not leave Australia alone on the field, or maybe I should say alone on the pitch, in the face of economic coercion by China. That's what allies do. We have each other's backs."

Understand that the US has every expectation that the requirement for support runs in both directions. Washington wants Australia to do more, and is telling us that the alliance needs to be revitalised, and that challenges will be faced together.

This will include working out how to jointly respond to Chinese Communist Party belligerence over Taiwan, which wasn't mentioned once in the Blinken/Payne press conference. Sometimes you can judge the significance of an issue by the way it isn't mentioned publicly.

(continued)

#13658933 at 2021-05-14 12:49:47 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13609998
>>13650331
Global Times editor warns of missile attack on Australian soil

Australia's comments about the potential risk of military conflict with China have sparked a shocking new threat.

Jade Gailberger - MAY 14, 2021

Beijing has fired a warning shot at Australia, saying it should prepare to fend off Chinese missiles as tensions flare between the two nations.

The threat follows Scott Morrison saying it would be "foolish" not to appreciate the potential risk of military conflict with China over Taiwan.

Hu Xijin, editor of Chinese mouthpiece the Global Times, took to Twitter on Friday to begin the shocking intimidation.

"Preparing for war? Then build an antimissile system!" he tweeted.

"I believe once Australian troops come to Taiwan Strait to combat against the People's Liberation Army, there is a high probability that Chinese missiles will fly toward military bases and key relevant facilities on Australian soil in retaliation."

In an interview on Wednesday night, the Prime Minister said many tensions existed in the region.

"That doesn't mean something will happen," Mr Morrison said.

"But any defence minister, any prime minister of Australia who does not, in consideration of these things, ensure Australians are prepared in these circumstances would not be doing their job."

Labor has previously called on the government to tone down its language on China's threats against Taiwan.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne joined US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday in Washington, where issues regarding the global power were discussed.

The US vowed to back Australia as tensions with China escalated, with Secretary Blinken saying the country would "not leave Australia alone on the field".

"Or maybe I should say alone on the pitch, in the face of economic coercion by China," he said in a joint press conference.

"That's what allies do. We have each other's backs so we can face threats and challenges from a position of collective strength."

Senator Payne reiterated that Australia sought a constructive relationship with China, after it indefinitely suspended strategic economic dialogue between the two trading partners this week.

"We stand ready at any time, amongst all of my counterparts and colleagues, to resume dialogue," Senator Payne said.

"But we won't compromise on our national security or our sovereignty, and we'll continue to act to protect that."

https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/global-times-editor-warns-of-missile-attack-on-australian-soil/news-story/3aa7b87da0f1681d1bce9b99a8e4114e

#13658148 at 2021-05-14 08:58:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13658111
Marise Payne calls for an end to Gaza violence

Sky News Australia

14 May 2021

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has called for an end to escalating violence between Israel and Gaza.

She met the US secretary of state in Washington DC this morning, starting a series of meetings to strengthen the alliance between Australia and the US.

The leaders conveyed their stance on the Israel-Gaza violence with Ms Payne supporting a stop to any actions which further tensions.

The secretary of state reiterated her comments, saying both the Israelis and Palestinians have a right to peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lMeGxrPCks

#13658147 at 2021-05-14 08:56:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13658111
Australia and the US demonstrate 'democracy delivers': Payne

Sky News Australia

14 May 2021

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia and the United States can demonstrate "democracy delivers" during a press conference following diplomatic discussions with her US counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington.

"Together with our partners, including through groups such as the Quad, Australia and the United States can demonstrate that democracy delivers," she said.

"Transparency and accountability matter, indeed lives and livelihoods depend on it".

Ms Payne said the pair had discussed relationships with China and noted the "clear expressions of support" from Washington were welcomed as Australia works through its differences with the communist power.

"Australia seeks a constructive relationship with China, we stand ready at any time, amongst all of my counterparts and colleagues, to resume dialogue," she said.

"I hope that the support Australia has received from the United States gives confidence to others.

"It doesn't matter where challenges to your sovereignty come from, all countries should know that there is a global community that can support one another in this most basic expectation of nationhood.

"As with the freedom of individuals, so with the sovereignty of states".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXC_6vEaP7A

#13658141 at 2021-05-14 08:55:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13658111
Payne: US-Australia alliance should embolden others on China

Matthew Knott - May 14, 2021

Washington: Foreign Minister Marise Payne says the United States' vocal support for Australia should embolden other countries to stand up to Beijing when the Chinese government threatens their national values and interests.

Payne held her first in-person meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Friday (AEST) as well as meetings with other top Biden administration officials.

Payne said the Morrison government is pushing for a more thorough investigation into the origins of the coronavirus while maintaining its belief the virus probably emerged from wildlife rather than a Chinese laboratory leak.

At a joint press conference at the State Department, Blinken backed recent remarks by Indo-Pacific Co-ordinator Kurt Campbell that China's economic coercion of Australia is a roadblock to a normalisation of relations between the rival superpowers.

"I reiterated that the United States will not leave Australia alone on the field - or should I say alone on the pitch - in the face of economic coercion by China," Blinken said.

"That's what allies do."

Blinken said he had told Chinese officials explicitly that "actions targeting our closest partners and allies will hinder improvements in our own relationship with China".

Payne said: "I hope that the support Australia has received from the United States gives confidence to others.

"It doesn't matter where challenges to your sovereignty come from, all countries should know that there is a global community that can support one another in this most basic expectation of nationhood.

"As with the freedom of individuals, so with the sovereignty of states."

Payne said Australia stands ready to resume dialogue with China "at any time".

"But we have been open and clear and consistent about the fact that we are dealing with a number of challenges," she said.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age after the meeting, Payne said other countries can "feel reluctant to engage" with China on issues such as the repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang province but she hopes this will change.

"The United States is giving strength to others that it is possible to speak out on these issues," she said.

Both Payne and Blinken said they continue have concerns about the World Health Organisation's report into the origins of the coronavirus, especially as global investigators were not given access to original data and lab samples in China.

But Payne said the Morrison government still believes the virus probably began in wildlife such as bat rather than leaking out of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

"We would still say the most likely hypothesis continues to suggest that the virus emerged from wildlife through an intermediate host," Payne said.

The so-called lab leak hypothesis has been attracting increased attention in both Australia and the US in recent weeks.

Republican congressman Mike Gallagher introduced a bill this week that would require the US director of national intelligence to "declassify any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease 2019".

"Now we know certain facts too that stack up in favour of the lab leak hypothesis," Gallagher said in an interview with Fox News.

Adding that he did not know for sure how the virus emerged, he added: "All I'm saying is lets get to the bottom of it. Is there any more important question in the world right now?"

During her visit Payne also met with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, climate envoy John Kerry and Samantha Power, the head of the US Agency for International Development.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/north-america/Payne-us-australia-alliance-should-embolden-others-on-china-20210514-p57ruj.html

#13658137 at 2021-05-14 08:54:00 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13658111
Marise Payne and Antony Blinken call for 'real transparency' from China on Covid origins

ADAM CREIGHTON - MAY 14, 2021

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US secretary of state Antony Blinken have called for greater transparency from China over the origins of SARSCov2, amid growing interest in the idea the virus leaked accidentally from the Wuhan Virology Lab.

In Washington DC for a series of meetings with US political leaders, Ms Payne said Australia hadn't changed its view, expressed in April 2020, that "that there should be an independent international objective review into covid19 origins and impact".

Secretary Blinken said the US wasn't satisfied with a WHO-led investigation, released in March, which concluded the virus more likely spread from bats to human than from an accidental leak.

"Yes we support an ongoing investigation to get to bottom of what happened with covid 19. This is so important because we need to understand what happened if we are going to have the best possible opportunity to prevent it happening again," he said, speaking at a press conference with Ms Payne on Friday morning AEST.

His remarks came as prominent scientists called for a deeper investigation into the origin of COVID-19, including the possibility that a laboratory accident released the new coronavirus that caused the pandemic, in a letter published Thursday in the journal science,

"In the early days of the pandemic there was a failure on the part of the PRC to allow timely access to international expert ... real transparency when it mattered most," Mr Blinken said.

Earlier foreign Minister Marise Payne said she was visiting DC at a time of "great strategic uncertainty and global crisis".

"Australia-US collaboration, along with co-operation among a broad collective of liberal democratic nations, are key to both Australia's own sovereignty as well as global security," the Minister told The Australian.

"This is the case whether the challenge is responding to COVID-19, countering malign foreign influence and disinformation or preventing cyber attacks," she added.

The minister's arrival comes amid heightened tension between the US and China and with Russia, and separately, follows the shutdown last week of a major US oil pipeline for days owing to a cyber attack.

Evan Medeiros, a US-China relations specialist at Georgetown University, said Australia's relationship with the US was "entering a qualitatively new stage".

"We are witnessing a further convergence of economics and security interests as the true scope and intensity of the China and Russia challenges present themselves," he told The Australian.

"The good news is that it isn't 1945 and we aren't starting from scratch, but the US and Australia will need to broaden their coalition to achieve meaningful gains in a short time," he added.

Senator Payne was the third foreign Minister, after Italy's and Jordan's, to visit Washington DC since President Joe Biden took office in January.

Richard Fontaine, the chief executive of Center for New American Security, said the minister's visit signalled "both the strength of the US-Australia alliance and its relative importance given the new team's focus on the Indo-Pacific".

"The administration has been keen to show that it values allies and wants to work with them, that strong alliances make dealing with China easier, and that it stands with Australia as it endures Chinese economic coercion," he added.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/era-of-great-strategic-uncertainty-and-global-crisis-says-Marise-Payne/news-story/e5622361565d738344f198100c4b85c8

#13658134 at 2021-05-14 08:52:26 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13658111
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Met with @NSAGov @JakeSullivan46 in Washington DC to reaffirm our nations' shared commitment to a strong, independent & secure #IndoPacific region & the critical importance of the Quad & vaccination cooperation including through #COVAX.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1392837483335864325

#13658120 at 2021-05-14 08:47:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13658111
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

(Australia and the United States) are the closest of friends & allies. @SecBlinken & I reaffirmed our commitment to a stable, secure & open #IndoPacific. Our nations' shared values, interests & history underpin our relationship & enable cooperation including on #COVID recovery, technologies & supply chains.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1393076283500761092

#13658111 at 2021-05-14 08:45:06 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

US Secretary of State says Australia will not be left alone to face China coercion

AFP / SBS - 14 May 2021

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States will not leave Australia alone "in the face of economic coercion by China", and that such behaviour toward US allies will hamper improvement in US-Sino relations.

Washington has repeatedly criticised what it says are Beijing's attempts to bully neighbours with competing interests, and US President Joe Biden has sought to bolster ties with allies in the Indo-Pacific to counter China's growing power.

"I reiterated that the United States will not leave Australia alone on the field, or maybe I should say alone on the pitch, in the face of economic coercion by China," Mr Blinken said at a press briefing with Australia's visiting Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

"And we've made clear to (China) how such actions targeting our closest partners and allies will hinder improvements in our own relationship with China," he added.

China has imposed a series of trade sanctions on Australian exports ranging from wine to coal as tensions between the two countries have worsened in recent years.

Successive Australian trade ministers have been unable to secure a phone call with Chinese counterparts since diplomatic tensions worsened in 2020, and last week Beijing suspended all activity under a bilateral economic dialogue.

Australia was one of the first countries to publicly ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network over security concerns, and last year angered Beijing with its calls for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

Ms Payne told journalists Australia had been clear that it wanted constructive ties with China.

"But we won't compromise on our national security or our sovereignty and we'll continue to act to protect that," she said.

Australia calls for more powers for WHO after COVID-19 report

Ms Payne used the press conference to call for increased powers for the World Health Organisation to investigate outbreaks, after a major report initiated by the WHO found that the declaration of a global emergency should have happened much earlier.

Australia has been in the firing line from China, its largest trading partner, over steps including backing US-led calls for a probe into COVID's origins, resulting in Beijing imposing tariffs on key products including wine and cutting off diplomatic and trade talks.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne praised recommendations of a panel report released Wednesday and said, "We absolutely support those being taken very seriously".

She pointed to recommendations "about increasing the independence and authority of the WHO so that they have explicit powers to investigate pathogens with pandemic potential and to publish information about those potential outbreaks with immediate action without prior approval of national governments".

"The independent panel is a very important one in terms of the way forward for ensuring that we avoid the experience that the world, this country, our country, so many countries have had to deal with in recent times and the extraordinary loss of life that it has caused," she said.

The panel, led by former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, found that early responses to the outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019 "lacked urgency" and said the pandemic - which has killed at least 3.3 million people and devastated the global economy - was preventable.

Mr Blinken, speaking with Ms Payne, renewed US criticism of the original WHO investigation.

"The issue is less about assigning blame and more about understanding what happened so that we can take effective action for the future," Blinken said.

"There was a failure on the part of the PRC to allow timely access to international experts, timely sharing of information, real transparency when it mattered most," Blinken said of China.

President Joe Biden's administration, however, has reversed a decision by previous president Donald Trump to leave the WHO, pointing to plenty of positive work by the UN body and calling for efforts to improve it from within.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/us-secretary-of-state-says-australia-will-not-be-left-alone-to-face-china-coercion

#13658108 at 2021-05-14 08:43:55 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13650406
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Honoured to meet with @LeaderMcConnell in Washington DC to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing our nations including #IndoPacific cooperation and Myanmar.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1392834610665459717

#13642586 at 2021-05-12 10:05:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Good to see Sec @JohnKerry again including to discuss key outcomes from the #ClimateSummit & the $1.1b (Australia) committed to low emissions technology. I look forward to collaborating with the (United States) bilaterally & through the Quad to progress work on climate finance & low emissions tech.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1392413842190209027

#13609530 at 2021-05-08 01:47:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13609517

2/2

However, the opposition and academics specialising in Taiwan have cautioned against talking up the prospect of war with China when there is no sign that Beijing is preparing to invade Taiwan. While China has ramped up air and sea incursions, experts say it would be obvious months beforehand if People's Liberation Army troops were preparing to take the island.

Mr Wu agreed that military action by China was not imminent, but Taiwan was preparing for that scenario by rallying support from the international community at a time when US President Joe Biden and allies such as Australia and Japan have signalled they are willing to take a tougher stance against Beijing's aggressive foreign policies.

Asked if Australia should provide military support, Mr Wu said it was too early to make that call. He declined to say whether there had been talks between Taiwan's leaders and senior Australian officials, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne, about the issue. Taiwan is expected to be on the agenda when Ms Payne meets Biden officials face-to-face in London this week for the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' meeting.

"We are not expecting that at this moment. We think that the situation right now is that Australia has been providing Taiwan with essential support for Taiwan's international participation," he said, referring to joint statements with the United States in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and other forums.

"We are happy to see that Australia is playing a bigger and more important role in the Indo-Pacific but talking about the military co-operation and all that in between Australia and Taiwan, that might be [going] a little bit too far. We think that since Australia is going to play a more important role in the Indo-Pacific, more exchanges between the two countries on the situation in this part of the world might be necessary and we will work very hard in that regard."

Ministerial visits

Like many countries, Australia abides by a "One China" policy in its engagement with Taiwan, which means there are no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei but it has trade, cultural and other exchanges separate from mainland China.

Taiwan, an island nation with a population of more than 23 million, became a democracy in 1987 when martial law was lifted. It was previously controlled by China's Kuomintang nationalists who fled the mainland after losing a civil war with the Communists. Beijing still considers it a renegade province that will one day return to the motherland.

Mr Wu would not be drawn into saying if he thought Australia should allow ministerial visits to the island for the first time in 25 years, saying Canberra had to look after its national interests. He called for stronger ties in areas such as supply chain resiliency and fighting COVID-19 as well as trade. He said Australia should follow New Zealand's example and reconsider a free-trade deal with Taiwan. Taiwan is Australia's 14th-largest trading partner.

"Looking at your neighbour, New Zealand, they already have an FTA with Taiwan. They are taking away lots of trade opportunities from Australia. So maybe Australia will think about how to strengthen relations, trade relations with Taiwan, by signing an ECA (economic co-operation agreement) with Taiwan," he said.

Mr Wu also called on Canberra to look at Taiwan's potential contribution to the Trans-Pacific Partnership "in a more serious manner", and said he personally believed Taipei would submit an application to join the trading bloc in 2021.

Mr Wu, who visited Australia in 2013, said he "appreciated" recent public statements by Australia supporting Taiwan. When asked why only Australia was speaking so openly about a possible war over Taiwan, he said US officials had also raised the possibility.

"We think it's good for Taiwan that the international community is paying more attention to the security situation Taiwan is facing. [If] they think that democracy is a value that we need to safeguard against, I'm sure all these countries will think that what China is doing to Taiwan is wrong. And they will come to Taiwan's support. At least moral support," he said.

https://www.afr.com/world/asia/taiwan-shores-up-allies-as-china-threat-looms-20210504-p57ot5

#13603511 at 2021-05-07 06:27:12 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
>>13595127
Beijing calls the Morrison government 'insane' after Belt and Road retaliation

WILL GLASGOW - MAY 7, 2021

1/2

Beijing has blasted the Morrison government for its "insane suppression" of the Australia-China relationship, as it justified its tit-for-tat scuttling of a high-level economic and trade dialogue with Australia.

The suspension of the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue on Thursday was apparently in retaliation to the Morrison government's scrapping of Victoria's Belt and Road deal and came after the announcement of a review of the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin by Chinese company Landbridge.

It triggered a sell-off of the Australian dollar, stoked anxiety among China-exposed Australian businesses and was followed by a denunciation of the "wildness of Australian politicians" by a Chinese government adviser.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman blasted Australia at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday evening.

"We urge the Australian side to cast aside the Cold-War mentality and ideological bias, view China's development and China-Australia cooperation in a truly objective light, return to the rational track without further delay and correct its mistakes," Mr Wang said.

"It should stop the insane suppression targeting China-Australia cooperation, stop politicising and stigmatising normal exchange and stop going further down the wrong path," he said.

"Australia must bear all responsibility for this."

Speaking in London overnight, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she was "disappointed'' that China had suspended economic dialogue with Australia, as it has been a "valuable tool for minister to engage'' in Treasury and finance.

"We have been very clear that we were willing and able to participate in an ongoing Strategic and Economic Dialogue that is ultimately a decision for China ... Australia is very ready to engage in dialogue with our counterparts at any level,'' she said.

China-exposed businesses were alarmed at the formalisation of a diplomatic freeze Xi Jinping's administration had unofficially imposed in 2018 after the Turnbull government banned Huawei from Australia's 5G network.

"Beijing's decision to suspend the Strategic Economic Dialogue marks a new low in the relationship, one that is of deep concern to the business community," said Australia China Business Council president David Olsson.

"This is a serious diplomatic challenge that cannot be dismissed as just another case of Beijing ramping up the pressure on Australia," said Mr Olsson, a partner at the Hong Kong-headquartered law firm King & Wood Mallesons.

Over the past year, China has imposed trade strikes on more than $20bn of annual Australian imports, including coal, wine, barley, timber and lobster.

The Australian dollar on Thursday fell 0.5 per cent to US77.07c after the announcement, but had recovered by Friday.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan said it was "disappointing" to learn about the formal suspension.

"The Strategic Economic Dialogue, which was last held in 2017, is an important forum for Australia and China to work through issues relevant to our economic partnership," Mr Tehan said.

"We remain open to holding the dialogue and engaging at the ministerial level," he said.

The Australian government had previously described the accord as one of the "premier bilateral economic meetings with China".

(continued)

#13595634 at 2021-05-06 10:12:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13577360
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

(Australia) & (France) are close friends in support of multilateralism, the rules-based international order & cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. France's Foreign Minister @JY_LeDrian & I discussed defence & security ties & our deepening response to shared challenges in the region.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1389966863367503872

#13595629 at 2021-05-06 10:10:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13577360
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

(Australia) & (United Kingdom) bonds are stronger than ever, as our partnership in the #IndoPacific deepens. This morning in London, @DominicRaab & I discussed shared priorities including equitable vaccine access, cyber, Myanmar, Xinjiang & human rights. We welcome the UK #IntegratedReview. @G7

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1389954293499940864

#13595526 at 2021-05-06 09:40:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

Press Release: Japan-Australia Foreign Ministers' Meeting

May 5, 2021

On May 5, commencing at 11:50 a.m. (local time: on May 5 at 7:50 p.m. Japan time) for 20 minutes, Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a Japan-Australia Foreign Ministers' Meeting with Senator the Hon Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of Australia, during his visit to the United Kingdom, to attend the Meeting of G7 Foreign and Development Ministers. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. At the outset, Minister Motegi mentioned that the range of cooperation between Japan and Australia has been steadily expanding, as shown by the development of security and defense cooperation, as well as in the economic field, cooperation on clean energy including Hydrogen, and confirmed that he would work with Minister Payne to continue to develop the bilateral relationship. In this context, the two Ministers confirmed that they would continue coordination with a view to hold the next Japan-Australia Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations ("2+2") at an early timing.

2. In addition, the two Ministers welcomed the fruitful discussions at the Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Leaders' Video Conference in March and confirmed the importance to continue to accumulate concrete cooperation. They also concurred that Japan and Australia would promote cooperation with other relevant countries including Southeast Asia and Pacific Island countries towards realizing a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific."

3. The two Ministers also exchanged views and shared serious concerns regarding matters such as China's unilateral attempts to change the status quo and the situation in Hong Kong.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press4e_002998.html

#13595127 at 2021-05-06 07:14:55 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
China suspends economic accord with Australia

WILL GLASGOW and HEIDI HAN - MAY 6, 2021

Beijing has suspended an annual meeting with Australia's Treasurer and Trade minister - formalising the diplomatic freeze Xi Jinping's administration has imposed on Canberra since relations unravelled in 2018.

The immediate suspension of the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue was apparently in retaliation to the Morrison government's scrapping of Victoria's Belt and Road deal and review of the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin Port by the Chinese company Landbridge.

Explaining the decision, China's National Reform and Development Commission said recent measures taken by the Morrison government had revealed its "Cold War mindset" and "ideological discrimination".

"Based on the current attitude of the Australian federal government towards China-Australia co-operation, the National Development and Reform Commission has decided to suspend indefinitely all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue mechanism," China's top economic planning body said in a statement on Thursday.

Despite being billed as an annual meeting when it was announced by the Gillard government in 2013, the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue only met three times in 2014, 2015 and for the last time in 2017.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan said it was "disappointing" to learn about the formal suspension.

"The Strategic Economic Dialogue, which was last held in 2017, is an important forum for Australia and China to work through issues relevant to our economic partnership," Minister Tehan said.

"We remain open to holding the dialogue and engaging at the Ministerial level," he said.

The Australian dollar was down 0.5pc at US77.07c shortly after the announcement, after trading as high as US77.58c during the morning.

The Australian government has previously described the accord - designed to boost trade between both sides and introduce large Chinese investors - as one of the "premier bilateral economic meetings with China". But relations between the two have plunged into the deep freeze.

China's move is the first official halt to bilateral co-operation after it launched a series of trade bans, tariffs and restrictions on imports of Australian imports, including coal, wine, barley, timber and seafood, valued at more than $2bn.

The proclamation comes after the Morrison government scrapped Belt and Road initiatives between the Victorian government and China, which were overseen by the National Development and Reform Commission and which are part of China's massive infrastructure initiative across Asia and the world.

It also comes after Defence Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that his department was reviewing a $500m Port Darwin lease agreement between the Northern Territory and Chinese company Landbridge Group.

Darwin is the most important port on Australia's north coast, the closest to Asia and a base for US Marines who rotate in and out of the country.

The announcement prompted a furious response from China, which warned of "serious harm" in the already fractured relationship.

Before the suspension announced on Thursday, the last major communication the NDRC had in with Australia was a March 2020 phone call between deputy director Ning Jizhe and Daniel Andrews. Ning reportedly expressed gratitude for the state's "firm support" for China's fight against the pandemic and the Victorian Premier's willingness to "actively explore expansion under the framework of the Belt and Road initiative".

The last minister-level meetings involving China and Australia were in November 2018 - when Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her counterpart Wang Yi held talks at the 5th Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue - and then defence minister Christopher Pyne's visit to China in January 2019.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/economics/china-suspends-economic-accord-with-australia/news-story/083c7ba90f9916772919be9c2f295dfb

#13577360 at 2021-05-04 07:05:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

Payne blasts Beijing tactic of 'debt trap diplomacy'

BEN PACKHAM and WILL GLASGOW - MAY 4, 2021

1/2

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has attacked efforts to "buy influence'' and "pick off'' individual countries in a diplomatic rebuke aimed at China ahead of two weeks of international talks with some of the world's biggest democracies on strengthening global security.

Senator Payne, who will visit London for G7 Plus talks ­before high-level meetings in ­Geneva and the US, said the benefits of free and open societies had "never been clearer''.

Her comments, in an opinion article for The Australian, follow a warning by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China was acting "more repressively" and "more aggressively" as it ­pursued greater global influence.

As Beijing's Belt and Road deals have saddled developing ­nations with potentially unsustainable debt, Senator Payne said Australia would work with "indispensable" international partners to show "the demonstrable improvements" that democratic values could deliver to people's lives.

"We do not try to buy influence to advantage our individual countries; rather, we know that a stable, secure neighbourhood of sovereign states, in which we have networks of familiarity and trust, are good, safe places for our people to live and thrive," she said.

"Our focus and our ability to solve practical problems stem from our understanding that these efforts create regional and global stability, not because by doing so we expect to achieve targeted ­influence in individual countries that we pick off as notches on our belts."

After a series of trade sanctions on Australian beef, wine, barley and coal imposed by the Chinese government as retribution for calls for an independent inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus, Senator Payne called for a rules-based trading order.

"If there is a spreading of influence it is the spreading of openness, freedom and trade that benefits everybody because we compete fairly based on rules,'' Senator Payne writes.

"It is not a mercantilist approach, rather one that seeks to support a productive and peaceful international community.''

Senator Payne will visit Washington on the final leg of her trip, for the Morrison government's first face-to-face ministerial talks with the Biden administration.

"When it comes to indispensable relationships, there is no keystone of the architecture I have described that is more indispensable than the Australia-United States alliance," she said.

(continued)

#13530328 at 2021-04-28 10:03:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13515337
Deal on Darwin Port under the shadows of Australian politicians

Ai Jun - Apr 28, 2021

1/2

After Australia tore up Victoria's Belt and Road agreement with China, will the lease of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company be next? Conjecture is mounting after Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton suggested on Sunday the program may be reviewed under the name of "national interests." Former prime minister Kevin Rudd echoed the view on Tuesday, predicting the Morrison administration will "tear up the lease" during an interview with ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio Darwin.

The 99-year lease, worth AU$506 million ($393 million), was inked in 2015 between Chinese company, Landbridge Group, and Australia's Northern Territory government. At that time, Canberra was promoting its vision and strategy for developing Northern Australia, hoping to turn the vastly underdeveloped region into a thriving place of manufacturing, clean energy and research and innovation. Yet Australia is short of funding for it, thus the country invited foreign enterprises for investment. The successful Landbridge bid helped resolve the region's issue over the lack of cash for development.

In the same year, then secretary of the Department of Defense Dennis Richardson told Australian Senate committee that the rhetoric of Landbridge's lease posing a security risk was "absurd" and "alarmist nonsense." However, six years later, Australia is making a U-turn in its stance. The previous "absurd nonsense" has become a matter of national interests. No one ever provided any evidence. It seems what the lease really is depends on what Australian politicians say based on their political calculations.

The lease did not change, but the international environment has. Six years ago, China and the US had stable ties. Yet the US is launching a comprehensive containment against China today.

Observers believe that for the Australian government, the so-called national interests is all about following the US' footsteps closely to maintain Canberra's regional hegemony based on Washington's endorsement. And for Australian politicians, only a nod from the US can help them secure a promotion in their personal careers. They could not care less about national interests when it comes to their appetite over their personal political future.

Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the research center for Pacific island countries of Liaocheng University in East China's Shandong Province, told the Global Times on Tuesday, "Dutton is a figure with big ambition, so is Foreign Minister Marise Payne, they are both seeking to become prime minister." So when they talk about "national interests," rest assured, it has nothing to do with the country's economy, long-term development or people's living standards, Yu said, adding it is all about their personal gains.

(continued)

#13530313 at 2021-04-28 09:55:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
Victoria's axed Belt deal 'not end of the road', says James Merlino

ANGELICA SNOWDEN - APRIL 27, 2021

Victoria's Acting Premier has dodged questions about the federal government's decision to rip up the state's Belt and Road agreement, in his first public ­appearance since the decision was made last Thursday.

James Merlino held a press conference at a primary school in Melbourne's north on Tuesday, almost one week after Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne announced the state's memorandum of understanding with China would be torn up under new commonwealth powers.

"My response is similar to ­responses from other ministers who have been out over the past few days," Mr Merlino said.

"It's a federal government act, it's a federal government decision. We respect that.

"In terms of the broader impact, I assume ... that the federal government took all of that into account," he added.

Asked if the state government was concerned about jobs growth now that the China agreement was off the political plate, Mr Merlino responded: "What we will continue to do is exactly what we have done for the past six years - and that is engaging with jurisdictions around the world to maximise opportunities for Victorian businesses and for Victorian jobs.

"That has been our focus, whether it is these agreements, whether it's the work of the Victorian government business offices around the world - it's about building relationships and building opportunities to create jobs," he said.

The response was in contrast to Premier Daniel Andrews' prickly reaction to the Foreign Relations bill, unveiled by Scott Morrison in August last year.

At the time, the Prime Minister said it would target state government deals with foreign governments and terminate any which threatened Australia's ­national interest.

Mr Andrews questioned Mr Morrison's focus on the issue during the middle of a pandemic and said: "If the Prime Minister's got time to be doing those things, then that's fine for him. I don't.

"I am exclusively focused on fighting this virus and then making sure that we have got the strongest economy that we can possibly have on the other side of this," Mr Andrews said.

"Given the announcements the Prime Minister has made today, he will no doubt be able to list the full range of other free trade agreements and other ­markets that we'll be sending ­Victorian products to. I'll look ­forward to that.

"Presumably, this approach will include quite soon a very detailed list of alternative trading ­arrangements, alternative free trade agreements, alternative markets. I'll leave that to the PM to announce, but presumably that's coming and coming pretty quickly."

In July, Mr Andrews refused to attend classified briefings on Chinese interference at which intelligence and security officials - including Australian Security Intelligence Organisation chief Mike Burgess - were to raise concerns about Belt and Road deals with Beijing.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/victorias-axed-belt-deal-not-end-of-the-road-says-james-merlino/news-story/03de0df4ee5c3a66e822d6512ad44b63

#13529959 at 2021-04-28 07:37:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13515337
GT Voice: Spiraling of Canberra moves against Chinese interests to backfire

Global Times - Apr 26, 2021

The Port of Darwin lease with a Chinese company could be the next target of Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, after tearing up the state of Victoria's Belt and Road contract with China, the country's defense minister Peter Dutton suggested on Sunday.

Noting that the port lease was one of the thousands of cases Payne was examining, he said that "I think it is a question for Marise to look at these individual cases. If it is not in our national interests then obviously she will act."

Even though Dutton did not directly call for a scrap of the lease deal, his remarks were interpreted by Australian media outlets as sending a signal that the Port of Darwin lease with the Chinese company is in danger.

In response, a spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed hope that Australia could treat China-Australia economic cooperation fairly and stop sabotaging normal business interactions.

While encouraging Chinese enterprises to conduct overseas investment and cooperation in accordance with market principles and international rules and on the basis of abiding by local laws, the Chinese government will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises investing and operating abroad.

The Northern Territory Government inked a 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company named Landbridge Group in 2015. If the Morrison government intended to go political and interfere with the port project the Chinese company has been running for years, it would mark a sad and new low in bilateral relations, resulting from a clear escalation of Canberra's deliberate provocation against Chinese companies.

It is no secret that the animosity that Canberra holds towards China is so strong that it has already blocked dozens of investment deals with Chinese companies in recent years. In August 2020, Chinese dairy behemoth Mengniu Dairy was forced to ditch a A$600 million acquisition deal to acquire Australian dairy brand Lion-Dairy & Drinks after Canberra said the business deal was "not in the national interest" of Australia.

If Australia continues to intentionally escalate its hostility by undermining existing cooperative projects involving Chinese companies, it will hurt Chinese investors, but Australian businesses would also suffer greatly.

Moreover, Chinese companies that have been abiding by local laws and contributing to the Australian economy should defend their lawful rights by resorting to laws and demand fair compensation, if they were forced to terminate operation due to political reasons.

In the case of the Port of Darwin lease, Landbridge has made long-term investment plans for the port, including but not limited to an initial $35 million of new investment in the first five years of its lease.

Against the backdrop of the growing anti-China sentiment in Canberra, there are plenty of reasons for us to warn Chinese business entities against the growing uncertainty in Australia. They should heighten their alert there.

Precautions are needed for Chinese companies to seek legal recourse to defend their rights and interests. Meanwhile, relevant Chinese authorities should also offer legal assistance to help Chinese businesses, while a response in kind should also be considered.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202104/1222156.shtml

#13529937 at 2021-04-28 07:31:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
>>13515337
China says Australia is 'sick', needs to 'take medicine'

WILL GLASGOW - APRIL 28, 2021

China's foreign ministry has said Australia is "sick" and suggested Canberra needs to "take medicine" after the Morrison government's most senior diplomat said Beijing wanted to compromise key Australian interests.

Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday evening, China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Australia was entirely responsible for the deterioration of the relationship.

Mr Wang cited Canberra's ban on Chinese telco Huawei from Australia's 5G network, rejections of Chinese investment in Australia-based companies on national security grounds and the federal government's tearing up of Victoria's Belt and Road agreement.

"Australia is sick, however it is asking others to take medicine, which will not solve the problem at all," he said.

"We hope that the Australian side will view China and China's development objectively and rationally, and do more to enhance mutual trust between the two countries and promote pragmatic cooperation, instead of going further and further down the wrong path."

The comments come after a week in which the Morrison government has demonstrated it is no hurry to repair the strained relationship with Australia's biggest trading partner.

Despite an almost 12-month trade retaliation campaign by Beijing, Australia's total exports to China remain at record highs because of the elevated prices of iron ore and liquid natural gas.

That has emboldened the Morrison government, although it has led to widespread economic pain in rural Australia, particularly in the lobster, wine and timber industries.

Last week, Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced the federal government was annulling Victoria's cooperation agreement with China's Belt and Road infrastructure-led foreign policy, saying it was not in the national interest.

Over the weekend, Defence minister Peter Dutton warned a war could not be ruled out between China and Taiwan and in an extraordinary ANZAC Day message to staff, Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo said the "drums of war" were beating and Australia must be prepared "to send off, yet again, our warriors to fight".

Some senior military officials in Beijing have mocked Australia's capacity to influence the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

China's foreign ministry spokesman's medicinal comments on Tuesday were in response to a recent speech by Australia's most senior foreign ministry bureaucrat.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson told a University of Adelaide graduating class that China wanted Australia to "compromise on key national interests" before it would resume dialogue and cooperation with the federal government.

"As China adopts a more authoritarian approach domestically and asserts itself internationally in ways which challenge and undermine those rules, Australia is experiencing a range of difficulties in its bilateral relationship with China," said Secretary Adamson.

"The Australian government wants a constructive relationship with China where we can discuss differences and work for mutual benefit," she said.

"Governments of other countries want the same or similar, but China expects compromise on key national interests in exchange for dialogue and cooperation."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/china-says-australia-is-sick-needs-to-take-medicine/news-story/cd07e3363bc2431fc1aad1ff771f758c

#13522929 at 2021-04-27 08:53:52 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

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

Stephen Dziedzic and Georgia Hitch - 27 April 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced all flights from India to Australia will be temporarily halted, as the South Asian country continues to deal with a record-breaking COVID outbreak that has plunged its medical system into chaos.

The pause, which includes repatriation flights into the Howard Springs facility near Darwin, will last until May 15 and the decision will be reviewed before then.

Mr Morrison said indirect flights through other cities like Doha, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur had been paused by their respective governments.

He also said Australia would send a range of goods to India to help as it struggles with a critical shortage of medical supplies.

Australia will send 500 ventilators, as well as 1 million surgical masks, 500,000 P2 and N95 masks, 100,000 goggles, 100,000 pairs of gloves and 20,000 face shields.

"I stress this is an initial package, there'll be more to follow," Mr Morrison said.

More than 9,000 Australians in India want to come to Australia, with 650 of those considered vulnerable.

The news comes after last week's decision by National Cabinet to reduce flights - both commercial and repatriation - from India by 30 per cent.

The number of new cases in India was slightly down on Tuesday for the first time in six days, but the country still recorded more than 323,000 new infections.

It comes after five record-breaking days, with cases peaking above 350,000 and total infections surpassing 17.6 million.

Another 2,771 people have died of the disease, taking the death toll to 197,894.

Shutting people out not a solution, Morrison says

The Prime Minister said repatriation flights would resume as soon as possible and the most vulnerable would be prioritised on the first planes back.

"We don't think the answer is to just forsake those in India and just shut them off," Mr Morrison said.

"I don't see this as a problem we have to solve, I see this as a group of people we need to help.

"These are Australians and Australian residents who need our help."

He rejected criticism that by implementing the pause he was abandoning Australians currently stranded in India, saying the government was focused on bringing people back once it could safely.

"This is the challenge of a pandemic, you don't get the perfect of all situations," the Prime Minister said.

Mr Morrison also noted that the number of breaches of Australia's hotel quarantine system was low, saying it was "99.99 per cent effective".

He said the decision to halt flights into Howard Springs, which has so far not had any community cases from the quarantine centre, was to give the facility time to deal with the overwhelming number of positive cases it is currently looking after.

Australians 'all over India' are registering with DFAT

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said there had been an increase in the number of people registering with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) in recent days as the severity of the outbreak increased.

"When I spoke to the High Commissioner this morning we touched on this challenge [of people wanting to return]," she said.

"They are all over India, literally in every single corner of the country.

"That does make the process challenging but we will stay in touch with them and provide any support we are able to."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-27/scott-morrison-pause-flights-india-covid-outbreak/100098322

#13522368 at 2021-04-27 06:21:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13515337
China says Australia must stick to 'One China' policy after Peter Dutton warns of conflict over Taiwan independence

AP/ABC - 27 April 2021

China has responded to comments by Defence Minister Peter Dutton, saying adherence to its "One China" policy is a "prerequisite" for the development of Australia-China relations.

The reaction from the Chinese foreign ministry came after Mr Dutton said on Sunday that conflict with China over Taiwan should not be "discounted".

Speaking to ABC Insiders, Mr Dutton said Beijing was very clear about its reunification goal and people should be "realistic" about activity in the region, citing militarisation of bases across the region.

China advises Australia not to send the 'wrong signals'

At a daily news briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China sought "peaceful reunification," and urged Australia to "fully understand the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue".

The Chinese government regards Taiwan as a renegade province that should be united with mainland China.

"We hope that Australia will fully understand the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue, adhere to the One China principle, be cautious in its words and actions, refrain from sending any wrong signals to the secessionist forces of Taiwan independence," Mr Wang said.

Mr Wang also called on Canberra to "stop interfering with normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries," as Mr Dutton warned of further acts on China-related deals.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne is reviewing more than 1,000 China-related deals, including a 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin.

"If it's not in our national interest, then obviously she'll act," Mr Dutton said.

Australia cancelled two infrastructure deals negotiated with China by the Victorian government last week , adding to strains in relations that are at a multi-decade low after Beijing blocked imports of coal and other goods from Australia in retaliation for its call to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

Separately, in an Anzac Day message to staff, one of Australia's most powerful national security figures warned that free nations "again hear the beating drums of war" as military tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific.

Home Affairs Department Secretary Mike Pezzullo warned that the nation must strive to reduce the likelihood of war, but be prepared to "send off, yet again, our warriors to fight".

Mr Pezzullo is expected to follow Mr Dutton from Home Affairs to the Department of Defence.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-27/china-responds-to-dutton-comment/100096928

#13515337 at 2021-04-26 08:42:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
Potential China war sees audit of deals, including Port of Darwin

OLIVIA CAISLEY - APRIL 25, 2021

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has said a war with China over Taiwan "should not be discounted" as the federal government considers the appropriateness of thousands of arrangements that might not be in the national interest, including the Chinese ownership of the Port of Darwin.

Mr Dutton told ABC Insiders on Sunday that Australians needed to be realistic about China's increasing militarisation across the region. However, he warned that "nobody wants to see conflict between China and Taiwan or anywhere else".

"I don't think it should be discounted," he said.

"I think China has been very clear about the reunification and that's been a long-held objective of theirs and if you look at any of the rhetoric that is coming out of China ... particularly in recent weeks and months ... they have been very clear about that goal."

Mr Dutton said it was important Australia continue to work with its allies in the region to try to maintain peace.

"For us we want to make sure we continue to be a good neighbour in the region, that we work with our partners and with our allies and nobody wants to see conflict between China and Taiwan or anywhere else," he said.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott last week told a seminar in Auckland that the world needed to face up to the threat China poses to democracy.

"What's very real, though, and daily more insistent, is the Beijing government's determination to retake Taiwan, by force if necessary, at least by the 2049 centenary of the Chinese Communist Party's takeover," he said.

It comes as the Morrison government moved to overrule Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' Belt and Road agreements with Beijing. But questions have now been raised about the appropriateness of other China-related deals that might not be in the national interest, such as Chinese control of the Port of Darwin.

Mr Dutton said there were thousands of cases being examined, including the Darwin Port, which entered a 99-year lease under a Chinese owner in 2015.

"There are literally thousands of these cases to look at and the Foreign Affairs Minister is working through all of that," Mr Dutton said. "The advice from Defence in relation to any of these matters will be taken into consideration by (Marise Payne).

"If it's not in our national interest, then obviously she'll act and I think she is doing exactly the right thing here.

"Our sovereignty is incredibly important and our values are important and I don't think anybody would argue with that."

Last week the Chinese foreign ministry threatened to retaliate for the scuppering of the Belt and Road deals, declaring: "We urge Australia to set aside cold war mentality and ideological bias, view the bilateral co-operation in an objective and rational light."

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he wanted Australia to continue having a productive relationship with its largest trading partner, "but at the same time we will be clear and consistent with respect to our national interest".

On Saturday, Mr Dutton told The Australian that Canberra had been clear with Beijing that it would not "surrender" to threats of retaliation.

"I think the focus for the Australian Defence Force is about core business, providing domestic support, keep Australia safe and secure, focus further emphasis and be clear-eyed about capacity in the defence force to keep us safe and secure in uncertain times and our training now reflects that priority," he said.

"The level of foreign interference in our country, the level of cyber attacks, the militarisation of bases across our region, the heavy influence into near neighbours - I think that all creates question marks and uncertainty which we need to monitor and respond to as we need."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/potential-china-war-sees-audit-of-deals-including-port-of-darwin/news-story/ab60084d8fd6cb6f7e933d925a60eae4

#13500719 at 2021-04-24 08:49:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
>>13500714
Time to face down the wolf warriors

Beijing's threats require a united, measured and calm response.

PETER JENNINGS - April 24, 2021

1/3

After another tumultuous week in the Australia-China relationship, four conclusions are becoming increasingly clear. First, we are going to be on this rollercoaster ride for years. National positions are hardening. Neither Beijing nor Canberra will back down and the prospects for negotiation are zero given China's "wolf warrior" mania.

Second, Scott Morrison and his senior ministers look increasingly confident in their stance to seek "a balance in favour of freedom". The language used about relations with China is careful but is becoming clearer and more definitive. There is something to be said for knowing when your back is hard up against a strategic wall.

Third, the Chinese Communist Party's rhetoric suggests a hint of panic is seeping in. Statements from the Chinese embassy in Canberra and from the foreign ministry in Beijing are as shrill as they are counter-productive, implicitly threatening those who engage in "the despicable tactic of smearing China on the Australian side".

Beijing's usual Australian support base has largely gone to ground and public opinion has swung significantly against the People's Republic.

A fourth lesson is that, for Australia, our ability to draw on strong alliances and deep friendships with like-minded democracies is the reason we will prevail against Beijing. The challenge is to keep these relationships strong. New Zealand aside, there is a positive international agenda to pursue and a growing interest in Canberra to shape up to this opportunity.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne's decision to cancel Victoria's Memorandum of Understanding, and Framework Agreement "jointly promoting the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road" ended Daniel Andrews's embarrassing venture into foreign policy.

Beijing's desire to get state and territory governments to "sign up" to Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative was designed to undermine Canberra. The federal government and opposition took the view that Australia should not provide a blank cheque endorsement for China's strategic plan to dominate global transport infrastructure from Europe to the Pacific Ocean.

Between 2015 and 2018, 139 countries signed Belt and Road MOUs with China - this was a major political effort, promoted in the developing world with soft loans, to buy international political endorsement for a key Xi policy initiative.

The Council on Foreign Relations, a respected US think tank, judges that "the push to get countries to join BRI is likely motivated less by a desire to build infrastructure and more by a goal of increasing China's narrative power ... that Beijing is an economic power on par with the United States".

In effect, Andrews fell hook, line and sinker into a PRC political trap. Imagine an Australian government trying to get a Chinese province to sign a MOU endorsing Scott Morrison's Pacific step-up. Beijing of course would veto such a deal on the grounds that China's provinces had no foreign policy business endorsing an Australian strategic objective.

While the Chinese embassy decried the MOU's cancellation as "another unreasonable and provocative move taken by the Australian side against China", the real provocation here was the naked attempt to turn a state government against the commonwealth, abetted with the usual coterie of Australian influencers and businesspeople intent on making money.

(continued)

#13500714 at 2021-04-24 08:47:24 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
Push to cut more Chinese accords

GEOFF CHAMBERS and JOE KELLY - APRIL 23, 2021

Foreign Minister Marise Payne is being urged to tear up China's Confucius Institute agreements with universities and the Northern Territory government's 99-year Port of Darwin lease with Chinese firm Landbridge under Australia's new foreign arrangements scheme.

Senator Payne's decision to terminate Victoria's Belt and Road Initiative agreements with Beijing under the scheme, which came into effect late last year, has sparked calls for the Morrison government to move against other Chinese deals.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings, a former Defence Department deputy secretary, said the government should take "decisive steps" to end the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin.

Writing for Inquirer, Mr Jennings said "high on the government's list for consideration must surely be the dozen or so secret agreements bringing Confucius Institutes on to Australian university campuses".

"The way these institutes function is surely an anathema to what should be a central university value for fiercely independent research," Mr Jennings wrote.

"To sustain the funding flow from Confucius Institutes, universities run the risk that courses on Chinese history or international relations cannot discuss Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, the illegal annexation of the South China Sea, human rights and other topics discomforting to Beijing. It's way past time the institutes were closed."

Under the foreign arrangements scheme, Senator Payne has reviewed more than 1000 arrangements between foreign national governments and universities, local and state governments.

In addition to cancelling the BRI agreements on the grounds of working against the national interest, Senator Payne scrapped two other deals involving Iran and Syria.

Mr Jennings argued that ending the Port of Darwin lease would be "well received domestically, by our key allies and in the region, which looks to Australia to play a strengthening role in security during troubled times".

Beijing reacted with fury during the week to the cancelling of its BRI agreements with Victoria. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China reserved the "right to take further actions" against Australia.

He said it was the first time a BRI deal had been torn-up and that the Morrison government had stooped to "political manipulation and bullying", urging Australia to abandon its "Cold War mentality and ideological bias".

Defence Minister Peter Dutton on Friday said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had done the "wrong thing" in signing the BRI deals and pushed back against criticism from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Embassy.

"He shouldn't be entering into agreements that aren't in our national interest and I want to make sure that people hear that message very clearly. We are standing up for who we are and we've got very important diplomatic relations with many countries, including China," Mr Dutton said.

"But we aren't going to be compromised by the principles of the Communist Party of China and the government's made that very clear."

Mr Dutton said China's increasingly aggressive behaviour in the region was a "real problem".

"When you look at our part of the world, you look at militarisation of bases, when you look at the cyber attacks, all of that is not the action of a friend," he said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the Opposition supported the government's Foreign Relations bill but suggested a proper explanation was needed about why Victoria's BRI deals were cancelled when nothing had happened on the Port of Darwin 99 year lease to Landbridge.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/push-to-cut-more-chinese-accords/news-story/7ec74335fe107fa244549f3679a6cbf3

#13499394 at 2021-04-24 02:57:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
Australia tearing up formal Belt and Road deal has little exemplary effect

Shen Yujia - Apr 22, 2021

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced on Wednesday that the federal government would override the Victorian state government's decision to sign up to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). National security reasons were cited.

The move will further plummet the already sour China-Australia relations to a new low. Some Australian experts believe Canberra could have just let the deal lapse and not approve new agreements. But it chose to scrap the deal at this time. This truly shows that Australia does not care about its relations with China anymore.

Australia obviously wants to send a signal to the international community and set an example to the other countries which have been cooperating with China under the BRI framework. Among these countries, its close neighbor New Zealand is the first target for this provocation.

Payne's announcement to cancel the deal came as she was visiting New Zealand. There has been much media coverage about the divergences between Australia and New Zealand in their handling of China-related affairs. Australia was apparently annoyed by New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta's recent remarks that the country was "uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes." There was anger over Wellington making its independent foreign policy. This is a stark contrast to the Australian way of attaching itself tight on the US' anti-China crusade.

Indeed, just four months ago in January, Australia also fumed after New Zealand's trade minister suggesting that the country could mend ties with China by showing its government more "respect."

Taking her stay in New Zealand as a chance to make the announcement, Payne hopes to sound an alarm bell to Wellington. Australia has long held a sense of superiority over New Zealand as it assumes a more ambitious posture toward a greater regional leadership role. It hopes New Zealand will follow it closely.

Some Western scholars believe Wellington is the West's "woke weak link" regarding its role to contain China. In essence, New Zealand's core values are of no difference in comparison to other countries of the Five Eyes alliance. But the geographical situation of New Zealand sharply differs from that of Australia. The "neighborhood" of New Zealand is Australia and Pacific islands. But Australia is situated close to Southeast Asia. So their interests in the region also differ.

Wellington is pragmatic. It has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding on the BRI. It is always willing to participate in the BRI in a third country. This includes offering consulting services to Chinese companies in Pacific countries. But New Zealand is also wary of China's increasing influence in countries such as Fiji.

Australia's moves will pile more pressure on New Zealand. But Wellington's foreign policy tends to be stable. Given its position in the international order, Australia will not affect New Zealand's diplomacy unless Wellington thinks that the BRI would pose a national security threat to it. But this possibility is small. Wellington has a clear awareness of its geopolitical situation. It knows it is a country that depends on China in terms of trade.

As a loyal follower of the US, Australia is not being wise with its China dealings. Almost every country, which unwarrantedly fears China's influence but highly depends on China, is well aware of this fact. Australia can hardly serve as an example to these countries. Nor can it strong-arm others who have BRI deals with China to back out just because of the Morrison administration.

Whereas Pacific island countries are still in the strategic sphere of Australia, some of them may take a wait-and-see attitude toward joining the BRI. China's trade measures against Australia have already made it feel the pain. In the wake of Australia's cancellation of the BRI deals, China can engage more with BRI participant countries to work out more successful projects as showcase. It will be more effective than countermeasures as Australia watches from the sidelines while BRI projects bring economic opportunities to other countries, boosting their relations with China in ways the Morrison government totally misjudged.

The author is an associate researcher at the School of International Relations, Sichuan University, and also a researcher at the Pacific Research Center of Beijing Foreign Studies University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202104/1221826.shtml

#13499304 at 2021-04-24 02:42:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13499300

2/2

The Premier always defended the BRI deals on the basis that they would create more jobs and economic opportunities for his state. But he has never been able to name a single job or project that was created because of his decision to sign up to the BRI.

Given Andrews' lack of consultation, it was easy to see how Victoria failed to read the tea leaves. After all, a year before Victoria signed the MOU, the federal government reached its own BRI agreement with the Chinese government. While this deal only applied to the participation of Australian firms in third party countries, it remains an embarrassment within senior ranks of the federal government and DFAT. It is the deal that dare not be mentioned.

And back in 2017, the federal government was sending out mixed messages on BRI. In May of that year, then-trade minister Steven Ciobo, prior to attending the first Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, said: "Australia supports the aims of initiatives such as the Belt and Road that improve infrastructure development and increased opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region." It also allowed a 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese-owned company in 2015 - a move that would be unthinkable today.

The federal government was, itself, slow to wake up to the existential threat posed by China's growing assertiveness. In 2017, it was forced to back down on a controversial extradition treaty with Beijing amid opposition from Labor and its own backbench.

Later that year, the eyes of the senior ranks of the then-Turnbull government finally opened to what former ASIO director-general Duncan Lewis described as the Chinese Communist Party's intention to "take over" Australia's political system. In 2018, the Turnbull government passed world-leading legislation targeting foreign interference in politics and other domestic affairs.

While 2017 doesn't seem that long ago, the centre of gravity on the question of China's rise has completely shifted. This has been sparked by Beijing's militarisation of the South China Sea, the democratic crackdown in Hong Kong, the detention of more than 1 million Uighurs in Xinjiang's forced labour camps, and China's economic coercion against countries that stand up to it, including Australia.

Andrews wasn't ignorant of these issues. Last year, fending off criticism about a Chinese company building a fleet of trains for Victoria being linked to China's mass internment of Uighurs, Andrews said he did not "agree with everything that is done in every country".

Victorian Liberal MP Tim Wilson, one of the first federal MPs to call for a more assertive foreign policy towards the CCP, says Australia's journey on rebalancing its relationship with Beijing and reasserting its sovereignty and interests has "been rapid and welcome".

"In 2016 the prevailing view in Canberra was to see the relationship solely through economic opportunity and blinkered to some risks, whereas now a realism has now been normalised," he says.

Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, chair of Federal Parliament's Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee, says it was part of the CCP's strategy to bypass federal governments and create a "wedge" within a country.

"The CCP used the Victorian deals as a propaganda tool to spruik the BRI to our neighbours," she says. "We need to speak with one voice here, because if we don't, we're allowing a foreign regime to subvert our national interest."

In 2020, as criticism of the Victorian government's approach to China escalated, the Morrison government announced new foreign agreement veto laws. The legislation, passed in December, required Foreign Minister Marise Payne to cancel agreements that states, territories, local governments and universities enter into with an overseas government if they contradict Australia's national interest.

Along with the two BRI deals, Payne also announced this week she was cancelling two Victorian government education agreements - one struck with Iran in 2004 and another with Syria in 1999. She warned other agreements could be announced in the coming months.

Michael Shoebridge, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's defence program, says it is now impossible to separate security and diplomatic policy from trade and economics.

"Any decision that misses that point leads to really bad decisions like Victoria's two BRI agreements," he says.

In Canberra, the merging of security and economic policy was occurring as far back as 2017. Andrews just had to look beyond his own department to see it was happening.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-call-never-came-victoria-s-china-deal-was-done-through-premier-daniel-andrews-office-20210422-p57lik.html

#13493500 at 2021-04-23 09:11:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
We will never surrender to Beijing: Peter Dutton

GEOFF CHAMBERS, OLIVIA CAISLEY and WILL GLASGOW - APRIL 23, 2021

1/2

Defence Minister Peter Dutton says Australia will never surrender its sovereignty to appease China after the Morrison government tore up Victoria's Belt and Road Initiative agreements with Beijing.

Mr Dutton told Nine's Today show on Friday that Australia has been clear with China from the start and would not "surrender" to threats of retaliation after Beijing threatened to take legal action over the scuppered deal.

"We're not going to have our values compromised, we aren't going to surrender our sovereignty," he said.

It comes as Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne on Wednesday announced that two Belt and Road agreements would be axed under new laws because they were not in the national interest.

Mr Dutton also lashed Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews for "doing the wrong thing" by signing the agreement with China in the first place.

"He shouldn't be entering into agreements that aren't in our national interest…," he said. "We are standing up for who we are. We've got very important diplomatic relations with many countries including China, but we aren't going to be compromised by the principles of the Communist Party of China."

Mr Dutton warned that China's increasingly aggressive behaviour in the region was a "real problem".

"It is a real problem when you look at our part of the world, you look at military bases, when you look at the cyber attacks, all of that is not the action of a friend," he said.

"We need to make sure that, yes, we have an important trading relationship, but China and others need to understand that Australia is not going to be bullied and we're standing up for our beliefs and that will continue. It will not change."

Mr Dutton was joined on the show by deputy Labor leader Richard Marles who warned that the relationship between Canberra and Beijing needed to be "carefully managed."

Scott Morrison will stare down Chinese threats to launch fresh action against Australia, saying he would always protect the nation's interests and a world that "seeks a balance in favour of freedom".

As government officials and business leaders braced for retaliation, Beijing on Thursday night said it would "reserve the right to take further actions" after lodging a formal protest with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The decision by Foreign Minister Marise Payne to scrap the BRI deals sparked a furious response, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accusing the Morrison government of "political manipulation and bullying".

He called Senator Payne's order under the Foreign Arrangements Scheme a "bad" global precedent.

"The federal government wantonly cancelled the two sides' agreement and disrupted and undermined the two sides' normal exchanges and co-operation and harmed China/Australia relations and mutual trust," he said. "China rejects and deplores this. We have lodged solemn representations with Australia and reserve the right to take further actions."

He said China urged Australia to "abandon their Cold War mentality and ideological bias", and "avoid making the already strained China-Australia relations worse".

Following criticism from the Chinese embassy, which claimed termination of the BRI agreements was "provocative" and "unreasonable", the Prime Minister said "there is one foreign policy of this country".

"The Foreign Relations Act ... was designed to protect our national interests by ensuring that there were no other agreements entered into by any other level of government that would conflict with Australia's national interest," he said. "What we have done is we have followed through. There have been four agreements the Foreign Minister has terminated in line with that Foreign Relations Act. We will always act in Australia's national interest to protect Australia, but to also ensure that we can advance our national interests of a free and open Indo-Pacific and a world that seeks a balance in favour of freedom."

(continued)

#13485337 at 2021-04-22 09:33:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13460325
>>13485327
>>13485332
Strengthening trans-Tasman ties: Australia-New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations

Senator the Hon Marise Payne

Joint statement with
The Hon Nanaia Mahuta
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Local Government
Associate Minister of Maori Development
New Zealand

22 April 2021

New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, met in Wellington today for biannual Australia-New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations.

Minister Payne's visit is the first official visit to New Zealand by Australia since both countries imposed border restrictions in response to COVID-19 in March 2020.

The Ministers welcomed the chance to meet in person for the first time, following the commencement of two-way quarantine-free travel on 19 April.

The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss ways to continue and deepen cooperation between Australia and New Zealand to meet the shared challenges facing our region.

New Zealand and Australia stand together in facing a challenging global environment. Ministers discussed the importance of promoting our shared interests in an open, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific. They reaffirmed their intent to work together to preserve the liberal international order that has underpinned stability and prosperity in the region, and to foster a sustainable regional balance where all countries- large and small - can freely pursue their legitimate interests.

The Ministers discussed responses to increasing pressure on the international rules-based system and rising protectionism, and agreed on the need for coordinated regional and global action on issues such as human rights and climate change, including work Australia and New Zealand are doing together to strengthen the climate resilience of our Pacific island partners.

The Ministers also highlighted the importance of strengthening gender equality, including promoting women in leadership in the Pacific and initiatives on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Minister Payne and Minister Mahuta agreed on the value of coordinating with other likeminded countries and building broad coalitions on issues of common interest.

Ministers also reiterated both governments' commitment to a resilient and united Pacific region underpinned by robust regional architecture, and to continuing to help Pacific island countries manage the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, including support for the rollout of vaccines.

The two Ministers welcomed progress on the Australia-New Zealand Single Economic Market agenda. They acknowledged the contribution quarantine-free travel would make to the economic recovery in both countries, especially in the travel and tourism sectors. The Ministers also discussed the situation of New Zealanders living and working in Australia.

The Ministers reaffirmed the closeness and importance of the Australia-New Zealand relationship.

"Australia is New Zealand's closest and most important international partner. It's appropriate that Minister Payne was the first counterpart I have welcomed from overseas since becoming Foreign Minister" said Nanaia Mahuta.

"New Zealand also looks forward to welcoming Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for our annual leaders' talks."

Marise Payne expressed appreciation for New Zealand's warmth and hospitality. "I look forward to continuing our strong tradition of trans-Tasman partnership, working closely with Minister Mahuta to promote even closer economic ties and personal connections between Australia and New Zealand."

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/strengthening-trans-tasman-ties-australia-new-zealand-foreign-minister-consultations

#13485332 at 2021-04-22 09:31:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13460325
>>13485327
Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Today's Foreign Ministerial Consultations in #Wellington, our first face-to-face meeting since COVID-19, allowed for a deep discussion as friends about shared priorities, including our Pacific partnerships, as we navigate 2021 together.

Statement bit. ly/3xhN3qj

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1385098085072662530

#13485327 at 2021-04-22 09:28:26 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13460325
Australia reminds Kiwis of Five Eyes value

Daniel McCulloch - APRIL 22 2021

Australia has reminded New Zealand of the importance of the Five Eyes alliance during a meeting of trans-Tasman foreign ministers.

Marise Payne met with her New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta in Wellington on Thursday.

Ms Mahuta raised eyebrows ahead of the diplomatic trip by arguing the Five Eyes group should focus solely on intelligence sharing.

She does not want the network straying to other matters, such as speaking out against China for human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

Senator Payne stressed the importance of the Five Eyes alliance during the bilateral meeting.

"Australia will continue to emphasise the vital nature of the Five Eyes alliance in security and in intelligence," she told ABC radio ahead of the meeting.

The foreign minister refused to say whether Ms Mahuta's comments had placed a strain on the coalition.

"There is a depth of commitment in the relationship between Australia and New Zealand that is very significant," she said.

"In terms of the Five Eyes, what I have found in the last year in particular and certainly in the last little while, is a very significant level of engagement across counterparts."

However, during a joint press conference after the meeting, Senator Payne played down the starkly different approaches to the alliance between Australia and New Zealand.

She did not criticise New Zealand for its unwillingness to support moving Five Eyes "out of the shadows" and expanding its remit into public diplomacy.

"What we see in Five Eyes, which I think is very much shared across the members, is a vital strategic alliance that is key to our security and intelligence interests," Senator Payne told reporters.

"A lot of issues with which we deal are dealt with in the shadows, but not all, and some have been able to be dealt with openly and publicly through the Five Eyes process."

Ms Mahuta said while the five countries shared common values and principles, the alliance was primarily focused on intelligence and security.

"It's not necessary all the time on every issue to invoke Five Eyes as your first port of call in terms of creating a coalition of support around particular issues in the human rights space," she said.

Senator Payne said the allies could address issues of concern in whatever forum they deemed appropriate and consistent with their national interests.

"But our respect for each other - Australia, the United States, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada - is enduring and continuing."

At a separate media conference, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country's relationship with the alliance had not changed.

"Five Eyes remains our most important security and intelligence partnership and that has not changed," she told reporters.

"New Zealand also has an independent foreign policy, and that equally has not changed."

https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7220154/australia-reminds-kiwis-of-five-eyes-value/?cs=9676

#13485324 at 2021-04-22 09:27:05 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13460325
Australia was blindsided when Five Eyes ally New Zealand backed away from China criticism

Anthony Galloway - April 22, 2021

1/2

Australian officials were blindsided when New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta criticised efforts to pressure China through the 70-year-old spy alliance known as the "Five Eyes".

"We would much rather prefer to look for multilateral opportunities to express our interests on a number of issues," Mahuta said on Monday.

The language is carefully couched but it has real consequences. Our nearest neighbour did not inform Australia of its position before Mahuta this week voiced her government's discomfort about the "expanding remit" of Five Eyes. While Wellington's conspicuous absence from a few joint statements had caused unease in Canberra over the past year, Australian officials did not know about New Zealand's official opposition to using the spy network to exert diplomatic pressure on Beijing.

While there have been other incidents over the past year demonstrating how strained trans-Tasman relations have become, this development is likely to cause diplomatic friction in the coming weeks.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit New Zealand in two weeks to meet with his counterpart Jacinda Ardern. The future of Five Eyes will be a hot topic of discussion. The issue will be discussed at senior levels before then, with Foreign Minister Marise Payne and International Development Minister Zed Seselja flying to New Zealand on Wednesday to meet their counterparts.

While no one in the Australian government is seriously suggesting New Zealand is at risk of being booted out of the intelligence-sharing network, Canberra and Washington are concerned by Wellington's attempt to curtail its expansion. In Canberra, joking references to the "Four Eyes" have only increased in recent months.

The Five Eyes group - which includes the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - was formed in 1941 to share secrets and signals intelligence during World War II.

Over the past few years, it has gradually expanded into a diplomatic grouping, issuing joint statements criticising China over crackdowns in Hong Kong and Xinjiang . While New Zealand has joined many of these statements, it was notably absent from some over the past year.

Tensions between Canberra and Wellington have been building for years, with Ardern repeatedly criticising Australia for deporting Kiwi citizens and cancelling the citizenship of dual citizens accused of terrorism. But it is the question of how to handle the growing assertiveness of China that has caused the biggest frictions.

In December last year, Mahuta offered to mediate a truce between Australia and China and said both parties needed to "concede in some areas where they are currently not seeing eye to eye". Months later, New Zealand's new Trade Minister Damien O'Connor suggested Australia should speak with more "respect" and "diplomacy" towards China.

Senior officials in the Australian government repeatedly put these interventions down to rookie ministers still learning their brief, and did not necessarily see them as the views of Ardern. However, the latest comments from Mahuta are different.

Australian officials were put off by the suggestion that New Zealand was charting a more "independent" course; they believe there's nothing independent about using your trade relationship with China as a justification for not criticising Beijing. It is Australia, they argue, who has been the one standing on its two feet: the first to ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei from next-generation networks, first to enact foreign interference laws and ahead of the curve on blocking foreign investment in critical national infrastructure.

Some Australian officials also dispute Wellington's assertion that there has been a significant "expansion" of Five Eyes, saying it has always been a diplomatic grouping.

(continued)

#13485065 at 2021-04-22 07:31:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
>>13485031
Australia faces serious consequences for unreasonable provocation against China over BRI deals: observer

Global Times - Apr 22, 2021

1/2

Australia has essentially fired a major shot in what could lead up to a potential trade conflict with China and could face serious consequences for its "unreasonable provocation" against China, Chinese experts said on Wednesday after Canberra moved to use what has been viewed as an anti-China law to revoke agreements signed between Victoria state and China on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

By tearing up the agreements, Australia's federal government is not only going over its head to provoke China but also stepping over its state jurisdiction for its own political interests which could be a serious blow to both federal and local economies, observers said.

Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said that a memorandum of understanding and framework agreement the state of Victoria signed with China in relation to the BRI had been cancelled under the new Commonwealth veto laws, claiming that "the arrangement is inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy or hurts its foreign relations."

It was the first time the Australian federal government used the new veto law, which allows it to cancel agreements states and territories strike with other countries, according to media reports. The law has been widely regarded as a move primarily targeting China.

Responding to the Australian move, a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Australia expressed on Wednesday a "resolute opposition" to the Australian move, calling it another "unreasonable and provocative" action taken by Australia against China.

"It further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations. It is bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations and will only end up hurting itself," the spokesperson said.

"The move is not only unreasonable to China but also to Victoria. It is also a deliberate provocation that goes beyond Australia's strength and could result in serious consequences," an observer told the Global Times on Wednesday.

While bilateral relations have already plunged to a near frozen state due to a series of hostile actions from Australia against China, including banning Chinese firm Huawei and interfering into China's internal affairs regarding Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the latest move marks a significant escalation that could push icy bilateral relations into an abyss, experts noted.

"By using this domestic law, Australia basically fired the first major shot against China in trade and investment," Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at the East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

(continued)

#13485059 at 2021-04-22 07:30:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
>>13485031
Scrapping BRI deal will hurt Australia: Chinese Embassy

Global Times - Apr 21, 2021

The Chinese Embassy in Australia on Wednesday criticized a move by the Australian government to cancel an agreement signed between the state of Victoria and China to cooperate under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), warning that the move will bring further damage to bilateral ties and will only hurt Australia.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that a memorandum of understanding and framework agreement Victoria signed with China in relation to the BRI had been cancelled under new Commonwealth veto laws, claiming "the arrangement is inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy or hurts its foreign relations."

It is the first time the Australian federal government has used the new veto law, which permits it to cancel agreements states and territories strike with other countries, media reports. The law has been widely regarded as a move targeting China.

Responding to the move, a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Australia said that the move is another "unreasonable and provocative" move taken by Australia against China.

"It further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations. It is bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations, and will only end up hurting itself," the spokesperson said.

The Australian move came as China-Australia bilateral relations is at near freezing point, and trade and economic ties have also been seriously disrupted, after Canberra launched a series of anti-China policies.

The latest move could further plunge already-frosty bilateral relations into an even lower abyss and threatens further serious disruptions to trade and economic ties, analysts said. That might warrant a corresponding response from China, they added.

"To tear up the BRI cooperation agreement from the federal perspective is a gross intervention in the development policy of the state, which will inevitably have a negative impact on the economic development of Victoria in the future," Song Wei, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Joining the BRI has brought considerable economic benefits to Victoria and created a large number of employment opportunities for the region. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also defended the agreement as "more jobs and more trade and investment for Victorians."

Furthermore, economic and trade relations between China and Australia will plunge even further, Song noted.

Following serious damage to Australian businesses due to tense diplomatic relations, Australian officials have said that they have been reaching out to Chinese officials to address trade issues but have not received any response. Chinese officials criticized Australia for its anti-China policies and urged Canberra to take concrete actions to rectify its mistakes.

The latest move is in the opposite direction and could further complicate the relationship, Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday, noting that it completely disregarded the mutually beneficial and comprehensive strategic partnership between Australia and China.

"It was of major benefit to Victoria that the agreement at the time did not deal with any sensitive sectors or national security," noted Chen.

While the Australian government's decision is very damaging, it was expected, experts said.

"There was a belief that the agreement was targeting the BRI agreement when the federal government passed its Foreign Relations Bill, which allows the federal government to override any state agreement under the so-called national security threat," Chen said, adding that if Australia continues on the wrong path, "China will surely respond accordingly."

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202104/1221757.shtml

#13485047 at 2021-04-22 07:27:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
Beijing hits back as Marise Payne cancels Daniel Andrews' Belt and Road agreements

BEN PACKHAM and JOE KELLY - APRIL 22, 2021

1/2

Foreign Minister Marise Payne says she expects more deals to be scrapped following the tearing up of Victoria's Belt and Road agreement with China.

Speaking in Wellington alongside her New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta, Senator Payne said she anticipated there would be "further decisions" made on agreements between Australian institutions and foreign powers.

"They will be informed by my department on the consistency of all of those arrangements with the relevant legal test as it's set out in the legislation," she said.

She said there was a "fundamental difference" between the governance of New Zealand and Australia.

"We are, of course, a federation so states and territories that enter into those agreements are now required to consult and to advise the commonwealth as they do that. The process that I'm going through now is addressing those that have been made in the past."

Senator Payne spoke of her decision to tear up four agreements entered into by the Victorian government concerning Syria, Iran, and China. "The determination that we have formed is that they are not consistent with Australia's approach to foreign policy and under the legislation will be terminated," she said. "I do expect there will be further decisions to be made in due course."

China hits back over BRI

Earlier, Beijing has hit back after Senator Payne tore up Victoria's controversial Belt and Road agreements with China, warning the "provocative" move could throw relations between the two countries "into the abyss."

In the first use of new powers allowing the commonwealth to unilaterally veto deals it views as contrary to the national interest, Senator Payne revealed on Wednesday night she had cancelled four agreements - all negotiated by Victorian authorities - including a 2004 deal between the state's Education and Training Department with Iran and a 1999 scientific co-operation agreement with Syria.

The two BRI deals include the 2018 Memorandum of Understanding between the Andrews' government and the National Development and Reform Commission of China, and the 2019 Framework Agreement, which built on the earlier deal.

"I consider these four arrangements to be inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations in line with the relevant test in Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020," Ms Payne said.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said the move was "another unreasonable and provocative move… against China."

He added: "It further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations. It is bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations, and will only end up hurting itself."

The Global Times, Beijing's mouthpiece, went further, quoting Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Centre at the East China Normal University that the move marked a "significant escalation that could push icy bilateral relations into an abyss."

The newspaper reported: "The latest move appears to be a calculated and deliberate step taken by Australia against China and could prompt a response from Beijing".

Senator Payne on Thursday said the new powers weren't aimed at "any one country" and that Australia would continue to emphasise its commitment to engaging with China.

"It is most certainly not intended to harm Australia's relationships with any countries," she told ABC AM.

"I hope that if there are any concerns they will be raised with the government."

Senator Payne rejected the assertion that Australian producers should prepare for more retaliation from China - despite wine and barley producers being slapped with tariffs, and seafood, coal and timber facing customs issues last year.

"Australia is operating in our national interests, we are very careful and very considered in that approach," she said.

"It's about ensuring we have a consistent approach to foreign policy."

(continued)

#13485037 at 2021-04-22 07:24:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
China criticises Australia's 'provocative' decision to tear up Victoria's Belt and Road agreement

Foreign Minister Marise Payne's decision to scrap Victoria's Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure deal with China has angered Beijing.

22 April 2021

China has slammed Australia's "provocative" decision to tear up Victoria's Belt and Road Initiative agreement with Beijing, warning the move will further damage bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced on Wednesday night that the infrastructure deal had been cancelled under new foreign veto powers.

China's embassy in Australia responded swiftly, expressing "strong displeasure and resolute opposition" to Senator Payne's announcement.

"This is another unreasonable and provocative move taken by the Australian side against China," a Chinese embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

"It further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations.

"It is bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations, and will only end up hurting itself."

The Morrison government in December granted itself the ability to torpedo deals between individual states and foreign powers under the Foreign Relations Act.

The foreign minister can assess such arrangements to check if they align with Australia's foreign policy goals.

Senator Payne said four agreements would be cancelled, two of which related to Victoria's Belt and Road deal for infrastructure investment.

"I consider these four arrangements to be inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations," she said in a statement.

Victoria signed a memorandum of understanding in relation to the Chinese regional infrastructure initiative in 2018 and then signed a "framework agreement" with Beijing in 2019.

Areas of cooperation included increasing participation of Chinese companies in Victoria's infrastructure program and promoting cooperation of Victorian businesses in China.

It also allowed Victoria's engineering and design firms to bid for contracts for Belt and Road Initiative projects around the world.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has previously advised against the cancellation of the deal, saying it would place Victorian jobs at risk.

A state government spokeswoman told AAP the Foreign Relations Act was a matter for the Commonwealth.

"The Victorian government will continue to work hard to deliver jobs, trade and economic opportunities for our state," she said in a statement on Wednesday.

Beijing has previously raised Canberra's veto power as one of 14 grievances damaging to bilateral relations.

China has in the past 12 months launched a series of damaging trade strikes against Australia after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chinese government also remains furious with Australia over foreign interference and investment laws and the decision to ban Huawei from the country's 5G rollout.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/china-criticises-australia-s-provocative-decision-to-tear-up-victoria-s-belt-and-road-agreement

#13485018 at 2021-04-22 07:20:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13485007
Decisions under Australia's Foreign Arrangements Scheme

Senator the Hon Marise Payne

Media release

21 April 2021

Australia's Foreign Arrangements Scheme has been in operation since 10 December 2020. The Scheme requires states and territories, local governments and Australian public universities to notify the Minister for Foreign Affairs of existing and proposed foreign arrangements. I have so far been notified of over 1,000 arrangements.

States and territories have now completed their initial audit of existing arrangements with foreign national governments.

The more than 1,000 notified so far reflect the richness and breadth of Australia's international interests and demonstrate the important role played by Australia's states, territories, universities and local governments in advancing Australia's interests abroad.

I thank the states and territories for their cooperation and for what is developing as a cooperative approach under the Scheme.

Following review and consideration of arrangements, I can advise that the following four will be cancelled:

- Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Education and Training (Victoria) and the Technical and Vocational Training Organisation, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Islamic Republic of Iran, signed 25 November 2004.

- Protocol of Scientific Cooperation between the Ministry of Higher Education in the Syrian Arab Republic and the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Training of Victoria, signed 31 March 1999.

- Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Victoria and the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China on Cooperation within the Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, signed 8 October 2018.

- Framework Agreement between the Government of Victoria and the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China on Jointly Promoting the Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, signed on 23 October 2019.

I consider these four arrangements to be inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations in line with the relevant test in Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020.

I have also decided to approve a proposed Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Human Resources Development in Energy and Mineral Resources Sector between the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation of the Government of Western Australia and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia.

I will continue to consider foreign arrangements notified under the Scheme. I expect the overwhelming majority of them to remain unaffected. I look forward to ongoing collaboration with states, territories, universities and local governments in implementing the Foreign Arrangements Scheme.

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/decisions-under-australias-foreign-arrangements-scheme

#13485007 at 2021-04-22 07:17:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

Victoria's Belt and Road deal with China torn up

Anthony Galloway and Eryk Bagshaw - April 21, 2021

1/2

The Australian government has torn up Victoria's controversial Belt and Road agreement with China, saying it falls foul of the country's national interest, in a move that will further inflame tensions between Canberra and Beijing.

China's foreign mission reacted swiftly on Wednesday night, warning the decision would put any recovery in the relationship between Australia and its largest trading partner in jeopardy.

"This is another unreasonable and provocative move taken by the Australian side against China," said a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy.

"It further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations. It is bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations, and will only end up hurting itself."

Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced on Wednesday night that the Belt and Road Initiative deal - which tied the state to Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature initiative to bankroll infrastructure projects around the world - has been cancelled under the Commonwealth's new foreign veto laws.

The federal government also announced it was cancelling two Victorian government education agreements - one struck with Iran in 2004 and another with Syria in 1999. They have been ruled unlawful under the laws passed late last year.

Senator Payne said she considered the agreements to be "inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations".

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been locked in an ongoing feud with the Morrison government over its decision to sign on to the $1.5 trillion global infrastructure initiative, which would have allowed for Chinese investment in Victoria and for Victorian companies to participate in Chinese government projects overseas under the BRI banner. Mr Andrews has always defended the deal on the basis it would provide more jobs and economic opportunities for the state.

The federal government and national security experts were concerned that China was using the Victorian agreement as a propaganda win to claim the Victorian government had broken ranks with Australia's China policy. They are also worried that China was using the BRI to load up poorer countries with debt and reduce Australia's influence in the region.

The Chinese government has maintained the BRI is an economic co-operation initiative, which "upholds the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and transparency".

"It has brought tangible benefits to the participating parties," the Chinese embassy spokesperson said. "The BRI co-operation between China and the Victoria state is conducive to deepening economic and trade relations between the two sides, and will promote economic growth and the well-being of the people of Victoria."

No financial commitments had been made under the arrangement, which was largely seen as symbolic, but it had driven foreign policy disputes between Victoria and the federal government after more than a year of tension with Beijing. Diplomatic sources in Canberra, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the scrapping of the deal could set a precedent for other countries attempting to balance the economic firepower of China with its international ambition.

(continued)

#13477230 at 2021-04-21 07:03:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13460325
New Zealand backs "Five Eyes" alliance, but wants human rights raised in broader group

Kirsty Needham - Apr 20, 2021

SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Zealand expressed support for its Five Eyes alliance with Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States, calling it a "vital security and intelligence partnership", a day after saying it didn't support broadening the group's role.

Following a speech on China on Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand was "uncomfortable" with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes, raising speculation that Wellington didn't back recent Five Eyes statements critical of Beijing.

China, New Zealand's largest trading partner, has accused the Five Eyes of ganging up on China by issuing statements on Hong Kong and the treatment of ethnic Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang.

In a statement to Reuters on Tuesday, Mahuta said the Five Eyes remained vital for New Zealand for intelligence, police, border security, defence and cyber cooperation.

"New Zealand is a real beneficiary of the arrangement and will continue to actively engage with the Five Eyes alliance as we always have," she said.

"There will be some areas on which it's useful to coordinate through the Five Eyes platform; but there will be other areas - human rights for example - where we want to look to building a broader coalition of countries to take positions."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters on Tuesday that New Zealand was "absolutely reaffirming our commitment to that Five Eyes partnership".

Ardern added that sometimes the Five Eyes will make collective statements, and in other cases New Zealand would make statements with Australia, or on its own.

"Not every issue we speak as New Zealand is a security and intelligence issue," she said.

Australia's foreign affairs minister Marise Payne will travel to New Zealand on Wednesday for meetings with Mahuta and Ardern, the first diplomatic visit between the neighbouring countries since borders reopened both ways.

https://whbl.com/2021/04/20/new-zealand-backs-five-eyes-alliance-but-wants-human-rights-raised-in-broader-group/

#13460325 at 2021-04-19 10:07:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

New Zealand 'uncomfortable with expanding the remit' of Five Eyes, says Foreign Minister

Stephen Dziedzic - 19 April 2021

New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, has sent a clear signal that the country will chart a more independent foreign policy, directly criticising efforts to pressure China through the Five Eyes intelligence sharing group.

The comments are likely to further inflame tensions in New Zealand's relationship with Australia, which believes the Ardern government is undermining collective attempts to push back against increasingly aggressive behaviour from Beijing.

The Five Eyes group - which includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - was originally formed as an intelligence sharing network but has expanded its scope in the past few years.

Ms Mahuta today said the group should focus on intelligence.

"That's a matter we have raised with Five Eyes partners. We are uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes relationship," she said.

"We would much rather prefer to look for multilateral opportunities to express our interests on a number of issues."

The comments come only days before Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne visits New Zealand for formal talks with Ms Mahuta and New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.

Beijing has responded furiously to recent joint statements from the Five Eyes group criticising crackdowns on Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and threatened reprisals.

In the last six months New Zealand has joined many of those statements, but has been conspicuously absent from some.

Tensions have also flared between Australia and New Zealand over how to handle Beijing, although most of the frustrations have been kept behind closed doors.

Earlier this year New Zealand's Trade Minister, Damien O'Connor, irritated Australian ministers and officials after suggesting that the Morrison government should show China more "respect" in order to avoid campaigns of economic punishment.

Ms Mahuta has not held back from criticising China - including over its treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang - since taking over the role.

But the Foreign Minister said Five Eyes had a "specific purpose" and New Zealand would issue its own statements - or look to "other partners" in the region - when it wanted to lay out its position.

"New Zealand has been very clear, certainly in this term since we've held the portfolio, not to invoke the Five Eyes as the first point of contact on messaging out on a range of issues," she said.

"They really exist outside of the remit of the Five Eyes. We don't favour that type of approach and have expressed that to Five Eyes partners."

The Foreign Minister's comments also cast doubt on moves to expand the diplomatic architecture of Five Eyes.

In recent years ministers from all five countries across several different portfolios - including defence, treasury and foreign affairs - have held Five Eyes meetings.

Minister outlines new approach to China

Ms Mahuta made the comments after giving a major speech designed to reframe New Zealand's approach to its relationship with China.

She said New Zealand wanted to diversify its exports in order to reduce its dependence on China, saying "in terms of thinking about long-term economic resilience ... there is value in diversity".

"Resting our trade relationship on just one country, long term, is probably not the way we should be thinking about things," she said.

She said New Zealand wanted mutually respectful ties with China, comparing the relationship to a "dragon and taniwha", in reference to a water-dwelling serpent in Maori mythology.

The Foreign Minister stressed the two countries would not always agree, but needed to deal with each other fairly and honestly.

"There are some things on which New Zealand and China do not, cannot, and will not, agree," Ms Mahuta said.

"It is important to acknowledge this, and to stay true to ourselves, as we seek to manage our disagreements mindful that tikanga [culture, values or customs] or underpinning how we relate to each other must be respected."

She also issued a thinly veiled warning about rising debt levels in the Pacific, although she did not single out China.

"It's no secret there's a significant level of economic vulnerability across the Pacific," she said.

"New Zealand certainty invests in the Pacific ... by way of grants, not loans."

"If we're really focused on regional stability and opportunity we need to tackle this particular challenge. I hope that conversation can take place with those who seek to invest in the region."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-19/new-zealand-five-eyes-intelligence-sharing-china-australia/100078834

#13422688 at 2021-04-14 08:28:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

Spring forward: why Sinodinos is ready to mingle after a 'hermit-like existence'

Matthew Knott - April 14, 2021

1/2

Washington: Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's ambassador to the United States, was relaxing at home on a Saturday night last December when the text messages started streaming in.

It was Sunday morning in Australia and Insiders was airing on the ABC. Respected press gallery veteran Niki Savva used her appearance on the show to unveil a scoop: Sinodinos, a cancer survivor, was planning to return to Australia. The coronavirus pandemic, she said, had made it difficult for him to do the job and Foreign Minister Marise Payne was in line to fill his spot.

People wanted to know: was Sinodinos really leaving Washington after just 10 months? Savva had tried to check the story with him before going on air but Sinodinos missed her messages. So he jumped onto Twitter to correct the record: "Not going anywhere, happy in the service."

"My ears pricked up because I've seen this sort of scenario before: people floating things," Sinodinos says. "Having survived until late last year in this environment, it didn't seem like a logical time to be going back just as things were about to turn the corner here."

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have been told the story was driven by at least one ambitious cabinet member angling to take over the foreign ministry from Payne.

Even by the Machiavellian standards of Canberra, weaponising a former colleague's cancer history for career advancement seems grubby. But Sinodinos, who served as John Howard's chief-of-staff for a decade before eight years as a Liberal senator, shrugs it off as the stuff of politics.

"Comrade, in this business never rule out shenanigans," he says. "I dealt with it and that was the end of that."

Sinodinos is upfront that his status as a survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma curtailed his ability to participate in the schmoozing that defined diplomatic life in pre-pandemic Washington.

As a bone marrow transplant recipient in a country with the world's highest number of coronavirus cases, he had to take social distancing seriously. Most of his interactions were limited to phone calls and video meetings.

"I would go out for the odd gathering but very limited - involving one or two people - and very rarely," Sinodinos, 64, says of his past year in the US capital.

"There was an element of it being a hermit-like existence. It would have been nice to have had more ambassadorial things to do."

That's rapidly changing. Sinodinos has received both doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, making him one of the 73 million people in the US to be fully vaccinated.

On Tuesday (AEDT) he welcomed the Herald and The Age to White Oaks, his official residence in Washington, for his first in-person interview since the pandemic began. Most officials in the Biden administration are also fully vaccinated, meaning real-world meetings are an option once again.

(continued)

#13414892 at 2021-04-13 07:56:53 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13389623
Australia's exports to China hit new highs

WILL GLASGOW - APRIL 13, 2021

Australia's exports to China hit a new record in the first three months of 2021 as strong demand for iron ore continues to more than offset Beijing's strikes on coal, wine, lobster, timber and barley.

The total value of goods exports from Australia rose by 20.7 per cent to $44.36bn ($US33bn) in the first quarter of the year, according to data released by China's customs agency.

Exports in March were $17.4bn, the highest monthly total ever.

China's exports to Australia for the three months to the end of March were up 50.5 per cent to $18.5bn.

The elevated prices of iron ore and liquefied natural gas - Australia's two biggest exports to China - has undermined the campaign of economic punishment President Xi Jinping's regime has waged on the Morrison government.

Australia's ambassador in China Graham Fletcher last month said the lack of impact of the trade restrictions had contributed to the ongoing "stand off" between Beijing and Canberra.

"The total impact on the economy, and on [Australian] government policy frankly, is not delivering the result that China wanted," Mr Fletcher told the Australia China Business Council at a briefing.

Beijing's trade strikes - which Ambassador Fletcher described as "deliberate coercion" - began with a thumping 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley exports, imposed weeks after Foreign Minister Marise Payne last April called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus without forewarning her Chinese counterparts.

The barley tariff was followed by the suspension of licences for six Australian beef abattoirs, the imposition of a 200-plus per cent tariff on Australian wine that priced the industry out of what had been its biggest market, the banning of timber after Chinese officials said they had detected pests in Australian cargo, and a blacklisting of lobsters and coal which has never been made official.

Australia had been the dominant supplier of coking coal to China, the world's biggest steel maker.

Beijing's ban on coal - which had been Australia's third biggest export to China, worth $14bn in 2019 - has increased the cost of the steel making ingredient for its local industry.

"It just shows the extent to which China is prepared to pay a price itself to make a political point," Mr Fletcher said.

According to numbers by China's customs, no Australian coal has entered China this year.

Despite reports that copper concentrate had also been blacklisted, China's official numbers show the metal has continued to enter the world's second biggest economy.

Industry in China has been concerned that copper from Chile - the world's biggest - may be disrupted by a huge wave of coronavirus in the South American country.

The China Iron and Steel Association met on Tuesday to discuss the high costs of its resource inputs. Australia is China's main supplier of iron ore, which continues to trade without interruption.

That meeting came a week after President Xi's top economic adviser Liu He discussed the increase in the prices of bulk commodities with officials.

The new trade numbers show the deep complementarity between resource rich Australia's resource and China, its biggest trading partner.

They come after new analysis by the Lowy Institute's chief economist Roland Rajah found most Australian industries caught up in China's trade campaign have been able to offset much of their lost income by finding new markets.

Australia's lobster industry - which sold more than 90 per cent of its product to China - and the country's most China-exposed winemakers have felt the most pain.

"Our friends had to bite the bullet," China's deputy head of mission at its Canberra Embassy Wang Xining told a separate Australia China Business Council function in February.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/economics/australias-exports-to-china-hit-new-highs/news-story/dda05455c091f0507593a04a5afaa50d

#13376098 at 2021-04-07 05:58:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

China denies abuse of Uyghurs in bizarre press conference

Australian journalists have been invited to a surreal press conference by the Chinese embassy, where they have been fed the nation's propaganda.

Finn McHugh - APRIL 7, 2021

The Chinese government has held an extraordinary press conference in Canberra, trotting out members of a Muslim ethnic minority to deny they had been persecuted by the communist nation.

The Chinese embassy in Canberra invited Australian journalists to the meeting on Wednesday to defend Beijing's human rights record in Xinjiang Province, where human rights groups believe more than a million Muslim Uyghurs have been sent to internment camps.

But in a surreal press conference, Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye insisted Uyghurs were not subjected to oppression in Xinjiang.

China's ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, said the point of the press conference was to combat "disinformation" about Xinjiang and the Uyghurs.

"Over some time, there has been quite some distorted coverage about Xinjiang in certain Western media," Mr Cheng said.

"Those reports are basically based on disinformation or misinformation.

"Today's press conference is to help you Australian journalists to have a better understanding of the actual situation in Xinjiang."

Journalists were shown a six-minute propaganda video - entitled "Xinjiang is a Wonderful Land" - depicting the region as one of "economic development, social stability, livelihood improvement and religious harmony".

The video suggested the Communist Party of China had "transformed" Xinjiang "into a land of life, a land of thriving vitality".

China has long insisted the camps are designed to quell a growing separatist movement in the region, driven by the Uyghur population.

Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association president Ramila Chanisheff said the number of people to have passed through the camps could range between 5 and 8 million, with more than 380 sites across Xinjiang.

She said the press conference was a sign of "desperation" from Beijing, which was "very much afraid" of the growing international scrutiny about the province.

"I think what we can see is that they're desperate, they're trying every way to cover up the reality of the actual statistics and the pure evidence that's coming out of Xinjiang," she told Sky News.

"The world is realising what's happening out there, they're seeing it for what it is. I think China is very much afraid at the moment."

Ms Chanisheff said China's economic and international influence meant it would likely become more vocal as it defended its record in Xinjiang.

Canada's parliament in February declared a genocide was under way in the region, while UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab accused China of a "highly disturbing program of oppression" last month.

"This is one of the worst human rights crises of our time and I believe the evidence is clear, as it is sobering," he said.

Despite deteriorating relations between Canberra and Beijing over the past year, Australia has so far resisted following suit.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne last month indicated Australia would not declare a genocide in Xinjiang.

"We have a slightly different approach to that turn of phrase, and I don't mean this in a pedantic or semantic way," she said.

But Ms Payne called on China to allow the UN high commissioner for human rights to have access to the region.

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/china-denies-abuse-of-uyghurs-in-bizarre-press-conference/news-story/7efadf8abb39157b810e4acc3cdab7f4

#13345117 at 2021-04-02 06:51:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

>>13345114

3/3

The new evidence of monitoring and control comes amid rising international pressure on China, in the wake of horrifying accounts of rape and torture of Uyghurs in a network of internment camps in Xinjiang province.

The United States, European Union, Britain and Canada last week launched coordinated sanctions against Chinese officials over human rights abuses in Xinjiang which the US and Canada described as genocide.

The Australian government welcomed the sanctions, but they provoked swift retaliation from Beijing which claims it targets Uyghurs to stamp out terrorism.

Persons of interest flagged for mental illness, past drug use

One watchlist in the database identifies 10,000 persons of interest according to seven priority categories declared by China's national Ministry of Public Security.

The categories include people flagged for monitoring because of mental illness, past drug use or criminal history.

The crimes identified range from theft and fraud to "illegally acquiring state secrets" and defection.

Listed alongside them as key persons of interest by the ministry are people involved in "disturbing social order" and repeat "petitioners" - people who file official petitions against government officials about issues including corruption, medical negligence, police brutality, unfair dismissal, land grabs and malfeasance.

The leak also contains the private information of thousands of police informants and people making complaints to the Shanghai PSB.

Their personal details - including names, home addresses and phone numbers - are exposed in records of calls to Shanghai police stations made since early 2018.

It follows a huge leak of Chinese police informants' data in 2014.

Companies and employees flagged

The database also reveals how Shanghai authorities monitor employees of flagged foreign-owned and Chinese companies.

It contains a watchlist of the employees of 976 companies, which have been flagged because of their access to dangerous chemicals, explosives-making materials, and drugs.

A quarter of those companies are foreign owned, including American manufacturing giant 3M, German pharmaceutical company Bayer and Japanese heavy industries and electric company Mitsubishi.

The records show how 48 employees from the flagged companies were tracked by facial recognition cameras as they moved around Shanghai's Jinshan harbour district.

The database also contains records of hundreds of thousands of vehicle recognition photographs taken by cameras in the same area.

The vehicles targeted are from a watchlist of China's "intelligent vehicle-monitoring" system, under which the owners of vehicles carrying dangerous materials, trucks and passenger buses are required to have video and GPS installed for PSB surveillance.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and the Department of Home Affairs declined to comment when contacted by the ABC.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade referred Australians who are in China or considering travelling there to its Smartraveller travel advice.

China's embassy in Australia did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

The companies named in the article were also contacted for comment. In a statement, NBN Co said it did not comment on personnel matters but had "rigorous contractual, safety and security measures in place to protect our people, company and network".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-01/shanghai-files-shed-light-on-china-surveillance-state/100040896

#13341743 at 2021-04-01 06:53:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#14 - Part 13
Australia / China Tensions - Part 2
>>13286591 Beijing to Canberra, Washington: don't 'blackmail China'
>>13286599 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on March 22, 2021
>>13286669 Aussie motion apes US claims - Canberra blindfolded maneuver on Xinjiang to prove loyalty to US at cost of own national interest - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn
>>13293622 Video: 'Behaving very badly': NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has Australia's back on China 'bullying'
>>13293650 Video: China's 'blatant coercion' of Australia is a lesson for the world, says Antony Blinken
>>13293650 Transcript - Reaffirming and Reimagining America's Alliances - ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE - MARCH 24, 2021
>>13293813 China official Zhao Lijian's fake news on Manus 'camps'
>>13293813 Lijian Zhao Tweet: The #Australian government built detention centers on the #Manus Island, which "accommodates" tens of thousands of people from war-torn countries
>>13293813 Lijian Zhao Tweet: According to the Lowy Institute, almost one in five #Chinese #Australians have been physically threatened or attacked in the past year because of their heritage
>>13300945 Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Joint statement on Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang
>>13300953 Stop looking at others through a magnifying glass: Chinese FM spokesperson urging Australia to reflect on its own problems - globaltimes.cn

>>13300964, >>13300969 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on March 24, 2021
>>13301011 China a vindictive and unreliable trading partner: Australian ambassador Graham Fletcher
>>13301277 Iron ore tycoon Andrew Forrest pleads with west to mend its relationship with China "to avoid damaging the global economy and environment"
>>13307443 Australia to join The Quad allies at French-led naval exercise in April - 'La Perouse' war game in Bay of Bengal
>>13307537 Boris Johnson Tweet: The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims. Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.
>>13307537 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Australia stands with you Boris
>>13307537 UK denounces China sanctions over Xinjiang as Western rift widens - China has imposed sanctions on individuals from the EU and Britain who have taken up the Uighur cause.
>>13320303 GT Voice: Complicating trade issues won't help Canberra's woes - globaltimes.cn
>>13327894 SA Premier Steven Marshall shouted down by protesters at China consulate opening
>>13328300 Australia incorrectly believes US will protect its interests: former Australian diplomat Bruce Haigh - Yu Jincui - globaltimes.cn
>>13328317 China - Reality Check - Bruce Haigh - brucehaigh.com.au - "Hedonism and corruption dominate the LNP, which Morrison encapsulates. Australia has never had a lazier Prime Minister"

#13341724 at 2021-04-01 06:49:47 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

#14 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>13247561 Video: ASIO to censor term 'Islamic extremism' from espionage vocabulary - Sky News Australia
>>13247969 U.S. Space Force - Australian exchange officer exemplifies excellence in space career - Royal Australian Air Force Squadron Leader Jaimee Maika
>>13248019 ASIO Twitter Thread - "Spies and terrorists should know this: we are looking for you. And for the rest of the Australian community: we are looking out for you. ASIO is your security service."
>>13248019 Video: ASIO Director-General of Security Mike Burgess - "To those conducting espionage and foreign interference in our country. If you're doing this, ASIO and our partners will hunt you down."
>>13256977, >>13256981 ASIO warning: Threat of nation-state espionage and foreign interference set to supplant terrorism as the greatest threat to Australian security by 2025
>>13257003 Order of Nine Angles: What is this obscure Nazi Satanist group?
>>13257754 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: I had a warm & productive discussion with @SecDef Austin today focused on progressing outcomes from #AUSMIN 2020 & strengthening cooperation with regional partners.
>>13257754 U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: Productive call with Australia's Acting Minister for Defence @MarisePayne to discuss my ongoing trip to the Indo-Pacific region. The Unbreakable Alliance remains strong. We stand with our Australian allies as we look forward to the next 100 years of mateship.
>>13257865 Video: Annual Threat Assessment 2021 - Director-General of Security - Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
>>13260735 Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton threatens defamation action against Greens Senator Larissa Waters over "rape apologist" slur
>>13260752 Greens Senator Larissa Waters Tweet: WOMEN DO NOT LIE ABOUT BEING RAPED @PeterDutton_MP YOU INHUMANE, SEXIST RAPE APOLOGIST
>>13260752 Greens Senator Larissa Waters Press Release: Rape apologists and PM's arse-covering contribute to sexist and misogynistic culture in politics

>>13266943 Why the Quad's a big strategic step forward for Australia - Alexander Downer - afr.com
>>13267035 Show and tell: the 'not-so-secret' mission of ASIO boss Mike Burgess
>>13273713 Sonnenkrieg Division: Australia lists right-wing organisation as terrorist group for the first time
>>13286902 ASIO calls for more extremists on terror list after Sonnenkrieg Division becomes first on list in Australia
>>13287867 The "strange" ideology of QAnon conspiracists - definition and etymology of "strange"
>>13286983 Video: Parliament of Australia Senate Estimates - ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess and Senator Kristina Keneally - 'QAnon, we can have a conversation about them.'
>>13301300 Video: ASIO watching Australian right-wing extremist groups - Sky News Australia
>>13301505 US neo-Nazi group recruits young Australians, secret recordings reveal
>>13301512 Australians recorded spruiking far-right credentials to global Neo-Nazi group - ABC News In-depth
>>13311373 NIKE Satan shoe with human blood - Lil Nas X - https://satan.shoes
>>13311389 A matching Video. They don't hide it anymore. - Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) (Official Video)
>>13311419 Q Post #3594 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Prepare. For God & Country. For Humanity. We FIGHT!

>>13319973 Greens senator Larissa Waters retracts "rape apologist" tweet against Peter Dutton, issues an "unreserved" apology
>>13319973 Greens Senator Larissa Waters Tweet: I unreservedly apologise to Minister Dutton for the hurt, distress and damage to his reputation I have caused him
>>13319973 Greens Senator Larissa Waters Press Release: Apology to Peter Dutton - 24 MAR 2021
>>13320197 Myanmar's worst day of violence sparks global military response - Australia's Chief of Defence Angus Campbell issues rare joint statement with armed force leaders around the world
>>13320197 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Australia strongly condemns the continued & horrific use of lethal force against civilians in Myanmar
>>13320197 Joint Statement of Chiefs of Defense Condemning Military-Sponsored Violence in Myanmar - General Angus J. Campbell, Chief of the Defence Force
>>13320397 Marise Payne the 'prime minister for women' as Morrison adds women's taskforce in reshuffle
>>13320426 Australian government backflips on secrecy push in Witness K court case
>>13322614 Video: Peter Dutton becomes defence minister - Mr Morrison praises Mr Dutton's record as home affairs minister, thanking him for his years of service
>>13335655 RAAF planning for new military space command as it celebrates 100th anniversary
>>13335660 Australia to build its own missiles with $1bn guided weapons facility

#13341722 at 2021-04-01 06:49:00 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #15 - NEVER RETREAT FROM THE BATTLEFIELD Edition

Notables
are not endorsements

#14 - Part 1
Australian Politics and Society - Part 1
>>13165211, >>13165218 Philippines Foreign Minister Teddy Locsin calls on Myanmar junta to release Aussie Sean Turnell
>>13165331 'It's our turn': Inside the Christian Right conference plotting a political takeover - "Church and State"
>>13165352 Video: The Australian #ChurchAndState Summit 2021 is just for you - Church And State
>>13165358 Video: Cardinal George Pell is a keynote speaker at the Australian #ChurchAndState Summit in 2021 - Church And State
>>13168992 Hopping mad: US campaign to ban kangaroo product imports gains bipartisan support
>>13169146 Video: How extreme right-wing groups have 'weaponised the internet' in Australia
>>13169267 Foreign Minister Marise Payne suspends military aid to Myanmar
>>13173275 Video: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews suffers broken ribs, spine damage after "nasty fall" on "wet and slippery stairs"
>>13173322 Video: Three women go public with allegations against MP Craig Kelly's senior aide, Frank Zumbo - ABC News In-depth
>>13173867 Video: Australian Sean Turnell 'tried to flee Myanmar with secret state financial information', junta leader Min Aung Hlaing says
>>13174865 Video: Anzac Day marches will be held in every capital city after Prime Minister Scott Morrison's intervention - "If people can party and if people can protest, then we can remember as a nation, and honour our veterans on Anzac Day"

>>13177387 Video: Daniel Andrews' recovery could take 'months', decision looms on surgery
>>13177438 Rocco Galati Tweet: Australian Health Minister hospitalized, "in serious condition", day after receiving Covid, Astra-Zeneca, Vaccine
>>13183865 Greg Hunt has been hospitalised with cellulitis. So what is it? And how serious is it?
>>13183855 Scott Morrison says he will act as health minister but Greg Hunt will return to work next week
>>13183787 Video: Scott Morrison to join 'historic' Quad talks with Joe Biden, Yoshihide Suga and Narendra Modi
>>13184102 Former Hong Kong lawmaker and pro-democracy activist Ted Hui moves to Australia
>>13184141 Australian Federal Police push for sweeping online surveillance powers lashed as 'dangerous overreach' by human rights groups
>>13184169 Video: Australia's top spy, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess 'knows' culprit behind ANU cyber attack, but won't say
>>13195850 Australia pulls off stunning diplomatic coup - Mathias Cormann set to be announced as secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
>>13195985 Video: Scott Morrison Facebook Post: A huge honour and recognition for Australia. Well done to Mathias Cormann on being elected as the next Secretary-General of the OECD
>>13196051 Scott Morrison Facebook Post: An historic meeting for India, the United States, Japan and Australia - the first ever leaders' meeting of the Quad

>>13196059 Video: First ever Quad Leaders' Meeting - Scott Morrison: My opening remarks to the historic first Quad Meeting involving the leaders of India, the United States, Japan and Australia
>>13196223 President Joe Biden Tweet: This morning, I met virtually with the Quad in the first multilateral summit I've hosted as president
>>13196242 Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Tweet: I think this meeting was a meeting that was able to take the four countries of Japan, the United States, Australia and India to a new stage. We also agreed to hold a face-to-face summit meeting within the year
>>13196255 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tweet: Our discussions today on vaccines, climate change, and emerging technologies make the Quad a positive force for global good and for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific
>>13196427 U.S. Department of State Tweet: Video - The United States, Japan, India, and Australia are united in our vision for a free and open, inclusive and healthy Indo-Pacific region
>>13200420 Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews moved from ICU - expecting a "very long journey" to recover from a fractured vertebra and several broken ribs
>>13200498 Video: Australia joins US, India and Japan in 'unprecedented' deal for coronavirus vaccines after historic Quad meeting
>>13228570 Our four nations are committed to a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region - Opinion by Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Scott Morrison and Yoshihide Suga - washingtonpost.com
>>13241716 Scott Morrison's soft-power diplomacy triumphs - Mathias Cormann becomes OECD Secretary-General and the Quad holds its first leadership meeting
>>13247553 ASIO boss Mike Burgess says agency is ditching 'Islamic' and 'right-wing' tags, will now refer to 'religious' or 'ideological' violence
>>13247553 Transcript - ASIO Director-General's Annual Threat Assessment - Wednesday, 17 March 2021
>>13247553 ASIO cracks 'Nest of Spies' seeking access to Australia's Defence secrets - "the country behind the foreign spy ring was not China"

#13341692 at 2021-04-01 06:40:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

#14 - Part 13
Australia / China Tensions - Part 2
>>13286591 Beijing to Canberra, Washington: don't 'blackmail China'
>>13286599 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on March 22, 2021
>>13286669 Aussie motion apes US claims - Canberra blindfolded maneuver on Xinjiang to prove loyalty to US at cost of own national interest - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn
>>13293622 Video: 'Behaving very badly': NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has Australia's back on China 'bullying'
>>13293650 Video: China's 'blatant coercion' of Australia is a lesson for the world, says Antony Blinken
>>13293650 Transcript - Reaffirming and Reimagining America's Alliances - ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE - MARCH 24, 2021
>>13293813 China official Zhao Lijian's fake news on Manus 'camps'
>>13293813 Lijian Zhao Tweet: The #Australian government built detention centers on the #Manus Island, which "accommodates" tens of thousands of people from war-torn countries
>>13293813 Lijian Zhao Tweet: According to the Lowy Institute, almost one in five #Chinese #Australians have been physically threatened or attacked in the past year because of their heritage
>>13300945 Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Joint statement on Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang
>>13300953 Stop looking at others through a magnifying glass: Chinese FM spokesperson urging Australia to reflect on its own problems - globaltimes.cn

>>13300964, >>13300969 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on March 24, 2021
>>13301011 China a vindictive and unreliable trading partner: Australian ambassador Graham Fletcher
>>13301277 Iron ore tycoon Andrew Forrest pleads with west to mend its relationship with China "to avoid damaging the global economy and environment"
>>13307443 Australia to join The Quad allies at French-led naval exercise in April - 'La Perouse' war game in Bay of Bengal
>>13307537 Boris Johnson Tweet: The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims. Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.
>>13307537 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Australia stands with you Boris
>>13307537 UK denounces China sanctions over Xinjiang as Western rift widens - China has imposed sanctions on individuals from the EU and Britain who have taken up the Uighur cause.
>>13320303 GT Voice: Complicating trade issues won't help Canberra's woes - globaltimes.cn
>>13327894 SA Premier Steven Marshall shouted down by protesters at China consulate opening
>>13328300 Australia incorrectly believes US will protect its interests: former Australian diplomat Bruce Haigh - Yu Jincui - globaltimes.cn
>>13328317 China - Reality Check - Bruce Haigh - brucehaigh.com.au - "Hedonism and corruption dominate the LNP, which Morrison encapsulates. Australia has never had a lazier Prime Minister"

#13341659 at 2021-04-01 06:30:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

#14 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>13247561 Video: ASIO to censor term 'Islamic extremism' from espionage vocabulary - Sky News Australia
>>13247969 U.S. Space Force - Australian exchange officer exemplifies excellence in space career - Royal Australian Air Force Squadron Leader Jaimee Maika
>>13248019 ASIO Twitter Thread - "Spies and terrorists should know this: we are looking for you. And for the rest of the Australian community: we are looking out for you. ASIO is your security service."
>>13248019 Video: ASIO Director-General of Security Mike Burgess - "To those conducting espionage and foreign interference in our country. If you're doing this, ASIO and our partners will hunt you down."
>>13256977, >>13256981 ASIO warning: Threat of nation-state espionage and foreign interference set to supplant terrorism as the greatest threat to Australian security by 2025
>>13257003 Order of Nine Angles: What is this obscure Nazi Satanist group?
>>13257754 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: I had a warm & productive discussion with @SecDef Austin today focused on progressing outcomes from #AUSMIN 2020 & strengthening cooperation with regional partners.
>>13257754 U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet: Productive call with Australia's Acting Minister for Defence @MarisePayne to discuss my ongoing trip to the Indo-Pacific region. The Unbreakable Alliance remains strong. We stand with our Australian allies as we look forward to the next 100 years of mateship.
>>13257865 Video: Annual Threat Assessment 2021 - Director-General of Security - Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
>>13260735 Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton threatens defamation action against Greens Senator Larissa Waters over "rape apologist" slur
>>13260752 Greens Senator Larissa Waters Tweet: WOMEN DO NOT LIE ABOUT BEING RAPED @PeterDutton_MP YOU INHUMANE, SEXIST RAPE APOLOGIST
>>13260752 Greens Senator Larissa Waters Press Release: Rape apologists and PM's arse-covering contribute to sexist and misogynistic culture in politics

>>13266943 Why the Quad's a big strategic step forward for Australia - Alexander Downer - afr.com
>>13267035 Show and tell: the 'not-so-secret' mission of ASIO boss Mike Burgess
>>13273713 Sonnenkrieg Division: Australia lists right-wing organisation as terrorist group for the first time
>>13286902 ASIO calls for more extremists on terror list after Sonnenkrieg Division becomes first on list in Australia
>>13287867 The "strange" ideology of QAnon conspiracists - definition and etymology of "strange"
>>13286983 Video: Parliament of Australia Senate Estimates - ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess and Senator Kristina Keneally - 'QAnon, we can have a conversation about them.'
>>13301300 Video: ASIO watching Australian right-wing extremist groups - Sky News Australia
>>13301505 US neo-Nazi group recruits young Australians, secret recordings reveal
>>13301512 Australians recorded spruiking far-right credentials to global Neo-Nazi group - ABC News In-depth
>>13311373 NIKE Satan shoe with human blood - Lil Nas X - https://satan.shoes
>>13311389 A matching Video. They don't hide it anymore. - Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) (Official Video)
>>13311419Q Post #3594 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Prepare. For God & Country. For Humanity. We FIGHT!

>>13319973 Greens senator Larissa Waters retracts "rape apologist" tweet against Peter Dutton, issues an "unreserved" apology
>>13319973 Greens Senator Larissa Waters Tweet: I unreservedly apologise to Minister Dutton for the hurt, distress and damage to his reputation I have caused him
>>13319973 Greens Senator Larissa Waters Press Release: Apology to Peter Dutton - 24 MAR 2021
>>13320197 Myanmar's worst day of violence sparks global military response - Australia's Chief of Defence Angus Campbell issues rare joint statement with armed force leaders around the world
>>13320197 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Australia strongly condemns the continued & horrific use of lethal force against civilians in Myanmar
>>13320197 Joint Statement of Chiefs of Defense Condemning Military-Sponsored Violence in Myanmar - General Angus J. Campbell, Chief of the Defence Force
>>13320397 Marise Payne the 'prime minister for women' as Morrison adds women's taskforce in reshuffle
>>13320426 Australian government backflips on secrecy push in Witness K court case
>>13322614 Video: Peter Dutton becomes defence minister - Mr Morrison praises Mr Dutton's record as home affairs minister, thanking him for his years of service
>>13335655 RAAF planning for new military space command as it celebrates 100th anniversary
>>13335660 Australia to build its own missiles with $1bn guided weapons facility

#13341656 at 2021-04-01 06:29:26 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

Notables
are not endorsements

#14 - Part 1
Australian Politics and Society - Part 1
>>13165211, >>13165218 Philippines Foreign Minister Teddy Locsin calls on Myanmar junta to release Aussie Sean Turnell
>>13165331 'It's our turn': Inside the Christian Right conference plotting a political takeover - "Church and State"
>>13165352 Video: The Australian #ChurchAndState Summit 2021 is just for you - Church And State
>>13165358 Video: Cardinal George Pell is a keynote speaker at the Australian #ChurchAndState Summit in 2021 - Church And State
>>13168992 Hopping mad: US campaign to ban kangaroo product imports gains bipartisan support
>>13169146 Video: How extreme right-wing groups have 'weaponised the internet' in Australia
>>13169267 Foreign Minister Marise Payne suspends military aid to Myanmar
>>13173275 Video: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews suffers broken ribs, spine damage after "nasty fall" on "wet and slippery stairs"
>>13173322 Video: Three women go public with allegations against MP Craig Kelly's senior aide, Frank Zumbo - ABC News In-depth
>>13173867 Video: Australian Sean Turnell 'tried to flee Myanmar with secret state financial information', junta leader Min Aung Hlaing says
>>13174865 Video: Anzac Day marches will be held in every capital city after Prime Minister Scott Morrison's intervention - "If people can party and if people can protest, then we can remember as a nation, and honour our veterans on Anzac Day"

>>13177387 Video: Daniel Andrews' recovery could take 'months', decision looms on surgery
>>13177438 Rocco Galati Tweet: Australian Health Minister hospitalized, "in serious condition", day after receiving Covid, Astra-Zeneca, Vaccine
>>13183865 Greg Hunt has been hospitalised with cellulitis. So what is it? And how serious is it?
>>13183855 Scott Morrison says he will act as health minister but Greg Hunt will return to work next week
>>13183787 Video: Scott Morrison to join 'historic' Quad talks with Joe Biden, Yoshihide Suga and Narendra Modi
>>13184102 Former Hong Kong lawmaker and pro-democracy activist Ted Hui moves to Australia
>>13184141 Australian Federal Police push for sweeping online surveillance powers lashed as 'dangerous overreach' by human rights groups
>>13184169 Video: Australia's top spy, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess 'knows' culprit behind ANU cyber attack, but won't say
>>13195850 Australia pulls off stunning diplomatic coup - Mathias Cormann set to be announced as secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
>>13195985 Video: Scott Morrison Facebook Post: A huge honour and recognition for Australia. Well done to Mathias Cormann on being elected as the next Secretary-General of the OECD
>>13196051 Scott Morrison Facebook Post: An historic meeting for India, the United States, Japan and Australia - the first ever leaders' meeting of the Quad

>>13196059 Video: First ever Quad Leaders' Meeting - Scott Morrison: My opening remarks to the historic first Quad Meeting involving the leaders of India, the United States, Japan and Australia
>>13196223 President Joe Biden Tweet: This morning, I met virtually with the Quad in the first multilateral summit I've hosted as president
>>13196242 Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Tweet: I think this meeting was a meeting that was able to take the four countries of Japan, the United States, Australia and India to a new stage. We also agreed to hold a face-to-face summit meeting within the year
>>13196255 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tweet: Our discussions today on vaccines, climate change, and emerging technologies make the Quad a positive force for global good and for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific
>>13196427 U.S. Department of State Tweet: Video - The United States, Japan, India, and Australia are united in our vision for a free and open, inclusive and healthy Indo-Pacific region
>>13200420 Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews moved from ICU - expecting a "very long journey" to recover from a fractured vertebra and several broken ribs
>>13200498 Video: Australia joins US, India and Japan in 'unprecedented' deal for coronavirus vaccines after historic Quad meeting
>>13228570 Our four nations are committed to a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region - Opinion by Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Scott Morrison and Yoshihide Suga - washingtonpost.com
>>13241716 Scott Morrison's soft-power diplomacy triumphs - Mathias Cormann becomes OECD Secretary-General and the Quad holds its first leadership meeting
>>13247553 ASIO boss Mike Burgess says agency is ditching 'Islamic' and 'right-wing' tags, will now refer to 'religious' or 'ideological' violence
>>13247553 Transcript - ASIO Director-General's Annual Threat Assessment - Wednesday, 17 March 2021
>>13247553 ASIO cracks 'Nest of Spies' seeking access to Australia's Defence secrets - "the country behind the foreign spy ring was not China"

#13320397 at 2021-03-29 06:57:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

Marise Payne the 'prime minister for women' as Morrison adds women's taskforce in reshuffle

David Crowe - March 29, 2021

1/2

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has launched a bid to recover from weeks of political damage over the treatment of women by naming a new cabinet team, shifting problem ministers and punishing a disgraced Liberal MP.

Mr Morrison named Peter Dutton as the country's next Defence Minister and leader of the government in the House of Representatives and Michaelia Cash as the new Attorney-General and Industrial Relations Minister in the two biggest appointments in the changes.

Industry Minister Karen Andrews will be elevated to Minister for Home Affairs, replacing Mr Dutton and taking a high-profile position as one of the cabinet's most senior women.

The Prime Minister has faced a wave of anger about the treatment of women in the six weeks since former Liberal adviser Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped in Parliament House in March 2019.

"These changes will shake up what needs shaking up," he said. "What we must do is address the government's agenda with the changes we are making."

Mr Morrison said improvements for women would come from greater collaboration and working together, not from setting people against each other.

He also announced a new cabinet taskforce on women's equality, safety, economic security, health and wellbeing. The taskforce will be co-chaired by Mr Morrison and the Minister for Women, Marise Payne, and will include all women from the ministry as well as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham.

Mr Morrison also named Social Services Minister Anne Ruston as one of the cabinet's leadership team, and Financial Services Minister Jane Hume will gain an additional portfolio, women's economic security.

Mr Morrison called Senator Payne "effectively the prime minister for women" in her role as co-chair of the taskforce and Minister for Women, although he revised the title after a question from a journalist about whether he was not fit to be prime minister and should be the women's prime minister.

"In relation to what I should probably call the primary minister for women, just to ensure that no one gets too carried away with the puns … what I'm trying to bring together is a team of ministers and Marise Payne as Minister for Women can bring all that together as a leader of that portfolio team," he said.

(continued)

#13320197 at 2021-03-29 05:58:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

>>13169267
>>13173867
Myanmar's darkest day sparks global military response

JOSEPH LAM - MARCH 28, 2021

Australia's Chief of Defence Angus Campbell has issued a rare joint statement with armed force leaders around the world to condemn "the use of lethal force" by the military junta in Myanmar. The rebuke comes after Myanmar security forces killed more than 100 people including children in a brutal crackdown on protesters on Armed Forces Day, an annual holiday.

It was the worst bloodshed since the military overthrew the democratically elected government in early February.

Myanmar Now, a local media outlet, reported at least 114 ­people were killed in 40 cities.

"A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting - not harming - the people it serves,' the statement from General Campbell and military chiefs in the US, Britain, New Zealand, Korea, Canada, Japan and several other countries on Sunday read.

"We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions."

In a separate statement, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia condemned "in the strongest terms the continued and horrific use of lethal force against civilians in Myanmar".

"These latest events are a deeply concerning escalation in violence," she said. "We call urgently on the Myanmar security forces to exercise restraint, uphold the rule of law and allow the Myanmar people to exercise their rights to peaceful protest."

The military junta has separately detained Australian economist Sean Turnell, previously an adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/myanmars-darkest-day-sparks-global-military-response/news-story/c84c48a42f1357bccb3c83bd3e9d30f5

https://twitter.com/Myanmar_Now_Eng/status/1375854856775237636

—

Joint Statement of Chiefs of Defense Condemning Military-Sponsored Violence in Myanmar

28 March 2021

Chief of the Defence Force

General Angus J. Campbell, AO DSC

The following is a joint statement of the Chiefs of Defense of Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

As Chiefs of Defense, we condemn the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the Myanmar Armed Forces and associated security services.

A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting - not harming - the people it serves.

We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions.

https://news.defence.gov.au/media/media-releases/joint-statement-chiefs-defense-condemning-military-sponsored-violence-myanmar

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Australia strongly condemns the continued & horrific use of lethal force against civilians in Myanmar. We urgently call on the Myanmar security forces to exercise restraint, uphold the rule of law & allow the Myanmar people to exercise their rights to peaceful protest.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1375987777611784193

#13307447 at 2021-03-27 07:58:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

>>13307443

2/2

The Communist Party's Global Times English language news service accused Bondaz of being a "radical" anti-China propagandist aligned with the United States. Bondaz said the attack was "predictable" as he worked on "topics that are sensitive for Chinese political authorities".

"These attacks aim in reality to stifle public debate in France in allowing the Chinese embassy to impose the subjects that can or cannot be discussed," he told France24.

But, when summoned to explain his position to the French Foreign Ministry, China's Ambassador Lu Shaye cited conflicting schedules for delaying his appearance.

France's Europe Minister, Clement Beaune, said the delay was an insult: "When you are summoned as an ambassador, you pay a visit to the foreign ministry," he said. "Neither France nor Europe is a doormat."

Quad 'plus' talks

Australian and Indian officials will meet in New Delhi shortly after the warship exercise next month to discuss security issues, enhanced collaboration and COVID vaccine distribution.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will also hold separate meetings with Mr Le Drian and Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

"France is seen as a natural fit for working with the Quad as it has 1.5 million citizens on island territories within the Indo-Pacific, and 93 per cent its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of more than 11 million sq km is also within the region," the Hindustan Times reports.

But defence isn't the only issue being addressed by the Quad. Rare earths, technological co-operation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity will also be raised.

But the critical issue will be COVID vaccination.

The Quad plans to deliver one billion doses of Indian-produced vaccines to developing nations by the end of next year. Australia has so far promised "last mile" delivery support for Pacific Island and Southeast Asian countries.

"Within ASEAN, privately, the governments are reportedly happy with the Quad's vaccine initiative as there is a deficit in access to vaccines and a trust deficit where Chinese vaccines are concerned," former ambassador Rajiv Bhatia said.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/australia-to-join-the-quad-allies-for-la-perouse-war-game/news-story/7359841f331627cc55736c94d0756e03

https://twitter.com/francediplo_EN/status/1374085943892840450

#13307443 at 2021-03-27 07:57:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

Australia to join The Quad allies for La Perouse war game

Beijing is becoming increasingly belligerent with tensions rising each day. Now Australia has united with the world in a pushback against China.

Jamie Seidel - MARCH 27, 2021

1/2

Australia will join its new Quad allies in a French naval exercise next month as the region steps up its co-operation in the face of an increasingly belligerent Beijing.

The French-led "La Perouse" war game will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal between April 5 and 7. The Australian anti-submarine warfare frigate HMAS Anzac will take part along with the supply ship HMAS Sirius.

The exercise comes as relations between Beijing and Paris plumb new depths. China's ambassador to France snubbed a diplomatic summons after an intense "wolf warrior" attack on critics of the Chinese Communist Party's policies.

It's an experience Australia can relate to.

"Regular co-operation with our partners and neighbours is critical for maintaining a peaceful, inclusive, sovereign and resilient Indo-Pacific region, where the rights of all states are respected," acting Minister for Defence Marise Payne said about the La Perouse exercise.

India has been invited to send ships for the first time, joining Japan and the United States.

It's another indication of growing co-operation in the region.

Australia took part in India's major "Malabar" war game for the first time in November last year.

China's already busy nearby.

Two survey ships have been mapping the strategically crucial Malacca and Sunda Straits and the undersea mountain range that produces the Andaman Islands. Indonesia has recovered several Chinese long-range "swimmer" surveillance drones in recent months.

China analyst called a 'crazed hyena' by Beijing diplomats

France's increased military co-operation in the Indo-Pacific comes as tensions flare between Paris and Beijing over a flurry of "unacceptable" insults.

China analyst Antoine Bondaz was labelled a "small-time thug", an "ideological troll" and a "crazed hyena" by Beijing's "wolf warrior" diplomats. And French parliamentarian Raphael Glucksmann was black-listed from ever visiting China after seeking to visit Taiwan.

The attack quickly escalated into a diplomatic incident. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian intervened.

"There is no place in Franco-Chinese relations for insults and attempts at intimidation against elected officials and researchers. We defend those who embody freedom of speech and democracy. Always and everywhere," Mr Le Drian tweeted.

"The remarks by the Chinese Embassy in France and their actions against elected officials, researchers and EU diplomats are not acceptable."

(continued)

#13301011 at 2021-03-26 05:23:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

China a vindictive and unreliable trading partner: ambassador Graham Fletcher

WILL GLASGOW and GEOFF CHAMBERS - MARCH 26, 2021

1/2

Australia's ambassador to Beijing says China is a "vindictive'' and "unreliable'' trading partner and Foreign Minister Marise Payne has described human rights violations in Xinjiang as "amongst the world's most egregious'', as the diplomatic rift between the countries deepened.

Graham Fletcher, Australia's ambassador in Beijing, said the federal government did not know if China was able to "objectively reassess" its position after 10 months of trade tensions.

"So we've got a stand-off. Both sides are very determined ... because it's so public, it's actually harder for either side to make any such adjustments," Mr Fletcher told an online briefing of the Australia China Business Council from Beijing on Thursday.

"I'm not sure China realises the damage that is occurring both in Australia and internationally. It's been exposed as quite unreliable as a trading partner and even vindictive."

Mr Fletcher's warning to business came amid a new stoush between Beijing and Canberra over human rights abuses against the Uighur minority group in Xinjiang, a region in China's northwest that Foreign Minister Marise Payne said had been closed to Australian officials for five years.

Senator Payne told a Senate hearing on Thursday that human rights abuses in Xinjiang were "among the world's most egregious human rights abuses" but officials had been prevented from visiting the region for five years, preventing examination of "these extremely serious allegations".

The rift has left relations between Australia and China at their lowest ebb in five decades, with almost $20bn in annual exports - including coal, barley, wine, cotton, timber, copper and lobsters - banned from the world's second-largest economy.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken backed Australia in a speech in Brussels early on Thursday (AEDT) and warned that China's military ambitions were growing by the year.

"From China's blatant economic coercion of Australia to Russia's use of disinformation to erode confidence in elections and in safe, effective vaccines - these aggressive actions threaten not only our individual countries but also our shared values," Mr Blinken said.

"There's no question that Beijing's coercive behaviour threatens our collective security and prosperity and that it is actively working to undercut the rules of the international system and the values we and our allies share."

The Chinese government earlier attacked Australia's human rights record, noting alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, the White Australia policy, the Stolen Generations and offshore detention centres.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "The Australian side should know very well what problems they have in history and now. They should also be clear about what concrete actions they need to take to put things right. China sticks to non-interference into other countries' domestic affairs ... but why can't (we) point out Australia's mistake when the country shies away from its own problems, and groundlessly accuse China on the basis of lies, rumours and disinformation."

(continued)

#13300964 at 2021-03-26 05:16:54 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

>>13300953
Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on March 24, 2021

1/2

Global Times: In a joint statement on March 23, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta underscore the importance of transparency and accountability, and reiterate their call on China to grant meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for United Nations experts, and other independent observers. Do you have any comment on this?

Hua Chunying: The door to Xinjiang is always open. In 2019, over 200 million visits were made to Xinjiang. We welcome any unbiased foreigners to visit Xinjiang, but firmly oppose any so-called "investigation" and "accountability" with presumption of guilt, and stand against anyone using this for political maneuver to pressure China.

Speaking of "accountability", I wonder how is Australia doing with those investigations into their soldiers' grave crimes in Afghanistan that were exposed not long ago? Have they held the perpetrators accountable and punished them to do justice to the innocent victims? Will Five Eyes countries including the US and the UK, and the EU consider sanctions on Australia?

Besides, in Australia, there was the infamous White Australia Policy, under which genocide was committed against aboriginal people and 100,000 aboriginal children were forcibly taken away from their families. Did the Australian side hold accountable those who caused pain to the Stolen Generation?

—

Bloomberg: Yesterday the Chinese embassy in Canberra put out a statement which I'll read to you. "We call on Australia to reflect upon and address its own problems, in particular the killings of innocent civilians by Australian overseas military personnel, the worsening situation of racial discrimination, the long-standing insufficiency in the protection of the rights of aboriginal peoples as well as the inhumane treatment of detainees in the off-shore detention centers." You spoke about that just now as well. Can you please expand on these points that the embassy has raised and tell us more about what China thinks should be done?

Hua Chunying: Our position is very clear in Canberra and in Beijing. The Australian side should know very well what problems they have in history and now. They should also be clear about what concrete actions they need to take to put things right.

—

Bloomberg: I have one more question. There's an apparent contradiction between your comments on the human rights situation in specific countries, such as Canada, Australia, other countries and the Chinese government's repeated statements that no other countries have the right to comment or interfere in Chinese domestic affairs. How do you explain that contradiction?

Hua Chunying: May I know your nationality?

Journalist: I am Australian.

Hua Chunying: That explains why you are asking this question. China's position is not contradictory at all.

The accusation against China on Xinjiang by Australia and several US allies are based on nothing but lies. We all know what role the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has played. If government leaders of a country don't believe the voice of the 25 million people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and actual situation on the ground, but rather choose to believe lies of the century fabricated by a handful of anti-China elements with the purpose of containing and suppressing China's development, do you think such things should be allowed?

As an Australian, you know very well whether there were policies to slaughter and assimilate the aboriginal people in the history of your country. You also know whether the more recent crimes conducted by some Australian soldiers in Afghanistan are a fact. China sticks to non-interference into other country's domestic affairs. But why can't us point out Australia's mistake when the country shys sway from its own problems, and groundlessly accuses China on the basis of lies, rumors and disinformation even though the Australian defence force already released an investigation report. If you are confident enough, and if you don't have those problems, what are you afraid of?

(continued)

#13300945 at 2021-03-26 05:13:39 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Joint statement on Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang

Joint media release with:

- The Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Local Government Associate Minister of Maori Development, New Zealand

23 March 2021

The Australian and New Zealand Governments today reiterate their grave concerns about the growing number of credible reports of severe human rights abuses against ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

In particular, there is clear evidence of severe human rights abuses that include restrictions on freedom of religion, mass surveillance, large-scale extra-judicial detentions, as well as forced labour and forced birth control, including sterilisation.

Australia and New Zealand welcome the measures announced overnight by Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. We share these countries' deep concerns, which are held across the Australian and New Zealand communities.

Since 2018, when reports began to emerge about the detention camps in Xinjiang, Australia and New Zealand have consistently called on China in the United Nations to respect the human rights of the Uighur people, and other religious and ethnic minorities.

Today, we underscore the importance of transparency and accountability, and reiterate our call on China to grant meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for United Nations experts, and other independent observers.

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/joint-statement-human-rights-abuses-xinjiang

#13293622 at 2021-03-25 05:39:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

'Behaving very badly': NATO boss has Australia's back on China 'bullying'

Latika Bourke - March 24, 2021

London: NATO's Secretary-General has vowed to back Australia in its disputes with China, saying the superpower "had behaved very badly against Australia" after it pushed for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.

Jens Stoltenberg said he wanted to expand the trans-Atlantic body to non-members as a way for "like-minded democracies" to stand up to what he called bullying by Beijing.

Stoltenberg is pursuing an ambitious broadening of NATO's mission in the next decade. His strategy focuses heavily on pushing back against authoritarian Russia and China and calls for greater involvement of non-NATO member countries from the Asia-Pacific region.

Asked by the Herald and The Age to outline what greater co-operation would involve, Stoltenberg said it was vital to show a united front in the face of bad behaviour.

"They have behaved very badly against Australia after Australia asked for an independent investigation into the origins of coronavirus," he said from Brussels during a virtual news conference.

"It is important to demonstrate we're able to stand together when we see China trying to bully countries all over the world."

Foreign ministers from NATO's 30 member nations are meeting in Brussels to discuss adopting "a more global outlook".

NATO bonds Europe and the United States and was formed in the shadow of World War II to deal with the threat of the Soviet Union and prevent further conflict in Europe. It considers an attack on any member state an attack on all.

Stoltenberg recounted being on the receiving end of Beijing's retaliation in 2010 when he was prime minister of Norway and the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the democracy activist Liu Xiaobo.

Liu supported the student uprising that ended in the Tiananmen Square massacre and was a frequent critic of the Chinese government. He received the prize for his non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.

"China just immediately imposed a lot of heavy measures against Norway," Stoltenberg recalled. It did not normalise ties with Norway until six years later when Norway promised it would "do its best to avoid any future damage to the bilateral relations".

"So, this is a behaviour that just calls on all like-minded democracies to stand together," Stoltenberg said.

"Of course we do that as 30 allies in NATO but we also see the value of doing that with like-minded countries like Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region."

He said this could involve an exchange of information and jointly participating in unspecified "activities".

"But first of all, I think we should sit down and see how we can gradually expand and strengthen our partnership," he said.

Stoltenberg visited Australia in 2019 and nominated fighting terrorism, including Islamic State, bolstering NATO's cyber defences and dealing with China's economic and military might as future areas of greater collaboration.

Canberra's world-leading ban on Huawei building Australia's 5G telecoms network has since been adopted by the United States and Britain. NATO members are under pressure to ensure their telecommunications systems are reliable as part of Stoltenberg's call for nations to adopt "whole of society resilience" strategy.

Rory Medcalf, the head of ANU's National Security College, said it was logical for Australia to collaborate more with NATO, but that would not mean seeing NATO forces in the Indo-Pacific nor an Australian physical presence in Europe.

"Because security is global and doesn't respect geographical boundaries what we can usefully do together is work on protecting our critical infrastructure, on cyber, on espionage and foreign interference," Medcalf said.

"And in the long-run, Australia and NATO collaborating on the global power balance - managing China and Russia - is actually more important to both sides than our collaboration on terrorism, which is how Australia and NATO originally got together."

Australia has been working with NATO since 2005 and is one of six countries considered an "enhanced" partner alongside Finland, Georgia, Jordan, Sweden and Ukraine.

Australia provides support to NATO's missions in Afghanistan and Iraq and in 2018 took part in the NATO military exercise Trident Juncture in Norway that involved 50,000 participants from 21 nations.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Prime Minister Scott Morrison were contacted for comment.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/behaving-very-badly-nato-boss-has-australia-s-back-on-china-bullying-20210324-p57dgp.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixN7NySuyO4

#13279446 at 2021-03-23 03:45:54 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

>>13279431
Finance Minister warns other Coalition staffers involved in lewd Parliament sex acts will be sacked

Andrew Probyn, Georgia Hitch and Stephanie Dalzell - 22 March 2021

Any Coalition staffers found to have committed lewd sex acts in Parliament will be sacked, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has warned.

Channel Ten and The Australian newspaper reportedly obtained videos and images of sexual encounters filmed inside Parliament House

Four Coalition staff members were reportedly involved, with one allegedly committing a lewd act on the desk of a female Liberal MP.

In a statement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed a staffer "at the centre of the allegations" had been identified and sacked.

"The reports aired tonight are disgusting and sickening," he said.

"It's not good enough and is totally unacceptable.

"My government has identified the staff member at the centre of these allegations and has terminated his employment immediately."

Senator Birmingham said he'd made attempts to contact the whistleblower.

"We will undertake whatever other investigations we can, having acted swiftly last night where we could identify one individual," he told the ABC.

"And if we identify any others, then similar action will be taken in relation to them."

Mr Morrison urged anybody with more information to come forward.

"The people who come to work in this building are better than this," he said.

"The actions of these individuals show a staggering disrespect for the people who work in Parliament, and for the ideals the Parliament is supposed to represent.

"I will have more to say on this and the cultural issues we confront as a Parliament in coming days."

Earlier on Monday evening, Minister for Women Marise Payne told a parliamentary committee the allegations highlighted the need for the independent inquiry into the workplace culture of Parliament House, headed by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins.

"As a senator for New South Wales, as a minister in this government, and a human being, it's appalling, " she said.

"The degrading nature of those actions which were shown in the media this evening is beyond disappointing and reinforces the imperative of the review that the Sex Discrimination Commissioner will carry out.

"What I think that piece tonight reinforces is that the behaviours of perpetrators which are beyond unacceptable - and will hopefully be dealt with through appropriate legal processes - must stop. And the only way they will stop in this building is if the members and senators of this building make that happen."

Appearing on 730, Shadow Minister for Women Tanya Plibersek described the revelations as revolting.

"Obviously anyone who's behaved that way shouldn't be working in Parliament House," she said.

"But the bigger question is, how do we make sure this isn't a 24-hour political problem managed away by the government, but that real action is taken to provide a safe place for women who work in Parliament House?"

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tony Smith, and President of the Senate, Scott Ryan, said the Presiding Officers "were not aware of the incidents or allegations until they aired on Channel Ten".

"MPs and senators employ their own staff," they said.

"If the Presiding Officers are informed of the identities of the staff members, they are of course prepared to take action within the context of their responsibilities."

The man's sacking comes at a time when the workplace culture, particularly for women, within Parliament House is being intensely scrutinised.

Former staffer Brittany Higgins's allegation she was raped by a colleague in March 2019 resulted in Mr Morrison announcing a series of inquiries into the adequacy of support measures for women in the building, as well as the broader culture and how to improve it.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins has been appointed to head up the independent, cross-party review into the culture.

Ms Higgins's allegations and the treatment of women Australia more broadly, sparked marches and protests across the country.

Last week a federal government staff member resigned shortly after being accused in Tasmanian Parliament of calling a senior female politician a "meth-head c***" during his time working for then-premier Will Hodgman.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-22/coalition-staffer-lewd-sex-act-parliament-house-sacked/100022032

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCsd0Sm5Ohc

#13257754 at 2021-03-19 21:19:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Ahead of the 70th anniversary of ANZUS, the (Australia - U.S.) Alliance remains central to a secure & resilient Indo-Pacific. I had a warm & productive discussion with @SecDef Austin today focused on progressing outcomes from #AUSMIN 2020 & strengthening cooperation with regional partners.

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1372754376436031490

—

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Tweet

Productive call with Australia's Acting Minister for Defence @MarisePayne to discuss my ongoing trip to the Indo-Pacific region. The Unbreakable Alliance remains strong. We stand with our Australian allies as we look forward to the next 100 years of mateship.

https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1372884560095088645

#13241638 at 2021-03-17 07:29:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

>>13241520
Beijing blames Australia's 'wrong words and deeds' for trade war after US rebuke

Eryk Bagshaw - March 17, 2021

China has laid the blame back on Australia for the deteriorating relationship between the two countries, dismissing the concerns of the US Indo-Pacific chief ahead of the first meeting between the two superpowers in Alaska.

Responding to comments by President Joe Biden's top aide in the region, Kurt Campbell, China's Foreign Affairs Ministry on Monday said that it was not responsible for the breakdown in communication between the two countries after more than a year of trade strikes on $20 billion worth of exports.

"The root cause of the current difficulties in bilateral relations is Australia's wrong words and deeds on issues concerning China's sovereignty, security and development interests, which have undermined the foundation of mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries," said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

"The Australian side knows the ins and outs better than anyone else."

The comments from China's Foreign Ministry on Monday night are an early sign that Beijing will attempt to separate the dispute with Australia from the foreign affairs and national security dialogue with the United States in Anchorage on Thursday.

Campbell on Tuesday told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that the US was "not going to leave Australia alone on the field". He said the Biden administration would make it clear to Beijing that the US was not prepared to improve bilateral relations with China "at the same time that a close and dear ally is being subjected to a form of economic coercion".

In a significant change in tone in how Beijing views the evolving relationship with Washington after President Biden's election win, Zhao said he hoped "the two sides can have candid talks on issues of common concern".

"The two sides should respect and treat each other as equals, enhance mutual understanding through dialogue, manage and dissolve differences and bring China-US relations back to the right track," he said.

The world's two largest economies have faced their own period of heightened geopolitical turbulence after the Trump administration accused China of intellectual property theft, imposed tariffs on more than $US360 billion in Chinese goods, made unsubstantiated claims of China spreading the coronavirus from a Wuhan lab and condemned human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

Australia's relationship with Beijing has spiralled since 2018 after the Turnbull government blocked telecommunications provider Huawei from the 5G network over national security concerns. That decision along with foreign interference legislation, restrictions on multi-billion dollar business deals, independent media criticism of China's policies and funding for think-tank research features prominently on a list of 14 grievances delivered by the Chinese embassy to the media in November.

The list followed trade restrictions on Australian seafood, coal, wine and half-a-dozen other exports throughout 2020.

Campbell's comments came three days after the first Quad leader-level discussions between the US, India, Japan and Australia and as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Minister Lloyd Austin make their first overseas trip to the region.

Austin on Tuesday night labelled China a "pacing threat" for the United States as its military and economy grows in tandem.

"For the last two decades…while we were focused on issues in the Middle East, China has modernised its military," he said in Tokyo.

"In addition to that, it has engaged in aggressive and in some cases coercive behaviour, and some of that behaviour has been directed against our allies in the region. Our goal is to make sure that we maintain a competitive edge over China or anyone else that would want to threaten us or our alliance."

Foreign Minister Marise Payne was contacted for comment.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/after-us-pledge-on-china-coercion-beijing-lays-blame-back-on-australian-government-20210317-p57be1.html

#13184562 at 2021-03-11 06:49:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

End nears for Victoria's Belt and Road deal under foreign veto laws

Anthony Galloway and Michael Fowler - March 10, 2021

Victoria's controversial Belt and Road agreement with the Chinese government faces being torn up within months after the state government included it in a list of documents submitted to the Commonwealth under its new foreign veto laws.

State governments had until close of business on Wednesday to provide a list of all of their agreements with foreign governments.

Victorian government sources confirmed its Belt and Road agreement with China - which ties the state to Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature initiative to bankroll infrastructure projects around the world - was included in the documentation sent to the Commonwealth.

If Victoria had not declared the deal by the end of Wednesday, it would have automatically been torn up under the new laws passed late last year.

The new scheme requires Foreign Minister Marise Payne to cancel agreements that states, territories, local governments and universities enter into with an overseas government if they contradict Australia's national interest.

The Victorian government's documentation prepared for the Commonwealth included a justification for why the BRI agreement should not be scrapped, sources confirmed.

A Victorian government spokeswoman said it had provided documentation to the federal government but did not answer whether that included the BRI agreement.

The spokeswoman also did not answer what its justification was for why the deal should not be torn up.

"The Victorian government will provide information to the Commonwealth in line with the legislative requirements," she said.

Victoria's BRI agreement with China is one of the state government deals that has raised the most concern within national security agencies and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Commonwealth officials already began scrutinising the agreement last year after the new laws came into force.

The federal government has been concerned with the deal as they believe it may have harmed Australia's efforts to counter China's use of the BRI to grow its influence throughout the region and handed Beijing a propaganda win.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald revealed last year that Victoria did not consult DFAT before signing a key "framework agreement" with the Chinese government for the BRI on October 23, 2019.

While Victoria briefly consulted DFAT on an earlier memorandum of understanding with Beijing in 2018, and made some changes based on its advice, the Andrews government decided not to show the draft version of the more substantial framework agreement to the Commonwealth a year later before signing it.

Premier Daniel Andrews has defended the deal, saying last year that it was all about Victorian employment and that Australia's relationship with China might improve if the Commonwealth focused on jobs.

"The agreement, like all agreements that Victoria enters into, and I expect the Commonwealth and other states are no different. It's all about making sure that more Victorian product is sent to our biggest and smallest customers," the Premier said in December.

"Whether it's to China or any other part of the world, it's all about jobs.

"We would be probably better off in our relationship if all of us focused on the fact, and I think the Prime Minister and all of us … are all about having the best economic partnerships with customers, large and small, in every part of the world because that means jobs and prosperity and profitability for families back home."

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/end-nears-for-victoria-s-belt-and-road-deal-under-foreign-veto-laws-20210310-p579lf.html

#13183855 at 2021-03-11 04:18:06 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

Scott Morrison says he will act as health minister but Greg Hunt will return to work next week

abc.net.au - 10 March 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Health Minister Greg Hunt will be back at work when Parliament sits next week, after a brief hospital stint for a bacterial infection.

Mr Hunt was admitted to hospital yesterday with a suspected infection.

In a statement today his office said testing overnight had led to a diagnosis of Cellulitis, a bacterial infection in his leg.

It said the Minister was improving and was expected to be discharged from hospital "in the coming days".

"He'll be fine by next week, he'll be back up on his feet," Mr Morrison said.

"Minister Hunt and I have worked hand in glove over this last year and until he returns I will be personally addressing the ministerial responsibilities on health and aged care."

The Prime Minister said he had total confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine. Mr Hunt's office said his condition "is not considered to be related to the vaccine".

He is expected to make a full recovery.

Fellow Cabinet minister Dan Tehan said he spoke to the Health Minister yesterday and that Mr Hunt was confident he would be out of hospital "sooner rather than later".

"I don't think there is a fitter or more active member than Greg," Mr Tehan said.

"So if there's anyone who can bounce back it will be Greg, but when I spoke to him yesterday he was going well."

Mr Hunt is the third senior Cabinet minister now on sick leave, with Attorney-General Christian Porter and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds also currently on leave.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne is acting Defence Minister and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash is filling in for Mr Porter.

The next Parliament fortnight kicks off next week.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-10/greg-hunt-sick-leave-hospital-infection-prime-minister/13233056

#13173867 at 2021-03-09 08:46:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

>>13169267
Australian Sean Turnell 'tried to flee Myanmar with secret state financial information', junta leader Min Aung Hlaing says

AMANDA HODGE - MARCH 9, 2021

1/2

Sean Turnell, the Australian economics professor detained in Myanmar, has been accused by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing of trying to flee the country with "secret state financial information", just one day after Australia suspended its military aid program with Myanmar amid escalating security crackdowns against protesters.

The Sydney professor and long-term economic adviser to deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in Yangon on February 6 - five days after the coup that toppled her government - while he was putting the finishing touches on a sweeping economic plan aimed at lifting Myanmar out of its COVID-19-induced slump.

"An attempt to flee the country by the former government's foreign economic adviser, Sean Turnell, was stopped in time and secret state financial information was found through him. Union-level ministers are taking legal actions in relation to that issue," state-owned MRTV quoted Senior General Min Aung Hlaing as saying.

Australia has called repeatedly for the junta to free Professor Turnell but the new accusations bode poorly for his swift release.

The federal government had resisted initial calls to halt its military assistance program, worth $360,000 in 2020-21, repeatedly insisting that its aid to Myanmar was under review.

But Foreign Minister Marise Payne's Sunday night announcement that Australia would suspend that program and redirect development aid through non-government organisations in response to the use of lethal force against civilian protesters suggests any talks between Australia and Myanmar aimed at securing his release had broken down.

At least two more people were killed by security forces on Monday and several more wounded as tens of thousands of people participated in a nationwide strike called by some of the country's biggest trade unions to force the generals to the negotiating table.

Witnesses in the northern town of Myitkyina said the two men had been shot in the head.

Some 18 unions, which include those covering construction, agriculture and manufacturing sectors, urged all workers in Myanmar to down tools to maintain the momentum of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) aimed at reversing the February 1 coup which toppled the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

"To continue economic and business activities as usual ... will only benefit the military as they repress the energy of the Myanmar people," the group said in a joint statement.

"The time to take action in defence of our democracy is now."

The mass movement has already crippled the banking sector, shuttered hospitals, brought sections of the country's rail networks to a halt and hollowed out government departments.

From Monday the junta has said any civil servant who continues to strike faces immediate dismissal.

Late on Sunday security forces began occupying major hospitals and universities in Yangon and Mandalay to enforce the new edict.

That did little to dissuade the crowds which included many women answering the call to join the so-called Htamain (sarong) movement by hanging the traditional garment on clothes lines across streets, or tying them to poles to unnerve soldiers who are said to believe that touching or walking underneath one can sap their potency.

Medical workers were among the first to instigate civil disobedience against the coup, which has seen close to 60 protesters killed by security forces and close to 2000 people detained, including Aung San Suu Kyi herself, and Professor Turnell.

(continued)

#13169267 at 2021-03-08 03:28:57 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

>>13165211
Foreign Minister Marise Payne suspends military aid to Myanmar

BEN PACKHAM - MARCH 7, 2021

Australia has suspended its military aid program with Myanmar and redirected development aid to humanitarian needs, amid escalating security crackdowns against protesters by the country's military junta.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced the escalation in Australia's response to the February 1 coup in a statement on Sunday night, condemning the use of lethal force and violence against civilians.

Australia has resisted calls to halt its military co-operation program with Myanmar's military, worth $360,000 in 2020-21 and $330,000 the previous year, in an effort to maintain lines of communication with the regime that continues to detain Australian economist Sean Turnell.

"Australia has had a limited bilateral Defence Co-operation Program with Myanmar's military, restricted to non-combat areas such as English language training. This program will be suspended," Senator Payne said.

"Australia's development program is also being redirected to the immediate humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable and poor including the Rohingyas and other ethnic minorities.

"We will prioritise the most pressing humanitarian and emerging needs and seek to ensure our humanitarian engagement is with and through non-government organisations, not with government or government-related entities, as is currently the case in some parts of the program."

She said Australia would also continue to review its sanctions against Myanmar, which currently include an arms embargo and targeted sanctions against individual military figures.

Human Rights Watch last week described Australia's assistance program to the Myanmar military as "totally unacceptable", and said its review of that aid "should have been concluded 30 seconds after the soldiers started shooting down protesters on the streets".

Senator Payne reiterated Australia's call for Professor Turnell's release, and that of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and others subjected to arbitrary detention since the coup.

Professor Turnell had been a longtime adviser to Ms Suu Kyi.

Reuters reported an official from Ms Suu Kyi's party died overnight in police custody, while protests were held in at least half a dozen cities.

Security forces cracked down on many of the protests across the country on Sunday, Reuters said.

Police fired teargas and stun grenades in the direction of protesters in Yangon and in the town of Lashio in the northern Shan region, video showed.

Senator Payne said Australia had raised "our grave concerns about the military coup" with Myanmar's military leaders, and was working towards a peaceful solution to the crisis with ASEAN neighbours, and Japan and India.

"We continue to strongly urge the Myanmar security forces to exercise restraint and refrain from violence against civilians.," she said.

"We call on the Myanmar regime to engage in dialogue. Australia will continue to play a constructive role, including in consultation with international partners, particularly ASEAN, in support of the Myanmar people."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/Marise-Payne-suspends-military-aid-to-myanmar/news-story/60c28b5371f11735a00c0b9e248145ae

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/statement-myanmar-0

#13164832 at 2021-03-06 23:29:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

I got the rest set up this way

Notables are NOT Endorsements

#13a
>>12773831 Former QAnon supporter apologizes to Anderson Cooper 'for thinking you ate babies'
>>12775143, >>12775143, >>12775173 Malka Leifer: how a long-running child sexual abuse case tested Australia's relationship with Israel
>>12775241 'Pete Evans in the party room': Liberals, independents line up to take on Craig Kelly
>>12775406 Spy agency ASIS used veil of secrecy to stop news of suicide
>>12775645 Popular craft website Etsy caught selling childlike sex dolls that breach Australian child abuse laws
>>12786021 Charges against journos, editors dropped in Pell case
>>12786293, >>12786306 What does a new US govt mean for China-Australia ties?
>>12796913 Craig Kelly backs Pete Evans' right to spread conspiracy theories: 'Ideas should be debated'
>>12808388 Australian police say no criminal misconduct in Vatican funds transfer
>>12816083 UN should be given immediate access to Uighurs: Payne
>>12816108 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on February 3, 2021
>>12816920 Australian Federal Police Tweet
>>12817106 Joe Biden set to invite Scott Morrison to White House climate summit
>>12817159 Biden keen to visit Australia, spoke to Morrison about emissions reduction
>>12817176 PM holds 'warm and engaging call' with Biden
>>12817699 Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Call with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia
>>12817974, >>12817977 Coalition deletes references to rising far-right extremism in Senate motion
>>12821416, >>12821420 George Pell's prison notes are forgiving
>>12828416, >>12828424 Catholic Church paedophile networks to be mapped 'like organised crime' by academics
>>12828457 Australia watching China PNG city proposal
>>12828487 Sydney man arrested over child exploitation material import
>>12828508 Women held as sex slaves, drugged and tattooed as being 'property', Queensland police say
>>12835403 Afghan militia leader Matiullah Khan gave gold watches to Australian Special Forces commanders
>>12836590, >>12836663 Thousands of US marines to touch down in Darwin before June 2021
>>12855744, >>12855763 China confirms detained Australian Cheng Lei is accused of leaking state secrets
>>12855876 Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Statement on Ms Cheng Lei
>>12856518 Murdoch Watch Episode 2 - Murdoch and his role in the Trump Presidency
>>12866473 China has developed a reputation for 'hostage diplomacy'
>>12866521, >>12866522 Family calls for Sean Turnell's release by Myanmar military
>>12866540 Judge rules Australian government's attempt to obstruct Bernard Collaery's use of barrister 'unfair'
>>12867026 Andrew Forrest speaks out on Uighur rights abuses
>>12869879 G7 closes door to anti-China members
>>12869886, >>12869892 Australia's anti-China moves put it at disadvantage in international groupings
>>12877011 Media companies apologise to court for breaching Pell suppression order
>>12877497, >>12877508 Xanana Gusmao's sons 'disappointed' after their father attends accused paedophile's birthday party
>>12883469, >>12883484 Tsunami warning is issued for parts of Australia and New Zealand after TWO huge earthquakes
>>12884317, >>12884338 'Hollywood Australia' a $1.5bn movie blockbuster extravaganza
>>12885144 Melbourne couple accused of keeping woman enslaved for eight years faces court
>>12885645 Nine children rescued in the Philippines after Australian man charged
>>12885761 Queensland man charged with possessing child abuse material

#13164501 at 2021-03-06 21:26:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

#13 - Part 11
Australia / China Tensions
>>12786293 What does a new US govt mean for China-Australia ties? - Zhai Shilei - globaltimes.cn
>>12816083 UN should be given immediate access to Uighurs: Foreign Minister Marise Payne
>>12816108 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on February 3, 2021
>>12828457 Australia watching China's Papua New Guinea mega city proposal
>>12855744 China confirms detained Australian Cheng Lei is accused of leaking state secrets, as her family breaks their silence
>>12855876 Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Statement on Ms Cheng Lei - 08 February 2021
>>12866473 Video: Alexander Downer - China has developed a reputation for 'hostage diplomacy' - Sky News Australia
>>12867026 Iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest speaks out on Uighur human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region
>>12869879 G7 closes door to anti-China members, no plans to include Australia, South Korea and India in expanded G10 - Jacquelin Magnay - theaustralian.com.au
>>12869886 Australia's anti-China moves put it at disadvantage in international groupings - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn

>>12889582 The ABC is poison for Australia-China relations - Timothy Kerswell - chinadaily.com.cn
>>12889590 Video: City of Fear: The Death of Democracy in Hong Kong | Foreign Correspondent - ABC News In-depth
>>12908019 Biden confronted China in call to Xi - and that's good for Australia - Anthony Galloway - smh.com.au
>>12909359 Warnings over Papua New Guinea's Chinese hydro-electric power project - financed, built and operated by Shenzhen Energy
>>12920682 Video: China taps LinkedIn to steal state secrets - MI5 launch awareness campaign based on ASIO's 'Think Before You Link' strategy
>>12930228 National security an issue in foreign interference case - Attorney-General Christian Porter may be drawn into case against Di Sanh Duong
>>12952517 China's Victorian consul-general Long Zhou wants more 'respect' for China
>>12952556 Consul General Long Zhou accepted a joint interview with Chinese media - melbourne.china-consulate.org/chn
>>12952584 (2020) Coronavirus: Gatecrashing consul Long Zhou was one of China's top cyber spies
>>12952594 (2020) Video: Health Minister blindsided as Chinese consul-general crashes COVID-19 press conference - ABC News

>>12953337 Video: Scott Morrison expected to tear up Victoria's Belt and Road deal with China within weeks
>>12953345 Morrison's threat to rip up Victoria's BRI deal is all bark and no bite - Yu Lei - globaltimes.cn
>>12996122 China fears spark grant knockbacks - Australian universities denied lucrative taxpayer-funded research grants on national security grounds
>>13002303 Proposal by former chief of Defence Science and Technology's aerospace division, scientist Dong Yang Wu, 'threatened air force capability' - Richard Baker - theage.com.au
>>13003421 Canberra's 'chronic sinophobia' harms Aussie scientists - Yang Sheng and Ni Hao - globaltimes.cn
>>13004702 Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US, Indian and Japanese counterparts lay groundwork for countering growing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific
>>13036280 'Evil racism': Chinese state media accuses Australia of white supremacy
>>13036291 Five Eyes today's axis of white supremacy: Global Times editorial - globaltimes.cn
>>13043769 China's commerce ministry hopes Australia will 'do more' to help bilateral ties - globaltimes.cn
>>13055026 Security co-operation 'vital to counter China', says Japanese ambassador Shingo Yamagami

>>13055039 Australia and Japan have a great partnership built on strong pillars - Shingo Yamagami - theaustralian.com.au
>>13058616 Uunregistered flights between Yangon and Kunming transporting unknown goods and personnel from China to Myanmar - Susan Hutchinson - aspistrategist.org.au
>>13058637 Malign ASPI report underestimates strong China-Myanmar ties - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn
>>13076897 Federal government urged to examine size and scope of China's South Australian consulate amid growing community unease
>>13084430 Australia needs to reflect on flight of Chinese investment: FM spokesperson - globaltimes.cn
>>13084437 China condemns Australia for granting 'protection visas' to Hong Hong residents - globaltimes.cn
>>13084430, >>13084437 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on March 1, 2021
>>13084849 Chinese envoy Wang Xining defends 'panda huggers' and blames media over 'totally ridiculous' concerns

#13164473 at 2021-03-06 21:22:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #14 - THE ART OF WAR Edition

#13 - Part 3
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>12979230 Video: Facebook has 'pulled the big guns out on Australia' with news ban, former CEO Stephen Scheeler says
>>12984322 News Corp. and Google reach global news-sharing deal
>>12995647 Government slams Facebook for sick double-standards by creating the 'perfect' platform for paedophiles to share child abuse - while stopping YOU from reading the news
>>12996781 Kevin Rudd warns imitation of Fox News in Australia threatens to further fuel right-wing extremism - "I am worried that Qanon for example has a presence in this country"
>>12996844 Misinformation runs rampant as Facebook says it may take a week before it unblocks some pages - Josh Taylor and Michael McGowan - theguardian.com
>>13002303 Video: South Australia has a minority government after MP resigns - Country MP Fraser Ellis charged with 23 counts of deception after ICAC expenses investigation
>>13002303 Fox News' parent company NewsCorp strikes lucrative deal with China-adjacent Google to profit off Australia's Big Tech Ban
>>13003355 Craig Kelly's senior aide Frank Zumbo faces multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by young women

>>13003407 (2020) Craig Kelly's electorate officer Frank Zumbo - allegations of workplace misconduct inside federal MP's suburban electorate office
>>13004702 Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US, Indian and Japanese counterparts lay groundwork for countering growing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific
>>13013998 Video: Facebook revealed to be a 'parasitic operation' which steals 'personal data' - Sky News Australia
>>13016753 Kevin Rudd falls short in bid for royal commission into media diversity
>>13020992 Video: Aussie Open crowds boo vaccine rollout comment - Sky News Australia
>>13023405 Alexander Downer: Big tech bully about to learn it's not beyond the law
>>13029097 Video: Victorian government announces Royal Commission into Crown Casino
>>13029187 Video: Facebook to reverse news ban on Australian sites, government to make amendments to media bargaining code

>>13029302 Video: Craig Kelly resigns from the Liberal Party to move to the crossbench - 'I want to be able to speak out'
>>13029413 Australia calls Myanmar's Vice-Senior General in attempts to free detained academic Sean Turnell
>>13043560 PDF: Australian economist Sean Turnell's wife, Ha Vu, writes to the wife of General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's military ruler
>>13043802 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tweet: Had a good conversation with Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP last night
>>13043802 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Another good call with PM @JustinTrudeau
>>13055026 Security co-operation 'vital to counter China', says Japanese ambassador Shingo Yamagami
>>13055039 Australia and Japan have a great partnership built on strong pillars - Shingo Yamagami - theaustralian.com.au
>>13055196 Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Tweet: Today, I had a great conversation with my friend ScoMo

>>13055196 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Thanks to my good friend PM @sugawitter for a great call
>>13058939 AFP officer spent six months undercover snapping up Aussie IDs on the Dark Web where drivers' licences sell for as little as $2
>>13065535 End-to-end encryption: The Facebook outrage that's far, far worse
>>13083891 Neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division to become first right-wing terrorist organisation listed in Australia
>>13083949 Victorian parliamentary committee set to announce decision on banning Nazi symbols
>>13104144 Clearnet posting assistance - update 8kun HOSTS file
>>13104200 Clearnet posting assistance - Use the clearnet board url in tor browser - https://8kun.top/qresearch/catalog.html
>>13107371 Video: Crown Perth's suitability to hold casino licence to be examined in WA royal commission

#13107259 at 2021-03-05 05:52:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>13107256

2/2

Ms Higgins told The Guardian Australia on Thursday the remark by her former boss was "incredibly hurtful".

"I appreciate that it has been a stressful time but that sort of behaviour and language is never excusable," she said. "It's just further evidence of the toxic workplace culture that exists behind closed doors in parliament house".

Ms Higgins has retained lawyer Rebekah Giles, who contacted Ms Reynolds on Thursday demanding an apology.

In a letter sent to the defence minister seen by The Guardian, Ms Giles said: "We are instructed to demand that you issue an immediate and unequivocal public withdrawal of your comments and apology to our client for the hurt and distress caused."

The letter says that the "derogatory statement, in which you refer to our client as a member of the animal kingdom, and declare her to be untruthful, is highly defamatory of our client's good character and unblemished reputation. It is particularly malicious in view of the assault on our client that took place in your office".

The Australian first reported that staff expressed concerns to superiors that Ms Reynolds' comments were inappropriate.

The Defence Minister has apologised to staff for the remarks which she said had been made during "a stressful time".

Ms Reynolds released a statement on Wednesday saying she had not cast doubt on Ms Higgins' allegations which were "very serious".

"I have never questioned Ms Higgins' account of her alleged sexual assault and have always sought to respect her agency in this matter.

"I did however comment on news reports regarding surrounding circumstances that I felt had been misrepresented.

"I have consistently respected Ms Higgins' agency and privacy and said this is her story to tell and no one else's.

"Ms Higgins' allegations are very serious and that is how they must be treated to ensure her legal rights are protected. I welcome her decision to progress this matter with the Australian Federal Police," she said.

Ms Reynolds faces criticism over her handling of Ms Higgins' rape allegation as well as her failure to inform Mr Morrison of the incident for nearly two years.

Ms Higgins said the alleged offence occurred on March 23, 2019, after a night of drinking with colleagues.

Ms Reynolds' former acting chief of staff Fiona Brown initially handled the response to the allegations which saw the alleged perpetrator, a former colleague of Ms Higgins who also worked for Ms Reynolds, sacked for a "security breach" before the rape allegation had been made.

Ms Reynolds, at the time a defence industry minister, said she was aware of Ms Higgins' story "over a period of days".

She said she and Ms Brown offered the former media adviser police access if needed for an official complaint.

"We at all times followed the advice of ministerial and parliamentary services and the Department of Finance, as was appropriate," Ms Reynolds said to parliament last month.

"I have full confidence that my then chief of staff and I at all times acted in what we believed were the best interests of Brittany."

According to The Australian Ms Reynolds formally transferred her authority as Defence Minister to Foreign Minister Marise Payne, now also Acting Defence Minister.

That authority expires on March 8, along with her medical leave.

Ms Reynolds has sought hospital treatment on the advice of her cardiologist.

Last week Ms Higgins made a formal statement to the Australian Federal Police about an alleged sexual assault that occurred in the minister's office, resulting in a police investigation. Ms Higgins said she did not pursue police involvement in 2019 for fear of employment repercussions.

She resigned from her job as Employment Minister Michaelia Cash's media adviser last month after telling Senator Cash of the alleged rape.

Mr Morrison has chastised Ms Reynolds for not informing him about the rape allegation sooner, telling parliament he only found out about the rape allegation on the morning of February 15 when the story was posted on news.com.au.

The Prime Minister told parliament it was unacceptable he had not been informed immediately.

Ms Reynolds has said she is "deeply sorry" about the way she handled the situation.

It is understood Ms Reynolds and Ms Brown conducted a meeting with Ms Higgins on April 1, 2019, in the same office where the alleged rape occurred.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/defence-minister-linda-reynolds-called-brittany-higgins-a-lying-cow/news-story/0e7d3c573569859f8310582566845818

#13107256 at 2021-03-05 05:51:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>13107252
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds 'deeply sorry' for calling Brittany Higgins a 'lying cow'

Linda Reynolds is in talks with Brittany Higgins' legal team after she issued an apology for calling her a "lying cow".

Jessica McSweeney, Katy Hall and Merryn Johns - March 5, 2021

1/2

Linda Reynolds has said she is "deeply sorry" to Brittany Higgins for her "lying cow" comment and has confirmed her office has received a letter from Ms Higgins' legal team.

The Minister for Defence, who is on medical leave, made the comments in her office on the same day Ms Higgins went public with her allegation of rape, The Australian reported.

Senator Reynolds was yesterday afternoon sent a letter from Ms Higgins' lawyers demanding an apology for the comments.

"A report in The Australian attributed some remarks to me regarding the very serious allegations made by my former staff member, Ms Brittany Higgins," Senator Reynolds said.

"I have never questioned Ms Higgins' account of her alleged sexual assault and have always sought to respect her agency in this matter," she said.

"In response to a letter from Ms Higgins' lawyers yesterday afternoon, discussions are now underway through our legal representatives in an effort to resolve this matter as soon as possible, with any resolution to include an apology.

"However, in the meantime, I want to express how deeply sorry I am for these remarks and for any hurt and distress they have caused."

Minister for Women Marise Payne has said she is distressed and disturbed by the accusations of assault and harassment in parliament.

Speaking at the UN Women Australia event in Sydney, Senator Payne said she believes parliament has the capacity to work together to improve the workplace culture.

"The events of recent weeks have been disturbing, distressing and horrifying to me and to so many Australians," she said.

"But my concern, my distress is irrelevant and nothing compared to the concern, the distress and the deep, deep damage done to those who have been assaulted or harassed at a workplace."

Speaking ahead of headline speaker Grace Tame, Senator Payne said she welcomed the announcement of an independent review into the workplace culture.

"The National Parliament is clearly not immune from the sorts of issues that are impacting workplaces around our country … it has to change, it must change, and the only way it will change is if we as parliamentarians own the problems and failings, and make the necessary changes," Senator Payne said.

Yesterday Ms Higgins said the comments were "incredibly hurtful" and said the Senator's language was "inexcusable".

"It's just further evidence of the toxic workplace culture".

That was Ms Higgins' response to Ms Reynolds.

Staff reported hearing Ms Reynolds making the comments in her office, where Ms Higgins was formerly employed and claims she was sexually assaulted by a colleague in 2019.

"The comments made by Minister Reynolds are incredibly hurtful,'' Ms Higgins told news.com.au.

"I appreciate that it has been a stressful time but that sort of behaviour and language is never excusable.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the Defence Minister as "offensive" and said her behaviour was "inappropriate and wrong".

He told The Australian he had spoken to Ms Reynolds, saying, "she knows those comments to have been inappropriate and wrong ... And I share her view, obviously, about that."

But he defended his minister, and said Ms Reynolds had made the comments "in her private office in a stressful week. They weren't made in a public place and nor were they intended for that. That doesn't excuse it, not for a second. She made the appropriate apologies to her staff and rectified that."

Mr Morrison also stressed that Ms Reynolds had not made the comments in relation to Ms Higgins' claims of sexual assault.

"She was not saying that about that, at all," Mr Morrison said.

"Her comments, she said to me, related to the further commentary about levels of support provided and her frustrations about how she felt that they were doing everything they believed in their power to provide support. Clearly, over a period of time there was a very different view about that. And we've acknowledged that, and that's why we're addressing the issues the way that we are."

Following the revelation, Ms Reynolds has apologised to staff, however her future within the Cabinet now appears uncertain as more a growing number of key government figures condemn the comments.

(continued)

#13084849 at 2021-03-02 08:37:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

Chinese envoy defends 'panda huggers' and blames media over 'totally ridiculous' concerns

WILL GLASGOW - MARCH 2, 2021

A senior Chinese diplomat in Canberra has blamed the Australian media and "totally ridiculous" security concerns for the breakdown in Australia's relationship with China.

Addressing an audience of business people at a Chinese Lunar New Year dinner, China's deputy head of mission Wang Xining said the rising power would remember who was on its side during the bilateral dispute.

"History will prove that it is wise and visionary to be China's friends," said Minister Xining in the first lengthy address given by China's embassy in Canberra since he spoke at the National Press Club six months ago

Mr Wang also delivered a warning to those "people in Australia [who] choose to make enemies to sustain a living".

"Those who deliberately vilify China and sabotage the friendship between our two countries ... will be [cast] aside in history," he said.

"Their children will be ashamed of mentioning their names," he said, according to a transcript of the speech posted on the Embassy's website.

The combative speech - given on Thursday night at Ruby Chinese, a restaurant in Dickson that was once owned by the father of movie star Jackie Chan - is the latest public intervention by China's Canberra embassy since the already strained bilateral relationship spiralled to historic depths last April after the Morrison government called for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus without forewarning their Chinese counterparts.

Weeks after Foreign Minister Marise Payne first called for the inquiry on the ABC's Insiders show, China's ambassador Cheng Jingye gave an interview in which he warned of a boycott of Australian beef, wine and universities.

'Rift will hurt millions'

In late August - by which time Beijing had imposed a crippling 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley exports to China, suspended multiple beef abattoirs and threatened huge tariffs for Australian wine - Minister Wang gave a relatively conciliatory speech about the frayed relationship, which he compared to marriage.

"While a rift between husband and wife hurts one family, a rift between two countries will hurt millions," he said in August.

The next day, the Morrison government revealed legislation that allowed the federal government to rescind Victoria's Belt and Road deal.

In November, diplomats at China's embassy in Canberra circulated a list of 14 grievances with Australia, which included restrictions on Chinese investment, the ban on Huawei's involvement in the 5G network and investigations into foreign interference.

By the end of 2020, more than $20b of annual Australian exports to China - over 10 per cent of the total - had been banned or interfered.

Minister Wang's latest speech - titled "It Is So Difficult to be China's Friends in Australia Today" - was given at a dinner held by the ACT branch of the Australian China Business Council.

The Chinese diplomat said many of the business association's members understood his country better than most Australians.

"Maybe you don't fully agree with our model of governance and administration, but at least you respect and understand the reason behind our development path and model of governance."

Media blamed for bad sentiment

Minister Wang said much of the bad sentiment in Australia towards China was the media's fault.

"If these people are immersed by those negative portraits of China by the major media outlets and brainwashed by the vulgarised and simplified political slogans, how would they understand China and agree with your assessment and impression of China."

He said it was now a "really difficult time to be China's friend in Australia".

"Currently, the friends of China are given a nickname 'panda-hugger'. It used to be a word of appreciation but now it carries derogatory meanings. It seems that being friendly to China, to be a friend of China becomes a sin and mistake in Australia."

In addition to the media, Minister Wang said the bilateral relationship had been undermined by the suspicions of "a small number of people", who he did not name.

"The excuse for such suspicion is China's threats to Australian sovereignty and security, which is totally ridiculous. Because up to today no one single case has been substantiated or supported by evidence," he said.

"And based on my observation, most of those people are siphoning off Australia's financial coffer, and they squander on the cornucopia which is the hard-won product of the majority of Australian labour force."

"When these people were barking loud, our friends had to bite the bullet," he added.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/chinese-envoy-defends-panda-huggers-and-blames-media-over-totally-ridiculous-concerns/news-story/d5cac44ab06701cfcb810ce43d7ab09a

#13043566 at 2021-02-25 06:07:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>13043560

2/2

The military or Tatmadaw controls two vast conglomerates that run businesses in almost every sector of the Myanmar economy: the Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited. One is run by the adjutant general, the other by the quartermaster general, old colonial titles.

Japan's giant drink company Kirin, for example, has a 50-50 joint venture with Myanmar and Mandalay breweries owned by MEHL. A standing joke among expats was that you couldn't have a drink without making a contribution to the military.

Since the coup, Kirin has said it will end its beer alliance with the MEHL. The Singaporean co-founder of gaming group Razer is also quitting his 49 per cent investment in a tobacco company owned with the military's MEHL.

Ms Suu Kyi's "right type of investment" is pouring out of ­Myanmar. "By undertaking this coup to avoid economic reform," says a Turnell colleague, "the terrible trap the military find themselves in is that they risk becoming dependent on China because no one else will invest in the country."

The role of the Middle Kingdom in this situation is complex, and requires considerable skill from the Australian government as it tries to free Professor Turnell without goading the military to look to the Chinese.

It would be wrong to see the Tatmadaw as a proxy for China. For many years, Burma was part of the British Empire and later occupied by Japan during World War II. The military takes pride in claiming to have regained independence for Myanmar and is understood to be wary of China.

The military is well aware investment is needed to develop the abundant oil and gas, agriculture and water and to grow the economy for its young population.

These developments matter a great deal to Australia, with China seeking to expand its influence in the region. International levers on Myanmar, like sanctions, lack potency. Russia has referred to the coup as an internal matter. Chinese state media has described it as a cabinet reshuffle.

Just what role ASEAN and in particular Singapore with its major financial hub is prepared to play is an intriguing question. Refusal by ASEAN to recognise the military government, and to recognise the 2020 election as the legitimate voice, would exert pressure on Myanmar.

Brunei, which holds the rotating chair of ASEAN for its 11 Southeast Asian members, has had talks with the Myanmar military. Plans for an ASEAN meeting on Myanmar are progressing. Both China and the US have shown keen interest in the meeting, as has Australia.

Scott Morrison has personally reached out to several ASEAN leaders, including Malaysian counterpart Muhyiddin Yassin, urging a regional campaign to condemn the coup and seek the release of Professor Turnell and other detainees.

Myanmar's future is precarious. Public anger at the coup has seen civil disobedience including the closure of hospitals and a general strike with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets.

In positive moments, Professor Turnell's colleagues hope the Tatmadaw will accept it simply cannot govern and will cut a deal with the imprisoned Ms Suu Kyi.

A second scenario is for the military to charge her with specious acts to prevent her from contesting future elections.

There are fears for the worst, however. "We have seen the use of live rounds already: the soldiers open fire and a bloodbath follows and we go back to the darkest days of the 1990s."

Where does this leave Professor Turnell, who started as a central banker in Canberra and became captivated by Myanmar and the need for economic reform to deliver democratic prosperity? How troubled is the government that his arrest is the butterfly effect for greater ­regional tension?

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has said the Australian embassy in Yangon had spoken with Professor Turnell but has offered little more, beyond calling for his release.

His supporters say they want influential people to understand he was using academic insight to help to move the country into the light. "If that's a crime, then we all want to be guilty."

In her appeal to the general's wife, Dr Ha Vu describes her husband's vision for the country. "He dedicated his economic expertise to help bring investment and job opportunities to your country - to help Myanmar integrate with other economies in the region and the world, to help Myanmar grow faster and stronger."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/sean-turnells-wife-ha-vu-writes-to-the-wife-of-general-nim-aung-hlaing-myanmars-military-ruler/news-story/4133f1b67c273a9a5d0486d4bf045581

https://origin.go.theaustralian.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Letter-to-Daw-Kyu-Kyu-Hla-English.pdf

#13036188 at 2021-02-24 04:34:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>12941464
Linda Reynolds admitted to hospital, cancels Press Club appearance

FINN MCHUGH - FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Under-fire senator Linda Reynolds has been admitted to hospital and cancelled a highly anticipated appearance at the National Press Club in the wake of the Parliament House rape allegation scandal.

The Defence Minister was set to face a grilling from journalists on Wednesday over her handling of Brittany Higgins' rape claim.

Ms Higgins, a former staffer to Ms Reynolds, alleged she was raped in the Minister's office by a colleague in 2019.

A statement from Ms Reynolds said she would take a period of medical leave.

"This follows advice from her cardiologist relating to a pre-existing medical condition," the statement read.

"As a precautionary measure, Minister Reynolds has this morning been admitted to a Canberra Hospital."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison phoned Ms Reynolds to "express his concern and sympathy, and wish her a quick recovery".

Health Minister Greg Hunt denied the revelation was an attempt to dodge the Press Club grilling.

"Linda was desperate to appear before the national Press Club today, desperate to appear," he said.

"And it was only on the strongest medical advice that she took the reluctant decision not to do it."

Ms Reynolds has faced a week on intense scrutiny over the rape allegation, after failing to disclose the information to the prime minister.

She has consistently cited Ms Higgins' privacy to dodge questions over her timeline of events.

She broke down in the Senate question time on Friday, asking to take an unrelated question on notice.

Mr Hunt said on Wednesday Ms Reynolds was "a good person" and called on reporters to show "compassion ... (and) focus on the needs of others".

"We have to remind ourselves that this is the most intense, arguably, environment in Australia," he said.

"There are many intense environments, and all of us need to be aware of the pressures and pains, the impact of each of us on each other.

"She is a good person and so she needs our support. She has our support."

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne will act on her behalf until she returns to work.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/linda-reynolds-admitted-to-hospital-cancels-press-club-appearance/news-story/11326876235276bb79d103e46ffdb691

#13004702 at 2021-02-20 01:25:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

Chinese influence heads agenda in Quad's regional security talks

BEN PACKHAM - FEBRUARY 19, 2021

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her US, Indian and Japanese counterparts have laid the groundwork for countering growing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

In a virtual meeting that stretched overnight Thursday, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue foreign ministers vowed to stand by regional partners in the COVID recovery phase, amid a push by Beijing to use the crisis to reshape the ­regional order in its favour.

Senator Payne, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed how to provide "strategic reassurance" to Southeast Asia by rolling out vaccines and economic support, and reinforcing maritime and cyber security.

Maintaining regional influence by fighting disinformation and providing humanitarian support were also on the agenda, along with the challenges faced by Taiwan, and the coup in Myanmar.

A planned Quad leaders' meeting, which would bring together Scott Morrison, Joe Biden, Japan's Yoshihide Suga and India's ­Narendra Modi, could occur in the first half of the year, and will help cement the new US President's Indo-Pacific policy agenda.

It is the first meeting of Quad foreign ministers since Mr Biden's election, and follows a joint naval exercise by the grouping's members hosted by India in November.

The Australian government is working hard to elevate the Quad as a security grouping, and is also a strong supporter of Britain's proposed Democratic Ten or D10 grouping of democratic nations to replace the G7.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Quad was "a key pillar of Australia's international agenda".

"This dialogue will allow our nations to advance our shared ­interest in a secure and prosperous region," it said.

A spokesman for Mr Blinken said the meeting would discuss key regional challenges. "This discussion with the Quad foreign ministers is critical to advancing our shared goals in the free and open Indo-Pacific and rising to the defining challenges of our time, including co-ordinating our efforts and COVID-19 response, as well as climate change," he said.

Mr Biden has said working closely with allies will be key to his China strategy, in which the US would aim to "out-compete" ­Beijing.

In another collective stand against China this week, Australia joined 57 other countries to support a Canadian-led international declaration denouncing state-sponsored arbitrary detention of foreign citizens. The move came almost 800 days after Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael ­Kovrig were detained in China.

Australia was one of the first countries to support the Canadian initiative, which was first raised in bilateral meetings held after Australian citizen Yang Hengjun was detained in China in January 2019.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/Marise-Payne-to-meet-other-foreign-affairs-ministers-to-discuss-chinas-growing-assertiveness/news-story/251d0cf65f328de7b1cf4a050f1a79e7

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1362421638273396737

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1362566336719724547

#12952594 at 2021-02-17 06:06:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>12952584

2/2

Amid growing anger, details have emerged of Mr Forrest's support to obtain the coronavirus testing kits. While the WA miner's Minderoo Foundation acted as a "bridge" to Chinese biotech company BGI group, it will not be left significantly out of pocket.

The government was "delighted", Mr Hunt said on Wednesday, to have secured the test kits amid intense global competition. It was also appreciative of Mr Forrest's role, saying his business contacts had sealed the deal for Australia.

But Mr Forrest will be compensated on a "cost-recovery basis" for all expenses he incurs.

A cross-government taskforce has been working since February on ensuring the nation has the supplies and personal protection equipment it needs to get through the crisis. It is assessing the efficacy and quality of all purchases, rejecting a raft of proposals by "charlatans" claiming to be selling quality products.

Amid massive global demand, standard commonwealth procurement rules requiring multiple quotes and runoffs between competing bidders have been thrown out the window. The government can't avoid sole-sourcing major purchases and will take whatever help it can get to obtain medical supplies amid surging global demand­, sources said.

Earlier this week, on the front page of the Australian Financial Review, Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye threatened a boycott of Australian exports over Scott Morrison's call for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Cheng also revealed details of a private conversation with the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Frances­ Adamson, in a serious breach of diplomatic convention.

The embassy claimed he had only released details of Ms Adamson's call because of a "leak" from Australian officials.

"The embassy of China doesn't play petty tricks, this is not our tradition. But if others do, we have to reciprocate," a spokesman said.

Mr Forrest defended his intervention on Thursday in a morning television media blitz, branding accusations that he embarrassed Mr Hunt "a scream" and "the biggest non-story ever". "I have to say, what a joke," he told Nine's Today show, after an earlier appearance on Seven's Sunrise.

Mr Forrest, who declined to speak to The Australian on Thursday, denied in television appearances that he was acting against Australia's interests by giving the podium to a Chinese government official. He said his efforts securing PPE and millions of testing kits showed "I'm the most Australian person I know."

But there is a growing consensus in Canberra that he overstepped the mark by inserting himself into the strained relationship between Canberra and Beijing during a pandemic that began in China, and which was initially covered up by the Chinese Communist Party.

Senior ministers, more unified than ever on China policy, are in no mood for amateur diplomacy by a WA rich-lister whose fortune was built on iron ore sales to fuel Chinese growth.

Mr Hunt, who prevented a complete hijacking of his press conference by shutting down media questions to Mr Long, has since been bombarded with messages of support from colleagues.

It's understood he was widely praised by cabinet colleagues for his handling of the incident, including by the Prime Minister, Josh Frydenberg and Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

Ministers said he had avoided a diplomatic misstep by holding the government's line while avoiding any statements that could be used to further inflame tensions.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/gatecrashing-consul-was-one-of-chinas-top-cyber-spies/news-story/0adfb2e9dbc72bdbcc05cb50282eb509

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4a05hvrQfc

#12866522 at 2021-02-09 06:26:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>12866521

2/2

Former foreign minister Alexander Downer said negotiations for Professor Turnell's release will be delicate because the academic was known to be close to Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for more than a week and is now facing spurious criminal charges that could see her jailed and disqualified from office.

"Marise Payne will be making representation, but it's not easy to make representations to the Myanmar military, as I know from experience," Mr Downer told the ABC.

"I think we would have almost no leverage. It would depend on personal relationships that the ambassador has developed, and other staff in the Australian Embassy."

Senator Payne said Australia had been a "strong supporter of Myanmar's transition to democracy" and was deeply concerned at the military's overthrow last Monday of the country's democratically elected government.

Australia's military relationship with Myanmar - along with its $1.5m defence training program - was now under review, as was its aid program to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation which only began the transition to a quasi-democratic system in 2011.

Canberra imposed targeted sanctions on five senior members of the Myanmar military in 2018 in response to its brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, which forced 730,000 Rohingya civilians to flee to Bangladesh where they remain in wretched refugee camps.

UN investigators have since found that Rohingya men, women and children were subject to crimes against humanity, and even possible acts of genocide, by the military including mass gang rape, arson and murder.

But the government has so far resisted pressure to sever ties with the Myanmar military as a result of the Rohingya crisis, arguing that to do so would be counter-productive.

Senator Payne defended that position on Monday, insisting it had "been important in a government which is duly led by civilians and military that we have had, as a country, a capacity to engage with both sides of that government".

"But as we have seen with the change in circumstances in the last week, a number of countries, including Australia, will continue to review those positions to determine if they are most appropriate for circumstances as they exist now."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/family-calls-for-sean-turnells-release-by-myanmar-military/news-story/33dd228d35e5ef7fc41eb346044593ec

#12866521 at 2021-02-09 06:25:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

Family calls for Sean Turnell's release by Myanmar military

AMANDA HODGE - FEBRUARY 9, 2021

1/2

The family of Sean Turnell, the Australian academic and economic policy adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi now being detained by the Myanmar military, has called for the immediate release of the "dedicated family man" who has devoted more than 20 years of his life to bringing jobs and hope to the country.

Professor Turnell's wife Ha Vu, also an Australian academic at Sydney's Macquarie University, issued a statement overnight asking for privacy for her "distraught" family while Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade worked "tirelessly to bring Sean home".

"We are distraught that Dr Sean Turnell, our beloved family member and an internationally respected academic, has been detained in Myanmar," Dr Ha Vu wrote of her husband's arrest in Yangon on Saturday, six days after the military seized power in a surgical coup.

"Sean Turnell is a dedicated family man, beloved of his wife and daughter, his dad and his sister and her family, as well as to an extended family in Australia and in Vietnam.

"He is warm and kind-hearted, generous, and always thinks about others before himself. Even now, wherever he is confined, we know that his thoughts and concerns are with those worrying about him."

Professor Turnell had only returned to Myanmar in early January, ahead of the scheduled reopening of parliament on February 1 where the second-term government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was expected to table a raft of economic reforms he helped draft, as well as an extensive COVID-19 economic recovery plan.

Instead, the military seized power a few hours before the opening of parliament, detaining top government officials including Suu Kyi and president Win Myint, along with MPs from her National League for Democracy party, key bureaucrats and activists.

Professor Turnell was first placed under house arrest at his Yangon hotel before being taken to a local police station last weekend for questioning.

Dr Ha Vu said her husband was a "practical economist who has and will always use his expertise and experience for a good cause".

"Myanmar is a country with which he has fallen in love, and through working on and for it for more than two decades, he brought jobs, investment, and hope to many of the poorest people there without thought of reward or concern for his own advantage."

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Monday the Australian government had demanded the "immediate release" of Professor Turnell, and that she had sought a phone call with Myanmar's new Foreign Minister this week to press the issue.

Civil disobedience to the coup has been growing in recent days with tens of thousands of protesters lining the streets of Myanmar's major cities to demand the restoration of its democratically-elected government and the release of its leaders.

But late on Monday there were signs of an imminent military crackdown, after coup leaders issued ominous warnings against further unrest, imposed a nationwide curfew and a ban on gatherings of more than five people.

The junta has so far refrained from using deadly force to quell the demonstrations, though police on Monday turned water cannon on demonstrators in the capital, Naypyidaw.

"Action must be taken according to the law with effective steps against offences which disturb, prevent and destroy the state's stability, public safety and the rule of law," a statement read out on state broadcaster MRTV later warned.

(continued)

#12866473 at 2021-02-09 06:11:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>12855744
>>12855876
China has developed a reputation for 'hostage diplomacy'

Sky News Australia

8 Feb 2021

Former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer says China has developed a reputation for pursuing what one might call "hostage diplomacy".

"That is that it's a sort of tit-for-tat - they seize our people and they seize them until they achieve whatever they want to achieve," Mr Downer told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

It comes after Australian citizen Cheng Lei was formally arrested in China after being detained for six months.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne confirmed Ms Lei was arrested last Friday, accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.

"They've done that with Canada," Mr Downer said.

"They've held a Canadian citizen for a long time, for a couple of years now, in retaliation for the Canadians holding a Chinese citizen and prosecuting a Chinese citizen," he said.

Mr Downer said the situation is "pretty serious" relating to Ms Cheng.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuhQ5mqH_ew

#12855876 at 2021-02-08 03:05:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>12855744
Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Statement on Ms Cheng Lei

08 February 2021

The Australian Government has been advised that Australian citizen Ms Cheng Lei was formally arrested in China on 5 February, after 6 months of detention.

Chinese authorities have advised that Ms Cheng was arrested on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.

Ms Cheng has been detained since 13 August 2020.

The Australian Government has raised its serious concerns about Ms Cheng's detention regularly at senior levels, including about her welfare and conditions of detention.

Australian Embassy officials have visited Ms Cheng six times since her detention, most recently on 27 January 2021, in accordance with our bilateral consular agreement with China.

We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms.

Our thoughts are with Ms Cheng and her family during this difficult period.

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/statement-ms-cheng-lei

#12855763 at 2021-02-08 02:57:36 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

>>12855744

2/2

'Vivacious, intelligent, respectful'

Cheng Lei was born in China but moved with her parents to Brisbane at the age of nine.

She studied accounting at the University of Queensland, later speaking of her experience in a promotional video aimed at Chinese students, saying an Australian education "doesn't teach you to just follow orders, it allows you that freedom to think for yourself".

She later moved to Melbourne, working for major companies such as Cadbury and ExxonMobil, before embarking on a business media career for both Chinese state television and CNBC in Singapore.

"She's vivacious, intelligent, respectful, and really, really good fun," said Emily Angwin, an Australian news anchor who worked alongside Ms Cheng at CGTN before resigning from the channel.

Managers at the channel purged Ms Cheng's videos and profile page from CGTN's websites after her sudden disappearance, but would not tell her colleagues what had happened.

"It's frightening. Your friend is at work one day, and then she's disappeared and been detained the next day - it's a pretty gut-wrenching situation," Ms Angwin said.

Prior to her arrest, Ms Cheng was a celebrated member of the Australian community in Beijing, appearing regularly at Australian embassy and Business Chamber events, and being named as a "Global Alumni" to promote Australian education.

No clarity on the case

The timing of her arrest came six weeks after ASIO officers raided the homes of four Chinese state media journalists in Sydney, prompting Beijing to later retaliate against Australian media journalists in China.

But a second arrest late last year has cast doubt on the idea that the case is purely related to diplomatic tension with Australia.

In December, Cheng Lei's close friend Haze Fan, a Chinese journalist in Beijing working for American outlet Bloomberg, was also taken away in what authorities say is a national security investigation.

Geoff Raby, a businessman and former Australian ambassador to Beijing, says the case could well be related to domestic political issues in China rather than being related to tense ties with Australia.

"The reality is because we don't have high level official contact between Australia and China. The foreign minister and the prime minister are not able, as in the normal course of events, to make high level representations to the Chinese government on behalf of Cheng Lei," he said.

In a statement, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said, "The Australian Government has raised its serious concerns about Ms Cheng's detention regularly at senior levels, including about her welfare and conditions of detention.

"Australian Embassy officials have visited Ms Cheng six times since her detention, most recently on 27 January 2021, in accordance with our bilateral consular agreement with China.

"We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms."

Another Australian citizen, Yang Hengjun, has spent more than two years detained in Beijing without trial, accused of espionage.

Authorities did not allow him to meet a lawyer until the 19th month of his detention.

Ms Cheng's family hopes for a much faster resolution.

"My hope is that there be more action by the Australian Government to secure her release and bring her home," Louisa Wen said.

"And also that the Chinese authorities would show a bit more compassion to her current plight.

"She's a mother with two young kids who really need her," she said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-08/china-confirms-cheng-lei-is-accused-of-leaking-state-secrets/13127488

#12816083 at 2021-02-04 03:22:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

UN should be given immediate access to Uighurs: Payne

Anthony Galloway and Eryk Bagshaw - February 4, 2021

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Foreign Minister Marise Payne says reports of systematic torture and abuse of women in the Chinese province of Xinjiang are "deeply disturbing" as the Chinese government claims they are fabricated.

The rare testimony, aired by the BBC on Wednesday, included first-hand accounts of rape, sexual abuse and torture in Uighur detention camps in China.

An estimated 1 million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim Turkic minority group, have been held in what the Chinese government claims are "re-education camps" over the past decade. The Communist Party has claimed the facilities, which are heavily fortified, are necessary to combat terrorism after isolated acts of violence occurred between 2011 and 2014.

Senator Payne said Australia had been consistent in raising its "significant concerns with the human rights abuses in Xinjiang".

"These latest reports of systematic torture and abuse of women are deeply disturbing and raise serious questions regarding the treatment of Uighurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang," she said.

"We consider transparency to be of utmost importance and continue to urge China to allow international observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, to be given immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang at the earliest opportunity."

Australia has previously raised reports of arbitrary detention, restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, pervasive surveillance and forced labour both in bilateral discussions with China and at the United Nations.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, on Thursday night said the claims raised in the BBC report had no "factual basis at all".

The report included on-the-record testimony from former inmates and an anonymous guard who had his details verified by the BBC. This masthead was not able to independently corroborate the claims made in the report but the BBC's investigation found the travel histories, maps and camps matched the identification of the guards and detainees.

One Uighur woman, Tursunay Ziawudun, who spent nine months in detention and now lives in the US, said she was raped by groups of masked Chinese men and had an electrified stick inserted into her. Another, Qelbinur Sedik, an Uzbek woman who was a Chinese language teacher at one of the camps, said there were "four kinds of electric shock" - "the chair, the glove, the helmet, and anal rape with a stick".

The guard said detainees who failed loyalty tests would be subject to increasingly severe punishments including food deprivation and beatings.

Mr Wang did not address the allegations of torture and rape specifically. He accused the women of being actors spreading false information but did not provide evidence for his claim.

"I want to say that this is not the first time that the BBC has made some false reports on Xinjiang, and each time we refuted false claim and cleared out the situation," he said.

"I must stress that so far, the Chinese side has published eight Xinjiang-related white papers, and the government of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has held more than 20 press conferences, showing with detailed figures and examples that people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang live in peace and contentment, unity and harmony, and that all their legal rights are effectively guaranteed."

Mr Wang also pointed to a 2019 letter from more than 50 countries to the UN Human Rights Council commending China's counter-terrorism and de-radialisation efforts and protection of human rights.

The letter was signed by ambassadors from China's economic partners including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Cuba, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Nigeria, Angola, Togo, Tajikistan and the Philippines among others.

Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, said "anyone reading these women's testimonies would be disgusted by what they were subjected to".

"This evidence is counter to China's international human rights obligations and is not consistent with the behaviour of a respected and responsible international power," she said.

1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) provides confidential sexual assault counselling

https://www.1800respect.org.au

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/un-should-be-given-immediate-access-to-uighurs-Payne-20210204-p56zgp.html

#12775348 at 2021-01-31 05:03:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

EU bans coronavirus vaccine exports to Australia

JACQUELIN MAGNAY and NATASHA ROBINSON - JANUARY 30, 2021

1/3

The European Commission has slapped an immediate export ban on corona­virus vaccines to Australia so European citizens can be vaccinated first, throwing the rollout of Australia's program into disarray.

In a dramatic move that could escalate into a broader trade war, the EU has begun hoarding the vaccines for 450 million Europeans after claiming the UK had "hijacked'' doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made in a Brussels plant.

The new rules, released overnight, will stop or slow the rate of export of any vaccines made or bottled in Europe to anywhere outside the continent, including Australia.

This will immediately affect Australia's 80,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine made in Puurs, Belgium, which is due in the coming weeks to start Australia's vaccination program.

Australia's 3.8 million international AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine doses, made in Seneffe, Belgium, had already been cut to 1.2 million and Europe's moves have added fresh uncertainty about this reduced amount.

Australia failed to obtain an exemption from the European rules despite the diplomatic efforts of Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Health Minister Greg Hunt.

However the European Commission - the executive branch of the EU - has provided exemptions to countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Israel, Moldova, Ukraine, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and the Vatican City.

European politicians are under huge pressure to increase vaccination rates within the bloc after a slow start to their inoculation program, starting a month later than the UK; and exacerbated by supply issues. Only two per cent of Europe have been given a coronavirus inoculation compared to ten per cent of the UK who have had their first jab.

The European Commission said the measures were "to ensure timely access to COVID-19 vaccines for all EU citizens and to tackle the current lack of transparency of vaccine exports outside the EU''.

EU bureaucrats want to know if the big pharmaceutical companies are fulfilling non-EU orders at the ­expense of delaying any supplies to the 27-nation bloc.

The commission says it will now assess if the volume of exports poses a threat to the execution of the Advance Purchase Agreements the EU has concluded with vaccine manufacturers.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn warned the German public of "at least another 10 weeks of shortages".

The Commission's new rules were flagged following manufacturing issues that halved supply of the Pfizer and ­AstraZeneca vaccines in recent weeks.

European politicians have scrambled to secure supplies as vaccination programs slowed drastically, and in some regions stopped altogether. In France, vaccinations for 12 million people living in and around Paris have been halted, and other regions have had to push back their plans by six weeks.

In Madrid and in North Rhine Westphalia, the Spanish and German governments have stopped new inoculations, preferring to use dwindling supplies to provide the second jab to those who have had the first one. Barcelona and the wider Catalonia region are due to run out of supplies by this weekend.

Italy and Poland have threatened legal action to try to force the European manufacturers to divert stocks to their countries.

(continued)

#12772975 at 2021-01-31 01:41:26 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

#12 - Part 14
Australia / China Tensions - Part 2
>>12366988 Australia says China should allow in World Health Organization Covid investigators 'without delay'
>>12367636 Australia needs to recalibrate its China policy to optimize national interests - Tian Jingling - globaltimes.cn
>>12439410 Foreign Minister Marise Payne's Beijing blast after arrests of 55 Hong Kong activists
>>12439410 Joint statement on arrests in Hong Kong - Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States
>>12476959 China's tells Five Eyes nations to stop 'intervening' in Hong Kong affairs
>>12476959 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on January 11, 2021
>>12477893 Opinion: For the real threat to democracy look to China, not the US - Alexander Downer - afr.com
>>12478426 National security concerns thwart Chinese takeover bid for major Australian builder Probuild
>>12482499 Beijing accuses Australia of politicizing business as Chinese bid for major builder is blocked for 'security concerns'
>>12482499 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on January 12, 2021

>>12495517 The secret plan for countering China: Trump should have followed his own strategy - Anthony Galloway - smh.com.au
>>12495543 PDF: The United States Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific (2018) - Declassified U.S. National Security Council document
>>12513009 Video: Pompeo is laying 'landmines' in U.S.-China relations before Biden takes office: former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
>>12543925 Australian companies warned about doing business in China's Xinjiang - 'forced labour and arbitrary detention'
>>12645737 Australia should seek policy autonomy, free of US directives - globaltimes.cn
>>12645819 Will specter of Trumpism haunt Morrison? - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn
>>12663105 Family of imprisoned Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong 'flees to Australia'
>>12663221 Australia's human rights problem may lead to another 'Floyd tragedy': expert - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn
>>12663237 Transcript - Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on January 21, 2021
>>12703964 China talks only if there are no conditions, Scott Morrison says
>>12728411 Morrison should learn from past for China reset - globaltimes.cn

#12772958 at 2021-01-31 01:40:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

#12 - Part 13
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>12076653 Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discuss China's 'escalating threats'
>>12076653 US Department of State - Press Readout - Secretary Pompeo's Call with Australian Foreign Minister Payne
>>12076658 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: The U.S.-Australia Alliance is strong and our collective work in the Quad is increasingly critical
>>12076658 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: My friend @SecPompeo has been a vital partner to Australia as we have addressed the challenges across our region
>>12090253 Video: Kevin Rudd hosts Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in an online forum, Australia warned to not become part of US-led "coalition against China"
>>12090289 Video: China: State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, introduced by Asia Society Policy Institute President Kevin Rudd
>>12113891 Yang Hengjun - Australian writer detained in Beijing has trial delayed by three months
>>12166590 Accused Chinese spy, Di Sanh (Sunny) Duong, slapped with harsh bail conditions, banned from contacting any foreign intelligence agencies or elected officials
>>12188234 Mike Pompeo Tweet: Tonight, we're freely worshiping Jesus Christ and drinking Australian wine - two things that the CCP does not allow #FightForFreedom
>>12189244 Q Research General #15562: Jesus Christ and Australian Wine Edition - https://8kun.top/qresearch/res/12188633.html
>>12190547 Australia fights back against China to build relationship with East Timor

>>12234671 Taiwanese MP Wang Ting-yu calls for enhanced cooperation with Australia in face of Chinese aggression
>>12234681 Unwise for Australia to play 'Taiwan card' - Xu Shanpin - globaltimes.cn
>>12249109 China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi wants Australia relationship back on track 'as early as possible'
>>12258893 China Daily editorial: Canberra going further on the wrong track - Pressure on State of Victoria to cancel cooperation program with China's Jiangsu province
>>12271841 Outgoing US ambassador Arthur Culvahouse takes parting shot at China
>>12304790 ASIO red-flags Liberal Party donor Huifeng 'Haha' Liu over foreign interference risks
>>12339676 Victorian Liberal MP Gladys Liu the target of foreign interference plot - Di Sanh Duong charged with attempting to influence Liberal Party figures
>>12339752 World's eyes on Australia to see if we can resist China - Clive Hamilton - theaustralian.com.au
>>12341574 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: U.S., Australia and Japan are working together to give Pacific Islands the chance to partner with free nations, not Communist China
>>12366671 Australia 'not for turning' in dispute with China, UK envoy George Brandis says
>>12366808 An Australia-UK deal will turbocharge our economies - George Brandis - telegraph.co.uk

#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

#12772862 at 2021-01-31 01:32:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

#12 - Part 3
2020 US Presidential Election - Australian Perspectives - Part 3
>>12459794 Arnold Schwarzenegger Tweet: My message to my fellow Americans and friends around the world following this week's attack on the Capitol
>>12459879 Acting PM Michael McCormack pans Big Tech for banning Trump - Daniel McCulloch - thewest.com.au
>>12477018 'QAnon Shaman' demanding organic food in jail after US Capitol arrest - 9News Staff - 9news.com.au
>>12477449 OPINION: Sydney MP Craig Kelly's job is to represent Hughes but he's pushing manic fringe craziness instead - Jenna Price - smh.com.au
>>12477533 Murdoch cannot whitewash his role in the most destructive presidency in US history - Kevin Rudd - crikey.com.au
>>12477633 Opinion: Australian conservatives go to extraordinary lengths to deny the reality of rightwing extremism - Jeff Sparrow - theguardian.com
>>12477873 Alexander Downer Tweet: It seems very unwise for US Democrats to fuel divisions already exacerbated by president Trump. @JoeBiden is right not to endorse impeachment. Time for healing
>>12477893 Opinion: For the real threat to democracy look to China, not the US - Alexander Downer - afr.com
>>12478312 Rupert Murdoch's Fox News pushed and extolled the presidency of Donald Trump. It must now be brought to account - Malcolm Turnbull - crikey.com.au
>>12478538 Bill Shorten Tweet: The Trump v. Twitter stoush is a good reminder that not everything you read on the internet is true - 'QAnon conspiracy rubbish'

>>12512347 Second impeachment may be least of Trump's problems post-presidency - Peter van Onselen - theaustralian.com.au
>>12512436 Opinion: Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack has started limply echoing racists by saying 'all lives matter' - Tory Shepherd - adelaidenow.com.au
>>12513009 Video: Pompeo is laying 'landmines' in U.S.-China relations before Biden takes office: former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
>>12517142 Video: Google 'experiment', where it buried selected news articles, was 'clearly a threat' to Australian media - Sky News Australia
>>12521162 Google 'Experiment' Hid Some News Sources from Consumers - breitbart.com
>>12530158 US Capitol rioter Jacob Chansley asks for presidential pardon, saying he was 'answering the call' of Donald Trump - abc.net.au
>>12530507 Generations will discuss Trump's descent into madness - Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au
>>12544304 Trump and his legacy 'diminished' among Australian conservatives - David Crowe - theage.com.au
>>12545789 New president Joe Biden will be a true-blue mate in the White House - Adam Creighton - theaustralian.com.au
>>12546017 Trump deserves 'maximum constitutional condemnation' as the republic's future is at stake - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au
>>12546025 Q Post #22 - Who controls the NG? What former President used the military to save the republic and what occurred exactly?

>>12558907 US Capitol rioter Jacob Chansley detained pending trial as prosecutors back away from 'kill-capture' plot claim - Reuters/ABC - abc.net.au
>>12560099 Video: Trump's Twitter ban 'won't necessarily last forever' - Sky News Australia
>>12560442 Is Morrison ready for a Biden administration? - Anthony Galloway - brisbanetimes.com.au
>>12578795 Video: Trump 'not mortally wounded' from election defeat - Sky News Australia
>>12579024 Joe Biden's inauguration explained : What time it will be on in Australia and how to watch - Stuart Marsh - 9news.com.au
>>12599336 Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks with Pence, Pompeo but not Trump - Anthony Galloway - smh.com.au
>>12607310 Labor leader Anthony Albanese accuses PM Scott Morrison of sucking up to Donald Trump along with "fringe dwellers" and "Trumpists" in his ranks
>>12622687 'Battle-hardened' Trump supporters may pose continued threat as Australia warned to be vigilant - Charis Chang - news.com.au
>>12623985 Inauguration Day livestreams - PBS NewsHour, NBC News, Washington Post, ABC News (USA) and ABC News Channel (Australia)
>>12645550 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Congratulations to President @JoeBiden and Vice President @KamalaHarris on your inauguration.
>>12645550 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Congratulations President @JoeBiden & Vice President @KamalaHarris on an historic day.
>>12645587 Scott Morrison welcomes new leadership of President Joe Biden, as Opposition figures condemn outgoing president Donald Trump - David Adams - businessinsider.com.au

#12772845 at 2021-01-31 01:30:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #13 - THE WAR IS REAL Edition

Notables
are not endorsements

#12 - Part 1
2020 US Presidential Election - Australian Perspectives - Part 1
>>12098003 The damage Donald Trump is doing may never be undone - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au
>>12264082 2021 can be a year of recovery for US now Trump is gone - Peter van Onselen - theaustralian.com.au
>>12273003 The burger bromance between Donald Trump and 'Australian tabloid wizard' Col Allan, former editor of the New York Post
>>12303833 Christopher Pyne: Vital US ambassador must be bold - 'one of the most crucial roles Joe Biden will appoint for Australia'
>>12305407 Ugliest spectacle of Trump era looms - Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au
>>12305994 Ten former Pentagon chiefs warn Donald Trump against involving military in pursuing election fraud claims - abc.net.au
>>12306000 All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory - washingtonpost.com
>>12340388 Video: US President Donald Trump hopeful Vice President Mike Pence will overturn election result - Sky News Australia
>>12362727 Twitter locks Trump, Facebook pulls video - Elizabeth Culliford - thewest.com.au
>>12363833 Video: Fox News Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume: Republicans have 'deserted the President' en masse - Sky News Australia

>>12363862 Video: World leaders respond to violent scenes at the US Capitol - Sky News Australia
>>12363958 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Very distressing scenes at the US Congress. We condemn these acts of violence and look forward to a peaceful transfer of Government to the newly elected administration in the great American democratic tradition.
>>12363958 Malcolm Turnbull Tweet: Today's mob violence at the Capitol is the culmination of Trump's sustained assault on American democracy. The President should call on the mob he incited to disperse and go home. And Trump's supporters in the GOP and the media should reflect on what they have enabled.
>>12363958 Kevin Rudd Tweet: This is a physical attack on the institutions of democracy by a far right mob.All because of extremist statements by political leaders attacking the legal results of a democratic election,echoed faithfully by a cancerous far right media.This affects us all
>>12364272 Alexander Downer Tweet: @realDonaldTrump behaviour since the election cost the Republicans control of the Senate as I predicted.
>>12365577 Video: Scott Morrison - 'I'm not here to offer a running commentary on what should be happening in the United States.' - 'Australia's a free country.' - 'There's such a thing as freedom of speech in this country. And that will continue.'
>>12366319 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Very concerned by scenes at the US Congress. I condemn any violence to interfere with democratic processes
>>12366319 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Let us swiftly bring justice to the criminals who engaged in this rioting.
>>12370152 Australian national flag spotted among the crowd of Trump protesters that stormed the US Capitol - Alana Mazzoni - dailymail.co.uk
>>12370400 Why The Australian Flag Was Flown By Pro-Trump Rioters Who Stormed The US Capitol - Carly Williams - huffingtonpost.com.au

>>12370833 Mehreen Faruqi Tweet: Why is a violent far-right mob flying the Australian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol?
>>12370888 How Australia Helped Pave The Way For The US Insurrection - Cam Wilson - gizmodo.com.au
>>12371401 Australian Labor Tweet: It's the company you keep. (Donald Trump and Scott Morrison photo)
>>12371401 Joel Fitzgibbon Tweet: I'm a proud member of the Labor Party and remain committed to its ideals and objectives but I do not want to be associated with this tweet
>>12393689 Bizarre moment crowd of protesters waving American flags march down a street in MELBOURNE chanting 'Donald Trump, four more years' as chaos breaks out in Washington DC - Charlotte Karp - dailymail.co.uk
>>12393716 Why were the Capitol rioters so angry? Because they're scared of losing grip on their perverse idea of democracy - Jordan McSwiney - theconversation.com
>>12393756 'We want blood': How warnings of the Washington riot had been circulating online for weeks - Rashida Yosufzai - sbs.com.au
>>12393910 Victorian Liberal MP Bernie Finn posts Trump election conspiracy theories to Facebook - Elias Clure - abc.net.au
>>12393996 Video: Victorian Liberals condemn pro-Trump conspiracy theories posted by colleague Bernie Finn
>>12394209 Video: Joe Biden certified by Congress as next United States president after deadly riot in Capitol

#12076463 at 2020-12-18 08:00:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

#11 - Part 15
Australia / China Tensions - Part 3
>>11899318 Video: Scott Morrison's demand for apology over fake image of Australian soldier 'unfortunate', says China's deputy ambassador Wang Xining
>>11910774 OPINION: The PM ignored one of the enduring truths in politics in his over-the-top response to China - Kevin Rudd
>>11920650 Video: Alexander Downer: China's 'aggressive diplomacy' is 'encouraging' nations to take Australia's side - Sky News Australia
>>11925150 Biden government will likely keep Aussies and allies from wild actions - Xin Qiang - globaltimes.cn
>>11930590 Australia is standing up to China's bullying. It needs U.S. support - Washington Post Editorial Board - washingtonpost.com
>>11932647 Australia's act that sparked feud, trade war and Twitter row with China - those blaming our virus inquiry are missing something much bigger
>>11945380 World is watching as China tests Australia: former diplomat and current Liberal backbencher Dave Sharma
>>11945380 PDF: Dave Sharma: What should Australia do about its relationship with the PRC? - chinamatters.org.au
>>11945885 US intelligence chief John Ratcliffe slams China's economic 'domination' plan
>>11945932 China is national security threat No. 1 - John Ratcliffe - The Wall Street Journal

>>11960248 As relations with China worsen, Australia fears US abandonment under Biden admin - foxnews.com
>>11960582 Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Australian Financial Review quit carrying eight-page Communist party newspaper supplement 'China Watch'
>>11960645 Canberra turns spotlight on Victoria's Belt and Road deal as veto laws pass
>>11960678 New Law allows Australia to scrap China Belt and Road plans
>>11968449 Global Times editor Hu Xijin lunches with Australia's Ambassador to China Graham Fletcher
>>11968481 Among US allies, why is Australia keen to attack China?: Global Times editorial - globaltimes.cn
>>11978606 Daniel Andrews staffer Nancy Yang linked to mysterious Chinese investment fund, Arem Pacific Corporation
>>11978719 China replies over latest wine tariffs after Australia's Trade Minister Simon Birmingham lashes out
>>11979293 New laws will give Australian intelligence officers power to probe suspected spies in a bid to tackle foreign interference
>>11979355 AUSTRAC risk assessment: Casino junket operators 'exploited, infiltrated' by crime syndicates, foreign spies

>>11979446 Marise Payne warns China over fishing in Torres Strait - China's Fujian Zhonghong Fishery Company's $200m operation in Papua New Guinea
>>11979509 Communist China, a repressive regime with diametrically opposed strategic objectives, now dominates our research horizons - Peter Jennings, ASPI - theaustralian.com.au
>>11979604 Xi Jinping knows who has the real power in trade dispute; it's not him - Robert Gottliebsen - theaustralian.com.au
>>12001900 Five Eyes partners mull joint sanctions as allies hit back at China trade coercion
>>12015508 Chinese Communist Party membership leak - Party insiders in the ranks: Communists infiltrate Western consulates - Sharri Markson - theaustralian.com.au
>>12015557 Names, positions of Chinese Community Party operatives revealed in major security leak - Sharri Markson - theaustralian.com.au
>>12015678 Video: Major leak 'exposes' members and 'lifts the lid' on the Chinese Communist Party - Sky News Australia
>>12015759 Video: Major leak has provided an 'unprecedented view' into the Communist Party of China - Sky News Australia
>>12033555 Five Eyes alliance plotting against China will backfire on themselves - globaltimes.cn
>>12033623 Five Eyes turn blind by fantasizing CPC infiltration: Global Times editorial - globaltimes.cn

>>12033786 China extends full open gesture to imported coal except for Australia - Chi Jingyi - globaltimes.cn
>>12033793 'Unacceptable': Australia accuses China of diplomacy by media over coal ban
>>12034093 Alexander Downer cautions business on China
>>12034483 ASIO probes Chinese Communist Party members in Shanghai consulate - Sharri Markson - theaustralian.com.au
>>12047897 Five Eyes alliance considers sanctioning China
>>12047936 Australia to take China to the World Trade Organisation over barley tariffs
>>12047991 The Australian 'turned' me into a CPC member overnight - Chen Hong - globaltimes.cn
>>12047999 I have never been a member of the Chinese Communist Party: Chen Hong - Jared Lynch - theaustralian.com.au
>>12048019 CCP members in foreign embassies 'the reality in China': Foreign Minister
>>12061760 China's treatment of Australia is a 'sign of things to come' for world, says John Bolton

#12076427 at 2020-12-18 07:53:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

#11 - Part 13
Australia / China Tensions - Part 1
>>11422350 Germany refuses to turn a 'blind eye' to China, teams up with Australia
>>11424226 Un-Australian ABC NEWS echoed CCP's propaganda - gnews.org
>>11473631 Melbourne man, Duong Di Sanh, has become the first person in Australia to be charged under foreign interference laws
>>11473876 Aussie producers of red wine, copper ore, sugar and timber are staring down a ban from China despite denials from Beijing
>>11494902 Di Sanh Duong (Yang Yisheng), former Liberal Party candidate, charged with preparing an act of foreign interference within Australia
>>11495067 Chinese state media warns Australian economy could 'suffer further pain' after reported export ban
>>11495079 Canberra only has itself to blame: China Daily editorial - chinadaily.com.cn
>>11536599 In plain sight: How Chunsheng Chen, an alleged Chinese spy tried to build an Australian business empire
>>11552108 Suspected Chinese spy Di Sanh Duong (Yang Yisheng) has quit the Victorian Liberal Party
>>11552431 Asia-Pacific to have Democrats' full attention under Biden presidency

>>11570718 Chinese state media's stark call for Australia to make urgent changes after US election
>>11570863 ASPI still spitting its mercenary poison: China Daily editorial - chinadaily.com.cn
>>11570863 PDF: Cyber-enabled foreign interference in elections and referendums - Australian Strategic Policy Institute
>>11571560 ASIO chief Mike Burgess warns MPs: China may target you
>>11571668 Daniel Hurst Tweet: Letter from Asio head Mike Burgess to all Australian federal politicians…be alert to the risk of foreign interference
>>11622961 Video: 'Not a suspect': Suspended Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane reinstated with Labor Party months after AFP raids
>>11652938 Mega free-trade deal a lifeline for Australia-China relations - Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
>>11676116 Chinese-language WeChat student group boasts of targeting Australian academics critical of Beijing
>>11677678 Morrison to talk up Australian hydrogen in first meeting with new Japanese PM, Yoshihide Suga
>>11688058 Broad deal reached on military pact with Australia, says Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga

>>11688113 Japan-Australia agreement against China goes astray: Global Times editorial - globaltimes.cn
>>11690012 Former Labor staffer John Zhang investigated for money laundering after Chinese foreign interference taskforce finds bundles of cash at Sydney home
>>11690073 Tough China stance here to stay under Biden: Australia's Ambassador to the United States, Arthur Sinodinos
>>11703294 'If you make China the enemy, China will be the enemy': Beijing's fresh threat to Australia
>>11703324 Opinion: Australia must stop going further down wrong path over ties with China - xinhuanet.com
>>11703336 Kevin Rudd may have to register as 'an agent of foreign influence' due to vast overseas connections
>>11703441 Five Eyes allies call on China to reverse ban on Hong Kong pro-democracy legislators
>>11703451 Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Joint statement on Hong Kong - "serious concern regarding China's imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong"
>>11703451 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: We stand with the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada in calling out China's disqualification of elected Hong Kong legislators
>>11705793 'Five Eyes' could be poked blind if China's sovereignty and security harmed, warns Chinese FM spokesperson - Cui Fandi - globaltimes.cn

>>11705819 Video: The Five Eyes Alliance is gradually becoming like a mafia organization - Hu Xijin, Global Times Youtube
>>11705935 Morrison says Australia won't back down to China threats on free speech, security
>>11706028 'China's not perfect, but who is?': Outgoing WA Treasurer Ben Wyatt lashes attacks on 'our major trading partner'
>>11712446 Senior Republican senator Marco Rubio slams Beijing for 'bullying' Australia
>>11738732 China, Russia spreading lies, digital discord: former US National Security Agency director Mike Rogers
>>11761396 Australia will not be deputy sheriff in US-China tensions, Morrison declares
>>11776300 Premier Daniel Andrews defends Belt and Road agreement with China
>>11777165 US Ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse blasts China over grievances against Morrison government
>>11804910 'Devastating blow': Trade Minister Simon Birmingham lashes out at China's wine tariff hit
>>11838725 Lijian Zhao Tweet: Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers. We strongly condemn such acts, &call for holding them accountable

#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

#12034505 at 2020-12-15 07:37:54 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>12034483

2/2

Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, co-chairwoman of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said she expected ­intelligence agencies would be examining the report.

Republican Party senator Joshua Hawley, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, said the reports should serve as a wake-up call.

"CCP agents have no place in US government facilities, and this report should serve as a much-needed wake-up call to Washington DC and corporate executives, who continue to welcome the Chinese government with open arms," Senator Hawley said.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma, Australia's former ambassador to Israel, said it was "a well-known secret in diplomatic circles that your missions in some countries are selectively targeted for staffing by the governments of those countries".

"This has been our working assumption for some time, and the operations of Australia's diplomatic missions factor this in and have a range of protective measures in place to guard against this," Mr Sharma said.

"We've got to worry about the people who are CCP members, but even those who are not are nonetheless susceptible to ­pressure and suasion from their government.

"That's the reality of the political system in China - the state is supreme to the individual."

Australia's former ambassador in China, Geoff Raby, said it was common knowledge that members of the CCP were in embassies and companies.

"Within the embassies, there's ample and very good separation between sensitive areas and non-sensitive areas," Mr Raby said.

"And most of what the ­embassy does is non-sensitive ... what you do is you have hard defences within the embassy and a hard separation. Everyone is aware of that."

The database was leaked in mid-September to the newly formed international group, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which is made up of 150 legislators around the world.

It was then provided to an international consortium of four media organisations: The Australian, The Mail on Sunday in Britain, De Standaard in Belgium and Swedish journalists.

The Australian was able to obtain independently a more complete version of the same database from a confidential source which allowed cyber­security firm, Internet 2.0, to track the data back to its original leak and conduct metadata analysis and verification.

Rex Patrick, a key crossbench senator, said Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who declined to comment on the revelations, needed to answer questions about why DFAT used an employment firm that recruited CCP members to consular roles.

He said Senator Payne must ensure that sensitive or classified information was not available to any embassy or consulate staff who are CCP members. If she failed to do that, he would call on the Senate to investigate.

"I think it would give rise to legitimate questioning of the minister through normal parliamentary processes and then subject to those answers, perhaps an inquiry," Senator Patrick said.

"The key question that needs to be asked is: do these people in the positions they hold have access to sensitive or classified information? And if that is the case, it does raise a concern."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/asio-probes-chinese-communist-party-members-in-shanghai-consulate/news-story/2268179f485f5e778f626258f80abe7a

#12000437 at 2020-12-12 23:09:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

Australian government must 'pick up the phone' on Assange case

Sky News Australia

12 Dec 2020

Julian Assange's partner, Stella Morris, has told Sky News the Australian government needs to "pick up the phone and speak to its closest allies" to express appropriate concern about the case and secure the release of the WikiLeaks founder.

Mr Assange is currently held in London's Belmarsh prison, awaiting a decision on his extradition case related to the publication of confidential documents.

Ms Morris told Sky News host Brent O'Halloran her partner is "very unwell".

"He's in atrocious circumstances; the prison is a dangerous place, suicides and murders are commonplace."

Discussing the involvement of Australian officials in the situation, Ms Morris said none of them have come to Mr Assange with any advice.

"I know that Marise Payne supposedly raised the case with Mike Pompeo ... but no one came to us to ask what's the latest in the case, we haven't been contacted after that meeting," she said.

"The Australian government should just pick up the phone and speak to its closest allies and show its concern and secure his safe release."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F-BwcSC5Ks

#11979509 at 2020-12-11 09:30:29 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11960645
>>11960678
On China, we've sold ourselves out

Communist China, a repressive regime with diametrically opposed strategic objectives, now dominates our research horizons.

PETER JENNINGS - December 10, 2020

1/2

Here's a priority list for Marise Payne's foreign arrangements taskforce to apply the government's new veto power: Victoria's Belt and Road Initiative memorandum of understanding with China; a dozen Confucius Institutes at Australian universities (NSW removed one from its Department of Education last year); and, at last count in 2018, 1741 agreements between Australian and Chinese universities.

According to peak body Universities Australia, there were 488 Australia-China university agreements in 2007. Close to a fourfold increase in little more than a decade should have sounded warning bells. By comparison in 2018 there were 996 agreements with US universities, 568 with Japan, 558 with Germany and 502 with the Britain. We have co-operated with these countries for decades, have comparable university systems and research cultures that are proudly independent of government, similar values and shared strategic outlooks.

Yet in a mere 10 years, co-operation with communist China, an authoritarian and repressive regime that does not share our values and has diametrically opposed strategic objectives, has come to dominate our universities' international research horizons.

Under a policy known as military-civil fusion, Xi Jinping has subordinated much of the science and technology research effort of Chinese universities to the priorities of the People's Liberation Army and China's wider security and intelligence sector.

Research led by Alex Joske at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute shows that thousands of PLA researchers have studied at Western universities and disproportionally at Australian institutions compared with our Five Eyes intelligence partners.

Can anyone be surprised that the Morrison government saw a pressing need to review the international engagements pursued by our universities? Apparently so. UA chief executive Catriona Jackson says "(We) remain concerned that the laws will deter international partnerships, which are the lifeblood of research, knowledge and job creation."

One test DFAT may like to apply in assessing these agreements is whether they advantage the Chinese military and intelligence apparatus more than our own. There are likely to be rich research funding opportunities for the first Australian universities that break away from the China income stream to focus on science and technology supporting Australian and allied security.

No doubt there are areas of research taking place between Australia and China that are benign, but across time Australians will probably be shocked to learn how tightly we have linked research activities in areas that have obvious military application.

That is because Beijing, through its Made in China 2025 plan, has a laser-like focus on buying or stealing the best science and technology knowledge from democracies to give it an unassailable lead in critical areas.

Was it ever intelligent to link our university sector so closely to that of the People's Republic of China? In a world where China wants to supplant the US as the dominant military power in the Indo-Pacific and Beijing angrily will reject any Australian expres­sion of sovereign independence, how can it be good for our universities to be connected like this?

(continued)

#11979446 at 2020-12-11 09:13:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

Marise Payne warns China over fishing in Torres Strait

Marise Payne has warned Australia won't tolerate Chinese vessels plundering Torres Strait fisheries under a $200m fisheries operation in Papua New Guinea's Western Province.

China's Fujian Zhonghong Fishery Company signed a memorandum of understanding in November with the PNG government and the Western Province administration to build a "multifunctional fishery industrial park" on the island of Daru.

The prospect has alarmed Australian border and national security officials, given the track record of Chinese vessels in illegal fishing and maritime militia operations.

The Foreign Minister told the Senate on Thursday the Australian government had been in contact with PNG to ensure Australian interests "are fully safeguarded" under its deal with the Chinese company.

She said Australian Border Force vessels would strictly police the Torres Strait's traditional-only fishing rules.

"We expect all fishers in the Torres Strait region to follow respective Australian and Papua New Guinea laws, and international obligations," Senator Payne said.

"Commercial scale fisheries would not be considered a traditional activity under the Torres Strait Treaty and would not be permitted.

"Only residents of the protected zone are able to undertake such activities, which is intended to protect the air, the sea, the land of the Torres Strait, including the native plant and animal life, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild flora and fauna such as dugong and turtles."

Independent Senator Rex Patrick, who raised the matter in the Senate, said the establishment of a permanent Chinese fishing operation in Daru, on the edge of the Torres Strait, "would be contrary to Australia's national interests, including our security".

"Such a facility in Daru would provide a new foothold for Chinese government influence in resource-rich PNG and would raise significant security issues for Australia.

"Chinese fishing fleets also have a well-known tendency towards over exploitation of marine resources, so there is also a potential threat to the delicate marine ecosystems of the Torres Strait."

He urged Senator Payne to work with PNG to develop an alternative proposal that would not jeopardise Australian interests.

Chinese Ambassador to PNG Xue Bing said the new fisheries-focused industrial park was "a vast opportunity for Papua New Guinea".

But Jeffrey Wall, a former adviser to PNG's government, said the waters around Daru were "not known for an abundance of fisheries", raising questions about China's motives.

"The fact that the plant will lie just a few kilometres from Australian island communities is a likely reason," he said in an article for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute site, The Strategist.

"It's hardly comfortable, and certainly not in Australia's strategic interest, to have a major Chinese government resource exploration project right on our northern doorstep."

The project falls under Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative.

"If Australia is to stop the project from proceeding any further, it will need to move fast," Mr Wall said.

"Whatever Australia opts to do, its response will have to be substantial, people focused and readily achievable."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/Marise-Payne-warns-china-over-fishing-in-torres-strait/news-story/51015ec26c81d0b331f1eca7047811b5

#11960658 at 2020-12-09 09:41:49 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11960645

2/2

Professor Medcalf's comments reflect Foreign Minister Marise Payne's sentiment after the Foreign Relations Bill passed on Tuesday, when she conveyed a keenness to work with states and territories on foreign agreements to advance Australia's interests globally.

"This legislation will ensure stronger connection between the Commonwealth and states and territories on matters of foreign policy and foreign relations," she said.

Professor Medcalf will also tell the Press Club that federal security and intelligence agencies have started briefing state governments on foreign interference and cyber attacks, as they do to corporate chief executives and university vice-chancellors.

"But the clearance issue means these sometimes need to be sanitised or expressed in general terms," he will say.

"And, as we've seen from the Victorian Belt and Road controversy, not all the briefings are accepted, or taken as seriously as they should."

Australia's relations with China hit a new low last week after a Chinese government official tweeted a fabricated photo showing an Australian soldier with a knife to the throat of an Afghan child, prompting an angry response from Mr Morrison.

Victorian Treasurer Mr Pallas acknowledged on Tuesday that it was possible his government's Belt and Road deal could be scrapped within months, and he called on the Commonwealth to start patching up relations with China.

"All I would advocate for is that the Commonwealth continue to repair the relationship with China as best we can, because it's about making sure that we have free and fair trade between us," he said.

"We do not support restrictions on trade, we do not support the actions that China has recently taken. But we definitely want to get back to a position where we can work co-operatively between our nations."

While Mr Pallas again defended the agreement, Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said he could not identify significant improvements for Victorian agriculture due to the Belt and Road Initiative.

"I'm not saying there aren't any, but I can't see how it's benefited Victorian farmers above and beyond any other agriculture sector in any other state," he said.

Victorian Rock Lobster Association president Markus Nolle - whose industry has been hit by Chinese export bans - went further, saying the benefit to the local industry had been "zero".

"Clearly that agreement was signed in good faith. While it wasn't prescriptive, it was done with mutual obligation and benefit in mind," Mr Nolle said.

"We can't think of a better time to open the dialogue through that agreement."

https://www.theage.com.au/national/canberra-turns-spotlight-on-victoria-s-belt-and-road-deal-as-veto-laws-pass-20201208-p56lpd.html

#11945380 at 2020-12-08 04:44:05 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

World is watching as China tests Australia: Sharma

The Australian government must strap in for turbulence in the relationship with China for many years to come, and avoid over-reaction and panic in recognition that Beijing is trying to elicit such reactions, former diplomat and current Liberal backbencher Dave Sharma has warned.

The relationship reached a new low last week when a junior Chinese foreign official tweeted a photoshopped image of an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne reacted angrily, with Mr Morrison demanding an apology and calling the image "repugnant".

The question of how to handle the relationship with an increasingly aggressive China is being hotly debated, with some exporters already counting the cost of their product being rejected at Chinese ports.

In an essay released on Tuesday for China Matters, a thinktank focusing on the rise of China and its relationship with Australia, Mr Sharma said the Western world was looking to Australia for leadership, and must be rebuilt on the realities of 2020.

Australia maintaining course will strengthen resolve among similar nations, he wrote.

"Beijing sees Australia's behaviour as having a demonstration effect on other Western nations: If the PRC is successful in brow-beating our political class and constraining our policy choices, it will serve as a lesson to others," he wrote.

In what could be seen as a dig at his Liberal colleague Eric Abetz, who has been criticised for demanding Chinese Australians appearing at a parliamentary committee hearing denounce the Chinese Communist Party, Mr Sharma said Chinese Australians must be defended when their loyalty or patriotism is questioned.

"Not only are such attacks deeply offensive to our national character, they do us immense strategic harm," he wrote.

Australia's security agencies need to better engage with Chinese Australian communities, Mr Sharma wrote, including changing security clearance approaches to be able to actively recruiting Chinese Australians and Mandarin speakers.

"Many candidates are being turned away and others are leaving government service because of this issue."

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7044741/it-will-serve-as-a-lesson-to-others-sharma-says-china-is-testing-australia/

—

Dave Sharma: What should Australia do about its relationship with the PRC?

In the latest editions of China Matters Explores, two Members of Parliament, one from each side of the aisle, pen their views on what Australia should do about its relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Dave Sharma MP and Tim Watts MP both unequivocally oppose decoupling from the PRC. Both note that it is in Australia's interests to have a "constructive", "productive" relationship with the PRC.

Dave Sharma argues for greater frankness from our political leaders about the challenges in the relationship. He also thinks that Australia should encourage the United States to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); and include Taiwan in the CPTPP.

Dave Sharma is the Federal Liberal Member for Wentworth.

China Matters does not have an institutional view; the views expressed here are the author's.

Read the brief here.

https://chinamatters.org.au/policy-brief/policy-brief-november-december-2020/

https://chinamatters.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CME-Nov-Dec-2020-PRC-Relations-Sharma.pdf

#11796622 at 2020-11-26 17:35:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11781942
Inside the secret mission to bring jailed Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert home from Iran

1/2

Iranian authorities detained Australian university lecturer Kylie Moore-Gilbert after discovering she was in a relationship with an Israeli citizen, sparking baseless claims that she was a spy for Israel.

Dr Moore-Gilbert, an Australian-British academic detained in Iran for more than two years, was released on Thursday morning in exchange for three Iranian men linked to a botched 2012 bomb plot in Bangkok.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald can reveal the Australian government played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in bringing Thailand to the table and engineering the prisoner swap deal that has allowed Dr Moore-Gilbert to be released.

The complicated prisoner-swap deal - which Prime Minister Scott Morrison repeatedly declined to confirm on Thursday - involved high-level negotiations with the Thai government.

Multiple senior government and diplomatic sources confirmed that Dr Moore-Gilbert was detained in Iran in 2018 after authorities found out her partner was Israeli.

This led to Iranian authorities stopping Dr Moore-Gilbert at Tehran airport while she was leaving the country after attending an academic conference in 2018. Authorities made allegations the Melbourne University lecturer was working as a spy for Israel and sentenced her to 10 years behind bars for espionage. The Australian government and Dr Moore-Gilbert rejected the Iran government's allegations as baseless.

Australian government sources, who asked not to be named as they had not been authorised to discuss the negotiations, said it had taken more than six months of at-times delicate discussions to put the deal together.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne was central to the "quiet diplomacy" strategy of intense negotiations and the inclusion of third party governments in the talks.

Senator Payne met her Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, four times over the past two years and raised Dr Moore-Gilbert's case on each occasion.

As Australia sought Dr Moore-Gilbert's freedom from jail, Iranian government officials made it explicitly clear they wanted Saeed Moradi, Mohammad Khazaei and Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh released by Thai authorities in exchange.

The three men were all detained in Thailand on charges of having planned to bomb the capital, Bangkok, in 2012 that authorities said was intended to target Israeli diplomats.

The request from Iran led to the Australian government approaching the Thai government to seek help with arranging the prisoner swap. Thailand agreed to the deal after months of high-level negotiations. Discussions were also held with the Israeli government.

(continued)

#11782224 at 2020-11-25 17:49:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11776993
>>11777165
Tributes for Donald Trump's steady envoy Arthur Culvahouse Jr

Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr will depart as the US Ambassador to Australia by the end of January - less than two years after he took up the job following an extended vacancy in the post - making way for Joe Biden's own diplomatic appointment.

Mr Culvahouse, who arrived in Canberra last year, said he expected to return to the US by the time Mr Biden was sworn in.

"I'm a political ambassador, a political appointee," Mr Culvahouse said in Brisbane. "I understand those rules and political ambassadors almost without exception, return home when there is a change of administration."

Mr Culvahouse's departure comes as Mr Biden presented key appointments he'd made to his administration, including naming former US Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen as treasury secretary and John Kerry as special envoy for climate. Antony Blinken will become the Biden administration's secretary of state while former CIA deputy director Avril Haines will be director of national intelligence.

Mr Culvahouse took up the post last March after Mr Trump took three years to replace Barack Obama's ambassador John Berry, who left in September 2016.

In his relatively short time in Australia, Mr Culvahouse was noted for increasing Five Eyes intelligence and economic co-­operation between the US and Australia. He also played a key role in last year's AUSMIN meeting in Sydney between Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, considered one of the most substantive US-Australia bilateral ­dialogues of the past decade.

Australian Strategic Policy ­Institute director Peter Jennings said Mr Culvahouse had reassured Australia it was still an important ally in the turbulent Trump era. "He has been the model of a high-quality ambassador, acting as the representative of the most unusual administration," he said. "He was very conventional and performed his duties admirably."

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Mr Culvahouse's friendship to Australia had been "quite remarkable" while Liberal MP Dave Sharma, Australia's former ambassador to Israel, said Mr Culvahouse Jr had helped to steady the alliance during a period of unpredictability.

"Ambassador Culvahouse has been an exemplary diplomat and representative," Mr Sharma said.

"And he has helped guide the relationship with a steady hand during a time of some unpredictability in Washington," he said.

Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said she "deeply appreciated the respect and candour Ambassador Culvahouse has brought to our discussions."

"He understands how important it is for both our countries," she said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/tributes-for-donald-trumps-steady-envoy-arthur-culvahouse-jr/news-story/b1e6de37ca5c008a87ef1f94b0a00e71

#11761396 at 2020-11-24 04:41:49 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

Australia will not be deputy sheriff in US-China tensions, Morrison declares

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia's pursuit of its national interests on the world stage has been wrongly interpreted as siding with the United States over China, declaring his government will not make a "binary choice" between the superpowers.

In fresh attempts to thaw the frosty relationship between Canberra and Beijing, Mr Morrison used a speech to a British think tank to declare the most significant geopolitical challenge of the future would be dealing with the complexities of tensions between the world's largest economic and military powers.

Mr Morrison said it was wrong to describe the strategic competition between Washington and Beijing as a new Cold War, with the world no longer divided into two blocs with their own economic realm.

He said Australia's relationships were made more complex by assumptions about Canberra's actions such as raids on Chinese journalists and academic visa cancellations, calling for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, banning Huawei from the nation's 5G network in 2018 and blocking 10 Chinese foreign investment deals across infrastructure and agriculture.

In return, China has escalated its diplomatic rhetoric towards Australia, with verbal instructions to state-linked traders to stop importing products. The trade strikes on up to a dozen products including wine, beef, barley, timber, lobster and coal now threaten $20 billion of Australian exports.

"Our actions are wrongly seen and interpreted by some only through the lens of the strategic competition between China and the United States," Mr Morrison told Policy Exchange on Monday night as he accepted the inaugural Grotius Prize for his work in support of the international rules-based order.

"It's as if Australia does not have its own unique interests or views as an independent sovereign state. This is false and needlessly deteriorates relationships."

His comments will be seen as a stark shift away from the Trump administration's trade wars with Beijing and its harsh rhetoric, which was viewed by China as an attempt to contain its economic development.

"We are not, and have never been, in the economic containment camp on China," he said.

Fresh from his third G20 summit since taking office, Mr Morrison told the virtual event that Australia desired an "open, transparent and mutually beneficial relationship" with China, its largest trading partner, and a shared interest in regional development and wellbeing.

"Equally we are absolutely committed to our enduring alliance with the United States, anchored in our shared world view, liberal democratic values and market-based economic model," he said.

"Pursuing these interests in the midst of strategic competition between the United States and China is not straightforward. It is made more complex by the assumptions cast on Australia's actions.

"Like other sovereign nations in the Indo-Pacific, our preference is not to be forced into binary choices."

He said more nuanced appreciation of individual states' interests would be critical to how they dealt with the major powers, with stark choices "in no-one's interests".

"Greater latitude will be required from the world's largest powers to accommodate the individual interests of their partners and allies. We all need a bit more room to move," he said.

"Our international institutions also have an important role to play as circuit breakers. To provide the space and frameworks for meaningful and positive interaction to be maintained, as a bulwark against any emerging divide."

While the Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times has accused Australia of being the US's "deputy-sheriff", Mr Morrison's speech will not be the first time this year Canberra has attempted to differentiate itself from the US in its increasingly tense stand-off with Beijing.

In July, Foreign Minister Marise Payne declined to echo US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's strident rhetoric on Beijing, saying "the secretary's positions are his own. Australia's position is our own".

While US President-elect Joe Biden has signalled he will maintain a strong stance against Beijing, his likely new secretary of state, Tony Blinken, has spoken of the importance of communication and co-operation between the two nations.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised Mr Morrison for "sticking up for things that both the UK and Australia believe in together and believe in passionately: our common security, our principles, our belief in democracy, in fundamental freedoms, in the rules based international system".

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-will-not-be-deputy-sheriff-in-us-china-tensions-morrison-20201123-p56gzz.html

#11705983 at 2020-11-19 17:35:52 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11702658
Whistleblowers relieved as war crimes report prompts calls for justice

The damning report into war crimes allegedly committed by Australia's special forces has come as a relief to a number of those who blew the whistle on wrongdoing, and as the Afghan victims call for justice for their dead family members.

The Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell also apologised to Afghanistan, describing the treatment of some Afghans by some Australian soldiers as shameful and abhorrent.

"I am sincerely sorry for their loss," General Campbell said of Afghan families who had loved ones allegedly unlawfully executed by special forces soldiers during the war in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2015.

And Prime Minister Scott Morrison also personally informed Afghanistan's President, Ashraf Ghani, about the release of the report, saying it contained disturbing allegations.

Mr Ghani's office revealed in a statement that Foreign Minister Marise Payne had written to her counterpart and "extended apologies for the misconduct identified by the inquiry, by some Australian military personnel in Afghanistan". Senator Payne's office confirmed this.

The statement from Mr Ghani's office also says Mr Morrison expressed "deepest sorrow" over the misconduct of some troops. However, the Prime Minister's office said the purpose of the conversation was to make the President aware of the report, not to apologise.

A small number of serving Special Air Service Regiment soldiers told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that while the report had taken a long time, they had greeted its publication with relief tainted with sadness.

"We were attacked at the time for speaking out, but what we have done has probably saved the regiment," one SAS whistleblower said. Some special forces regiments overseas have been disbanded after scandals were identified by people outside those regiments.

"A small number of us did the right thing. We have had our careers stuffed ever since. But it was the right thing," one soldier said. The Chief of Army Lieutenant General Rick Burr this morning briefed the SAS at the Swanbourne Barracks in Perth about Justice Paul Brereton's report.

Former SAS medic Dusty Miller has welcomed the Brereton report and said it showed the SAS soldiers who spoke up about wrongdoing had done the hard but right thing. Mr Miller disclosed to the Brereton inquiry evidence that an injured unarmed Afghan, Haji Sardar, was murdered by a senior SAS soldier after he was taken from Mr Miller's care.

"I think the word is validation. There's lots of us that have gone, 'This happened. That happened. The other happened,' and I think it's been proven."

Abdul Latif, whose father Haji Sardar was allegedly summarily executed by an SAS soldier in March 2012, also welcomed the release of the Brereton report. "I am happy that this inquiry has been released. It is a step towards justice."

"It was so cruel what they did to our father. They killed him for no reason. There must also be justice for those people who committed the killing."

Abdul Gharraf is an Adelaide doctor who worked as a war crimes investigator for the Afghan Human Rights Commission in southern Afghanistan during the war and previously expressed frustration at the failure of Australian officials to acknowledge alleged war crimes.

"This is really important. Australia is the first country among the countries who came to Afghanistan to do a proper investigation. It is vital that Australia has accepted that civilians and innocent lives were lost. It is very important for Australians to think of the people affected by the war. There was a problem in the system."

Mr Gharraf undertook repeated investigations into alleged war crimes carried out by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan before 2013, but was repeatedly rebuffed by Australian officers when he raised concerns. The Brereton Inquiry has savaged the failure of military investigation officers to thoroughly investigate suspicious deaths that Justice Brereton has, after four years of investigation, identified as alleged war crimes.

"They never previously took action about these incidents. Without this inquiry, Australians and Afghans would never have known what had really happened."

"It is a brave step by the Australian government. The soldiers who spoke out are good men. They should be protected. But those who did the wrong thing and who are still trying to cover it up, they should face justice."

If you are a current or former ADF member, or a relative, and need counselling or support, contact the Defence All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036 or Open Arms on 1800 011 046.

https://www1.defence.gov.au/adf-members-families/health-well-being

https://www.openarms.gov.au/

https://www.smh.com.au/national/whistleblowers-relieved-as-war-crimes-report-prompts-calls-for-justice-20201119-p56g09.html

#11703451 at 2020-11-19 08:21:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11703441
Foreign Minister Marise Payne - Joint statement on Hong Kong

Joint statement with

- The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada

- The Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Local Government and Associate Minister of Maori Development, New Zealand

- The Rt Honourable Dominic Raab MP, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and First Secretary of State, United Kingdom

- Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, United States

19 November 2020

We, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the United States Secretary of State, reiterate our serious concern regarding China's imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong. Following the imposition of the National Security Law and postponement of September's Legislative Council elections, this decision further undermines Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms.

China's action is a clear breach of its international obligations under the legally binding, UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration. It breaches both China's commitment that Hong Kong will enjoy a 'high degree of autonomy', and the right to freedom of speech.

The disqualification rules appear part of a concerted campaign to silence all critical voices following the postponement of September's Legislative Council elections, the imposition of charges against a number of elected legislators, and actions to undermine the freedom of Hong Kong's vibrant media.

We call on China to stop undermining the rights of the people of Hong Kong to elect their representatives in keeping with the Joint Declaration and Basic Law. For the sake of Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, it is essential that China and the Hong Kong authorities respect the channels for the people of Hong Kong to express their legitimate concerns and opinions.

As a leading member of the international community, we expect China to live up to its international commitments and its duty to the people of Hong Kong. We urge the Chinese central authorities to re-consider their actions against Hong Kong's elected legislature and immediately reinstate the Legislative Council members.

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/Marise-Payne/media-release/joint-statement-hong-kong-0

—

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet

We stand with the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada in calling out China's disqualification of elected Hong Kong legislators as a clear breach of its international obligations. We urge China to live up to its commitments and its duty to the people of Hong Kong.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1329204610934984704

#11703369 at 2020-11-19 07:51:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

Julian Assange prison block locked down after Covid outbreak

Three inmates understood to have tested positive at Belmarsh in south-east London

The prison block in which Julian Assange is being detained under extradition proceedings has been locked down following an outbreak of coronavirus.

Three prisoners are understood to have tested positive for Covid-19 in House Block 1 at Belmarsh prison in south-east London, prompting prison and public health officials to place the building under increased restrictions.

The number of coronavirus cases within the prison estate increased significantly last month, with positive results returned at 45 jails across England and Wales, including 10 prisons that have never reported outbreaks.

Assange's public relations agency issued a release confirming the prison governor at Belmarsh had written to inmates in House Block 1 to inform them of the outbreak.

The letter states that all prisoners and staff are to be swabbed to detect Covid-19 at the prison with results revealed in 24 to 48 hours.

Within the block, all exercise has been stopped, showers prohibited and meals are to be provided direct to the prisoner's cell, the agency said.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We've introduced further safety measures following a number of positive cases."

Assange, 49, was jailed in April last year for absconding bail. He was later told he would not be released at the end of the custody period and would remain in jail while he awaits separate extradition proceedings to the US, where he is wanted on an 18-count indictment. All but one are for violations of the country's Espionage Act.

Assange's partner, Stella Moris, the mother of their two children, said: "I am extremely worried about Julian. Julian's doctors say that he is vulnerable to the effects of the virus. But it's not just Covid.

"Every day that passes is a serious risk to Julian. Belmarsh is an extremely dangerous environment where murders and suicides are commonplace. Julian is one of the most widely recognised press freedom and government accountability advocates alive. UK decision-makers must change course before they cause Julian to lose his life."

Prisons were placed under a highly restrictive regime during spring, which was slowly but not completely relaxed across the summer and autumn.

Social visits had been reintroduced to all jails in England and Wales and were not suspended again until November as the second national lockdown was imposed.

At the end of October, 1,529 prisoners had tested positive for Covid-19 since March, an increase of 883 on the September figure, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show.

The MoJ has been testing all symptomatic prisoners since April. A mass testing programme of all inmates in 28 prisons - covering about a fifth of the population - has been running since July.

The Australian lawyer Greg Barns, an adviser to Assange's legal team, called on the Australian government to ensure Assange was safe.

"As foreign minister, Marise Payne should be taking action to ensure the safety of an Australian citizen who is at real risk of contracting Covid-19 in a British jail," he said.

"What steps will she take to ensure he is not exposed?"

Payne's office has been contacted for comment.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/nov/18/julian-assange-prison-block-locked-down-after-covid-outbreak

#11702983 at 2020-11-19 06:18:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11702658
Tweet

@ARG_AFG - Official Account of the Office of the President of Afghanistan - ARG Presidential Palace.

President Ashraf Ghani and Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia spoke by phone today.

https://twitter.com/ARG_AFG/status/1329088770260365314

—

In this telephone call, the Prime Minister of Australia expressed his deepest sorrow over the misconduct by some Australian troops in Afghanistan and assured the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan of the investigations and to ensuring justice.

https://twitter.com/ARG_AFG/status/1329088773267681283

—

Also, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia in a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has extended apologies for the misconduct identified by the inquiry, by some Australian military personnel in Afghanistan.

https://twitter.com/ARG_AFG/status/1329088775616532480

—

The letter reads, "The Australian Minister for Defense, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC and the Chief of the Defense Force, General Angus Campbell AO DSC, are now considering the inquiry's extensive findings and recommendations and will make public statements subsequently."

https://twitter.com/ARG_AFG/status/1329088778003103745

#11587541 at 2020-11-11 06:10:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11587406
'Breathtaking': Marise Payne praises US Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne says the election of Kamala Harris as United States Vice-President is an inspiration to all women and girls who are considering a career in politics or public life.

In a speech at the US embassy in Canberra on Tuesday night, Senator Payne also said she believed the Biden administration would continue its focus on the Indo-Pacific region which was seeing "rapid strategic change".

The Morrison government is hoping a Biden administration is heavily focused on Australia's neighbourhood - with an assertive approach to China like the Trump administration, but a greater emphasis on working with allies in the region.

Senator Payne said it was a time of "uncertainty around the world" and "particularly in the Indo-Pacific".

"We are seeing rapid strategic change, marked by challenges to the rules-based order that the United States, with Australia's strongest support, has played such a vital role in sustaining over decades," she said.

"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. With absolute confidence, this will continue under the administration of President-elect Biden from January."

Senator Payne said there has been a "great deal of commentary about US politics lately", but the fact that a record 150 million people turned up to vote in a free and open election was an "extraordinary exercise in democracy".

She also spoke about the importance of the election of Ms Harris, who will be the first female US Vice-President and was born to parents who were Indian and Jamaican immigrants.

"For all those women and girls who look at a career in politics or public life, to see the election of the first woman, and a woman from a diverse multi-racial background, elected as the Vice-President of the United States is breathtaking, it truly is," Senator Payne said.

She said the US-Australia alliance was in its "strongest position" and the two countries "like each other very much".

"We have much in common - many shared values, many agreed perspectives on the world," she said.

(continued)

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/australian-foreign-minister-Marise-Payne-praises-us-vice-president-elect-kamala-harris-20201111-p56dha.html

#11553702 at 2020-11-09 06:14:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Statement on the enduring Australia-US Alliance.

@DFAT @AusintheUS @USAembassyinOZ

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1325660757611089920

#11473349 at 2020-11-05 06:31:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

Australia expresses 'great confidence' in US institutions as Trump challenges votes in pivotal states

Scott Morrison says Australia will 'respect the decisions' of the American people as other government members call for all votes to be counted

Australia's prime minister Scott Morrison says he has great confidence in American institutions to deal with the challenges posed by Donald Trump calling for the vote count to be stopped.

Asked on Thursday whether he believed Trump was trying to undermine democracy with his unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud and the attempts to stop the vote count, Morrison pointed to his cordial relationship with the Republican incumbent, and said Australia was not a participant in the presidential election, it was "a partner with the United States".

"We respect the decisions that the American people make in their democracy and we'll be patient and we'll await the outcome of their process," the prime minister told reporters in Sydney.

"It's not for me to run a commentary on those things and I won't," Morrison said.

"I work with the president of the United States as the prime minister of Australia, and I enjoy a very productive working relationship with the president, and I will always put Australia's interest first in that relationship."

Asked by a reporter how concerned he was about the attempt to stop the vote count in one of the greatest democracies in the world, Morrison backed American institutions to weather any political crisis.

"The great thing about the United States, it is a great democracy and it does have great institutions and we have a deep and wide relationship with the United States which is incredibly important to Australia," he said.

"We are both like-minded and like in so many ways - our values, our partnerships, economics, security ... and I have great confidence in the democracy of the United States and I have great confidence in their institutions, and the thing about great institutions and democracies is they deal with whatever challenges come, just like our own does."

Morrison pointed to the record voter turnout in the contest as evidence democracy in the US was not imperilled. "A great democracy, having a great election with the greatest turnout it's ever seen in its history is actually a demonstration of democracy working."

Australia's foreign minister, Marise Payne, was more direct on Thursday. She said all votes in the contest should be counted, and it was her expectation that would be the case.

"There have been hotly contested and difficult elections in the US before, but those systems and processes that are in place have always ensured that every vote is counted, and they should be, and I'm sure that they will deliver an outcome," Payne said.

"What is important is that every vote is counted. And I'm sure that they will be. I'm absolutely confident that they will be."

Trump's baseless declaration on Wednesday night that there had been electoral fraud in the contest, his call for the vote count to stop, and the foreshadowing of supreme court action, triggered alarm in Australia and around the world.

Australia's shadow foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, rebuked Trump without naming him, and said American voters "deserve to have their voices heard".

"Americans have voted in historic numbers in this election," the Labor senator said. "They deserve to have their voices heard. The democratic process must be respected, even when it takes time. It's in Australia's interest that America remains a credible, stable democracy."

The Labor leader Anthony Albanese adopted a similar diplomatic line about the strength of American institutions to Morrison when he addressed reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

"I'm very confident that American institutions and, indeed, the American people will come through this," the Labor leader said. "Of course everyone would like to see results clearly on election night, but often that doesn't happen."

But the Labor leader was more direct on social media. "It doesn't matter whether you're the world's oldest democracy or the world's youngest, the people's right to be heard must be respected - and the democratic process must be allowed to run its course."

"Australia should always speak out on the democratic values we hold dear."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/05/australia-expresses-great-confidence-in-us-institutions-as-trump-challenges-votes-in-pivotal-states

#11422029 at 2020-11-03 06:15:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

>>11422013

2/2

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne responded with caution on October 23 when asked if she was confident Mr Trump would hand over power in an orderly way if he lost.

"What I can say, and what I absolutely believe, is that the Australian people and the Australian government are confident that we will have a very positive, very productive relationship with the United States continuing into the future, as we have for well over a century," Senator Payne told the ABC.

Mr Culvahouse, who was appointed ambassador by Mr Trump two years ago, expressed concern about the violence.

"The fact that people are planning for violence is concerning, I wish it weren't the case," he said at the US embassy in Canberra on Tuesday morning.

"But look, our '68 election, our '72 elections were very contentious. Politics in the US is a rough business, in part because we don't have compulsory voting so much of what's going on is to drive turnout.

"I've been involved in the hurly-burly and I can suggest counterparts to almost everything that's been said from back over the past 50 years.

"I don't think there'll be replication of the worst days of the '60s and '70s and that's my hope and my prayer."

The International Crisis Group this week said global leaders should prepare to call for a smooth transfer if Mr Trump lost the election.

"Trump might try to declare victory pre-emptively on November 3, claiming that only votes tabulated that day should count, and pressuring his foreign counterparts to recognise his purported success," wrote the group's president, Robert Malley, and senior director Stephen Pomper.

"They must resist doing so. Until one candidate concedes or the process has run its course, foreign officials should refrain from making any congratulatory calls.

"And should things take a turn for the worse, those with direct channels to Trump and his inner circle should send a clear message: 'If you interfere with the vote count or refuse to accept a peaceful transfer of power, you will be on your own'."

Mr Malley and Mr Pomper are former members of the Obama administration.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/if-there-s-a-disputed-us-election-result-australia-must-take-action-rudd-turnbull-20201103-p56b22.html

#11415032 at 2020-11-02 23:33:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

#10 - Part 14
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition
>>10705505 Trump administration offered Assange pardon, Australian lawyer claims
>>10737120 Julian Assange removed from Ecuadorean embassy 'on Donald Trump's orders'
>>10740241 Assange's fiancee asks Scott Morrison to guarantee family's safety
>>10752687 Depressed Julian Assange 'at risk of suicide'
>>10752700 Assange extradition: Key medical witness 'failed in duty to court'
>>10766250 Assange could crochet and play bingo in supermax prison, US prosecutor claims
>>10780956 Julian Assange dramatising about psychotic thoughts, court told

>>10793133 Julian Assange's extradition decision won't be made until after the US election
>>10832076 Julian Assange extradition: US must prove leaked material was 'closely held' information
>>10851537 Secret witnesses to testify about plot to 'kidnap or poison' Assange
>>10858744 Trump associate ordered huge surveillance of Assange inside embassy, court told
>>10881453 Julian Assange extradition decision to be made on January 4, 2021
>>10896171 Julian Assange needs Australian government help, says lawyer Jennifer Robinson
>>11318803 Foreign Minister Marise Payne and High Commissioner George Brandis raise Assange case with US, UK

#10 - Part 15
Dassi Erlich Tweets and Malka Leifer Extradition
>>10729992 Dassi Erlich Tweet: BREAKING NEWS - LEIFER WILL BE EXTRADITED TO AUSTRALIA!! (appeal is expected) A victory for justice!!
>>10729992 Malka Leifer, alleged paedophile, should be extradited to Australia, Israeli court rules
>>10752790 Malka Leifer extradition promise 'illegal', claims defence
>>10766423 'We literally jumped for joy' - Malka Leifer to be sent back to Australia to face 74 charges of child sex abuse
>>10766470 Video: Israeli court rules Malka Leifer should be extradited - Australian Jewish News
>>10766486 Video: Premier Daniel Andrews: 'Dassi Erlich and her sisters are heroes' - Australian Jewish News
>>11048046 Victorian sexual assault survivors have law win after government agrees to change controversial victim identification law
>>11048046 PDF: Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy: Empowering Victim-Survivors To Speak On Their Terms
>>11185484 Dassi Erlich Tweet: Israel update: As expected, appeal on the Leifer extradition decision was filed in the Supreme court last week

#11414831 at 2020-11-02 23:23:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition

#10 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>10941290 Miranda Devine is a conservative Australian columnist and writer…As of early 2020, her columns appear in the New York Post
>>10941290 Coronavirus battle shows the bravery of President Trump: Devine - Miranda Devine - nypost.com
>>10941326 "Those who know Cardinal George Pell, the pope's honest former finance minister, always suspected he had been set up" - Miranda Devine
>>10960152 2020 race: Donald Trump on track to lose by a landslide - Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au
>>10976399 US Embassy Canberra Twitter Thread: Ambassador Culvahouse will be sharing his outlook on the future of the #USwithAUS
>>10976399 "As long as the United States and Australia continue to work together, I am confidently optimistic about the future." - Ambassador Culvahouse
>>10976399 Transcript: Ambassador Culvahouse Speech - ASPI Indo-Pacific Leaders Dialogue - October 7, 2020
>>10976426 Video: Indo-Pacific Leaders Dialogue: The future of US-Australia relations - US Ambassador to Australia, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. - ASPICanberra
>>10977747 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Great to meet again with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne…to discuss Quad cooperation
>>10977747 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: The #Quad is a diplomatic network with a positive agenda: a region governed by rules, not power

>>10979128 Awkward moment Scott Morrison confronts Leigh Sales over her 'irresponsible question' when she grills him about the US presidential election
>>10994627 National Australia Bank didn't maintain records of human traffickers until 2019
>>10994640 PDF: Parliament of Australia - Review Of The Four Major Banks - National Australia Bank - Anti-money laundering
>>11007426 SAS at war: Internal military investigation finds Ben Roberts-Smith may have threatened to shoot a fellow soldier in the back of the head
>>11008088 Freemasons NSW & ACT recruitment add in a local paper
>>11008922 ADF personnel warned about social media use after offensive Instagram account uncovered
>>11020501 US elections were changed for better (and worse) by the secret 'Australian ballot'
>>11034788 Trump needs to take fight up to Biden and land some punches - Joe Hockey - theaustralian.com.au
>>11035007, >>11035014 Democrat Barbara Bollier's praise of strict Australian gun laws roils Kansas Senate race
>>11048335 US election: Joe Biden in the White House would be good for us - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au

>>11048472 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: They operate in the shadows, but shed light that helps keep Australia safe - Defence Intelligence Organisation
>>11048507 Alarm as neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network expands to Adelaide
>>11063585 'An apocalyptic list': Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo says climate change, pandemics warrant security rethink
>>11063601 Video: Securing Australia: In conversation with Michael Pezzullo - national security in an increasingly complex and interconnected world
>>11079845 Bruce Springsteen: 'If Trump wins I'm moving to Australia' - Poppy Reid - tonedeaf.thebrag.com - tonedeaf logo symbolism
>>11080248 Pacific Marines Tweet: The ninth iteration of @mrfdarwin has wrapped up in the Northern Territory of #Australia
>>11080248 Video: Colonel David Banning, Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Commanding Officer
>>11080293 Police won't charge ABC journalist over 'Afghan Files' stories
>>11098507 NBC Moderator Savannah Guthrie (born in Melbourne, Australia) hailed for keeping Trump in check at town hall
>>11098719 Video: Savannah Guthrie: Australian-born town hall moderator who held Trump to task, married to former Al Gore political operative Michael Feldman

>>11098850 Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch Predicts a Landslide Win for Biden - THE GREAT OZ HAS SPOKEN
>>11099297 Video: Lowy Institute Live: In conversation with General James Mattis and Sir Angus Houston - https://qanon.pub/?q=mattis
>>11099672 Australian Defence Force orders ban on destruction of evidence from Afghanistan war, as inquiry into alleged war crimes nears end
>>11100195 ASIO warns foreign spies are secretly 'cultivating politicians' across Australia
>>11100315 PDF: ASIO Annual Report 2019-20 "Parliament grants ASIO extraordinary powers, but those powers must always be exercised legally and ethically"
>>11100891 'Without peer': Top spy Nick Warner, Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence to retire this year
>>11112388 US election 2020: Voters are tired of Trump's catastrophic presidency - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au
>>11125093 Murder and abduction claims have Rwandan Government accused of intimidating critics in Australia
>>11125850 Video: Australia One - Riccardo Bosi Talks To Sacha Stone
>>11134109 PDF: Bit-chute replacements for YouTube patriot accounts

#11414475 at 2020-11-02 23:06:08 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

#10 - Part 14
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition
>>10705505 Trump administration offered Assange pardon, Australian lawyer claims
>>10737120 Julian Assange removed from Ecuadorean embassy 'on Donald Trump's orders'
>>10740241 Assange's fiancee asks Scott Morrison to guarantee family's safety
>>10752687 Depressed Julian Assange 'at risk of suicide'
>>10752700 Assange extradition: Key medical witness 'failed in duty to court'
>>10766250 Assange could crochet and play bingo in supermax prison, US prosecutor claims
>>10780956 Julian Assange dramatising about psychotic thoughts, court told

>>10793133 Julian Assange's extradition decision won't be made until after the US election
>>10832076 Julian Assange extradition: US must prove leaked material was 'closely held' information
>>10851537 Secret witnesses to testify about plot to 'kidnap or poison' Assange
>>10858744 Trump associate ordered huge surveillance of Assange inside embassy, court told
>>10881453 Julian Assange extradition decision to be made on January 4, 2021
>>10896171 Julian Assange needs Australian government help, says lawyer Jennifer Robinson
>>11318803 Foreign Minister Marise Payne and High Commissioner George Brandis raise Assange case with US, UK

#10 - Part 15
Dassi Erlich Tweets and Malka Leifer Extradition
>>10729992 Dassi Erlich Tweet: BREAKING NEWS - LEIFER WILL BE EXTRADITED TO AUSTRALIA!! (appeal is expected) A victory for justice!!
>>10729992 Malka Leifer, alleged paedophile, should be extradited to Australia, Israeli court rules
>>10752790 Malka Leifer extradition promise 'illegal', claims defence
>>10766423 'We literally jumped for joy' - Malka Leifer to be sent back to Australia to face 74 charges of child sex abuse
>>10766470 Video: Israeli court rules Malka Leifer should be extradited - Australian Jewish News
>>10766486 Video: Premier Daniel Andrews: 'Dassi Erlich and her sisters are heroes' - Australian Jewish News
>>11048046 Victorian sexual assault survivors have law win after government agrees to change controversial victim identification law
>>11048046 PDF: Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy: Empowering Victim-Survivors To Speak On Their Terms
>>11185484 Dassi Erlich Tweet: Israel update: As expected, appeal on the Leifer extradition decision was filed in the Supreme court last week

#11413969 at 2020-11-02 22:41:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

#10 - Part 2
Australian Politics and Society - Part 2
>>10941290 Miranda Devine is a conservative Australian columnist and writer…As of early 2020, her columns appear in the New York Post
>>10941290 Coronavirus battle shows the bravery of President Trump: Devine - Miranda Devine - nypost.com
>>10941326 "Those who know Cardinal George Pell, the pope's honest former finance minister, always suspected he had been set up" - Miranda Devine
>>10960152 2020 race: Donald Trump on track to lose by a landslide - Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au
>>10976399 US Embassy Canberra Twitter Thread: Ambassador Culvahouse will be sharing his outlook on the future of the #USwithAUS
>>10976399 "As long as the United States and Australia continue to work together, I am confidently optimistic about the future." - Ambassador Culvahouse
>>10976399 Transcript: Ambassador Culvahouse Speech - ASPI Indo-Pacific Leaders Dialogue - October 7, 2020
>>10976426 Video: Indo-Pacific Leaders Dialogue: The future of US-Australia relations - US Ambassador to Australia, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. - ASPICanberra
>>10977747 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Great to meet again with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne…to discuss Quad cooperation
>>10977747 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: The #Quad is a diplomatic network with a positive agenda: a region governed by rules, not power

>>10979128 Awkward moment Scott Morrison confronts Leigh Sales over her 'irresponsible question' when she grills him about the US presidential election
>>10994627 National Australia Bank didn't maintain records of human traffickers until 2019
>>10994640 PDF: Parliament of Australia - Review Of The Four Major Banks - National Australia Bank - Anti-money laundering
>>11007426 SAS at war: Internal military investigation finds Ben Roberts-Smith may have threatened to shoot a fellow soldier in the back of the head
>>11008088 Freemasons NSW & ACT recruitment add in a local paper
>>11008922 ADF personnel warned about social media use after offensive Instagram account uncovered
>>11020501 US elections were changed for better (and worse) by the secret 'Australian ballot'
>>11034788 Trump needs to take fight up to Biden and land some punches - Joe Hockey - theaustralian.com.au
>>11035007, >>11035014 Democrat Barbara Bollier's praise of strict Australian gun laws roils Kansas Senate race
>>11048335 US election: Joe Biden in the White House would be good for us - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au

>>11048472 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: They operate in the shadows, but shed light that helps keep Australia safe - Defence Intelligence Organisation
>>11048507 Alarm as neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network expands to Adelaide
>>11063585 'An apocalyptic list': Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo says climate change, pandemics warrant security rethink
>>11063601 Video: Securing Australia: In conversation with Michael Pezzullo - national security in an increasingly complex and interconnected world
>>11079845 Bruce Springsteen: 'If Trump wins I'm moving to Australia' - Poppy Reid - tonedeaf.thebrag.com - tonedeaf logo symbolism
>>11080248 Pacific Marines Tweet: The ninth iteration of @mrfdarwin has wrapped up in the Northern Territory of #Australia
>>11080248 Video: Colonel David Banning, Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Commanding Officer
>>11080293 Police won't charge ABC journalist over 'Afghan Files' stories
>>11098507 NBC Moderator Savannah Guthrie (born in Melbourne, Australia) hailed for keeping Trump in check at town hall
>>11098719 Video: Savannah Guthrie: Australian-born town hall moderator who held Trump to task, married to former Al Gore political operative Michael Feldman

>>11098850 Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch Predicts a Landslide Win for Biden - THE GREAT OZ HAS SPOKEN
>>11099297 Video: Lowy Institute Live: In conversation with General James Mattis and Sir Angus Houston - https://qanon.pub/?q=mattis
>>11099672 Australian Defence Force orders ban on destruction of evidence from Afghanistan war, as inquiry into alleged war crimes nears end
>>11100195 ASIO warns foreign spies are secretly 'cultivating politicians' across Australia
>>11100315 PDF: ASIO Annual Report 2019-20 "Parliament grants ASIO extraordinary powers, but those powers must always be exercised legally and ethically"
>>11100891 'Without peer': Top spy Nick Warner, Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence to retire this year
>>11112388 US election 2020: Voters are tired of Trump's catastrophic presidency - Troy Bramston - theaustralian.com.au
>>11125093 Murder and abduction claims have Rwandan Government accused of intimidating critics in Australia
>>11125850 Video: Australia One - Riccardo Bosi Talks To Sacha Stone
>>11134109 PDF: Bit-chute replacements for YouTube patriot accounts

#11339701 at 2020-10-29 08:22:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

>>11263593
University of Melbourne academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert in 'secret safe house' in Iran

University of Melbourne academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert disappeared from the Iranian prison system without a trace, but it's now believed a hardline military group has hidden her.

Exclusive: Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been hidden in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps safe house after disappearing from Iran's prison system, a source claims.

The University of Melbourne academic, who was sentenced to 10 years' jail on spying charges which she strongly denies, has not been seen since she was moved from Qarchak prison at the weekend.

There was no sign of her at Evin prison, where she was originally held, following visits among family members on Sunday.

However, a separate source said that she may have been kept in quarantine at Evin prison because of coronavirus fears.

An Iranian source claimed that Dr Moore-Gilbert, a dual Australian-UK national who studied at Cambridge University, was being held in a safe house by the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The move was a power play between the military and the Iranian government, the source said.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne revealed earlier this week that her office was "seeking further information" on where Dr Moore-Gilbert was being held after she was moved from Qarchak.

The confusion surrounding the former Bathurst, NSW, resident's move has raised concerns among her supporters.

Despite concerns that she was struggling with the food in Qarchak prison because of her food allergies, it can be revealed she was actually eating and gaining weight.

She was being held in Ward Eight away from the more violent criminals at the prison, a former chicken slaughterhouse considered one of the worst in the world for female inmates.

Dr Moore-Gilbert was teaching English to the female prisoners in her ward, who were mostly political prisoners.

"She has been far more relaxed in there and calm and eating," a source said.

She was also able to cook and run around the prison for exercise.

It was understood that the move out of Qarchak had been planned, and she was expected to return to Evin prison, north of Tehran.

Dr Moore-Gilbert was in solitary confinement in Evin prison for almost two years before she was moved to Qarchak in July.

A campaign group, Friends of Kylie Moore-Gilbert, said: "We understand the need for discretion on certain aspects of Kylie's case, but we call on DFAT to urgently confirm that it knows Kylie's location and condition.

"It is not acceptable that after more than two years of cordial negotiations, Kylie could be moved to another facility without the Australian government being notified.

The group added that it must be "an incredibly scary time for Kylie".

Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife Nazanin has been held in Iran since 2016, said that it was "quite disturbing that the government doesn't know where she is, they should have found out within 24 hours."

"With Kylie's case it's a change in tactics, although moving her to Qarchak was a change in tactics as well," he said.

He said the IRGC may be "pulling rank" on the Iranian government if they have taken her to a safe house.

"It's one of the things that can happen but it is rare, but then it is very rare to be taken to Qarchak, with Kylie's case we are already in uncharted territory," he said.

When asked if Dr Moore-Gilbert was being held in an IRGC safe house, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said: "The Government's continuing efforts to secure Dr Moore-Gilbert's release are an absolute priority. We remain focused on her health, wellbeing and safety.

"We do not accept the charges upon which Dr Moore-Gilbert was convicted, and want to see her returned to Australia as soon as possible."

Mrs Ratcliffe, who was due to be released after a five-year sentence next year, has been ordered to attend court on Monday.

She had been on community release since March but has been told to pack a bag for prison which was where she would be taken after her court appearance.

A court case over a $736 million debt that Iran claims it is owed by the UK over a historic military deal was due to be held next Tuesday.

The case has been delayed until April following a request from the Iranian government.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said after news of the delay was aired that "Iran must end her arbitrary detention and that of all dual British nationals."

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/world/university-of-melbourne-acadmic-dr-kylie-mooregilbert-in-secret-safe-house-in-iran/news-story/5eaed4cd9f646d3b3787c3753371b5dc

#11318803 at 2020-10-28 05:36:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

Australia raised Assange case with US, UK

Australia's foreign minister has revealed she made high-level representations to the US secretary of state about Julian Assange's right to a fair legal process.

Australian citizen Assange is in a UK prison awaiting a decision on whether he will be extradited to the US to face spying chargers over the release of confidential diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne raised the issue with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during an official visit to Washington in July.

"I have indicated Australia's views in terms of the importance of appropriate legal process," she told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Wednesday.

"Secretary Pompeo listened to me with courtesy and acknowledged my point."

Senator Payne also raised the issue with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

Australia's high commissioner George Brandis continues to seek assurances from the governor of Belmarsh Prison, where Assange is detained, about his detention conditions.

Consular officials have written offering support to Assange 16 times since he withdrew consent for Australia to consult with the prison over his personal circumstances in June last year.

"Assange has his reasons why he refused consular assistance," Greens senator Janet Rice told the hearing.

Earlier in the month, a UK judge said she would give her extradition decision on January 4.

https://thewest.com.au/politics/australia-raised-assange-case-with-us-uk-ng-s-2035791

#11063687 at 2020-10-14 08:52:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

>>11007557
Yang Hengjun: Detained Australian set to learn fate in China

Yang Hengjun will learn the proposed sentence for the espionage charge made against him by the Chinese state the day after the Morrison government and Labor opposition launched a bipartisan defence of the Australian citizen.

One of Dr Yang's lawyers will on Thursday visit the 55-year-old at the Beijing detention centre where supporters say he has been interrogated over 300 times by China's secret police.

The Australian can also reveal that judges have been appointed to the case, which will be formally held in the Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court.

"They feel they are ready," said Feng Chongyi, a friend of Dr Yang's and a professor at the University of Technology Sydney.

The speedy appointment of judges after the case was formally moved to the Beijing court last week indicates a verdict on the highly politicised 21-month long state security case could be delivered within weeks. A date for the trial is still to be set.

Dr Yang - a charismatic writer on Chinese politics with a huge following, as well as a remarkable backstory as a former Chinese intelligence officer - has become one Australia's highest profile consular cases.

On Wednesday evening, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government was "disappointed and deeply concerned" about the prosecution of Dr Yang, who has a PhD from the University of Technology Sydney.

"We regret that after a lengthy investigation period Chinese authorities have stated that he has been charged with espionage. We have seen no evidence to support this charge," she said, continuing the government's unusually public treatment of the case.

In a statement released shortly after Labor's shadow foreign minister Penny Wong made explicit that the concern was bipartisan.

"Labor is deeply disappointed and concerned that Chinese authorities have decided to prosecute Australian citizen Dr Yang Hengjun on charges of espionage. We join with the Government to call on the Chinese authorities to explain these charges," said Ms Wong, in the synchronised statement.

She also noted comments made by former Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Madam Fu Ying, last week to Australian media "on the need for both China and Australia to build mutual understanding and trust in our relationship".

"We share these objectives and believe it is in both countries' interests to have a productive relationship. The treatment of Dr Yang is detrimental to these objectives," she said.

Dr Yang has been in detention in the compound in the south of Beijing since he was detained at Guangzhou airport in January 2019 - six months after the Turnbull government became the first in the world to ban Chinese telco Huawei from its 5G network.

Minister Payne noted that he had not been allowed visits from family and had only limited legal access in that almost two year period.

"This falls short of basic standards of justice and procedural fairness, and is not compatible with international norms or best practice," she said.

On Thursday, Dr Yang will meet his legal team at the Beijing compound under the watch of security guards.

His lawyers on Tuesday were given access to the Chinese state's indictment documents, which include the charge of espionage, the evidence of the charge and the proposed sentence.

The meeting - expected to run for an hour - will be his first contact with them since the charge was lodged in the court.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/yang-hengjun-detained-australian-set-to-learn-fate-in-china/news-story/18221554dc354533ddce4b9ff45152dc

#10977747 at 2020-10-08 04:43:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

>>10961153
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet

Great to meet again with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today in Tokyo to discuss Quad cooperation. The U.S.-Australia-India-Japan relationship is integral to ensuring an open and transparent #IndoPacific.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1313338886916132865

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

The #Quad is a diplomatic network with a positive agenda: a region governed by rules, not power, & regional security & recovery from #COVID19 that supports sovereign choices for the countries of the Indo-Pacific. Thanks to @Moteging @DrSJaishankar & @SecPompeo

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1313501598690144259

#10961153 at 2020-10-07 08:57:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

>>10851719
>>10890825
Pompeo says U.S. and "Quad" partners must answer China's rise, "for the soul of the world"

The four nations of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad as it's more commonly known, are the U.S., Japan, Australia and India. The members have met sporadically since forming the informal alliance in 2007, but on Tuesday, they agreed to meet annually going forward.

Each has had its own points of contention with Beijing, from almost-daily naval operations by Chinese ships near territory claimed by Japan in the East China Sea; a deadly border standoff between India and China; and Australia's call for an investigation into the cause of the COVID-19 outbreak in China.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted on Japanese television that the "Quad" group was not just about "a rivalry between the United States and China."

"This is for the soul of the world," he said, "whether this will be a world that operates (as) a rules-based international order system, or one that's dominated by a coercive totalitarian regime like the one in China."

The other Quad members declined to adopt Washington's hardline stance towards the world's second-largest economy, however. China remains an indispensable trading partner for Japan, Australia and India, and arguably the U.S., too.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne pointedly sidestepped shaming Beijing by name, saying: "Whether it is individual human rights, market-based economies, countering disinformation or building greater resilience into our supply chains, our common values and interests mean we share a vision for a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific."

Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was also circumspect, telling reporters earlier this week that, "the world is possibly becoming even more unpredictable and uncontrollable due to heightening selfish nationalism and growing tension between the U.S. and China."

Suga vowed to promote the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy (FOIP), with the Japan-U.S. alliance as a cornerstone, while also cementing relations with China and Russia. FOIP was a key initiative of Suga's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, seen as vital for protecting Japan's shipping lanes.

The Quad gathering marked a diplomatic debut for Suga, who lacks experience in foreign affairs.

Experts have poured cold water on the prospect of the Quad becoming a collective security organization like NATO in Europe, largely over concerns in the Asia-Pacific region about antagonizing China.

Pompeo was originally scheduled to also visit Mongolia and South Korea on this trip, but he decided to cut his itinerary short after President Trump contracted the coronavirus.

He arrived Monday at Yokota Air Base outside central Tokyo for a single day of meetings, and then departed Tuesday evening after they wrapped up.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pompeo-says-us-japan-australia-india-quad-must-answer-china-rise-for-soul-of-the-world/

#10890825 at 2020-10-02 21:50:05 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

>>10851719
Quad ministers to tackle China 'disinformation'

Australia, the US, Japan and India will work together to fight disinformation and establish trusted supply chains for critical minerals and technologies in a co-ordinated pushback against China to be agreed at high-level "Quad" talks in Japan next week.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will meet with Quadrilateral Security Dialogue counterparts in a COVID-safe bubble in Tokyo on Tuesday, where the group's members will also work on joint economic recovery plans.

The meeting is just the second of Quad foreign ministers and underlines its importance to the Indo-Pacific's most influential democracies amid rising strategic tensions with China.

After the talks, Senator Payne will have separate bilateral meetings with Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi, India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and return home via Singapore for talks with its Foreign Minister, Vivian Balakrishnan. The move to formally add disinformation to the Quad agenda is a direct response to an explosion of Chinese fake news in the COVID era, which Senator Payne has warned is undermining democracy and sowing "fear and division".

All four Quad nations are determined to establish non-Chinese supply chains for key technologies - including 5G - and critical minerals, as a security and economic priority.

The member states hope the meeting will send a signal to other Indo-Pacific partners, particularly Southeast Asian nations, that they don't need to align themselves with China to get their economies back on track.

Senator Payne, who will travel to Tokyo with a small delegation and must quarantine for a fortnight when she returns, said the meeting would support regional responses to the COVID pandemic, with discussion of vaccines, supply chains and quality infrastructure investment.

"This visit is an opportunity to advance Australia's interests, deepen ties with like-minded partners, and reaffirm our shared commitment to promoting a stable, inclusive and prosperous region as we work towards COVID-19 recovery," she said.

"We are committed to working together, and with all countries in the region, to chart a road to recovery in a way that helps all countries reinforce their sovereignty and resilience."

China has already signalled its displeasure at the meeting of what it has branded an "exclusive clique" that targets "third parties".

But the face-to-face meeting during the COVID crisis is seen as a ringing endorsement by each Quad nation of the dialogue's importance in strengthening regional security.

Australia expects the meeting, which follows inaugural talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last year, will become a regular fixture in the diplomatic calendars of all four nations.

ANU National Security College head Rory Medcalf said the Quad, which began as an informal grouping, was increasingly turning into a "comprehensive strategic alignment".

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/quad-ministers-to-tackle-china-disinformation/news-story/0f34dc87fe203620757042b20260b153

#10851719 at 2020-09-30 06:40:32 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

Beijing unhappy about 'exclusive clique' to attend 'Quad' meeting' of Australia, US, Japan and India

China's foreign ministry has confirmed its deep unease about next week's "Quad" meeting in Tokyo, calling the gathering of the US, Japan, India and Australia an "exclusive clique" that targets "third parties".

"We believe the world's overriding trend is peace, development and win-win co-operation. Instead of forming exclusive cliques, multilateral and plurilateral co-operation should be open, inclusive and transparent," said China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

"Instead of targeting third parties or undermining third parties' interests, co-operation should be conducive to mutual understanding and trust between regional countries," Mr Wang said at a regular press briefing late on Tuesday in Beijing.

The comments were made hours after Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the in-person meeting of the four foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue - also known as "the Quad" - would take place in Tokyo on October 6.

Beijing has long been suspicious about the security grouping of the four Indo-Pacific countries, which was championed during Shinzo Abe's almost eight years as Japan's prime minister.

Mr Abe's successor as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his administration have been keen to stress the continuity of Japan's foreign policy.

Mr Suga spoke to the leaders of the three other Quad members - first Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, then US president Donald Trump and later India's prime minister Narendra Modi - before his first call with China's Xi Jinping.

The meeting of Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne next Tuesday will be the most senior multi-party conference hosted in Tokyo since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, an indication of its importance in Japanese foreign policy.

It will be only the second meeting of the Quad at foreign minister level, following last year's inaugural gathering in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

India has in recent years been the most ambivalent member of the grouping. The death in June of 20 Indian soldiers on its disputed mountainous border after a conflict with the People's Liberation Army has increased unease in New Delhi about its giant neighbour.

"It is timely that foreign ministers of the four nations who share the same ambitions over regional matters exchange views over various challenges," said Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi on Tuesday.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/beijing-unhappy-about-exclusive-clique-to-attend-quad-meeting-of-australia-us-japan-and-india/news-story/a0ebdf8362186b66f1c6e416407bf2be

#10766846 at 2020-09-24 08:53:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition

Scott Morrison's call with Japan's Yoshihide Suga catches Beijing's ire

Scott Morrison's phone call to Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga - the first by a world leader - has raised concern in Beijing about Tokyo and Canberra forming an "iron triangle with Washington" in the Asia Pacific.

An analysis published on the People's Liberation Army's news website China Military said there were "deep implications" in Mr Morrison and Mr Suga's 20-minute-long, Sunday-night call, which it said "drew close attention in the international policy circle".

In the piece Lyu Yaodong, a Japanese studies research fellow at the influential government think tank Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Mr Suga's call to Mr Morrison - which was made before a Sunday night call to US President Donald Trump - revealed Japan and Australia's shared awareness of the decline of American power relative to China.

"As Washington becomes less influential in the Asia Pacific, Tokyo and Canberra have to reaffirm its importance in the region and jointly prevent their alliance with the super power from becoming an empty shell," wrote Lyu.

The Australian and Japanese governments have repeatedly confirmed the two countries' close strategic partnership since Mr Suga's long serving predecessor Shinzo Abe in late August announced he was stepping down as prime minister for health reasons.

Last week Marise Payne was the first foreign minister to talk to her Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, after the English speaker was reappointed as foreign minister.

The Australian on Tuesday revealed Tokyo and Canberra are working on a plan for Mr Morrison to become the first leader in the world to meet Mr Suga, perhaps as early as late November.

That meeting of the two US allies - which could be delayed until January for domestic political reasons and coronavirus travel complications - will be closely watched in Beijing.

Reports in the Japanese media have said Suga will speak to Chinese President Xi Jingping on Friday.

In another sign of the new Suga administration's desire to project continuity with the Abe era, an in-person gathering of the four foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue - made up of the US, Japan, India and Australia - will be held in Tokyo in early October.

Lyu said the summary of the Suga-Morrison call released by the Japanese foreign ministry indicated Japan and Australia would have a "closer and more regular" defence partnership, would be "tough on China over issues related to the East China Sea and South China Sea" and highlighted the "importance" to them "in shaping" the Quad grouping with the US and India.

The Beijing-based research fellow said the call showed Mr Suga's "intention to form an iron triangle with Washington and Canberra to reinforce the country's geostrategic control in Asia Pacific".

With the November presidential election approaching, the Trump administration has become increasingly loud in championing its alliance network as a key strategic advantage over China.

In a rare public appearance, Miles Yu, a Chinese-born policy adviser to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, this week said an "alliance of democracies" was forming to counter China's threat.

"We have countries like … Japan, Australia, the U.K., Canada, EU, NATO and ASEAN organisation countries. We all share the same values," the influential state department policy planner said.

"China has none that it can be trusted," Mr Yu said in an online discussion hosted by Canadian think tank Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

"North Korea is useless for the (Chinese Communist Party) for the most part. Russia is playing a hard-to-get game with Beijing," he said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/scott-morrisons-call-with-japans-yoshihide-suga-catches-beijings-ire/news-story/a52d794de1e08bf0b3ffcddf2e31883e

#10692028 at 2020-09-18 08:02:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10692018

2/2

The US-Australia alliance and dealing with a rising China

When it comes to another major global issue for Australia and arguably its most important ally, the Morrison government has subtly shown a level of trepidation about Donald Trump's administration.

During a recent Washington visit, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds sought to strengthen military ties with the US. But the pair notably stopped short of agreeing to join the country in naval exercises in the South China Sea within 12 nautical miles of China's claimed territories - something that would be seen as a provocation.

"There was a notable plume of dust emerging behind Marise Payne's limousine as she escaped from Washington not wishing to sign up to the latest piece of American bravado about Royal Australian Navy ships conducting freedom of navigation operations within the 12 mile limit of China's reclaimed islands," Mr Rudd said.

The former PM criticised the government's megaphone diplomacy when dealing with China, accusing it of treating the rising tensions as "domestic political raw meat" as it tries to look tough on the rising authoritarian power.

But Donald Trump takes that to an entirely different level.

"My point is, there is even a limit to hairy chestedness on China as far as the Morrison government is concerned, and frankly they're running for cover at that time [in Washington] I thought was indicative of a level of concern of where Trump and [US Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo could take them," Mr Rudd told Yahoo News Australia.

Rudd's offer to Morrison on Chinese relations

Mr Rudd, who is the president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, is currently working on a PhD thesis about the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which he says has given him a "new layer of understanding of Xi Jinping's worldview and the challenges it represents for the rest of us."

"He is quite a hard wired Marxist-Leninist in his core."

Just after Mr Morrison won the election last year, Mr Rudd approached him and offered to have a discussion about China and how to manage the relationship.

"So I went and spent some time with him at Kirribilli, since then we've not really discussed the matter," he said.

Whoever wins the US election will face major challenges on how they respond to an increasingly assertive China as it pursues expansion in the South China Sea and tries to reclaim Taiwan, increasing the possibility of military conflict.

And in recent history, where the White House goes, Australia has followed.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/blue-murder-why-morrison-is-praying-for-a-trump-election-win-040221466.html

#10601161 at 2020-09-11 09:05:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10238194
>>10239411
Rogue Afghan soldier Hekmatullah sent to detention in Qatar

Rogue Afghan soldier Hekmatullah is being transferred to a detention facility in Qatar where he will be held with five other prisoners, all of whom have been convicted of killing Coalition troops or civilian humanitarian workers in insider attacks.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds confirmed the transfer on Friday, reaffirming the government's position that Hekmatullah must not be released as part of US-brokered peace talks with the Taliban.

"We have communicated our position repeatedly and consistently and at the highest level to the government of Afghanistan, which is solely responsible for his custody, and to the United States," they said.

"In February 2020, the United States and the Taliban agreed to a number of steps, including the release of Afghan government and Taliban prisoners, as goodwill preconditions that oblige the Taliban to enter into intra-Afghan negotiations with the government of Afghanistan.

"Australia has worked hard with the United States, the government of Afghanistan and other nations, including the British and French governments, since February 2020 to keep Hekmatullah in detention, and to keep these six sensitive prisoners separate from the wider goodwill agreement.

"That agreement has already seen the release of some 5,000 Taliban-associated prisoners and detainees."

Hekmatullah, a former Afghan National Army sergeant, killed Robert Poate, Lance Corporal Stjepan "Rick" Milosevic and Sapper James Martin at a forward ­operating base north of Australia's main base at Tarin Kowt on ­August 29, 2012 in a so-called "green on blue" attack.

Scott Morrison has argued that Hekmatullah should never be freed after he was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Afghan court, while French President Emmanuel Macron has also strongly opposed the release of Taliban terrorists who killed French soldiers and aid workers.

Senator Payne and Senator Reynolds said that Australia was not "standing in the way of peace talks" and that there was "no military solution to violence in Afghanistan."

"Australia appreciates that the Afghan government, in making the decision to move the prisoners to Qatar, is doing its best to recognise and respect the concerns of the countries that want to see justice served," they said. "The transfer of these last six sensitive prisoners, including Hekmatullah, from Afghanistan to a detention facility in Qatar, is a measure decided by the government of Afghanistan and the United States as a means of facilitating the start of the Intra-Afghan Negotiations, scheduled to begin on 12 September, while keeping the prisoners detained."

"The Australian Government's longstanding position is that Hekmatullah should serve a full custodial sentence for the crimes for which he was convicted by an Afghan court, and that he should not be released as part of a prisoner amnesty."

"We will continue to advocate our position robustly, wherever he is being held. Justice and peace are not incompatible. Both have a place in peace arrangements."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/rogue-afghan-soldier-hekmatullah-sent-to-detention-in-qatar/news-story/73c1bdebf0e82f0a0f82f9fcbf9b2ec8

#10563846 at 2020-09-08 08:30:49 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10563843

2/3

"It felt very, very political"

During the meeting, no questions were asked about his reporting or conduct in China.

Instead, Birtles said he was interviewed about Australian TV presenter Cheng Lei, who was detained last month.

"I know Cheng Lei, but not especially well and Mike Smith in Shanghai had only met her once in his life," he said.

"We didn't seem like the two most logical people you would talk to, if you really wanted to talk about her situation.

"It felt very, very political. It felt like a diplomatic tussle in a broader Australian-China relationship more than anything specific related to that case.

"I believe the episode was more one of harassment of the remaining Australian journalists, rather than a genuine effort to try and get anything useful for that case."

Birtles was told by embassy officials after the interview that his travel ban had been rescinded. He was joined by consular staff on a flight from Beijing to Shanghai early on Monday, where he waited for his flight to Sydney.

AFR correspondent Smith was subjected to questioning on Monday evening, after sheltering in the Australian consulate in Shanghai. The AFR made similar arrangements to get him out of the country.

After touching down in Sydney, Birtles said the experience had been a "whirlwind".

"It's very disappointing to have to leave under those circumstances, and it's a relief to be back in a country with a genuine rule of law," he said.

"This was a whirlwind, and it's not a particularly good experience.

"It's just good to be home."

The drama came only days after China's Government publicly confirmed the arrest of an Australian journalist working for China's state media, Cheng Lei.

Tense relationship between China and Australia

The unprecedented standoff marks another deterioration in the Australia-China relationship, already buffeted by tensions over trade, espionage, Hong Kong and the coronavirus pandemic.

In July, the Australian Government changed its travel advice for China, warning Australian citizens faced "arbitrary detention" on the mainland.

Mr Anderson has been in contact with DFAT and Foreign Minister Marise Payne's office since the initial warning was issued last week.

ABC News director Gaven Morris said Birtles was being brought home following advice from the Australian Government.

"Understanding China, the relationship between our two countries is probably the biggest story of our time and having our people on the ground working with our local team is absolutely critical for the ABC," he said.

He also expressed concern for ABC staff still working in China in other roles.

"We don't have any information that they're in any way under threat or anything like that. But we are talking to them constantly making sure they're well supported," he said.

AFR editor-in-chief Michael Stutchbury and editor Paul Bailey issued a statement welcoming the duo's safe return.

"We are glad Mike Smith, our correspondent who has been based in Shanghai for two and a half years, and Bill Birtles from the ABC, have made a safe return to Australia this morning," they said.

"This incident targeting two journalists, who were going about their normal reporting duties, is both regrettable and disturbing and is not in the interests of a cooperative relationship between Australia and China.

"Thank you to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Consular officials who assisted in their safe return."

(continued)

#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

#10524698 at 2020-09-04 12:10:07 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10491684
'I will fight to the end': Australian writer Yang Hengjun's message from behind bars in China

In messages delivered this week and confirmed by sources close to Dr Yang's family, he said: "I want to go to court, I will never confess to something I haven't done."

Australian writer Yang Hengjun has sent a defiant message to his family, friends and supporters that he will keeping fighting to clear his name of espionage accusations that have been made against him by Chinese authorities.

In messages delivered this week and confirmed by sources close to Dr Yang's family, he said: "I want to go to court, I will never confess to something I haven't done".

"I did not confess to anything criminal.

"Being held for 19 months is unfair. I am innocent. They can abuse me. This is political persecution."

Speaking from Shanghai, China, Dr Yang's wife Yuan Ruijuan told SBS News that her husband rejects the assertions of Chinese authorities that he had confessed.

"Yang wanted to make clear this isn't true, he has not confessed and he always maintains his innocence," she said.

"The hardest part is hearing that he feels so alone, completed isolated from everyone and everyone for 19 months now."

Dr Yang, a former Chinese diplomat who went on to become a pro-democracy campaigner, could face the death penalty if the spying charges against him stand.

The 55-year-old was detained at Guangzhou airport in January 2019 and initially held under a system known as "residential surveillance at a designated location", a type of secret detention for seven months.

In March, Beijing referred his case to the Chinese Public Prosecutor's Office for charge.

Access to Lawyer

In a breakthrough for Dr Yang's case, Ms Yuan confirmed that his lawyer Mo Shaoping had his first meeting with the Australian writer on Thursday.

"I had not heard from him for so long, I wondered whether he was still with us. The lawyer's confirmation of the meeting has given me some comfort but the situation is not good, I do not know a lot, there is a lot the lawyers are not permitted to tell me."

The meeting was face-to-face with a glass panel separating the two of them and lasted about one hour. Mr Mo has applied for another visit to see his client.

Ms Yuan said she is very concerned about Dr Yang's mental state and fears the long period of time he has spent incarcerated and the interrogations he has been subjected has taken a toll.

Professor Feng Chongyi, who is a close friend of Dr Yang, believes lawyers were finally given access to Dr Yang because Chinese authorities may be getting ready for a trial to take place soon.

"Chinese legal system relies very much on the confession to establish a case."

Professor Feng says Dr Yang has been subject to over 300 hours of interrogations since he was detained 19 months ago, sometimes for five hours at a time.

"It is a legal system that is under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, there is no such thing in China or an independent trial."

Professor Feng, who was also previously detained in China, says he does not believe Dr Yang will be given a fair trial.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed Australian consular staff visited the activist on 31 August via video link.

SBS News understands this was the first visit since December 2019 because they had been denied access due to COVID-19 concerns.

In a statement, the department said it will "continue to provide assistance and support to Dr Yang and his family during this difficult time."

Dr Yang's long-running detention continues during a backdrop of increasingly frayed ties between Canberra and Beijing.

On Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the detention of Australian Cheng Lei, a television presenter for China's state media.

In the past, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly warned Australia not to interfere in his case. The Chinese Embassy in Australia was contacted for comment.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has previously called for the immediate release of Dr Yang and has said there was "no basis" for any allegation he was a spy.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/i-will-fight-to-the-end-australian-writer-yang-hengjun-s-message-from-behind-bars-in-china

#10491693 at 2020-09-01 08:25:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10491684
Detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei authored Facebook posts about Wuhan coronavirus cover-up

An Australian journalist currently detained in Beijing was known as a good thinker and a bridge between the two countries before her arrest more than two weeks ago, experts say.

An Australian journalist shared social media posts about the Chinese government's coronavirus response in Wuhan months before she was detained in Beijing.

Cheng Lei has been detained by Chinese authorities for more than two weeks, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Monday. No reason was provided for her arrest.

A high-profile television anchor, Ms Cheng hosted a business program for China's government-run English language broadcaster CGTN.

In March, she wrote a Facebook status describing a censored, viral magazine profile of a doctor at Wuhan's Central Hospital, who said she was reprimanded for raising the alarm about coronavirus.

"The article lived for a few hours, and then the purge started," she wrote.

Weeks earlier, on 27 February, she shared another status referring to "the most circulated posts of the day", which were investigative articles detailing cover-ups by local government authorities in Wuhan.

A number of citizen journalists in China were arrested earlier this year, and some are still missing, after publishing details of the coronavirus crisis in Wuhan.

Delia Lin, a senior lecturer in Chinese Studies at Melbourne University, said it is unlikely the Facebook posts were the catalyst for her detainment, given how much time has passed since they were published.

"Why her, why now? She hasn't really done anything extraordinary. She's not overly outspoken about the political situation in China," Dr Lin, who is originally from Wuhan, told SBS News.

"She's also known for reporting things that are favourable to Beijing, because she works for this TV station which requires her to be favourable in many of her reports and she's done that genuinely without compromising her professional integrity.

"She certainly knows her boundaries very well, extremely well, and she's never really crossed those boundaries as far as I can see."

In her most recent Tweet on 12 August, two days before the Australian government was notified of her arrest, Ms Cheng shared a celebratory video of a new Shake Shack store opening in Beijing.

The targeting of Ms Cheng sent a "chilling message" for other Australians working in China that they too could face repercussions, even if they are not outspoken about their views, Dr Lin said.

'A really great bridge between China and Australia'

Ms Cheng had worked at CGTN for eight years before her arrest, following stints at CNBC Asia in Singapore and China and at CGTN's predecessor CCTV News.

Her journalism profile on CGTN has since been removed from their website.

"She is known to be a really great bridge between China and Australia," Dr Lin said. "And is certainly someone who values her experience in Australia and tries to help both nations, and both peoples, to understand one another."

Dr Lin said the arrest could be a message to the Australian government, which has been facing strained relations with China over recent months. "It does make people wonder, because it's very unusual that it could be her," she said.

Fergus Hanson, director of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said on Tuesday that Ms Cheng's arrest could fit into a pattern China attempting to use "arbitrary arrests, arbitrary executions, as a means to coerce states into changing their behaviour."

"Is it a very effective strategy? No I don't think so but it is a really brutal one," he said, adding that more details were needed before the motivations behind the detention could be determined.

Speaking to ABC News on Tuesday, Education Minister Simon Birmingham said there were "clearly a number of issues" with the Chinese-Australian relationship, but did not elaborate on the reasons for Ms Cheng's detention.

"We're working through details in terms of the consular assistance that we can provide, and we will give all assistance that we can," he said.

Meanwhile, opposition treasury spokesperson Jim Chalmers described the arrest as "concerning" and said Labor was "as one with the government" in trying to resolve it.

It is understood Ms Cheng has not been formally charged and was being held under "residential surveillance", a form of detention that allows authorities to hold a suspect for up to six months without formal arrest, ABC News reported.

Ms Cheng's family have declined to speak to the media but released a statement which said they were aware of the arrest.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/detained-australian-journalist-cheng-lei-authored-facebook-posts-about-wuhan-coronavirus-cover-up

#10491684 at 2020-09-01 08:21:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

Prominent Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei detained in China 'without charge'

China has detained an Australian news anchor working for its state-run English-language television network CGTN.

High-profile Australian journalist Cheng Lei has been detained in China, the Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed.

Cheng Lei has been in custody for more than two weeks, the Australian government revealed overnight.

"Australian officials had an initial consular visit with Cheng at a detention facility via video link on (Thursday) and will continue to provide assistance and support to her and her family," Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement.

No reason has been provided for her detainment.

"Formal notification was received on 14 August 2020 from Chinese authorities of her detention."

China-based Australian journalist Stephen McDonnell, who works for the BBC, tweeted that Cheng was being held in a secret location without charge.

The CGTN website page which described Cheng as an anchor on the network's Global Business programme was no longer available after news of her detention emerged.

The ABC said Cheng was being held under "residential surveillance at a designated location", a form of detention that allows investigators to hold and question a suspect for up to six months without them being formally arrested.

In an online video for the Australia Global Alumni posted two years ago, Cheng described herself as an "anchor for the global business show on CGTN, the China Global Television Network".

Born in China, she studied commerce at the University of Queensland before working for Cadbury Schweppes and ExxonMobil in Australia.

"The beauty of an Australian education is not about what is taught but more about what it doesn't teach. It doesn't teach you to just follow orders, it allows you the freedom to think for yourself, to question … to judge for yourself," she said.

After moving to China, Cheng worked for the Chinese state broadcaster, the country's biggest TV network.

"China is one of those subjects that can be talked up or down any of a number of notches depending on the person's knowledge and experience."

The ABC reported that Cheng's two young children are in Melbourne.

Her family issued a brief statement.

"In China, due process will be observed and we look forward to a satisfactory and timely conclusion to the matter," they told the ABC.

Cheng's detainment follows the detention of Australian man and academic Yang Hengjun.

Senator Payne has previously called for the immediate release of Dr Yang who could face the death penalty if found guilty of spying charges.

The Chinese diplomat went on to become a pro-democracy campaigner and was made an Australian citizen in 2002.

He was detained in January 2019 and has been held since with limited consular contact.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/prominent-australian-tv-anchor-cheng-lei-detained-in-china-without-charge

#10457026 at 2020-08-29 00:35:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10457018

3/3

'Humour is a really excellent way to counter this'

That capacity to inflame conspiratorial thinking was evident when the prime minister, Scott Morrison, indicated last week that a Covid-19 vaccine could be "mandatory". Though he quickly walked it back, the comment sparked an outpouring of anger not just among anti-vaxxers but a broader population of people who believe governments are using the virus to impose greater control over citizens.

So too did Andrews' decision to extend Victoria's state of emergency for another 12 months.

"Messaging is important, and those things just inflame these people," University of Tasmania's Ross said.

But it is perhaps QAnon's ability to adapt and grow organically through social networks that makes it so difficult for governments to combat. In June, the Morrison government announced a new taskforce to counter online disinformation under the control of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

But the taskforce was specifically aimed at deliberate misinformation campaigns by state actors, something the foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, referred to in a recent speech as an "infodemic" of online misinformation pushed by countries "using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy and promote their own, more authoritarian models".

That, says Clare Murphy, a national security policy researcher, fails to consider the impact of more "grassroots" forms of misinformation online.

"The federal government's efforts tend to concentrate on the state-sponsored level, but so much of the danger is in disinformation that is spread locally," she said.

Murphy, whose expertise is in online Islamic radicalisation, said measures taken to counter extremism were not easily transplanted across communities. "There's no silver bullet," she said.

The researcher pointed to a recent advertising campaign by telecommunications company Telstra, which hired the ABC comedian Mark Humphries to help debunk misinformation around 5G technology, as an example of potentially effective ways to reach unwilling audiences.

"Humour is a really excellent way to counter this sort of thing because it relaxes people and makes them more willing to engage with you," she said. "I actually commend Telstra for just trying something."

Ross, a humanities lecturer who has devoted much of her research to understanding online communities including the far right in Australia, says much of QAnon's appeal comes from its welcoming and evangelical nature.

"It gives people an explanatory framework for what's going on in the world, but more importantly it gives them hope," she said.

"The idea of the great awakening in QAnon is the same as the evangelical thing of good versus evil, and that they're in this fight to save the children. It's different from the alt-right in that they embrace not knowing everything. The neo-Nazi types pride themselves on this encyclopaedic knowledge of having read all the right books and if you haven't then you aren't one of them."

QAnon types, on the other hand, believe you have to do your research but "we don't know everything and that's OK". They have a plan and support each other, Ross explains. "They welcome each other. You see them talking about their friends and family not understanding them or thinking they're crazy and the response is 'It's OK, we get you'."

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/29/australian-mp-takes-on-conspiracy-theorist-in-court-but-experts-dont-know-where-to-begin-with-online-battle

#10436621 at 2020-08-27 08:48:05 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10411490
Coalition to pursue power to block deals such as Victoria's belt and road agreement with China

Coalition to introduce laws to prevent Australian governments and universities making 'detrimental' deals with foreign powers

The Morrison government will pursue new powers to stop state, territory and local governments and universities entering agreements with foreign governments that it considers detrimental to Australia's foreign policy objectives.

The government will introduce legislation next week empowering the foreign affairs minister to review and cancel agreements - such as Victoria's decision to sign up to China's belt and road initiative - if the commonwealth judges the arrangement adversely affects Australia's foreign relations.

A planned stocktake of existing agreements will be broader than Victoria's politically controversial belt and road agreement, but that deal has been viewed with concern by Australia's national security establishment and it has also attracted criticism from the United States.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, used an interview in May to leave open the possibility of suspending some forms of information sharing with Australia if the Victorian deal resulted in projects that affected the safety of security networks.

Within hours the US ambassador to Australia, Arthur Culvahouse Jr, clarified that the US had "absolute confidence in the Australian government's ability to protect the security of its telecommunications networks and those of its Five Eyes partners" and Pompeo was simply answering questions about "very remote" hypotheticals.

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, reiterated at the time of Pompeo's intervention that the federal government had never supported Victoria's belt and road involvement and Australian states should "respect and recognise the role of the federal government in setting foreign policy".

Officials say Morrison flagged the government's intentions to the premiers and chief ministers during a recent national security briefing for the national cabinet.

The new law the government is proposing would cover state or territory entities, including departments, agencies, local governments and universities established under state or territory law.

If the bill passes the parliament, within six months of the legislation taking effect governments and public universities will have to notify the commonwealth of their existing agreements with foreign governments.

Under the new procedures, state governments will have to notify the commonwealth of their intention to pursue an agreement with a foreign government. The foreign affairs minister will either approve or reject the proposal.

Even if the arrangement is approved initially, the foreign affairs minister will retain the power to revoke that approval subsequently. According to government briefing materials, the legislation will give the commonwealth power to terminate any private contracts and other agreements flowing from the main agreement.

Universities will not be required to seek approval before negotiating or entering into arrangements. But according to the federal government, they will need to notify the foreign affairs minister before entering into an arrangement with foreign governmental entities and Canberra will be able to cancel agreements it finds objectionable.

Australian universities have entered into a range of innovation and technology sharing agreements potentially caught by the new law, predominantly with China, but also with India, Iran and Afghanistan.

In a statement issued by his office ahead of Thursday's announcement, Morrison said the federal government needed to be able to protect Australia's national interest, and "that is why I recently arranged for all premiers and chief ministers to receive a comprehensive national security briefing".

"It is vital that when it comes to Australia's dealings with the rest of the world we speak with one voice and work to one plan," he said. "Australians rightly expect the federal government they elect to set foreign policy."

The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, said there was currently no legislative requirement or "clear understanding that states and territories consult properly with the commonwealth on arrangements with foreign governments".

"These changes will provide governments, institutions and the Australian people with confidence that due diligence is given to international arrangements to ensure they are consistent with our national interest and our values," Payne said.

(continued)

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/26/coalition-to-pursue-power-to-block-deals-such-as-victorias-belt-and-road-agreement-with-china

#10314125 at 2020-08-17 03:49:13 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

Scott Morrison plans trip to meet Shinzo Abe in Japan

Talks are underway between Australia and Japan on a potential visit by Scott Morrison to Tokyo this year for a face-to-face summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as the region's democracies ramp up co-operation to counter China.

The leaders met in a virtual summit last month, but both sides have committed to an in-person summit in Tokyo "in the nearest possible future".

It's understood senior officials from both countries have discussed how the visit could go ahead, despite the COVID-19 crisis, before the end of the year.

Government sources told The Australian it was too soon for the Prime Minister to commit to the visit, as it was unclear how the coronavirus second wave would play out.

If Mr Morrison made the trip it's likely he would have to self-isolate for up to a fortnight on his return, as Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds did when they returned from AUSMIN talks in the US.

During their virtual summit in early July, Mr Morrison and Mr Abe hit out at "coercive and unilateral actions" in the East and South China Seas, and reaffirmed the importance of the "Quad" alliance between Australia, the US, Japan and India.

The leaders also expressed "grave concerns" over China's new security law in Hong Kong, and urged Taiwan's inclusion as an observer at the World Health Assembly.

In a statement on Saturday marking the 75th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II, Japanese ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi said his country appreciated the "spirit of tolerance and friendship" that Australia had shown his country since the conflict ended.

"The positive, friendly post-war relationship that Japan and Australia share is vast in its scope, encompassing not only the economy, but also cultural exchanges, as well as political relationships and defence co-operation," Mr Takahashi said.

"We have the great responsibility to take the lessons of history deeply into our hearts, to carve out a better future."

The negotiations come amid suggestions by Defence Minister Taro Kono that Japan could become the sixth partner in the "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes Australia, the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

"These countries share the same values," Mr Kono said in an interview with Nikkei Asian Review.

"Japan can get closer (to the alliance) even to the extent of it being called the 'Six Eyes'."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/scott-morrison-plans-trip-to-meet-shinzo-abe-in-japan/news-story/e6843c2401b7d14d8d66ab32a5f11776

#10239411 at 2020-08-10 05:58:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10238194
Scott Morrison's plea to Donald Trump over Diggers' killer Hekmatullah

Scott Morrison appealed directly to Donald Trump for his support in keeping the murderer of three Australian soldiers in Afghanistan behind bars.

As Afghanistan's Ghani government prepares to release 400 insurgents, including the rogue Afghan National Army sergeant Hekmatullah, the Prime Minister said Australian government had persistently lobbied for the killer to be excluded from a US-brokered prisoner swap with the Taliban.

"It is a matter that I have written to the President about. It is a matter of keen interest to Australia and we have reminded them of that," Mr Morrison said.

"Hekmatullah was responsible for murdering three Australians, and our position is that he should never be released."

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani agreed overnight to release a final 400 Taliban prisoners after an Afghan grand assembly, known as the Loya Jirga, approved the move.

Hekmatullah is among the remaining prisoners sought for release by the Taliban under its peace deal with the United States.

The Australian revealed Defence warned the families of Private Robert Poate, Lance Corporal Stjepan "Rick" Milosevic and Sapper James Martin on Friday that their sons' killer, Hekmatullah, is likely to be freed in the next few days.

In a joint statement, the families of the three men said: "The news passed to us from senior ­Defence officers on Friday evening has come as a crushing blow. There can never be complete closure for us now."

Mr Morrison said Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds conveyed Australia's concern about Hekmatullah's release to their US counterparts Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper at the recent AUSMIN meeting.

"We do not believe that his relief adds to peace in this region, and that is the position that we will continue to maintain and we will maintain it strongly," the Prime Minister said.

"I can't promise you the outcome we all want here. But it is certainly the outcome that we will continue to press for as hard as we can."

The three-day Loya Jirga, a traditional Afghan meeting of tribal elders, announced on Sunday that it approved the release of the remaining prisoners sought by the Taliban under its peace deal with the US.

"In order to remove the hurdles for the start of peace talks, stopping bloodshed, and for the good of the public, the jirga approves the release of 400 prisoners as demanded by the Taliban," Jirga member Atefa Tayeb announced.

Following the announcement, President Ghani: "Today, I will sign the release order of these 400 prisoners."

The US has begun to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan after the peace deal with the Taliban in February that is tied to the release of 5000 prisoners by the Afghan government.

President Ghani had released 4600 insurgents but was yet to release the final 400 prisoners, held for the most serious crimes.

Hekmatullah, who like many Afghans is known by only one name, shot dead the three Australians and wounded two others as they played cards at a forward ­operating base north of Australia's main base at Tarin Kowt on ­August 29, 2012.

The so-called "green-on-blue" killings sparked a six-month manhunt involving elite Australian spies, special forces operators, and cutting-edge technological capabilities. Hekmatullah was eventually found and arrested in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

He later confessed to the killings, and vowed he would do the same again. He avoided execution, despite being handed a death sentence by the Afghan Supreme Court in 2013.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/scott-morrisons-plea-to-donald-trump-over-diggers-killer-hekmatullah/news-story/0663a5e7af99e7366a73c3f7910cf035

#10238194 at 2020-08-10 03:24:36 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

Afghan prisoner swap likely to free Hekmatullah, rogue soldier who murdered three Australians

An Afghan soldier who murdered three Australian soldiers while serving as a sergeant in the Afghan National Army is likely to walk free in a prisoner swap deal.

Hekmatullah, as he's known, has spent seven years in jail after murdering Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robert Poate in August 2012.

The trio of Australians were playing cards at their base at Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province, when the rogue soldier turned on them - killing them, and injuring two other Australians.

Officials from the Department of Defence contacted the families of the three Australians on Friday, advising them it was likely Hekmatullah would be one of 5,000 prisoners released as part of peace negotiations between the Afghan Government and the Taliban.

Hekmatullah is one of 400 prisoners considered to be "extreme cases" that were still being considered by Afghanistan's Tribal Council, the Loya Jirga, for release.

"I will sign the release order of these 400 prisoners (Taliban prisoners) and release them," Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said after the meeting.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds have for several months raised the Australian Government's desire for Hekmatullah to remain behind bars, since it became clear he could be part of the prisoner swap deal.

Over the weekend, Senator Payne and Senator Reynolds were still lobbying for his ongoing detention.

"Hekmatullah was responsible for murdering three Australians, and our position is that he should never be released," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday.

"We do not believe that his release adds to peace in this region.

"I can't promise you the outcome we all want here, but it's certainly the outcome we'll continue to press for as hard as we can."

The peace negotiations are being steered by the United States, with the prisoner swap pact a key part of the talks.

Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conceded the release of the prisoners was "unpopular".

"But this difficult action will lead to an important result long sought by Afghans and Afghanistan's friends: reduction of violence and direct talks resulting in a peace agreement and an end to the war," he said.

"After 40 years of war and bloodshed and destruction, the parties are ready to embark on a political process to reach a negotiated settlement."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-10/diggers-murderer-hekmatullah-prisoner-swap-trump-afghanistan/12540238

#10186881 at 2020-08-05 07:06:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

Australian PM Scott Morrison urges US and China to respect international law, resolve disputes peacefully

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged the United States and China to respect international law and resolve their disputes peacefully, as tensions between the two great powers continue to escalate.

Beijing and Washington are enmeshed in an increasingly poisonous series of disputes over trade, espionage and China's military build-up in the South China Sea.

The Federal Government is worried about China's increasing belligerence towards Australia and has been steadily strengthening defence ties with the United States.

But it has also been unnerved by the Trump administration's withdrawal from a host of international organisations, and frustrated by the way it has used America's economic heft to bully other nations in trade disputes.

In a keynote address delivered via video link at the Aspen Security Forum in the US, Scott Morrison said both the US and China had a "special responsibility" to uphold rapidly fraying international rules.

"The liberal rules and norms of the American Century are under assault. 'The jungle is growing back', as [American historian] Robert Kagan has observed," the Prime Minister said.

"We need to tend to the gardening. That means respecting international law and the peaceful resolution of disputes. It means a commitment to rules-based economic interaction. Neither coercion nor abdication from international systems is the way forward."

Mr Morrison also took a veiled swipe at the Trump administration's mercantilism.

US President Donald Trump has railed against free trade agreements and has hit multiple US allies and partners with tariffs as he tries to rebuild America's industrial base.

Australia has escaped largely unscathed, winning an exemption from US steel and aluminium tariffs in 2018.

But last year, the Federal Government had to fight a rearguard action to preserve the exemption after senior US officials tried to kill it.

In the speech, the Prime Minister warned that "the sense of unity necessary among like-minded partners can be undermined if positive political and security relationships are accompanied by abrasive or confrontational trade relationships".

"We should avoid cases where we build closer strategic cooperation, only to see the cohesiveness of those relationships undermined by trade disputes," he said.

And he emphasised Australia's push to balance China by deepening defence and economic links with other major powers in Asia, including Indonesia, Japan and India.

"A critical priority is to build a durable strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific. For more like-minded nations to act more cohesively, more consistently, more often," he said.

Mr Morrison also revisited the controversy he roused last year when he warned against "negative globalism" in international bodies such as the United Nations.

Labor accused Mr Morrison of demonising the United Nations, and in June Foreign Minister Marise Payne used a major speech to emphasise that Australia would not abandon multilateral institutions.

The Prime Minister repeated some of his criticisms of UN bodies at the Aspen Security Forum.

"When global institutions and their bureaucracies become unaccountable, when they become vulnerable to manipulation, when they lose the confidence of their membership, they fail in their task," he said.

"In my Lowy Institute speech nearly a year ago, I described that trend as negative globalism. My view hasn't changed."

But the Prime Minister also emphasised that Australia would continue to press its case within international institutions, rather than stepping back from them.

"As I said then and repeat now, we believe in a positive globalism: where nations like Australia engage directly with others, as equals, in the pursuit of common objectives," he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-05/scott-morrison-urges-the-us-and-china-to-play-by-the-rules/12524448

#10142926 at 2020-07-31 22:31:50 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

Repost from Q Research General #12980

>>10141710 (pb)

Australia backs India over deadly border clashes with China

Australia has taken another subtle diplomatic swipe at China, this time over its long-running and deadly border dispute with India.

For decades, the world's two most populous nations have fought skirmishes along a stretch of land that divides the Chinese autonomous region of Tibet from India.

Last month, India said 20 of its soldiers had been killed in clashes with the People's Liberation Army at a disputed border site in the western Himalayas, in a major escalation of the standoff between the two nuclear powers.

An Indian army patrol had attempted to tear down temporary structures erected by the Chinese military on terrain claimed by New Delhi, setting off a brutal six-hour melee in sub-zero temperatures.

Now the ABC has learnt Barry O'Farrell, Australia's newly appointed High Commissioner to New Delhi, has indicated the Federal Government's support for India in the decades-long dispute.

"Australia urges restraint along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and supports continued moves towards de-escalation," Mr O'Farrell said in a statement issued by the High Commission this week.

"As I told the External Affairs Minister of India [on Thursday], Australia opposes any attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo, which only serve to increase tension and the risk of instability.

"It is important that the bilaterally agreed principles and norms that have helped prevent escalation or miscalculation in the border areas over many decades continue to be observed."

Foreign Minister urged negotiation

Since the 1960s Australia has not taken sides in the LAC dispute, but diplomatic sources said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) recently decided to clarify its public position.

When border clashes between Indian and Chinese troops turned deadly last month, Foreign Minister Marise Payne took a more cautious stance, urging both sides to "avoid confrontation".

"Clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley, and reports of loss of life, are concerning," she said in a statement issued on June 17.

"During a global pandemic, it is more important than ever that all countries minimise tensions and avoid confrontation in long-standing disputes."

At the time Senator Payne added that Australia was monitoring the situation, but stressed it was a "matter for India and China to resolve through negotiation".

So far, DFAT has declined to comment on what has prompted the clarification of its stance, or whether it has formally conveyed its latest position to Beijing.

The Government's newly stated position on the border dispute comes amid growing expectations that Australia could soon be invited to re-join the Malabar naval exercises involving the United States, Japan and India.

The Government has strengthened its opposition to Beijing's maritime claims in the disputed South China Sea through a formal letter to the United Nations.

The US and Australia also jointly reaffirmed their opposition to the Chinese military build-up in the disputed waters following annual AUSMIN talks in Washington.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-01/australia-backs-india-over-deadly-border-clashes-with-china/12513852

#10135836 at 2020-07-31 06:48:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

Repost from Q Research General #12948

>>10116954 (pb)

China hits back at Australia-US statement on South China Sea, Hong Kong

The Chinese embassy has angrily reacted to a joint Australia-US statement criticising the regime's actions in the South China Sea.

The Chinese embassy has angrily reacted to a joint Australia-US statement criticising the regime's actions in the South China Sea and elsewhere, warning "any attempt to pressure China will never succeed".

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds are in Washington, DC for the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations, or AUSMIN, hosted by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

In the joint statement following the meetings, the two countries expressed "deep concern" over hot-button issues including Hong Kong, Taiwan, the "repression of Uyghurs" in Xinjiang and China's maritime claims in the South China Sea, which are "not valid under international law".

But the Chinese embassy in Australia swiftly hit back in a statement of its own.

"We firmly reject and oppose the unfounded accusations and attacks against China on issues related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea made in the recent Joint Statement of Australia-US Ministerial Consultations," it said.

"Their assertions, in disregard of basic facts, violated international law and basic norms governing international relations and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs.

"We reiterate that the Chinese side is unwavering in upholding national sovereignty, security and its legitimate rights and interests. We are firmly committed to maintaining regional peace and stability. Any attempt to pressure China will never succeed.

"We urge Australia not to go further on the road of harming China-Australia relations, and truly proceeding from its own interests, do more things that are conducive to mutual trust and co-operation between the two countries."

https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/china-hits-back-at-australiaus-statement-on-south-china-sea-hong-kong/news-story/efb2925d910ea9f32af9385ec581a0d3

#10115695 at 2020-07-29 18:05:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

>>10109998
>>10110039
Repost from Q Research General #12945

>>10114785 (pb)

Didn't see this in notables. Thought someone might like watching. Australia + US = Allies vs CCP.

Secretary Pompeo Holds a Joint Press Availability

U.S. Department of State

Published on 28 Jul 2020

July 28, 2020 - Secretary Michael R. Pompeo holds a joint press availability with Secretary of Defense Esper, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, and Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, at the Department of State.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVhjI_d29Kk

#10110133 at 2020-07-29 03:03:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

AUSMIN a thrilling, unexpected triumph for White House

This AUSMIN meeting was a triumph for the Trump administration which was rightly thrilled and probably a little surprised that Australia agreed to the White House's request to come to Washington.

At this volatile moment in history, Australia has become the model ally for which the US is looking when it comes to confronting a rising and increasingly belligerent China.

The face-to-face annual AUSMIN meeting and press conference between the respective foreign and defence ministers - Mike Pompeo, Mark Esper, Marise Payne and Linda Reynolds - gave the administration the chance to loudly tout what Australia has done on China and in doing so, send a message to other US allies to copy Canberra's lead.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a series of recent speeches, has been pleading with more democratic allies to stand up to Beijing, even if it hurts them economically.

From Washington's perspective, Australia has ticked all of these boxes and more.

It even led the US in banning Huawei and introducing foreign interference legislation several years ago.

More recently, the Morrison government has won plaudits in Washington for its call for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.

In the face of persistent threats and intimidation from Beijing, the government this month boldly declared China's absurd and hegemonic territorial claims in the South China Sea to be illegal.

It has also angered Beijing by suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and offering citizenship options in Australia for residents of Hong Kong in response to China's push to remove freedoms and human rights protections.

Each of these moves have led to threats of reprisals - sometimes implemented - from an increasingly angry Beijing. But they have been carefully watched and warmly welcomed by the US which views China through a dramatically different lens than it did just a few years ago.

During this US election China is under attack from both sides of politics in the US. It has no friends in Washington.

Donald Trump, who has waged a long and still unfinished trade war with Beijing, sees China as largely to blame for the coronavirus which has destroyed the US economy and severely harmed his chances of re-election.

His administration, led by Pompeo, has clashed with Beijing over Huawei, over its unfair trading practices and over its cyber warfare amongst numerous other issues.

It has tried to call China out over these many issues but has been frustrated by the sometimes tepid support it has received from many other allies, particularly in Europe.

Which is why Washington is so pleased that Australia has been willing to openly call Beijing out on some of these issues despite the obvious risk of economic reprisal.

Australia is not saying whether it will take the next step in challenging Beijing by joining the US Navy in freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea.

For now that may be a step too far, especially as China policy in the US becomes increasingly politicised as the US election creeps closer.

But at the AUSMIN press conference, Pompeo and Esper's comments contained more 'thank you's' than a wedding speech as they rattled off the list of Australian efforts to hold China accountable for its behaviour.

This was an AUSMIN meeting that went beyond the usual platitudes because both countries are so deeply engaged right now with the question of China.

Among the thanks you's was the fact that two Cabinet ministers, two department secretaries and the CDF amongst others now have two weeks quarantine to face upon their return.

So was it worth the trip? The Americans certainly think so.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/ausmin-a-thrilling-unexpected-triumph-for-donald-trump/news-story/c723387a88f0d25fafee6efeadd275ac

#10110039 at 2020-07-29 02:56:24 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

Australia backs US bid to rally democracies against China

The Morrison government has swung its support behind the Trump administration's push to forge a new alliance of democracies to counter China's muscular ambitions, saying it could be built on the close Australia-US relationship.

At the annual AUSMIN meeting in Washington, the quartet of Australian and US foreign and defence ministers also said they'd step up cooperation on developing new defence technologies in areas such as hypersonics, establish a US strategic military fuel reserve in Darwin, and create a joint taskforce to counter harmful disinformation.

"We will use the Australia-US alliance as the basis to deepen our friendship with others," Foreign Minister Marise Payne told the post-AUSMIN press conference on Wednesday morning (AEST).

"We will build new groupings, cementing friendships, improving our security through a network of nations that share our vision of an open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific."

Her comments came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week called for "a new grouping of like-minded nations … a new alliance of democracies" to "change communist China".

But she also used the press conference to underline the independence of Australian foreign policy, which is sometimes at odds with that of the increasingly belligerent and intractable Trump administration.

"We have a demonstrable track record of making decisions in our own national interest," she said. "We don't agree on everything - that's part of a respectful relationship."

Mr Pompeo showered praise on the Australian ministers for accepting the risk of coronavirus and the burden of quarantine to travel to Washington and hold the talks face to face.

"Not many partners would do that for us," he told the joint press conference as he lauded the "unbreakable alliance" and feted Australia's toughness in standing up to China's "intense and continued" political and economic intimidation.

Mr Pompeo said the four ministers' discussion on China had been "at length", and had particularly focused on the threat from Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and ZTE.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Defence Secretary Mark Esper were pressed on whether the American side had urged the Australians to step up their activity in the South China Sea, or to host US offensive weaponry on Australian soil.

Both side-stepped the question, with Mr Esper vowing the pair would defend the international rules-based order and Senator Reynolds saying Australia would remain consistent in its pattern of law-abiding transits through the contested waters.

Deeper defence ties

Senator Reynolds said she and Mr Esper had signed a statement of principles "on alliance defence cooperation and on force posture priorities in the Indo-Pacific", which would "drive the next decade of our defence cooperation".

A US-funded, commercially operated strategic military fuel reserve would be set up in Darwin, and the two countries' defence science establishments would work more closely on hypersonics, electronic warfare and space-based capabilities.

"This will ensure the alliance maintains its capability edge in a rapidly modernising environment, … [and] strengthen our interoperability and also our shared resilience," Senator Reynolds said.

Senator Payne said the US State Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade would set up a joint working group to "monitor and respond to harmful disinformation".

She didn't offer any details about the kinds of disinformation, or which countries' information operations would be targeted.

Senator Payne was asked to comment on the growing strategic tension between US and China, and again sought to play up Australia's independent stance.

"The relationship that we have with China is important and we have no intention of injuring it," she said. "But nor do we intend to do things that are contrary to our interests."

She also offered a shout-out to the multilateral institutions that are regarded with deep suspicion by the Trump administration.

"The role of multilateral institutions is more important now than ever in supporting our values and strategic objectives as the world responds to the health and economic challenges of COVID-19," she said.

The ministers said they'd discussed strengthening health security in the Indo-Pacific, to help other countries detect, prevent and respond to infectious diseases, including getting access to vaccines.

https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/australia-backs-us-bid-to-rally-democracies-against-china-20200729-p55gdp

#10109998 at 2020-07-29 02:52:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

US praises Australia for not 'bowing' to China

China topped the agenda at AUSMIN with the US and Australian delegations discussing freedom of navigation, electronic warfare and hypersonic technology.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has praised Australia for standing up to China despite "coercive pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to bow to Beijing's wishes".

Mr Pompeo and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper met with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in Washington DC on Tuesday for the annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations.

The US and Australia committed to pursue increased and regular "maritime cooperation" in the South China Sea and deepen defence science technology cooperation on hypersonic, electronic warfare and space-based capabilities.

"We started this morning by talking at length about the Chinese Communist Party's malign activity in the Indo-Pacific region, and indeed all around the world," Mr Pompeo said at a press conference.

"The United States commends the Morrison government for standing up for democratic values and the rule of law despite intense, continued coercive pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to bow to Beijing's wishes.

"It is unacceptable for Beijing to use exports, or student fees as a cudgel against Australia.

"We stand with our Australian friends."

The US and Australian delegations agreed to the potential expansion of US Marine rotational force joint training exercises in Darwin to include additional partners and allies.

The US and Australia also intend to strengthen supply chains by establishing a US-funded commercially operated strategic military fuel reserve in Darwin.

Ms Payne said Australia has no intention of injuring its relationship with China.

"We are very different countries, we are very different systems, and it's the points on which we disagree that we should be able to articulate in a mature and sensible way," Ms Payne said.

Ms Reynolds and Dr Esper signed a statement of principles on defence cooperation and force posture priorities in the Indo-Pacific to drive Australian-US shared interests for the next decade.

"This includes hypersonics, electronic warfare and space-based capabilities," Ms Reynolds said.

Ms Reynolds confirmed freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea was discussed and Australia's "long history of transiting through the region" will continue.

"Our approach remains consistent," Ms Reynolds said.

Dr Esper did not specifically answer when a journalist asked if the US and Australia discussed deploying additional US troops or intermediate range missiles on Australian soil.

"We had a very wide ranging discussion about the capabilities that the United States possesses and the capabilities Australia possesses, and our desire to advance them whether they are hypersonics or any other type of capability," he said.

"And I think it's important as we think forward about how do we deter bad behaviour in the Indo-Pacific and how we defend the international rules based order, in this case specifically with regard to China."

Ms Payne and Ms Reynolds will undergo 14 days of quarantine when they return to Australia in case they picked up COVID-19 during the AUSMIN trip.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/us-praises-australia-for-not-bowing-to-china

#10099726 at 2020-07-28 10:00:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

#8 - Part 15
>>10052552 Australia hits out at Chinese hackers, as Pompeo urges global coalition against China
>>10052656 Bernard Collaery and Witness K - Secret trials: our judges need to resist the government's pressure
>>10062495 Chinese diplomat accused of spying operation in US used to work in Australia
>>10062914 Child abuse victim bottled up crimes after headmaster failed to take action, court told
>>10063039 Facebook accounts for up to 60% of child abuse reports to AFP, data shows
>>10063278 US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper Tweet: The @DeptofDefense is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Australian forces
>>10067449 Pete EVANS Tweet: Australia has officially notified China and the UN that it rejects all of China's territorial claims in South China Sea
>>10071120 Morrison Government declares Beijing's South China Sea claims 'illegal' at United Nations
>>10071243, >>10071252 US and Australia set to launch campaign to counter disinformation
>>10077311 Victims of BoysTown launch new legal action in lifelong battle for justice
>>10078496 Australia unwisely boards US leaky boat to meddle in South China Sea - Source: GlobalTimes.cn

>>10088737 Joe Biden win to strengthen US-Australia ties: Democratic plan
>>10088866 US columnist urges Trump honour Morrison
>>10088887 Shared courage against China: Why Australia deserves a second state visit
>>10089131 Black Lives Matter rally planned for Sydney still illegal after NSW Supreme Court dismisses appeal
>>10089258, >>10089266 Despite the polls, wobbly Joe is not home and hosed yet - Alexander Downer
>>10089369 President Donald Trump Tweet: Nice! - Retweeting Akki @akkitwts video: This is the best thing you'll see today
>>10089369 (1997) Mark Philippoussis wins but 14-year-old ballgirl Amy Kavanagh steals the show
>>10090698 Anon rails against OUTSPOKEN DIMWITS RUINING THE MESSAGE - "You're not doing the cause any favours."
>>10099270 US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper Tweet: Australia and the United States maintain an unbreakable alliance
>>10099270 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: Thank you @EsperDoD for your welcome and our productive discussion
>>10099430 U.S. Department of State Tweet: The U.S.-Australia relationship is an admirable example of how two countries can work together
>>10099430 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Thank you for the warm welcome @SecPompeo as we navigate significant strategic challenges

#10099708 at 2020-07-28 09:55:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

#8 - Part 7
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Bun - Part 2
>>9449358 Trump supporters on Twitter spread Covid-19 rumors about China
>>9462455 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Great conversation with my Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and UK counterparts
>>9462455 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Productive call with @MarisePayne... on our coordination on COVID-19
>>9481809 Scott Morrison reveals what he REALLY thinks of Donald Trump - and answers awkward question about the US president's 'PR stunt'
>>9481930 Don't write America off, says Australia's ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos
>>9504531 "There's evidence a growing number of Australians subscribe to a US conspiracy theory known as QAnon." - canberratimes.com.au
>>9531015 Five Eyes expanded to focus on co-ordinated strategic economic response to the COVID-19 crisis
>>9543946 COVID has made Australia 'less safe': ASIO boss
>>9544014 Spy chief calls on tech companies to co-operate with governments in the abolition of abhorrent content during the Covid 19 pandemic
>>9544217 Video: From 5G towers to Bill Gates: inside the COVID-19 conspiracy theories | 60 Minutes Australia

>>9544238 Video: Pete Evans unedited and uncensored interview with 60 minutes in full
>>9544262 AussieQne 369 Tweet: #PeteEvans interview on @60Mins discuss #Qanon #AussieQ #WeAreTheNewsNow
>>9558487 'They want world domination': Australia urged to join 'cold war' on China
>>9561486 Peter Dutton vows to hunt down 'depraved' pedophiles to combat child exploitation during the COVID-19 pandemic
>>9571744 Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton Tweet: We're catching more and more depraved individuals who access child abuse material online
>>9571762 Black Lives Matter protests 'completely unacceptable', Scott Morrison says in call for demonstrators to be charged
>>9584018 'This is not Trump's America': ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr hits back at PM's call to arrest protesters
>>9602333 Thousands protest against racism in Australia, defying govt pleas not to rally during Covid-19 outbreak
>>9618629 Why does Twitter think Tom Hanks is dead? Conspiracy started with Instagram post from Kirsten Dunst during COVID-19 lockdown
>>9642037 Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne calls out China over 'false' facts and 'climate of fear'

>>9672657 UK Home Secretary Priti Patel chairs virtual 'Five Eyes' security summit
>>9672657 Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton Tweet: The global pandemic has highlighted the value of this vital intelligence and security partnership
>>9672700 Treasurer Josh Frydenberg Tweet: Today Australia hosted the first call with Finance Ministers of the "Five Eyes" nations to discuss COVID-19
>>9696519 Anti-Covid drug may be ready in Australia by the end of the year
>>9727197 Rudd warns of international after the COVID-19 pandemic - "crucial" for Democratic nominee Joe Biden to win the November election
>>9740253 Australian Defence Force to send 1,000 personnel to assist Victoria in coronavirus response
>>9796941 Victoria imposes 4-week lockdowns amid case spike, 10 Melbourne postcodes targeted in crackdown
>>9822546 Gilead donates Covid-19 drug remdesivir to Australia's medical stockpile after US buys up supply
>>9822658 Tom Hanks Says 'Don't Be a P*ssy': 'Shame on You' if You Don't Wear a Mask
>>9838340 Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos raises conspiracy concern as 10,000 refuse coronavirus test

>>9882061 Video: Coronavirus Victoria: Stage three lockdown restrictions reimposed on metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire
>>9892138 Covid vaccine trials have started in Australia - Coronavirus vaccine trial patients to earn $2350
>>9892363 Atlantic Council Tweet: "How did it happen? How can we do things better in the future?" - Australian Ambassador Arthur Sinodinos
>>9913238 US Marine tests positive for coronavirus in the Northern Territory as part of US Marine Corps' Marine Rotational Force
>>9920231 Remdesivir: Australia's first COVID-19 treatment approved by Therapeutic Goods Administration
>>9956068 Mystery surrounds car with 'COVID 19' number plate parked at Adelaide Airport for months
>>9966696 Scott Morrison says Australia cannot shut down to contain second wave of Covid-19
>>9977180 Video: Brad Hazzard, New South Wales Minister for Health - "We've Got To Accept That This Is The New World Order"
>>9985200 Donald Trump 'very complimentary' on Australia's COVID-19 response, says PM
>>9994037 Islamic leaders fear spread of COVID-19 conspiracy

#10099690 at 2020-07-28 09:52:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #9 - Welcome to the Digital Battlefield Edition

#8 - Part 2
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Bun - Part 1
>>9076836 Turnbull delivers roasting on climate, calls COVID-19 an 'opportunity'
>>9076877 Australian Border Force warns against self-medication as shipments of Trump-touted virus 'cure' soar
>>9091409 US Shows Bipartisan Support to Australian Ally in Response to Chinese Embassy Threats
>>9091449 Letter from The Congress of the United States: Thank you for your hard work on behalf of the U.S.-Australia alliance
>>9099177 'Plandemic': The concerning new coronavirus conspiracy movie going viral
>>9137700 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Pleased to speak with @MarisePayne...to discuss cooperation in combatting the #COVID19 pandemic
>>9137700 Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade Tweet: @MarisePayne had productive talks overnight with @SecPompeo as we work to overcome #COVID19
>>9152001 Online predators targeting kids spikes during COVID-19 pandemic
>>9152372 Coronavirus: China's 'bastard act' against Australia after suspending meat imports
>>9197815 What is QAnon? How the coronavirus has given a voice to the bizarre, pro-Trump US fringe movement

>>9198243 Child abuse predator 'handbook' lists ways to target children during coronavirus lockdown
>>9209322 Coalition of 62 countries backs joint Australian, EU push for independent inquiry into coronavirus outbreak
>>9221834 Risk of coronavirus spreading in schools is 'extremely low' study finds
>>9221869 Video: Scientist says a coronavirus vaccine in just 12 months is 'fake news' | 60 Minutes Australia
>>9235470 President Donald Trump Tweet: We are with them! - https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1262392931962454020
>>9235470 SBS News Tweet: India, Japan, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia, Russia, and 27 EU states back Australia's push for COVID-19 probe
>>9235470 Coalition of 116 countries back Australia's push for independent coronavirus inquiry
>>9235904 China slaps an 80 per cent tariff on drought-affected Australian exporters starting TODAY as brutal punishment for COVID-19 inquiry
>>9249013 Melbourne doctors to take anti-malaria drug touted by Donald Trump as COVID-19 shield
>>9261575 Video: Mike Pompeo attacks China and says 'we stand with Australia'

>>9261612 'We stand by Australia,' says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
>>9261868 US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper and Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds confirm commitment to alliance during COVID-19
>>9261868 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet #YourADF is ready to receive the Marine Rotational Force - Darwin for 2020
>>9286121 Australia Study Finds "Sign Of Human Intervention" In COVID-19
>>9307126 Video: Pompeo warns of 'disconnect' over Victoria's Belt and Road deal
>>9329255, >>9329263 How COVID-19 is driving a booming conspiracy industry - By Elise Thomas / Australian Strategic Policy Institute
>>9329348 Pompeo Blasted by Top Democrat for Thoughtless Threat to Cut off Australia From Intelligence Sharing
>>9329364 US biotech firm Novavax begins Covid-19 vaccine trials on Australian volunteers after getting $388mn from Bill Gates-backed fund
>>9338538 Victoria deepens engagement with Beijing's controversial Belt and Road initiative
>>9342629 Coronavirus: Senior US officials back Australia's tough stance on 'pernicious' China

>>9356891 Video - Council of Australian Governments replaced by new system based success of COVID-19 National Cabinet
>>9358091, >>9358096 Anon's thoughts: Constitutional Separation of Powers - Coronavirus National Cabinet unlawful?
>>9359154 Questions raised over hydroxychloroquine study which caused WHO to halt trials for Covid-19
>>9374660 Spies kept busy by increase in suspicious internet activity during coronavirus lockdown
>>9408795 China coronavirus bioweapon conspiracy linked to QAnon and pro-Trump social media
>>9426405 Supply chains, critical tech on Five Eyes agenda
>>9426405 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Five Eyes is an indispensable part of (Australia's) international cooperation
>>9426600 Scott Morrison asks Washington embassy to investigate attack on Australian TV crew
>>9426600 Scott Thuman Tweet: SHOCKING: to see members of the media also taking direct, *intentional* punches and swings from police
>>9430152 White House Press Pool Readout - POTUS call with Australian PM Morrison

#10099673 at 2020-07-28 09:45:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

#8 - Part 15
>>10052552 Australia hits out at Chinese hackers, as Pompeo urges global coalition against China
>>10052656 Bernard Collaery and Witness K - Secret trials: our judges need to resist the government's pressure
>>10062495 Chinese diplomat accused of spying operation in US used to work in Australia
>>10062914 Child abuse victim bottled up crimes after headmaster failed to take action, court told
>>10063039 Facebook accounts for up to 60% of child abuse reports to AFP, data shows
>>10063278 US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper Tweet: The @DeptofDefense is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Australian forces
>>10067449 Pete EVANS Tweet: Australia has officially notified China and the UN that it rejects all of China's territorial claims in South China Sea
>>10071120 Morrison Government declares Beijing's South China Sea claims 'illegal' at United Nations
>>10071243, >>10071252 US and Australia set to launch campaign to counter disinformation
>>10077311 Victims of BoysTown launch new legal action in lifelong battle for justice
>>10078496 Australia unwisely boards US leaky boat to meddle in South China Sea - Source: GlobalTimes.cn

>>10088737 Joe Biden win to strengthen US-Australia ties: Democratic plan
>>10088866 US columnist urges Trump honour Morrison
>>10088887 Shared courage against China: Why Australia deserves a second state visit
>>10089131 Black Lives Matter rally planned for Sydney still illegal after NSW Supreme Court dismisses appeal
>>10089258, >>10089266 Despite the polls, wobbly Joe is not home and hosed yet - Alexander Downer
>>10089369 President Donald Trump Tweet: Nice! - Retweeting Akki @akkitwts video: This is the best thing you'll see today
>>10089369 (1997) Mark Philippoussis wins but 14-year-old ballgirl Amy Kavanagh steals the show
>>10090698 Anon rails against OUTSPOKEN DIMWITS RUINING THE MESSAGE - "You're not doing the cause any favours."
>>10099270 US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper Tweet: Australia and the United States maintain an unbreakable alliance
>>10099270 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: Thank you @EsperDoD for your welcome and our productive discussion
>>10099430 U.S. Department of State Tweet: The U.S.-Australia relationship is an admirable example of how two countries can work together
>>10099430 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Thank you for the warm welcome @SecPompeo as we navigate significant strategic challenges

#10099637 at 2020-07-28 09:35:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

#8 - Part 7
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Bun - Part 2
>>9449358 Trump supporters on Twitter spread Covid-19 rumors about China
>>9462455 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Great conversation with my Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and UK counterparts
>>9462455 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Productive call with @MarisePayne… on our coordination on COVID-19
>>9481809 Scott Morrison reveals what he REALLY thinks of Donald Trump - and answers awkward question about the US president's 'PR stunt'
>>9481930 Don't write America off, says Australia's ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos
>>9504531 "There's evidence a growing number of Australians subscribe to a US conspiracy theory known as QAnon." - canberratimes.com.au
>>9531015 Five Eyes expanded to focus on co-ordinated strategic economic response to the COVID-19 crisis
>>9543946 COVID has made Australia 'less safe': ASIO boss
>>9544014 Spy chief calls on tech companies to co-operate with governments in the abolition of abhorrent content during the Covid 19 pandemic
>>9544217 Video: From 5G towers to Bill Gates: inside the COVID-19 conspiracy theories | 60 Minutes Australia

>>9544238 Video: Pete Evans unedited and uncensored interview with 60 minutes in full
>>9544262 AussieQne 369 Tweet: #PeteEvans interview on @60Mins discuss #Qanon #AussieQ #WeAreTheNewsNow
>>9558487 'They want world domination': Australia urged to join 'cold war' on China
>>9561486 Peter Dutton vows to hunt down 'depraved' pedophiles to combat child exploitation during the COVID-19 pandemic
>>9571744 Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton Tweet: We're catching more and more depraved individuals who access child abuse material online
>>9571762 Black Lives Matter protests 'completely unacceptable', Scott Morrison says in call for demonstrators to be charged
>>9584018 'This is not Trump's America': ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr hits back at PM's call to arrest protesters
>>9602333 Thousands protest against racism in Australia, defying govt pleas not to rally during Covid-19 outbreak
>>9618629 Why does Twitter think Tom Hanks is dead? Conspiracy started with Instagram post from Kirsten Dunst during COVID-19 lockdown
>>9642037 Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne calls out China over 'false' facts and 'climate of fear'

>>9672657 UK Home Secretary Priti Patel chairs virtual 'Five Eyes' security summit
>>9672657 Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton Tweet: The global pandemic has highlighted the value of this vital intelligence and security partnership
>>9672700 Treasurer Josh Frydenberg Tweet: Today Australia hosted the first call with Finance Ministers of the "Five Eyes" nations to discuss COVID-19
>>9696519 Anti-Covid drug may be ready in Australia by the end of the year
>>9727197 Rudd warns of international after the COVID-19 pandemic - "crucial" for Democratic nominee Joe Biden to win the November election
>>9740253 Australian Defence Force to send 1,000 personnel to assist Victoria in coronavirus response
>>9796941 Victoria imposes 4-week lockdowns amid case spike, 10 Melbourne postcodes targeted in crackdown
>>9822546 Gilead donates Covid-19 drug remdesivir to Australia's medical stockpile after US buys up supply
>>9822658 Tom Hanks Says 'Don't Be a P*ssy': 'Shame on You' if You Don't Wear a Mask
>>9838340 Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos raises conspiracy concern as 10,000 refuse coronavirus test

>>9882061 Video: Coronavirus Victoria: Stage three lockdown restrictions reimposed on metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire
>>9892138 Covid vaccine trials have started in Australia - Coronavirus vaccine trial patients to earn $2350
>>9892363 Atlantic Council Tweet: "How did it happen? How can we do things better in the future?" - Australian Ambassador Arthur Sinodinos
>>9913238 US Marine tests positive for coronavirus in the Northern Territory as part of US Marine Corps' Marine Rotational Force
>>9920231 Remdesivir: Australia's first COVID-19 treatment approved by Therapeutic Goods Administration
>>9956068 Mystery surrounds car with 'COVID 19' number plate parked at Adelaide Airport for months
>>9966696 Scott Morrison says Australia cannot shut down to contain second wave of Covid-19
>>9977180 Video: Brad Hazzard, New South Wales Minister for Health - "We've Got To Accept That This Is The New World Order"
>>9985200 Donald Trump 'very complimentary' on Australia's COVID-19 response, says PM
>>9994037 Islamic leaders fear spread of COVID-19 conspiracy

#10099612 at 2020-07-28 09:26:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

#8 - Part 2
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Bun - Part 1
>>9076836 Turnbull delivers roasting on climate, calls COVID-19 an 'opportunity'
>>9076877 Australian Border Force warns against self-medication as shipments of Trump-touted virus 'cure' soar
>>9091409 US Shows Bipartisan Support to Australian Ally in Response to Chinese Embassy Threats
>>9091449 Letter from The Congress of the United States: Thank you for your hard work on behalf of the U.S.-Australia alliance
>>9099177 'Plandemic': The concerning new coronavirus conspiracy movie going viral
>>9137700 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Pleased to speak with @MarisePayne…to discuss cooperation in combatting the #COVID19 pandemic
>>9137700 Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade Tweet: @MarisePayne had productive talks overnight with @SecPompeo as we work to overcome #COVID19
>>9152001 Online predators targeting kids spikes during COVID-19 pandemic
>>9152372 Coronavirus: China's 'bastard act' against Australia after suspending meat imports
>>9197815 What is QAnon? How the coronavirus has given a voice to the bizarre, pro-Trump US fringe movement

>>9198243 Child abuse predator 'handbook' lists ways to target children during coronavirus lockdown
>>9209322 Coalition of 62 countries backs joint Australian, EU push for independent inquiry into coronavirus outbreak
>>9221834 Risk of coronavirus spreading in schools is 'extremely low' study finds
>>9221869 Video: Scientist says a coronavirus vaccine in just 12 months is 'fake news' | 60 Minutes Australia
>>9235470 President Donald Trump Tweet: We are with them! - https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1262392931962454020
>>9235470 SBS News Tweet: India, Japan, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia, Russia, and 27 EU states back Australia's push for COVID-19 probe
>>9235470 Coalition of 116 countries back Australia's push for independent coronavirus inquiry
>>9235904 China slaps an 80 per cent tariff on drought-affected Australian exporters starting TODAY as brutal punishment for COVID-19 inquiry
>>9249013 Melbourne doctors to take anti-malaria drug touted by Donald Trump as COVID-19 shield
>>9261575 Video: Mike Pompeo attacks China and says 'we stand with Australia'

>>9261612 'We stand by Australia,' says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
>>9261868 US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper and Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds confirm commitment to alliance during COVID-19
>>9261868 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet #YourADF is ready to receive the Marine Rotational Force - Darwin for 2020
>>9286121 Australia Study Finds "Sign Of Human Intervention" In COVID-19
>>9307126 Video: Pompeo warns of 'disconnect' over Victoria's Belt and Road deal
>>9329255, >>9329263 How COVID-19 is driving a booming conspiracy industry - By Elise Thomas / Australian Strategic Policy Institute
>>9329348 Pompeo Blasted by Top Democrat for Thoughtless Threat to Cut off Australia From Intelligence Sharing
>>9329364 US biotech firm Novavax begins Covid-19 vaccine trials on Australian volunteers after getting $388mn from Bill Gates-backed fund
>>9338538 Victoria deepens engagement with Beijing's controversial Belt and Road initiative
>>9342629 Coronavirus: Senior US officials back Australia's tough stance on 'pernicious' China

>>9356891 Video - Council of Australian Governments replaced by new system based success of COVID-19 National Cabinet
>>9358091, >>9358096 Anon's thoughts: Constitutional Separation of Powers - Coronavirus National Cabinet unlawful?
>>9359154 Questions raised over hydroxychloroquine study which caused WHO to halt trials for Covid-19
>>9374660 Spies kept busy by increase in suspicious internet activity during coronavirus lockdown
>>9408795 China coronavirus bioweapon conspiracy linked to QAnon and pro-Trump social media
>>9426405 Supply chains, critical tech on Five Eyes agenda
>>9426405 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Five Eyes is an indispensable part of (Australia's) international cooperation
>>9426600 Scott Morrison asks Washington embassy to investigate attack on Australian TV crew
>>9426600 Scott Thuman Tweet: SHOCKING: to see members of the media also taking direct, *intentional* punches and swings from police
>>9430152 White House Press Pool Readout - POTUS call with Australian PM Morrison

#10099430 at 2020-07-28 08:18:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

U.S. Department of State Tweet

.@SecPompeo: The U.S.-Australia relationship is an admirable example of how two countries can work together to bring peace, stability, and prosperity to our people and the world.

https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/1287924895364636672

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Thank you for the warm welcome @SecPompeo as we navigate significant strategic challenges as well as the health & economic crises of COVID-19. Looking forward to a productive #AUSMIN2020 - our shared values of freedom & democracy are the bedrock of our alliance #mateship

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1287907597136195584

#10098963 at 2020-07-28 06:37:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Trump's national security aide contracts COVID-19 ahead of AUSMIN talks

Washington: US President Donald Trump's national security aide has tested positive for coronavirus ahead of critical diplomatic and defence talks between Australia and America.

Hours after Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds touched down in Washington for the latest Australia-US Ministerial (AUSMIN) consultations, news emerged that National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien had contracted COVID-19 and was at home isolating.

O'Brien was meant to meet with Payne during the visit. He is now the highest-ranking Trump official known to have coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 147,000 Americans and infected 4.26 million others across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The Trump administration declined to answer questions from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald about when O'Brien was last in contact with the President and key members of his National Security Council, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper - both of whom Payne and Reynolds are also meeting this week.

Earlier, the White House put out a statement confirming the diagnosis: "He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off-site. There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice-President. The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted."

Tuesday's AUSMIN - which comes in the face of a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, and ongoing tensions between the US and China - is seen as so important for the two western allies that Payne and Reynolds opted to attend in person despite the risks of the pandemic. Both will have to quarantine for 14 days upon returning to Australia.

In the lead up to the event, the ministers signalled stronger co-operation with the US, calling out Beijing's "coercive actions" in the South China Sea; security laws imposed by China on Hong Kong; and state-sponsored hacking and disinformation.

The prospect of increasing joint naval exercises in the South China Sea will be a key topic of discussion, as will the need to ensure secure supply chains to tackle the coronavirus.

However, O'Brien's diagnosis is politically sensitive for the President who has come under fire in recent weeks over his handling of the health crisis ravaging the country.

The adviser has an office just down the hall from Trump's and the office of Vice-President Mike Pence, and is the closest official to the President known to have contracted the virus.

He recently returned from Europe, where he met with officials from France, Germany, Italy and the UK.

"I wish NSA O'Brien all the best for a speedy recovery and look forward to speaking with him again soon," Senator Payne said.

Others in the President's orbit have also tested positive in recent weeks, including two secret service agents who attended Trump's last rally in Tulsa on June 20, and campaign fundraiser Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump jnr.

The President and those in his immediate circle are routinely tested for the virus. However, it is still not clear when Trump was last in contact with O'Brien, with the President briefly telling reporters on Monday afternoon on his way to North Carolina: "I haven't seen him lately."

Their last public appearance was during a military event in Miami on July 10, at a time when Florida was America's epicentre for the pandemic.

In North Carolina, Trump visited a biotech facility involved in work to create a vaccine for the virus.

The President also used the opportunity to spruik "Operation Warp Speed" - a federal program that aims to deliver 300 million doses of a vaccine by January 2021. Companies funded under the initiative include pharma giants Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer.

Trump said the trip was designed to give Americans hope, but added: "it's only hope because we've got such incredible results scientifically."

"America will develop a vaccine very soon and we will defeat the virus. We will have it defeated in record time," he said.

With only 99 days before the election, he also disputed successive polls suggesting his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, was ahead in the campaign, saying that his internal polling, which has not been released, "show me leading in almost every swing state".

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-top-security-aide-contracts-covid-19-ahead-of-ausmin-talks-20200728-p55g0v.html

#10077129 at 2020-07-25 23:30:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Repost from Q Research General #12896

Morrison government ministers allowed to defy travel ban to fly to the US

Australia's foreign and defence ministers will become the first members of the government to leave Australia since the international border closed.

Today, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will travel to Washington for annual talks with the US government, with "China" set to dominate discussions.

The Australian Ministers will meet face-to-face with US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington DC - a risky trip given the US has hit over four million COVID-19 cases.

The small delegation, which also includes Chief of the Defence Force, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) secretary Frances Adamson and Defence secretary Greg Moriarty, will have isolate for fourteen days when they return.

"And they'll be doing it on the basis of medical advice," Health Minister Greg Hunt said.

"The fact that they're meeting in the middle of the pandemic is important, and of course it will all be about China," Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told 9News.

"It's acceptable for both Washington and Canberra if we kind of to steer our own courses on this issue.

"It's not smart for Australia to look like we're just in American's coattails."

Before take-off, the ministers blasted Beijing for its coercive conduct in the South China Sea and its undermining of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.

They also noted cyberattacks are on the rise - without once naming China.

Meanwhile, at the United Nations, Australia formally rejected Beijing's claims to islands in the crucial trading waters.

"Australia needs to defend the Australian national interest and we also need to stand up for international law," Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/morrison-government-ministers-allowed-to-defy-travel-ban-us-meeting-china/f6c95774-c6ed-43cf-aee1-cce4a13293bd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROagCq4Sf9s

#10071243 at 2020-07-25 05:33:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

US and Australia set to launch campaign to counter disinformation

1/2

Australia and the United States are set to launch a joint bid to counter disinformation campaigns from countries like China and Russia, as Beijing and Washington trade consulate closures in a sharp escalation of diplomatic tensions between the world's two largest economies.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will fly to Washington on Sunday for major talks with their US counterparts at the most tense time for relations with China since diplomatic links were established in the 1970s.

The ministers plan to agree on measures to counter disinformation campaigns by authoritarian states, boost health security in the Indo-Pacific and help the region recover from the coronavirus crisis.

Senator Payne and Senator Reynolds, who will have to self-quarantine for 14 days when they return to Australia, will have a series of meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper as part of the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations.

Mr Pompeo on Thursday called for an end to "blind engagement" with China, just days after the US took the historic decision to shut down the Chinese consulate in Houston, setting off a diplomatic firestorm.

Senator Payne, who will be attending her fifth AUSMIN meeting, said this year's discussions were the "most significant in my time for Australia's short, medium and long-term interests".

"Our Alliance co-operation is essential to promote and realise a stable, open and resilient region for the benefit of all Australians," she said.

Australia and the US will look to present a united front against disinformation by authoritarian states across the Indo-Pacific, with the two countries particularly concerned by the way in which China has used social media to undermine democracies across the region.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is already setting up a new taskforce to counter online disinformation, with Australia concerned about the effect on developing nations throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Twitter last month revealed it had removed more than 30,000 accounts after investigators found they had ties to state-run propaganda and disinformation operations in China, Russia and Turkey.

The US closed the Chinese consulate in Houston on Friday over allegations it had stolen American research, persuaded dozens of researchers to turn over information to Chinese institutions, and coerced fugitive Chinese citizens to return to China. The Houston consul general Cai Wei was formerly the deputy head of mission for the Chinese embassy in Canberra.

In retaliation, China's Foreign Ministry announced on Friday it was revoking the licence for the US consulate in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, accusing the US of breaching international law, the basic norms of international relations, and the terms of the China-US Consular Convention.

Chinese police surrounded the US consulate in Chengdu within an hour of Beijing's announcement on Friday, as US diplomats prepared to vacate the strategically significant consulate that covers the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou as well as the semi-autonomous region of Tibet.

Mr Pompeo and Mr Esper gave three set speeches this week that accused China of threatening global prosperity.

(continued)

#10071120 at 2020-07-25 05:12:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

>>10063278
>>10067449
Morrison Government declares Beijing's South China Sea claims 'illegal' at United Nations

Australia has raised the stakes in its already troubled relationship with China by backing the United States in formally declaring Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea to be illegal.

In a letter to the United Nations, Australia's permanent mission rejected the Chinese Communist Party's claim to disputed islands in the crucial trading waters, calling them "inconsistent" with international law.

"The Australian Government rejects any claims by China that are inconsistent with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in particular, maritime claims that do not adhere to its rules on baselines, maritime zones and classification of features.," the document states.

"There is no legal basis for China to draw straight baselines connecting the outermost points of maritime features or 'island groups' in the South China Sea, including around the 'Four Sha' or 'continental' or 'outlying' archipelagos.

"Australia rejects any claims to internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf based on such straight baselines."

The move, likely to infuriate Beijing, aligns Australia with the Trump administration, which earlier this month reversed a previous policy of not taking sides in such disputes.

Australia has previously urged all claimants to disputed South China Sea islands and maritime features to resolve their claims in accordance with international law.

China is yet to formally respond to Australia's statement.

But it said earlier this month that the US position "neglected the history and facts" around issues concerning the South China Sea.

Australia's dramatic shift in position comes as Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds prepare to travel to Washington next week to meet with their US counterparts for the 2020 Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN).

This week, the ABC revealed Australian warships had recently encountered Chinese warships while travelling through the South China Sea near the disputed Spratly islands, which Beijing claims.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese today backed the Morrison Government's hardening position on the South China Sea.

"Australia needs to defend the Australian national interest, and we also need to stand up for international law," Mr Albanese told reporters.

"And the international law of the sea provides for freedom of navigation, which is absolutely critical to international trade."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-25/federal-government-joins-rejects-china-maritime-claims-at-un/12492070

#10052552 at 2020-07-23 06:19:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Australia hits out at Chinese hackers, as Pompeo urges global coalition against China

Australia has expressed alarm over Chinese hackers compromising networks across the world for commercial and personal gain, after a US Justice Department indictment alleged a decade-long spree targeting an Australian defence contractor, the personal data of Hong Kong protesters and COVID-19 vaccine researchers.

The joint-statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Signals Directorate on Wednesday follows rising animosity between China and Australia's Five Eyes partners, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand over the coronavirus crisis, Hong Kong and a military build-up in the South China Sea.

"Of particular concern, these individuals also reportedly targeted COVID-19 research as well as political dissidents, religious minorities and human rights advocates," the Australian government said. "Australia reiterates our call to all countries to refrain from behaviour which violates their international commitments."

On Wednesday night tensions further escalated suddenly after China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the US government had demanded that its Houston consulate cease all operations and events in an "unprecedented escalation of its recent actions".

"It is a political provocation unilaterally launched by the US side, which seriously violates international law, basic norms governing international relations and the bilateral consular agreement between China and the US," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Hours earlier the US launched an indictment alleging hackers, Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, were contractors for the Chinese government, but not full-time spies, and targeted 25 government and private sector organisations up until April this year. The victims of the hack have yet to be identified publicly.

It's unknown whether the indictment is linked the consulate closure.

In a sign of the increasing gravity of the deteriorating geopolitical situation, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will fly to Washington next week for face-to-face meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper at the urging of Washington.

The pair, along with their support staff, will undergo two weeks of quarantine when they return. The US set a new daily global record of more than 77,000 coronavirus cases last week.

Pompeo told British MPs on Tuesday that global institutions dealing with an aggressive China were no longer fit for purpose, in part because Australia does not have a leading role in many of them.

"We're going to need the one billion-plus people in India, we're going to need the Australians - it's going to take all of these democracies together," Mr Pompeo said.

Pompeo also hit out at World Health Organisation boss Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, accusing him of aiding China's initial cover-up of the pandemic, saying that was the reason for "dead Britons" because he has been "bought by the Chinese government".

Pompeo made the remarks in London to an assortment of British MPs at the Millbank headquarters of the Henry Jackson Society, a think tank that is hawkish on China. The society has been instrumental in leading the putsch against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's original approval for Chinese firm Huawei to build Britain's 5G networks.

MPs from all parties, including the Conservative and Labour parties as well as the Liberal Democrats attended the meeting, which was held before the former CIA director met Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

In a separate speech overnight on Tuesday, Mr Esper, the US Defence Secretary, accused the Chinese Communist Party of "systematic rule breaking, corrosion and other malign activities" in the Indo-Pacific.

"The devastating worldwide impact of the coronavirus outbreak reinforces the necessity of a rules-based international order rooted in transparency, openness, honesty and other shared values," he said.

Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute, said the battle over the coronavirus in China was never just about public health.

"For the Chinese Communist Party, like everything, it was and remains primarily a contest of politics, in which the party-state benchmarks itself against other governing systems, especially the world's most powerful democracy, and its superpower rival, the US," he said.

(continued)

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-hits-out-at-chinese-hackers-as-pompeo-urges-global-coalition-against-china-20200722-p55e8t.html

#9993850 at 2020-07-18 01:48:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Five Eyes to the fore: Australia takes a seat at global big table

COVID-19 has forced a change in Australia's global outlook that has brought the Five Eyes intelligence alliance - involving Australia, the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand - to the heart of our strategic personality.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne outlined the new importance of Five Eyes to The Weekend Australian, saying: "Five Eyes is Australia's pre-eminent international security and intelligence partnership, and co-operation among our closest partners is more important than ever.

"Our Five Eyes discussions have broadened to include economic and fiscal responses to the COVID crisis, including security of supply chains. We will continue to work together to protect and advance our interests in the face of threats to our liberal democratic values."

The Foreign Minister said that as well as addressing the immediate COVID-induced challenges, Five Eyes co-operation would focus on "sovereignty, security and economic prosperity".

The Weekend Australian can confirm that Senator Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will travel to the US on July 29 for an in-person meeting involving US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Defence Secretary Mark Esper.

The even is Washington's initiative, and the fact the Trump administration is at pains to set up a meeting in person, despite the formidable logistical challenges involved, is a testament to the ­importance it places on the US-Australia alliance.

This week, Josh Frydenberg convened the second Five Eyes ­finance ministers meeting. He told The Weekend Australian: "There is a terrific spirit of co-­operation around the table among my fellow treasurers and finance ministers and a desire to learn from each other as we lead our economies through this crisis to recovery."

The Five Eyes finance ministers meetings are a new Australian ­initiative led by The Treasurer. They represent a significant broadening of the strategic personality of the Five Eyes arrangement. Canberra is keen that they assume a life of their own.

The increased co-ordination among the Five Eyes nations is taking place against the background of widespread concern over Beijing's increased assertiveness in its international behaviour.

This comes only days after Britain reversed its position on Chinese telco Huawei and ruled it could no longer provide equipment for Britain's 5G network. Plus, its existing equipment will have to be removed by 2027. This brings Britain into line with its Five Eyes partners.

Five Eyes members believe Beijing finds it more difficult to intimidate a group of nations, rather than one nation at a time.

However, strategic co-operation is not limited to China. The US, Canada and Britain this week issued a joint statement denouncing Russian attempts to hack coronavirus research

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/five-eyes-to-the-fore-australia-takes-a-seat-at-global-big-table/news-story/fac2a774d28eacd1d4e2da9962557b69

#9784480 at 2020-06-29 06:50:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Foes to be hit with fake-news fightback

The Morrison government has vowed to inflict "reputational damage" on countries behind global disinformation campaigns as part of its war on fake news and foreign interference.

A new Countering Foreign ­Interference unit, in the foreign affairs department's national ­security and intelligence branch, will work with like-minded countries to shine a spotlight on disinformation campaigns by strategic competitors such as China.

It will implement a diplomatic strategy to counter fake news with fact-based campaigns, and support plans to shame ­nations that spread disinformation harmful to Australian interests.

The unit will work with Home Affairs and the Office of National Intelligence, sharing information with international partners and developing multilateral responses.

Home Affairs has also flagged the need for further powers to crack down on social media services "that are extensions of ­social platforms in authoritarian states".

It told a Senate inquiry that such platforms, which would include China's WeChat and TikTok, "may require additional responses, as censorship and ­reduced privacy protections become additional concerns".

The Morrison government is stepping up the nation's ­response to foreign interference amid a wave of fake news about the coronavirus, and Chinese ­attempts to portray Australia as a racist country.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne told the UN's ­Alliance for Multilateralism on Friday that Australia would tackle disinformation in the Indo-Pacific "through facts and transparency".

"Countries that believe that good policymaking starts with facts must work together and stand together," she said.

"We will beat this pandemic and reduce social tensions by ensuring truth and facts triumph over the sheer volume of falsehoods. We will do so by working together to uphold our values, our security and our sovereignty."

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade submission to the Senate's inquiry on foreign interference through ­social media said a pilot diplomatic strategy would show foreign interference actors that "their actions can and will be revealed and will generate a meaningful response".

It would aim to convince perpetrators "that their actions will have costs which would outweigh the benefits, including through international reputational damage".

The unit will work closely with partners in Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific "with the aim of closing vulnerabilities and cultivating a less-­permissive environment for foreign interference in Australia's near region".

Developing nations and those heavily reliant on doing business with China are particularly vulnerable to Beijing's fake news narratives.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/morrison-calls-out-foreign-fake-news/news-story/392bba3ff687d17ac6dbe3ff2ab1c688

#9642037 at 2020-06-17 08:55:36 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Payne calls out China over 'false' facts and 'climate of fear'

Marise Payne has warned Chinese "disinformation" is undermining democracy and creating a "climate of fear", as she committed the nation to a new global push to strengthen international rule-making bodies which are vital to Australia's security.

In a strident speech, the Foreign Affairs Minister pointed the finger at China and Russia for spreading false information during the pandemic to shore up their authoritarian systems.

The move came as Chinese soldiers clashed with Indian troops in the Himalayas in a "violent face-off" between the countries that reportedly left casualties on both sides.

The fatalities, including the deaths of at least three Indian soldiers, were the first along the contested border in 45 years, and raised fears of a more serious conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Just days after Scott Morrison declared Australia had "done nothing to injure" the nation's relationship with China, Senator Payne told the ANU's National Security College on Tuesday that China's claims its students and tourists were at risk of racism in Australia were unfounded.

She declared Australia would stand against the use of disinformation "to foment violence and divide communities", countering it with "facts and transparency".

She cited a European Commission report last week that found China and Russia had used the pandemic to "exacerbate social polarisation"; and Twitter's suspension of 32,000 accounts linked to Chinese, Russian and Turkish propaganda operations.

"It is troubling that some countries are using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy and promote their own, more authoritarian models," Senator Payne said.

She pushed back forcefully at China's warning of a "significant increase" in racist attacks on Asian people in Australia, saying the government had been "very clear in rejecting (the claim) as disinformation".

"The disinformation we have seen contributes to a climate of fear and division when what we need is co-operation and understanding," Senator Payne said.

She revealed Australia had signed a Latvian-led statement with 131 other countries vowing to tackle an "infodemic" that had arisen during the COVID crisis marked by "disinformation, fake news and doctored videos".

In a move flagged by The Australian last week, Senator Payne said Australia would step up its engagement with multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, to help "shape a safer world and make us safer at home".

Australia will prioritise participation in bodies that protect sovereignty and "curb excessive use of power", advance human rights, and set standards in health, transport and communications.

The move follows an audit of Australia's involvement in 100 multilateral organisations, which warned Australia should intensify its engagement to counter Chinese efforts to set the global agenda.

"Australia's interests are not served by stepping away and leaving others to shape the global order for us," Senator Payne said.

"Isolationism would also cut us off from the world on which we are so dependent for our security and prosperity in the world's most dynamic region - the Indo-Pacific.

"We must stand up for our values and bring our influence to bear in these institutions to protect and promote our national interests, and to preserve the open character of international institutions based on universal values and transparency."

The Prime Minister announced the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade audit of ­"global institutions and rule-making processes" in an October speech in which he warned of the dangers of "negative globalism" and declared Australia would put its own sovereignty first in its dealings with multilateral institutions.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Senator Payne had "cleaned up" Mr Morrison's criticism of international bodies.

"International co-operation through effective multilateral bodies has always been a key Australian interest," Senator Wong tweeted.

The Coalition's embrace of multilateralism comes as US President Donald Trump increasingly cuts ties with global bodies, including his controversial decision to withdraw from the World Health Organisation at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

It follows the government's successful marshaling of international support for an independent inquiry at last month's World Health Assembly in a resolution that was ultimately co-sponsored by 145 nations.

China was initially infuriated by the proposal, but eventually supported the resolution and attacked Australia for suggesting it had got its way.

(continued)

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/chinese-disinformation-undermining-democracy-Payne-warns/news-story/c9b9233a3698eefd28ebce57e13b0993

#9449263 at 2020-06-03 16:23:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

UK, Australian MPs call for HK human rights envoy as Lam says citizens 'have nothing to fear'

The Morrison government is weighing up a request by Britain to offer refuge to Hong Kong residents leaving the Chinese territory, as Beijing clamps down on dissent in the former British colony.

The chair of Australia's Foreign Affairs committee, David Fawcett, joined with his counterparts from the UK, Canada and New Zealand on Wednesday to urge the United Nations to appoint a special human rights envoy for Hong Kong. The joint statement is the third multilateral declaration in the past week condemning new national security laws passed by Beijing and pushing for international intervention.

Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam travelled to Beijing on Wednesday to discuss the new laws and said claims the new legislation was going to take away Hong Kong's freedoms were "totally unsubstantiated".

The draft measures prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against Beijing and "prevent, stop and punish" activities that endanger national security.

Lam told protesters who had taken to Hong Kong's streets in their thousands last week to "calm down".

"The greatest fear that many of us have in the last year is the fear of violence," she told Chinese state media network CGTN ahead of her meetings on Wednesday.

The US has threatened to strip Hong Kong of its special economic status in response to the legislation, potentially compromising its position as a global financial hub.

Lam said no country will win a trade war. "If someone wants to wage a trade war then we have to face it."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the US would welcome "the entrepreneurial creativity" of residents leaving Hong Kong.

Britain last week announced it would give roughly 314,000 British national overseas (BNO) passport holders a pathway to UK citizenship if China imposes its new security law.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday evening that Britain had no jurisdiction or supervision over Hong Kong and that any threat to the city's stability and prosperity comes from foreign forces.

"We urge the British side to abandon the colonial mentality, recognise and respect the fact that Hong Kong has returned, and the fact that it's a China's special administrative region and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs," he said. "Otherwise it will lift a stone and hit its own feet."

The UK argues the national security laws are a violation of the 1984 international agreement China and Britain signed that guaranteed Hong Kong its own autonomy under the "one-country, two-systems" model.

China's crackdown in Hong Kong galvanised British MPs from right across the parliament on Tuesday in support of a stronger stance from the UK government towards China.

UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said he raised the idea with the foreign ministers of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing nations: the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, during a video call earlier this week.

"I raised it on the Five Eyes call yesterday, the possibility of … burden-sharing if we see a mass exodus from Hong Kong."

He said the UK and Australia would be working "more intensely in the future" on how to counter China.

"The Australians feel very much that this is in their neighbourhood and their backyard and are taking a very principled point of view," he said.

"They are right up against it; they see all of the impacts of what China is doing, even closer than we do so we work hand-in-glove with them," he said.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said she was in close contact with the UK and other international partners. The spokesman said outside the current COVID-19 restrictions, Hong Kong residents can apply for a range of relevant visa categories to work and live in Australia.

"Our people-to-people links include close family connections, business ties and shared values," he said. "These and the considerable talent in Hong Kong underscore why we continue to welcome Hong Kongers to Australia."

https://www.watoday.com.au/world/asia/uk-australian-mps-call-for-hk-human-rights-envoy-as-lam-says-citizens-have-nothing-to-fear-20200602-p54yl1.html

#9426600 at 2020-06-02 08:38:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Scott Morrison asks Washington embassy to investigate attack on Australian TV crew

Australia's relationship with the United States is being tested by the escalating chaos raging across the country and Donald Trump's invitation to join an expanded G7 group of nations alongside Russia.

In a blow to the US president's plan to expand the G7 without the inclusion of China, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said inviting Russia back to the word's most exclusive group of nations would be unacceptable because it was a place "for frank conversations among allies and friends".

Mr Morrison accepted Mr Trump's invitation to attend a September G7 meeting in a phone call on Tuesday morning shortly after an Australian reporter and her cameraman were attacked by police while covering riots in Washington.

According to senior government sources, Mr Morrison was not aware of the attack on the Channel 7 crew at the time of the phone call. The Prime Minister later asked the Australian embassy in Washington to investigate and report back on how Australia should register its "strong concerns" with local authorities in Washington.

The Morrison government does not want to pass up the opportunity to participate in the G7, but is also hesitant to back the push to welcome Russia back into the group and sideline China.

Russia was kicked out of the then-G8 over its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

A federal government spokesperson said "membership is a matter for the existing G7 countries to decide".

"Australia's position and views on Russia are well known and won't change at all due to their involvement in G7+. It is in Australia's interests to participate regardless and we will continue to provide our views consistent with our values," the spokesperson said.

Senior government sources were on Tuesday emphasising that Mr Morrison's acceptance of the offer was no different to when he agreed to attend a G7 meeting last year on the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The hosts of G7 meetings have always been able to invite leaders who are not a part of the group, but Mr Trump's comments over the weekend went beyond this suggesting the world's most exclusive political club was "outdated" and calling for new additions including Australia, Russia, India and South Korea.

Herve Lemahieu, director of the power and diplomacy program at the Lowy Institute, said the Australian government knew it had to be cautious in responding to Mr Trump's invitation.

In the absence of bipartisan consensus in the US and agreement within the G7, Mr Lemahieu said Australia would look to downplay the significance of the invitation.

"We can't have Australia join at the expense of Russia being allowed back into the club," he said.

"Ultimately you don't want to alienate the Trump administration, you want to be seen to be reciprocating to what is a friendly gesture from the White House, so the best thing to do is portray this as a one-off."

In their phone call, Mr Morrison told Mr Trump he was pleased to take up the invitation as he had done last year when he was invited to the G7 meeting in France by Mr Macron.

Both leaders discussed the riots and unrest in the US and efforts to ensure it would be resolved peacefully, according to a readout of the phone call.

In his speech on Monday, Mr Trump threatened to deploy federal troops if state and local government leaders didn't succeed in stamping out the acts of violence and looting, which have been sparked by protests over the police killing of African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis.

As tensions between the US and China rise, the Five Eyes foreign ministers discussed plans on Tuesday morning to develop new critical technologies and supply chains for key products.

In a key departure for the intelligence sharing arrangement which usually focuses on matters of security, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the virtual meeting focused on "global challenges" including "critical tech and supply chains".

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-asks-washington-embassy-to-investigate-attack-on-australian-tv-crew-20200602-p54yr6.html

—

Scott Thuman Tweet

SHOCKING: to see members of the media also taking direct, *intentional* punches and swings from police as they cleared the streets of protesters outside the White House. #protest #Washington #WashingtonDCProtest #PictureOfTheDay

https://twitter.com/ScottThuman/status/1267599965309763584

#9426405 at 2020-06-02 07:52:06 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Supply chains, critical tech on Five Eyes agenda

Five Eyes foreign ministers have discussed new plans to develop critical technologies and trusted supply chains for key products, amid rising tensions between the West and China.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne participated in the talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, UK Foreign Secretary Domonic Raab, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, and Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne on Tuesday morning.

Senator Payne said the online meeting on "global challenges" included discussions on "critical tech and supply chains", and Hong Kong autonomy.

The coronavirus and "safeguarding against future crises" were also discussed.

Minister Champagne's office said: "The ministers agreed that a shared priority would be to ensure the stability of supply chains, as well as the procurement of personal protective equipment and medical supplies."

The coronavirus crisis has made the hardening of key supply chains an urgent priority for nations across the world.

There is also growing momentum in democratic countries against Chinese technology companies including Huawei and ZTE participating in 5G networks.

The UK is pitching a new "D10" grouping that would include G7 nations plus Australia, South Korea and China, which would co-operate on developing new digital technology to compete with Chinese 5G products.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute defence and national security program director Michael Shoebridge said trust, rather than the lowest price, was now at a premium in the global economy.

"That's what the Five Eyes is all about. It's a relationship based on deep trust," Mr Shoebridge said.

"So if you need a trusted set of partners for critical supplies in times of crisis, whether it's medical or military, you look towards those deep trusted partnerships as the foundation.

"It's a really interesting reset of the globalised economy. It means trust is now an appreciating currency globally."

He said to have credibility, "a coherent and united approach to 5G" should be central to the new democratic push for trusted supplier networks.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/supply-chains-critical-tech-on-five-eyes-agenda/news-story/3a82c8eb35c58b9c24e14dc3fae777a0

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Five Eyes is an indispensable part of (Australia's) international cooperation. Today @dominicraab @SecPompeo @winstonpeters & @FP_Champagne & I discussed global challenges, including #COVID19, safeguarding against future crises, Hong Kong autonomy, critical tech & supply chains

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1267580244044611584

#9235470 at 2020-05-19 07:27:53 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

President Donald Trump Tweet

We are with them!

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1262392931962454020

—

SBS News Tweet

India, Japan, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia, Russia, and all 27 EU member states are backing Australia's push for a probe into the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://twitter.com/SBSNews/status/1262114445536440320

—

Coalition of 116 countries back Australia's push for independent coronavirus inquiry

A group of 54 African nations has joined Australia's push for an inquiry into coronavirus, taking the total number of countries on board to 116.

More than 110 countries have backed Australia's push for an independent coronavirus inquiry which has caused a damaging rift with China.

The African Group's 54 member states will co-sponsor the motion, joining 62 other countries including Russia, Indonesia, India, Japan, Britain and Canada.

The European Union's 27 members are all on board, along with Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, Turkey and New Zealand.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Monday said it was encouraging to see so many countries backing the inquiry.

"I think what it illustrates is a broad view that given the experience of COVID-19 - over 300,000 deaths, millions of people around the world losing their jobs, the impact on economies from one corner of the globe to the other - that there is a strong view that it is appropriate to engage in a review of what has happened.

"I don't want to preempt speculate about the outcome, those discussions will be under way later this evening. I think it's a win for the international community."

The draft resolution calls for impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the pandemic.

It doesn't mention China, but Australia's push for the inquiry has angered Beijing, which has threatened a huge tariff on barley and blocked some beef imports.

Health Minister Greg Hunt will represent Australia at the virtual World Health Assembly meeting on Monday night.

A vote is expected in the early hours of Tuesday.

In relation to the motion pushing federal Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said on Monday it was important to "get to the bottom" of what had happened.

"I think the most important thing, rather than apportioning blame to one particular country or another country, is that we get to the bottom of what's happened. And part of that is about the origin, where this virus came from," he told reporters.

"Looking at the entire way that it has spread so rapidly around the world and what's happened in different countries in the ways that different countries have approached that problem will be part of that investigation. And I hope that that resolution will be successful," he added.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the inquiry was about investigating what the world could learn from the devastating pandemic.

"That's the responsible thing to do when 300,000 souls have lost their lives around the world," he told the ABC on Monday.

Mr Littleproud said his Chinese counterpart had indicated he would not discuss trade issues in the near future.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has not received a return call from his Chinese counterpart.

Australia isn't ruling out taking China to the World Trade Organisation over the 80 per cent tariff on barley.

Mr Littleproud said he would continue to make the case to China that exporters were not dumping product.

"We will prosecute that case on behalf of Australian exporters," he said.

"If those that we're prosecuting against don't understand it, we'll take it to an umpire for them to understand."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described the push for an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus as completely unremarkable.

But China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi lashed out at foreign lawmakers for politicising the pandemic.

Beijing's man in Canberra raised the prospect of consumer boycotts of Australian products because of the push for an inquiry.

Since then, the barley threat has surfaced, while four major Australian abattoirs have been blocked from sending their product to China.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/coalition-of-116-countries-back-australia-s-push-for-independent-coronavirus-inquiry

#9209322 at 2020-05-17 10:09:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

Coalition of 62 countries backs joint Australian, EU push for independent inquiry into coronavirus outbreak

A coalition of 62 countries has backed a joint Australian and European Union push for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak ahead of a crucial World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting tomorrow in Geneva.

Australia was the first nation to call for an independent inquiry into how the coronavirus started.

That drew furious condemnation from Beijing, which accused Australia of launching a political attack on China. But international support for the idea has been steadily growing.

The Morrison Government has now swung its diplomatic firepower behind the European Union, which has also been pressing for an investigation while taking a more conciliatory line with Beijing.

European nations and Australia have been rallying support for a draft EU motion which calls for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of "the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19".

As of Sunday evening, Canberra time, 62 nations - including Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Russia, South Africa and the United Kingdom - had backed the motion.

The motion does not specifically mention China or the city of Wuhan where the outbreak is believed to have begun.

But it does say the WHO should work with the World Organisation for Animal Health to conduct "scientific and collaborative field missions" and "identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts".

Australian Government sources said the language was strong enough to ensure that a proper and thorough investigation took place, although they are still calling this a "first step" towards ensuring transparency.

At this stage neither China nor the US have backed the motion. EU and Australian diplomats were still working on Sunday to convince both major powers to give their support.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said: "There is positive support for an independent review into the pandemic to help the world learn the lessons necessary to protect global health.

"Australia and a significant number of countries are co-sponsoring the EU-led resolution, which includes a call for an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation.

"This is about collaborating to equip the international community to better prevent or counter the next pandemic and keep our citizens safe."

The EU's spokeswoman for foreign affairs, Virginie Battu-Henriksson, said the organisation was focused on reaching a consensus for an inquiry.

"Of course, we need to have the support of all the major players, and China is one of them," she told the ABC.

Meanwhile, US diplomats have been pressing for tougher language that specifically calls for a probe into how the virus started in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both furiously denounced China's initial response to the virus, accusing it of covering up the initial outbreak and allowing it to spread around the world.

But Ms Battu-Henriksson said the EU was focused on "really getting together and finding a solution which is workable for all".

"For us, it is not the moment for us to enter any kind of blame game as we've seen in narratives from one part or another of the world," she said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-17/coronavirus-inquiry-world-health-assembly-china-covid-19/12256910

#9091449 at 2020-05-09 08:28:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

>>9091409
Congress of the United States

May 7, 2020

The Honorable Arthur Sinodinos
Ambassador
Embassy of Australia
1145 17th St NW
Washington DC, 20036

Ambassador Sinodinos,

As Australia, along with the rest of the world, deals with the terrible human and economic consequences of COVID-19, we write to reaffirm our strong support for the U.S.-Australia alliance. For more than a century, our nations have stood side by side during moments of great peril. The current crisis is no different. Although the challenges we face are new, what has not changed is our shared commitment to our values and to our friends.

Given the tremendous toll COVID-19 has taken on the world, it is only natural that Australia - like all nations concerned with upholding best practices for global public health - would want an objective, scientific, evidence-based, and rigorous investigation into the origins of the virus. As Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated in calling for an independent review, "We'd like the world to be safer when it comes to viruses…I would hope that any other nation, be it China or anyone else, would share that objective." Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong further emphasized that Australia must "press what is right, what we believe is right, for us and for the international community, and making sure that humanity understands how this virus started is the right thing to do." We could not agree more.

Unfortunately, and not for the first time, Chinese government officials responded to these calls with deeply disturbing and thinly-disguised threats of retaliation. In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye called such an inquiry "dangerous" and threatened economic retaliation along a number of fronts, including boycotts of Australian wine and beef. We unequivocally oppose this behavior and strongly support Foreign Minister Marise Payne's rejection of "any suggestion that economic coercion is an appropriate response to a call for such an assessment."

This incident is part of a broader and concerning pattern from the Chinese government. As we continue to confront this deadly disease and its consequences, we will be faced with many tough decisions, including those that may arise from the Chinese government's continued lack of cooperation and transparency. One decision that is not difficult is to always stand with our Australian mates. No matter the external pressure or coercion, we will always have Australia's back, just as Australia has always had ours.

Thank you for your hard work on behalf of the U.S.-Australia alliance. We look forward to continuing to work with you in support of our common interests and values.

In Mateship,

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI)

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT)

Senator Jim Risch (R-ID)

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ)

Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO)

Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Senator Chris Coons (R-DE)

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI)

Senator David Perdue (R-GA)

Senator Todd Young (R-IN)

Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI)

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY)

Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)

Rep. Ed Case (D-HI)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)

Rep. William Timmons (R-SC)

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA)

Rep. Ron Wright (R-KS)

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA)

Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX)

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-CA)

Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH)

#9062520 at 2020-05-07 09:27:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

#7 - Part 11
>>8398280 Australian Signals Directorate - Leadership - Principal Deputy Director-General Lieutenant General John Frewen DSC AM
>>8398369 Judge Napolitano says Trump should veto FISA bill: Nothing but 'cosmetic' reforms
>>8398457 Parole denied for Hey Dad! sex predator Robert Hughes
>>8407234 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: A timely meeting with friend @SecPompeo to discuss #COVID19, infrastructure…
>>8408824 Peripatetic Katherine Keating pops up at Palm Beach
>>8419490 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: Tackling orphanage trafficking needs us to work together in Australia & globally
>>8419490 Modern Day Slavery, Orphanage Tourism and the Modern Slavery Act 2018
>>8434230 Nicole Kidman and family 'relocating back to Australia to be closer to mother Janelle'
>>8434619 NSW south coast man charged with terrorism offences
>>8437036 Man arrested after allegedly planning terror attack on electrical substation

>>8438540 Fraser Anning declared bankrupt by courts on 'egging' anniversary
>>8459350 High Court overturns SA pedophile sentence
>>8459467 Video: Killing Field: Explosive new allegations of Australian special forces war crimes | Four Corners
>>8459498 Footage Shows Australian Special Forces Shoot And Kill Unarmed Man In Afghanistan
>>8459638 Wikileaks Tweet: Newly obtained video by ABC's @4corners shows alleged execution of unarmed Afghan by Australian SAS soldier
>>8468637 Australian "Hey Dad" Actor Robert Hughes - Timeline of allegations of sexual misconduct, arrest, and conviction
>>8472720 Ghislaine Maxwell, citing death threats and extensive legal fees, sues Jeffrey Epstein's estate
>>8486065 Evil 8 paedophile Alfred Impicciatore's appeal dismissed over notorious WA child abuse case
>>8486065 The horrors of the 'Evil 8' and how a young girl was preyed upon by her father, strangers (2017)
>>8486290 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Media Releases - Statements on Four Corners report

>>8494961 Second NSW South Coast man charged with a terrorism offence
>>8528467 Third man charged following operational activity on the NSW South Coast
>>8542385 Q Post #3898 - The key that opens all doors. The 'Start'. (Links to this Daily Caller article >>8375168)
>>8543343 War hero Ben Roberts-Smith interviewed by police over alleged killing
>>8543613 Jill, @1Swinging_Voter Tweet: ABC smartarse Andrew Probyn hogging the press conference just got owned by the Prime Minister
>>8543613 Jill, @1Swinging_Voter Tweet: We need to see more of this from the Prime Minister!! Don't dance to the media tune!
>>8543613 Video: Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ABC journalist Andrew Probyn - "You don't run the Press Conference, OK?"
>>8543726 Australian Secret Intelligence Service - Black Ops Arm Of The Aus Deep State?
>>8557079 Malcolm Turnbull's wife Lucy suddenly stands down from her high-powered job 'for personal reasons'
>>8568249 Christchurch mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant changes plea to guilty, to be sentenced for 51 murders

>>8568301 Australian paedophile fights to stop police alerting Indonesia to convictions
>>8568600 Chinese government prepares to charge Australian academic
>>8569098 Video: Trump 'came to appreciate' Turnbull standing up for Australia
>>8569161 Q Posts #479, 908 and 910 - What phone call between POTUS and X/AUS leaked? Why that specific conversation? Focus - why AUS?
>>8569655 The Australian Store Where Everything Sold Is Sent to China
>>8569706 Chinese-backed company's mission to source Australian medical supplies
>>8582388 Australian police crack online child exploitation network
>>8582418 New South Wales woman charged with child exploitation offences
>>8587984 Man hands out $100 to every Person Waiting in Line for Welfare
>>8588025 Police identify 11 alleged victims in case of immigration agent accused of rape

#9062514 at 2020-05-07 09:26:26 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

#7 - Part 9
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Bun - Part 3
>>8658908 'We will have significant supply': Drug considered the best treatment for coronavirus will soon be available in Australia
>>8659356 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: The Australian Defence Force has established Operation COVID-19 ASSIST
>>8662795 Video: Alexander Downer: Coronavirus exposes 'inherent problems' with globalisation
>>8676503 Hydroxychloroquine: Australian government waives regulatory requirements for drug
>>8676797 John Durham Forges Ahead With Investigation Of Trump-Russia Probe Origins Despite Coronavirus Pandemic
>>8677194 Anti-child exploitation drive relentless amid quarantine: Philippine National Police
>>8677640 Video: WA Premier cracks up explaining it's not unlawful to get a kebab | ABC News
>>8689983 Canberra to push China to ban wildlife meat trade
>>8690132 Australian scientists discover head lice drug kills coronavirus in lab
>>8690328 The Prime Minister Of Australia Warns That Life Will Not Return To "Normal" Until A Coronavirus Vaccine Arrives

>>8690552 Australian state will install home surveillance hardware to make sure if you're in virus isolation, you stay there
>>8691017, >>8681850, >>8681939, >>8691622 NO CASH PAYMENTS - Caltex service station, country NSW Australia - picture
>>8701361 Scott Morrison's Support Surges in Australia After Record Stimulus
>>8701572 Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton warns of dodgy COVID-19 test kits
>>8701607 Jacinda Ardern takes aim at Australia for telling thousands of New Zealanders 'it's time to go home' amid coronavirus pandemic
>>8701867 Alexander Downer Financial Review article: 'Australia is doing well. Now we must manage the aftermath'
>>8704469 'Obsolete scum of white Australia' behind anti-Chinese sentiment, says NSW Labor MP
>>8719653 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Productive call with Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP about coordinating efforts to respond to #COVID19
>>8719653 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Australia & the US are good mates & we will continue to align our efforts as we work towards the recovery
>>8720552 Controversial drug hydroxychloroquine to be given to coronavirus patients in Australia

>>8732925 Video: Scott Morrison gives Easter message to Australians as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions hit long weekend
>>8732990 How Australia IGNORED the World Health Organisation and stayed one step ahead on COVID-19
>>8741250 Ship at center of virus outbreak raided by Australian police
>>8744121 AussieQne 369, @AussieQne Tweet: ITS ILLEGAL TO TALK ABOUT CORONA CURES IN AUSTRALIA!?!?!?
>>8744131 Video: Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly warns - 'Illegal' to make unsubstantiated claims of COVID-19 cure
>>8763878 Peter Dutton warns that coronavirus is 'much more serious than people realise' as he is finally cleared of the deadly disease
>>8765708 Electronic tracking devices among new coronavirus powers for WA security agencies
>>8776869 The three tests Australia will need to pass before the coronavirus restrictions end
>>8787437 Australia takes aim at the World Health Organisation after it supported the reopening of China's wet markets
>>8798021 Australian Couple Fined By Confused Police After Posting Old Vacation Photos

>>8798021 Surfing: Coronavirus lockdown advice leaves room for confusion
>>8808091 Focus on Coronavirus Analytics - Australian Statistics - Confirmed Cases, Deaths and Recoveries - April 2020
>>8810628 Coronavirus: Three steps to Australia's 'road out' from restrictions
>>8810823 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Wonderful discussion with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today about U.S.-Australia cooperation
>>8810823 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Great to talk with friend @SecPompeo re (Australia and U.S.) practical cooperation on #COVID19
>>8810898 How we'll commemorate Anzac Day 2020 during COVID-19 restrictions
>>8819062 World Health Organisation - Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) Emergency Press Briefing transcripts
>>8823215 Video: Australian Strategic Policy Institute Presents: Covid-19 and Radicalisation - Qanon / Pizzagate 'conspiracy theories'
>>8823278 Video excerpt: Covid-19 and Radicalisation - "Conspiracy theories like 'Qanon'...they are becoming more and more powerful..."
>>8823278 Video excerpt: Covid-19 and Radicalisation - "The guy who turns up at a pizza shop believing a whole heap of children are locked away in the basement..."

#9062506 at 2020-05-07 09:24:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #8 - WE ARE THE CURE Edition

#7 - Part 6
>>8322569 For at least the second time, POTUS tweets at @abc but "incorrectly" tags Australia's @abcnews instead
>>8330571 Joe Hockey's claims on Alexander Downer jeopardising Five Eyes 'not credible'
>>8330911 Attorney General Barr And International Partners Announce New Initiative In Protecting Children From Sexual Exploitation
>>8330911 Attorney General Barr Announces the Launch of Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
>>8338917 Victims of paedophile school gardener John Bodey take legal action against WA Education Department
>>8338949 Morrison government to stop funding international collaboration on shift to zero emissions
>>8339071 Julia Gillard: 'It's important to show that women can hold their own'
>>8339298 Australia in the US Tweet: Home Affairs @PeterDutton_MP joins @IvankaTrump, Attorney General Barr & our five eyes partners
>>8339335 U.S. Senators Cardin, Barrasso Lead Senate Recognition of US-Australian Firefighting Cooperation
>>8342712 Biden or Sanders? Voters in Docklands could play a key role in picking Trump's opponent

>>8342822 Australia reaches breakthrough deal to buy US emergency oil supplies
>>8343204 Australian police praised for helping capture US pedophile
>>8343204 Spanaway, Washington man sentenced to 15 years in prison for production and distribution of images of child molestation
>>8343407 Suspected foreign agents ordered to hand over documents as new unit targets China links
>>8343730 Mark, @awakeinaus Tweet: Why would [Tom Hanks] he continue to post like this? He has to 'hide' it in plain sight for people to see
>>8343730 Tom Hanks Tweet: Kids sock, washed ashore. Lost ashore. Bondi Beach. New South Wales. Hanx
>>8344301, >>8344348 The Hanks tweet on the main QR Thread last night, received a few Interdasting replies
>>8346125 "Koala Kai" - Cobra Kai commercial on Fox News and Q Post #3331 - Karate Kid Analogy
>>8351034 Charity World Vision in allegations of corruption and nepotism
>>8354981 Facebook sued by Australian information watchdog over Cambridge Analytica-linked data breach

>>8355066 Russia sensationally claims Australia tampered with MH17 wreckage after the plane was shot down
>>8355066 MH17 investigation: Russia's ambassador to Australia accuses AFP of cover-up
>>8355934 Call for investigation into Australian Prime Ministers and their family members since Keating
>>8357990 World Vision accused of corruption and nepotism
>>8360039 Video: Why We Sued Big Tech for Artificial Intelligence Misuse & Contribution to Win for Humanity
>>8365788 Huawei gives up on Australia in short term but wants probe of 5G competitors
>>8374887 Essential poll: Scott Morrison regains lead as preferred prime minister after bushfire backlash
>>8375024 Child sex abuse victim says Anglican Church fobbed her off, then offered payout in exchange for silence
>>8375168 Spygate Could Make Watergate Look Like A Third-Rate Burglary
>>8375245 PICACC celebrates first year; firm in its resolve to end online sexual exploitation of children

>>8378439 WA Bishop Christopher Saunders steps down over 'serious sex abuse allegations'
>>8386760 POTUS Oval Office Address: Anons identify gift from Scott Morrison to Donald Trump, statue of digger Leslie 'Bull' Allen
>>8386940 Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne Lays Keel For Future USS Canberra
>>8386940 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: We laid the keel today for USS Canberra, @Austal_USA's littoral combat ship
>>8386940 Video: Austal USA - USS Canberra (LCS 30) Keel Laying Ceremony
>>8386971 Apple cops Dutton's scorn over US meeting
>>8387076 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Good conversation with Foreign Minister @MarisePayneMP
>>8387076 US Department of State: Secretary Pompeo's Meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Payne
>>8398120 Westpac hit with third class action lawsuit over AUSTRAC scandal
>>8398280 Top Australian Army general to head military taskforce to manage coronavirus outbreak

#9062430 at 2020-05-07 08:53:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

#7 - Part 11
>>8398280 Australian Signals Directorate - Leadership - Principal Deputy Director-General Lieutenant General John Frewen DSC AM
>>8398369 Judge Napolitano says Trump should veto FISA bill: Nothing but 'cosmetic' reforms
>>8398457 Parole denied for Hey Dad! sex predator Robert Hughes
>>8407234 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: A timely meeting with friend @SecPompeo to discuss #COVID19, infrastructure…
>>8408824 Peripatetic Katherine Keating pops up at Palm Beach
>>8419490 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: Tackling orphanage trafficking needs us to work together in Australia & globally
>>8419490 Modern Day Slavery, Orphanage Tourism and the Modern Slavery Act 2018
>>8434230 Nicole Kidman and family 'relocating back to Australia to be closer to mother Janelle'
>>8434619 NSW south coast man charged with terrorism offences
>>8437036 Man arrested after allegedly planning terror attack on electrical substation

>>8438540 Fraser Anning declared bankrupt by courts on 'egging' anniversary
>>8459350 High Court overturns SA pedophile sentence
>>8459467 Video: Killing Field: Explosive new allegations of Australian special forces war crimes | Four Corners
>>8459498 Footage Shows Australian Special Forces Shoot And Kill Unarmed Man In Afghanistan
>>8459638 Wikileaks Tweet: Newly obtained video by ABC's @4corners shows alleged execution of unarmed Afghan by Australian SAS soldier
>>8468637 Australian "Hey Dad" Actor Robert Hughes - Timeline of allegations of sexual misconduct, arrest, and conviction
>>8472720 Ghislaine Maxwell, citing death threats and extensive legal fees, sues Jeffrey Epstein's estate
>>8486065 Evil 8 paedophile Alfred Impicciatore's appeal dismissed over notorious WA child abuse case
>>8486065 The horrors of the 'Evil 8' and how a young girl was preyed upon by her father, strangers (2017)
>>8486290 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Media Releases - Statements on Four Corners report

>>8494961 Second NSW South Coast man charged with a terrorism offence
>>8528467 Third man charged following operational activity on the NSW South Coast
>>8542385 Q Post #3898 - The key that opens all doors. The 'Start'. (Links to this Daily Caller article >>8375168)
>>8543343 War hero Ben Roberts-Smith interviewed by police over alleged killing
>>8543613 Jill, @1Swinging_Voter Tweet: ABC smartarse Andrew Probyn hogging the press conference just got owned by the Prime Minister
>>8543613 Jill, @1Swinging_Voter Tweet: We need to see more of this from the Prime Minister!! Don't dance to the media tune!
>>8543613 Video: Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ABC journalist Andrew Probyn - "You don't run the Press Conference, OK?"
>>8543726 Australian Secret Intelligence Service - Black Ops Arm Of The Aus Deep State?
>>8557079 Malcolm Turnbull's wife Lucy suddenly stands down from her high-powered job 'for personal reasons'
>>8568249 Christchurch mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant changes plea to guilty, to be sentenced for 51 murders

>>8568301 Australian paedophile fights to stop police alerting Indonesia to convictions
>>8568600 Chinese government prepares to charge Australian academic
>>8569098 Video: Trump 'came to appreciate' Turnbull standing up for Australia
>>8569161 Q Posts #479, 908 and 910 - What phone call between POTUS and X/AUS leaked? Why that specific conversation? Focus - why AUS?
>>8569655 The Australian Store Where Everything Sold Is Sent to China
>>8569706 Chinese-backed company's mission to source Australian medical supplies
>>8582388 Australian police crack online child exploitation network
>>8582418 New South Wales woman charged with child exploitation offences
>>8587984 Man hands out $100 to every Person Waiting in Line for Welfare
>>8588025 Police identify 11 alleged victims in case of immigration agent accused of rape

#9062416 at 2020-05-07 08:48:56 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

#7 - Part 9
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Bun - Part 3
>>8658908 'We will have significant supply': Drug considered the best treatment for coronavirus will soon be available in Australia
>>8659356 Defence Minister Linda Reynolds Tweet: The Australian Defence Force has established Operation COVID-19 ASSIST
>>8662795 Video: Alexander Downer: Coronavirus exposes 'inherent problems' with globalisation
>>8676503 Hydroxychloroquine: Australian government waives regulatory requirements for drug
>>8676797 John Durham Forges Ahead With Investigation Of Trump-Russia Probe Origins Despite Coronavirus Pandemic
>>8677194 Anti-child exploitation drive relentless amid quarantine: Philippine National Police
>>8677640 Video: WA Premier cracks up explaining it's not unlawful to get a kebab | ABC News
>>8689983 Canberra to push China to ban wildlife meat trade
>>8690132 Australian scientists discover head lice drug kills coronavirus in lab
>>8690328 The Prime Minister Of Australia Warns That Life Will Not Return To "Normal" Until A Coronavirus Vaccine Arrives

>>8690552 Australian state will install home surveillance hardware to make sure if you're in virus isolation, you stay there
>>8691017, >>8681850, >>8681939, >>8691622 NO CASH PAYMENTS - Caltex service station, country NSW Australia - picture
>>8701361 Scott Morrison's Support Surges in Australia After Record Stimulus
>>8701572 Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton warns of dodgy COVID-19 test kits
>>8701607 Jacinda Ardern takes aim at Australia for telling thousands of New Zealanders 'it's time to go home' amid coronavirus pandemic
>>8701867 Alexander Downer Financial Review article: 'Australia is doing well. Now we must manage the aftermath'
>>8704469 'Obsolete scum of white Australia' behind anti-Chinese sentiment, says NSW Labor MP
>>8719653 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Productive call with Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP about coordinating efforts to respond to #COVID19
>>8719653 Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweet: Australia & the US are good mates & we will continue to align our efforts as we work towards the recovery
>>8720552 Controversial drug hydroxychloroquine to be given to coronavirus patients in Australia

>>8732925 Video: Scott Morrison gives Easter message to Australians as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions hit long weekend
>>8732990 How Australia IGNORED the World Health Organisation and stayed one step ahead on COVID-19
>>8741250 Ship at center of virus outbreak raided by Australian police
>>8744121 AussieQne 369, @AussieQne Tweet: ITS ILLEGAL TO TALK ABOUT CORONA CURES IN AUSTRALIA!?!?!?
>>8744131 Video: Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly warns - 'Illegal' to make unsubstantiated claims of COVID-19 cure
>>8763878 Peter Dutton warns that coronavirus is 'much more serious than people realise' as he is finally cleared of the deadly disease
>>8765708 Electronic tracking devices among new coronavirus powers for WA security agencies
>>8776869 The three tests Australia will need to pass before the coronavirus restrictions end
>>8787437 Australia takes aim at the World Health Organisation after it supported the reopening of China's wet markets
>>8798021 Australian Couple Fined By Confused Police After Posting Old Vacation Photos

>>8798021 Surfing: Coronavirus lockdown advice leaves room for confusion
>>8808091 Focus on Coronavirus Analytics - Australian Statistics - Confirmed Cases, Deaths and Recoveries - April 2020
>>8810628 Coronavirus: Three steps to Australia's 'road out' from restrictions
>>8810823 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Wonderful discussion with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today about U.S.-Australia cooperation
>>8810823 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: Great to talk with friend @SecPompeo re (Australia and U.S.) practical cooperation on #COVID19
>>8810898 How we'll commemorate Anzac Day 2020 during COVID-19 restrictions
>>8819062 World Health Organisation - Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) Emergency Press Briefing transcripts
>>8823215 Video: Australian Strategic Policy Institute Presents: Covid-19 and Radicalisation - Qanon / Pizzagate 'conspiracy theories'
>>8823278 Video excerpt: Covid-19 and Radicalisation - "Conspiracy theories like 'Qanon'...they are becoming more and more powerful…"
>>8823278 Video excerpt: Covid-19 and Radicalisation - "The guy who turns up at a pizza shop believing a whole heap of children are locked away in the basement…"

#9062391 at 2020-05-07 08:41:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

#7 - Part 6
>>8322569 For at least the second time, POTUS tweets at @abc but "incorrectly" tags Australia's @abcnews instead
>>8330571 Joe Hockey's claims on Alexander Downer jeopardising Five Eyes 'not credible'
>>8330911 Attorney General Barr And International Partners Announce New Initiative In Protecting Children From Sexual Exploitation
>>8330911 Attorney General Barr Announces the Launch of Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
>>8338917 Victims of paedophile school gardener John Bodey take legal action against WA Education Department
>>8338949 Morrison government to stop funding international collaboration on shift to zero emissions
>>8339071 Julia Gillard: 'It's important to show that women can hold their own'
>>8339298 Australia in the US Tweet: Home Affairs @PeterDutton_MP joins @IvankaTrump, Attorney General Barr & our five eyes partners
>>8339335 U.S. Senators Cardin, Barrasso Lead Senate Recognition of US-Australian Firefighting Cooperation
>>8342712 Biden or Sanders? Voters in Docklands could play a key role in picking Trump's opponent

>>8342822 Australia reaches breakthrough deal to buy US emergency oil supplies
>>8343204 Australian police praised for helping capture US pedophile
>>8343204 Spanaway, Washington man sentenced to 15 years in prison for production and distribution of images of child molestation
>>8343407 Suspected foreign agents ordered to hand over documents as new unit targets China links
>>8343730 Mark, @awakeinaus Tweet: Why would [Tom Hanks] he continue to post like this? He has to 'hide' it in plain sight for people to see
>>8343730 Tom Hanks Tweet: Kids sock, washed ashore. Lost ashore. Bondi Beach. New South Wales. Hanx
>>8344301, >>8344348 The Hanks tweet on the main QR Thread last night, received a few Interdasting replies
>>8346125 "Koala Kai" - Cobra Kai commercial on Fox News and Q Post #3331 - Karate Kid Analogy
>>8351034 Charity World Vision in allegations of corruption and nepotism
>>8354981 Facebook sued by Australian information watchdog over Cambridge Analytica-linked data breach

>>8355066 Russia sensationally claims Australia tampered with MH17 wreckage after the plane was shot down
>>8355066 MH17 investigation: Russia's ambassador to Australia accuses AFP of cover-up
>>8355934 Call for investigation into Australian Prime Ministers and their family members since Keating
>>8357990 World Vision accused of corruption and nepotism
>>8360039 Video: Why We Sued Big Tech for Artificial Intelligence Misuse & Contribution to Win for Humanity
>>8365788 Huawei gives up on Australia in short term but wants probe of 5G competitors
>>8374887 Essential poll: Scott Morrison regains lead as preferred prime minister after bushfire backlash
>>8375024 Child sex abuse victim says Anglican Church fobbed her off, then offered payout in exchange for silence
>>8375168 Spygate Could Make Watergate Look Like A Third-Rate Burglary
>>8375245 PICACC celebrates first year; firm in its resolve to end online sexual exploitation of children

>>8378439 WA Bishop Christopher Saunders steps down over 'serious sex abuse allegations'
>>8386760 POTUS Oval Office Address: Anons identify gift from Scott Morrison to Donald Trump, statue of digger Leslie 'Bull' Allen
>>8386940 Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne Lays Keel For Future USS Canberra
>>8386940 Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet: We laid the keel today for USS Canberra, @Austal_USA's littoral combat ship
>>8386940 Video: Austal USA - USS Canberra (LCS 30) Keel Laying Ceremony
>>8386971 Apple cops Dutton's scorn over US meeting
>>8387076 Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet: Good conversation with Foreign Minister @MarisePayneMP
>>8387076 US Department of State: Secretary Pompeo's Meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Payne
>>8398120 Westpac hit with third class action lawsuit over AUSTRAC scandal
>>8398280 Top Australian Army general to head military taskforce to manage coronavirus outbreak

#8945474 at 2020-04-28 07:24:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

How Australia partly funded two Chinese scientists from the Wuhan lab linked to the COVID-19 outbreak to study bat viruses at a CSIRO lab

Two Chinese scientists who worked for the Wuhan Institute of Virology studied bats in a CSIRO facility as part of researched funded by both the Australian and Chinese governments.

Intelligence agencies from the 'Five Eyes' network comprising of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the US are examining the work of two staffers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, according to the Daily Telegraph.

However, when questioned about the allegations by ABC Radio National, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham denied knowing of any such investigation.

'I don't and the government does not comment on national security or intelligence matters, that is a long standing practice. I am not aware of any investigation and I wouldn't comment on them even if I were,' Senator Birmingham said.

'However, we want to see transparent investigations into the causes so that we can prevent repeats of such pandemics into the future.'

The alleged probe comes as President Donald Trump said the US is looking into whether the virus accidentally leaked from the lab, which was researching coronaviruses including the SARS virus, a close genetic relative of the current virus.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US had demanded access to the facility but the lab director said 'there's no way this virus came from us' and Beijing rejected the request.

One of the scientists whose work is reportedly being examined by western spies spent three years at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory between 2011 and 2014.

Zhou Peng, head of Wuhan's Bat Virus Infection and Immunity Project, was part of a study which involved transporting bats from Queensland to the lab in Geelong, Victoria where they were killed, dissected and studied for viruses.

The project, funded jointly by the Australia and Chinese governments, found 'bats are rich reservoirs for emerging viruses'.

The other scientist whose work is being examined also worked at Australia's Animal Health Laboratory for three months in 2006.

Shi Zhengli - who is known as 'bat woman' by her colleagues because of her expeditions into bat caves to analyse the animals - studied bat faeces to identify the mammals as a natural host for viruses similar to SARS.

The two scientists jointly wrote a paper in January that said the new coronavirus probably originated from bats, just like SARS.

Zhengli told the Scientific American that when she was first told of a pneumonia outbreak she feared the lab may be responsible for leaking coronaviruses.

She told the journal that she wondered: 'Could they have come from our lab?'

Later, test results showed genome sequences taken from infected patients did not match any her team were working on in the lab, meaning the new coronavirus did not come from an accidental leak.

She said: 'That really took a load off my mind. I had not slept a wink for days.'

A spokesman for CSIRO confirmed bat research took place with international partners in Geelong.

The spokesman said: 'CSIRO undertakes all research in accordance with strict biosecurity and legislative requirements.

'CSIRO's collaborations with research organisations from many countries around the world are helping drive global effort forwards to human diseases prevention and management.

'As with all partners, CSIRO undertakes due diligence and takes security very seriously.'

It comes after the Australian government joined the US in calling for an international inquiry into the origins of coronavirus.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly called for a coronavirus investigation and has demanded changes in the 'upper echelons' of the World Health Organisation after it praised China's handling of the outbreak.

He was also the first world leader to call for a ban on China's wet markets where the virus is suspected of jumping from animals to humans in November, calling their re-opening 'unfathomable'.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was 'seriously concerned and firmly opposed' to an inquiry and slammed foreign minister Marise Payne after she suggested China withheld information regarding the spread of the virus.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton also faced the wrath of Beijing when he said China needs to 'answer questions' on the virus origins after unsubstantiated reports from the US that it was grown in a lab in Wuhan and accidentally escaped.

The Chinese Embassy hit back, calling Mr Dutton 'pitiful,' 'ignorant' and a parrot of America.

(continued)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8261201/Australia-funded-Chinese-scientists-research-bats.html

#8881647 at 2020-04-22 05:30:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

Scott Morrison calls Donald Trump to discuss holding the WHO to account for pandering to China over the coronavirus pandemic - and says US and Australia are 'best mates'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken to President Donald Trump about how the World Health Organisation can 'improve' after both leaders criticised how it dealt the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Morrison called Mr Trump at around midday on Wednesday (AEST) and later tweeted about the conversation.

He said they discussed strategies to relax coronavirus restrictions and also the WHO's response to the deadly virus which has infected 2.5million people globally.

The WHO has come under fire for being slow to declare a pandemic, telling nations not to shut their borders and praising China's response despite the country's attempt to cover-up the spread of the disease by silencing whistleblowers.

President Trump accused the organisation of being 'China-centric' and vowed to cut funding.

Mr Morrison has also criticised the WHO - particularly over its refusal to ban wet markets - but has said Australia will not walk away from funding the organisation.

In his tweets after the call, Mr Morrison wrote: 'We had a very constructive discussion on our health responses to #COVID19 and the need to get our market-led and business-centred economies up and running again.

'We also talked about the WHO and working together to improve the transparency and effectiveness of international responses to pandemics.

Mr Morrison signed off by praising Australia's relationship with the United States.

'Australia and the US are the best of mates and we'll continue to align our efforts as we work towards the recovery on the other side of this virus,' he wrote.

It comes after the Chinese Embassy in Canberra accused Australian politicians of sucking up to the US.

A spokesman accused Home Affairs Minster Peter Dutton of blindly following US orders to join a 'propaganda war' against China after he said the country should be 'transparent' about the origins of the virus.

Last week US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded China 'come clean' after unsubstantiated reports that coronavirus may have originated in a lab in Wuhan.

Mr Dutton on Friday said China should 'answer those questions' before foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called for an inquiry.

A Chinese Embassy spokesman said Australian politicians were 'pitiful' and lacked independence.

In dealing with the coronavirus, the Australian government has been one step ahead of the WHO since even before it reached Australian shores on 25 January.

That week, while the WHO director-general was busy saying China should be 'congratulated' for protecting 'the people of the world', the Australian government was hatching a national plan to stop the virus.

On February 1, when there were 14,000 recorded cases in the world, Australia banned flights from China.

Two days later, on February 3, the WHO was still telling countries not to initiate travel bans.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom stood up in front of the world's media and said there was no need for measures that 'unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade'.

In the same press conference he called the spread of the virus 'minimal and slow' and heaped praise on China for locking down Wuhan.

'If it weren't for China, the number of cases outside China would have been very much higher,' he said.

(continued)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8243705/Scott-Morrison-Donald-Trump-discuss-improve.html

—

Prime Minister Scott Morrison Tweets

Just got off the phone with US President @realDonaldTrump. We had a very constructive discussion on our health responses to #COVID19 and the need to get our market-led and business centres economies up and running again.

https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1252785723830226944

—

We also talked about the @WHO & working together to improve the transparency & effectiveness of international responses to pandemics.

Australia & the US are the best of mates & we'll continue to align our efforts as we work towards the recovery on the other side of this virus.

https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1252785725549842432

#8850013 at 2020-04-19 14:29:41 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

Australia Adds Voice to Growing Calls for China Coronavirus Enquiry
Sunday April 19, 2020
(Posted on QR Main Thread #11329)

Australia on Sunday joined global calls for China to explain itself over its bungled handling of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, questioning its transparency and demanding an international investigation into the origins of the virus and how it flooded the globe.

Australia's foreign minister, Marise Payne, said her concern about China's transparency was at a "a very high point"and reflected previous doubts in Canberra over the performance of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), as Breitbart News reported.

"The issues around the coronavirus are issues for independent review, and I think that it is important that we do that," Payne told ABC television. "In fact, Australia will absolutely insist on that."

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/04/19/australia-adds-voice-to-growing-calls-for-china-coronavirus-enquiry/

#8810823 at 2020-04-16 08:59:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet

Wonderful discussion with Australian Foreign Minister @MarisePayne today about productive U.S.-Australia cooperation to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. #Australia has been key to getting #AmericansHome, both from Australia and from around the region. #mateship

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1250574131260731393

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Great to talk with friend @SecPompeo re ongoing (Australia and U.S.) practical cooperation on #COVID19, including support to IndoPacific neighbourhood. We've been working closely to bring our people home from all around the world as we are #allinthistogether #100yearsofmateship @A_Sinodinos

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1250593013304143873

#8568600 at 2020-03-26 05:38:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

Chinese government prepares to charge Australian academic

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has blasted Chinese authorities for formally indicting Australian-Chinese man Yang Hengjun on espionage charges, saying his poor health makes him especially vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Dr Yang, a former University of Technology, Sydney academic has been imprisoned in China for 14 months.

Lawyers for Dr Yang said on Wednesday that their case had been received by the Prosecutor-General's Office on the last day that formal charges could be transferred under China's opaque judicial system.

Dr Yang's lawyer, Mo Shaoping, said the office would review the case and would make a decision whether to prosecute in the next six weeks.

The Australian citizen and pro-democracy political blogger was detained in January last year and formally arrested by the Beijing State Security Bureau on August 23 on suspicion of endangering Chinese national security. His lawyers say the 54-year-old has been held largely in isolation since. The move to formally lay charges was first reported by the ABC on Tuesday night.

Senator Payne, who has repeatedly raised concerns about claims that Dr Yan has been shackled and subjected to daily interrogations, said the Australian government "strongly objected" to the formal indictment in China on suspicion of espionage.

"The Australian Government is very disappointed that the Chinese authorities have not yet provided formal advice on Dr Yang's indictment," she said.

"Since his detention over a year ago, the Australian Government has repeatedly expressed its strong concern about the treatment of Dr Yang. Dr Yang's case continues to be of key interest to the Australian community.

"Crises are a time for nations to pull together. It is not in the spirit of mutual respect and trust that our continued advocacy for Dr Yang has not been acknowledged. Dr Yang's poor health makes him especially vulnerable to COVID-19. In our most recent representations, we appealed for humanitarian considerations to apply to Dr Yang's situation."

The virus that was first detected in China and has since swept the world has further limited already scarce visits to the country's jails and Dr Yang's lawyers fear they may not be able to meet with him in person to prepare his case.

In August, Senator Payne told media she had no information to support the accusation that Dr Yang was spying for Australia or any other country.

The Chinese government urged Australia not to interfere in the prosecution. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy said Dr Yang was suspected of criminal activities endangering China's national security.

"The Chinese relevant authorities are investigating the case in accordance with Chinese law," the spokesman said on Wednesday.

"We urge the Australian side to respect China's judicial sovereignty and refrain from interfering in the legal process in any form."

Dr Yang's friend and fellow pro-democracy activist Feng Chongyi said the case was politically motivated.

"Any outcome will depend on the political consideration of the Chinese government itself," he said.

"There is no evidence whatsoever for them to charge [him] as a spy for Australia or any western government.

"This is motivated by two political decisions. One is to silence political dissent and the second is the broader operation to force western governments to back off from the Huawei case.

Professor Feng alleged Dr Yang was still being used as political leverage to get Australia to allow Huawei to take part in its 5G network.

The Turnbull government banned the Chinese-owned telco from participating in the 5G rollout in 2018 over national security concerns.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/chinese-government-prepares-to-charge-australian-academic-20200325-p54dq3.html

#8459428 at 2020-03-18 06:18:23 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert not reported among prisoners freed among coronavirus fears

Uncertainty over Moore-Gilbert's fate as 85,000 prisoners temporarily let out over coronavirus fears

British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has not been reported among the 85,000 prisoners temporarily released from Iranian jails out of fear coronavirus could sweep through the country's overcrowded prisons.

As the Iranian government struggling to contain an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases - currently the country has 16,000 confirmed cases and nearly 1,000 deaths - a doctor on state-run TV warned more than three million people could die across the country if isolation measures aren't strictly adhered to.

There are growing concerns for prisoners held in Iran's overcrowded jails, where healthcare is poor and many prisoners have already compromised health. The government says it has released half of the country's "security" prisoners on furlough to arrest any potential Covid-19 spread, but nothing has been heard publicly on Moore-Gilbert's case.

Lines of communication to Moore-Gilbert through other prisoners have been cut in recent days and weeks with the transfer and furloughing of thousands of prisoners.

Moore-Gilbert has been publicly silent for months, since a series of smuggled letters were published detailing the privations of her imprisonment, including months isolated in solitary confinement, and a shortage of food, medicine, and money to buy personal items.

"I feel like I am abandoned and forgotten ... I am an innocent victim," she wrote.

Moore-Gilbert has been held in the isolated ward 2A of Evin, run by the Revolutionary Guards, and it is known she has previously gone on several long-running hunger strikes.

"Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is urging all Australians to come home so it should absolutely prioritise the return of vulnerable Australian like Kylie Moore-Gilbert who are arbitrarily detained abroad," said Elaine Pearson, Australia director for Human Rights Watch.

"Governments are closing their borders, flights are becoming more limited and it will only get worse. Prison is no place to be when there is a pandemic. There are grave risks to Kylie's health if she remains in Evin prison. And Kylie should never have been imprisoned in the first place. [Foreign minister] Marise Payne should be calling on the Iranian authorities to do the right thing and release Kylie."

…..

Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esmaili said 85,000 prisoners had been temporarily released from prison as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus.

"Some 50% of those released are security-related prisoners … also in the jails we have taken precautionary measures to confront the outbreak," he said.

Foreign minister Javad Zarif has said Iran's ability to fight the Covid-19 outbreak was being hampered by US-led sanctions which had crippled the country's health system.

Speaking on state television, Dr Afruz Eslami cited a study from Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, presenting three possible scenarios. She said if the Iranian population began to cooperate fully with social distancing now, the country could limit infections to 120,000 and deaths to 12,000.

If isolation measures were only partly followed, 110,000 people might die.

But if people failed to follow the government's guidance, Iran's already-strained medical system could collapse, Eslami said. "Medical facilities are not sufficient, there will be four million cases, and 3.5 million people will die," she said.

Moore-Gilbert, a University of Melbourne professor originally from Bathurst, has been held in Evin prison in Tehran for 18 months, having been sentenced in a secret trial to 10 years in prison for espionage, a charge she denies.

Moore-Gilbert was arrested in September 2018 after having attended an academic conference at which she was invited to speak in Qom. Fellow conference delegates and an interview subject for her academic work flagged her as "suspicious" to the Revolutionary Guards, who arrested her at Tehran airport.

No evidence has ever been presented publicly that Moore-Gilbert was involved in espionage and the Australian government says it rejects her conviction.

The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, has said previously "the government has been working extremely hard in relation to the ongoing detention of Kylie Moore-Gilbert".

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has maintained: "We continue to believe that the best way to secure a successful outcome is through diplomatic channels and not through the media."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/british-australian-academic-kylie-moore-gilbert-not-reported-among-prisoners-freed-in-iran

#8407234 at 2020-03-13 23:49:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

A timely meeting with friend @SecPompeo to discuss #COVID19, infrastructure, the Indo-Pacific & other issues. I reiterated our condolences for the three US firefighters who died helping (Australia). It's never been more important to work with our close partners.
@AusintheUS @StateDept

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1238121761360601089

#8387076 at 2020-03-12 08:19:26 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo Tweet

Good conversation with Foreign Minister @MarisePayneMP on the importance of resisting the the People's Republic of #China on its economic coercion, particularly in Southeast Asia. U.S.-Australian cooperation in the #IndoPacific region has never been stronger.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1237893658181021696

—

Secretary Pompeo's Meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Payne

READOUT

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON

MARCH 11, 2020

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne today to discuss coordination of U.S. and Australia policy in the Indo-Pacific, including through the annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), as well as trilateral infrastructure cooperation with Japan, and Quad coordination with Japan and India. Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Payne reaffirmed their commitment to engage with ASEAN, which remains at the heart of our respective visions for the Indo-Pacific. They also discussed the need to protect freedom and sovereignty in the Indo-Pacific and the importance of promoting human rights, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet. Secretary Pompeo thanked Foreign Minister Payne for Australia's important contributions to the campaign to fight ISIS.

https://www.state.gov/secretary-pompeos-meeting-with-australian-foreign-minister-Payne/

#8386940 at 2020-03-12 07:39:41 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

Marise Payne Lays Keel For Future USS Canberra

Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has officially laid the keel for the future USS Canberra at a ceremony (pictured) at Austal's shipyard in Mobile Alabama.

The future Canberra, the US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship #LCS30, is one of 19 high-speed multi-mission LCS ships being built by the Perth shipbuilder for the USN.

The ship is named after Australia's capital, a rare honour.

Eleven of the 127 metre long trimaran vessels have already been delivered.

The company's Independence class LCS's (below) are deployed widely in the Asia Pacific region, with some supported by Austal from Australia.

The US Navy's Independence variant LCS fleet, designed and constructed by Austal, comprises;

USS Independence (LCS 2)
USS Coronado (LCS 4)
USS Jackson (LCS 6)
USS Montgomery (LCS 8)
USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10)
USS Omaha (LCS 12)
USS Manchester (LCS 14)
USS Tulsa (LCS 16)
USS Charleston (LCS 18)
USS Cincinnatti (LCS 20)
the future USS Kansas City (LCS 22)
the future USS Oakland (LCS 24)
the future USS Mobile (LCS 26)
the future USS Savannah (LCS 28)
the future USS Canberra (LCS 30)
the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32)
the future USS Augusta (LCS 34)
the future USS Kingsville (LCS 36)
the future USS Pierre (LCS 38)

https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/Marise-Payne-lays-keel-for-future-uss-canberra

—

Foreign Minister Marise Payne Tweet

Few honours rival being named Sponsor for the only in-service @USNavy ship named after a foreign city. We laid the keel today for USS Canberra, @Austal_USA's littoral combat ship. LCS30 is a symbol of the history of (Australia and USA's) mateship & the future of the alliance.
@DeptDefence @dfat

https://twitter.com/MarisePayne/status/1237492998742523904

—

Austal USA - USS Canberra (LCS 30) Keel Laying Ceremony

https://vimeo.com/396789554

#8330713 at 2020-03-06 06:08:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition

Consular officials pressured over trial conditions facing Julian Assange

Australian officials are confident Julian Assange is being afforded due process during his extradition trial in London.

Australian officials have been pressured over whether Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is being afforded due process during his extradition trial in London.

The WikiLeaks founder has complained about being unable to instruct his lawyers from his glass-encased dock and says he can't hear the proceedings given the noise outside the courtroom.

Consular officials and officers from the high commission in London are attending each day of Assange's trial and providing summaries of the proceedings to Foreign Minister Marise Payne and senior officials.

"At this stage, we have not received any information to suggest that anything other than due process is being afforded to him," DFAT executive Andrew Todd told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.

Last year, Mr Assange withdrew consent for information about him to be given to the Australian government.

The Wikileaks founder reported being handcuffed 11 times, stripped naked twice and having his case files confiscated after the first day of his trial.

"We sought advice from the prison in relation to those reports," Mr Todd said.

"We were advised that other than the issue with legal documents, they were standard prison-to-court and court-to-prison procedures."

Senator Payne said there had been "an acknowledgement an error was made" in relation to the legal documents and they were returned.

"I trust we have determined that won't occur again," she told the committee.

It was revealed last week that meetings between Mr Assange and his lawyers inside the Ecuadorian embassy in the United Kingdom were allegedly secretly filmed.

Those claims are subject to separate legal proceedings in Spain, which Australian officials are also monitoring.

The UN special rapporteur on torture has raised concerns about the continued deterioration of Julian Assange's health since his arrest and detention earlier this year, warning his life was at risk.

Mr Assange is currently is being held at the high-security Belmarsh Prison.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who recently visited Mr Assange inside the facility, told SBS News the Wikileaks founder is effectively being held in "solitary confinement" and his attendance in court sees him "quarantined from his lawyers."

"He is being treated very poorly and in my opinion not consistent with what we would regard as reasonable standards for someone who is not actually charged with anything," he said.

"He's basically just been detained facing an extradition trial - I think it is completely unreasonable."

Senator Payne said she raised Australia's expectations about Mr Assange's treatment with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab during his visit to Canberra three weeks ago.

Mr Assange is facing extradition to the United States on 17 espionage charges, including conspiring to receive, obtaining and disclosing national security information.

All bar one offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, but Australian officials have been advised people charged with similar offences in the United States have not received cumulative sentences.

None of the offences Mr Assange faces carries the death penalty, but department officials confirmed he could face further charges in the United States if he is extradited.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/consular-officials-pressured-over-trial-conditions-facing-julian-assange

#7865087 at 2020-01-21 09:08:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #6 - YEAR OF THE BOOMERANG Edition

Australian detainee says she rejected invitation to spy for Iran

An Australian university lecturer jailed in Tehran says Iran tried to recruit her as a spy in exchange for her release, an offer she rejected in a letter smuggled out of prison.

Cambridge-educated Kylie Moore-Gilbert begged to be allowed to leave the restrictive unit where she has served periods in solitary confinement.

In letters smuggled out of her cell in Evin prison, she said she feels "abandoned and forgotten" and claimed Iran tried to recruit her as a spy.

Dr Moore-Gilbert, who most recently worked as a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Melbourne, was arrested in September 2018 while at an educational conference and later convicted of espionage.

She is serving a 10-year sentence, but has described being shown two conflicting sentences: one outlining 13 months' imprisonment and the other a decade-long term.

Ten letters seen by British media outlets, written in crude Farsi, were sneaked out of the prison.

In a letter to her "case manager", Moore-Gilbert wrote: "please accept this letter as an official and definitive rejection of your offer to me to work with the intelligence branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps".

"Under no circumstances will I be persuaded to change my decision.

"I am not a spy. I have never been a spy and I have no interest to work for a spying organisation in any country. When I leave Iran, I want to be a free woman and live a free life, not under the shadow of extortion and threats."

The letters are variously addressed to three men. One, named Mr Vasiri, is thought to be a deputy prosecutor in the Iranian judiciary, while Mr Ghaderi and Mr Hosseini are thought to be mid-ranking officers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In the letters, Dr Moore-Gilbert referred to meetings with these men, who appear to have influenced her treatment in prison, including being allowed access to books.

The prison section she is being held in is reportedly run by the IRGC, while her case is managed by the judiciary.

Dr Moore-Gilbert detailed the conditions she has endured while incarcerated.

In a letter written last July she said: "I'm taking psychiatric medications, but these 10 months that I have spent here have gravely damaged my mental health.

"I am still denied phone calls and visitations, and I am afraid that my mental and emotional state may further deteriorate if I remain in this extremely restrictive detention ward."

In a letter sent to her Iranian case manager, Dr Moore-Gilbert stated her "official and definitive rejection of your offer to me to work with the intelligence branch of IRGC".

"I am not a spy. I have never been a spy and I have no interest to work for a spying organisation in any country."

Dr Moore-Gilbert also used the letters to protest her innocence, saying she had been the victim of "fabrications and trumped-up accusations".

On September 18 she wrote about having food allergies.

"I cannot eat most of the food coming out of Ward 2A's kitchen … I am entirely alone in Iran. I have no friends or family here and in addition to all the pain I have endured here I feel like I am abandoned and forgotten."

Dr Moore-Gilbert recently smuggled another letter from the prison in which she begged Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to secure her freedom.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne spoke with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif about the situation on the sidelines of a conference in India on January 16.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/australian-detainee-says-she-rejected-invitation-to-spy-for-iran-20200121-p53tf4.html

#7710368 at 2020-01-04 06:26:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #6 - YEAR OF THE BOOMERANG Edition

PM calls for restraint of US-Iran tensions as embassy 'locked down'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he will pursue "restraint" and a "de-escalation" of tensions in the Middle East after admitting his government was blind sided by US President Donald Trump's decision to take out a top Iranian military commander in a Baghdad air strike.

Mr Morrison said the Australian embassy in Iraq was now in lockdown after a targeted US drone strike at Baghdad Airport killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force in the Middle East, early on Friday.

A second US air strike on Saturday, targeting an Iraqi militia, killed six people on Taji road north of Baghdad, near Camp Taji, an Australian military base.

About 280 Australian Defence personnel are currently stationed at the base.

Mr Morrison said he was not advised of the Trump administration's intentions prior to the strikes, but was in "constant contact" with allies in the region and had made efforts to ensure the safety of Australians.

"The United States took this action based on their own information and they took that action without discussing it with partners," Mr Morrison said on Saturday.

He said he had "been aware" of Mr Trump's concerns in relation to some practices by Iranians "for some time", but he would "leave it to them to talk to what their actions are".

"We've been aware of their strong views about those things for many years and I think that speaks for itself," Mr Morrison said.

"We are very mindful and have spent a lot of effort focusing on those Australians who find themselves in the Middle East at this point and particularly in Iraq and also in diplomatic posts in the region.

"Our goal remains a united and stable Iraq, which is what also the Canadian government have said and we echo the sentiments they've expressed."

The strike has marked a major escalation in the conflict between Washington and Iran, as Iran vowed "harsh retaliation".

The two nations have faced repeated crises since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.

British government officials expressed alarm about the lack of consultation from the US, with Downing Street taken "by surprise", causing anger among ministers who had to scramble to react to the rapidly-escalating crisis.

Mr Morrison said Australia's Baghdad embassy had moved to "a very heightened sense of security" and was "effectively in lockdown" following the strikes.

He said Australia's 2000 personnel deployment was "always under constant reassessment" and this was particularly the case in the Middle East.

"We have personnel in Iraq in three separate locations and the CDF

[Chief of the Defence Force, General Angus Campbell] and his team are doing a reassessment but we are making sure that they are as safe as we can make them," he said.

Mr Morrison said Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Foreign Minister Marise Payne would be speaking to the US counterparts on Saturday.

Australia has committed the HMAS Toowoomba, with 177 sailors, to join a US-led coalition to guard against oil supplies being threatened by Iran in the increasingly tense Strait of Hormuz in February.

Mr Morrison said the ship would be making its way towards India in the coming days and the government would "continue to monitor that situation very closely".

Mr Trump said he ordered the killing of Soleimani because the general was "plotting to kill" many Americans and was also responsible for killing and wounding "thousands" of Americans in the region.

"He should have been taken out many years ago," Trump tweeted from his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he was on holiday.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pm-calls-for-restraint-of-us-iran-tensions-as-embassy-locked-down-20200104-p53orx.html

#7495397 at 2019-12-13 06:21:54 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #6 - YEAR OF THE BOOMERANG Edition

Repost from Q Research General #9582

>>7491430 (pb)

Australia to Spend $715 Million Upgrading Port to Accommodate More US Navy Ships

Canberra is preparing to shell out $715 million to upgrade naval facilities in Australia's Northern Territory to accommodate more US warships, according to a report by the US military-linked publication Stars and Stripes.

Stars and Stripes reported Thursday, citing comments made to them by Australian defense officials, that the Australian Department of Defense intended to spend $715 million to upgrade the naval base HMAS Coonawarra and the surrounding Larrakeyah Defense Precinct in the northwestern city of Darwin.

Then-Australian Minister for Defense Senator Marise Payne announced part of the deal last year: a $495 million plan to upgrade Larrakeyah's infrastructure and add a second 250-meter-long wharf better able to accomodate landing helicopter docks (LHDs), a type of helicopter carrier that can also dispatch amphibious assault vehicles, Australian Defense Magazine reported.

Also included in the bill are associated refueling and other facilities as well as base infrastructure expansion. All the upgrades are expected to be complete by 2023, according to the Australian Department of Defense web page on the project.

Another $223 million is also set aside for maintenance and to support further growth over the next 25 years, according to the DoD. Stars and Stripes also noted that $88.65 million will go toward upgrading maintenance facilities at Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin.

However, the upgraded ports will benefit Australia's naval forces, too, with Coonawarra able to berth six of the country's 12 new Arafura-class patrol boats.

Sputnik reported earlier on the Pentagon's plans to spend $8 billion over the next decade upgrading its own facilities in Northern Territory, which is the closest part of Australia to China, the South China Sea and the vulnerable sea lanes connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The US Marine Corps presence in the Northern Territory has steadily increased in recent years, reaching its peak planned strength of 2,500 this past summer. US troops use the dry and sparsely populated territory to test out maneuvers, including live firing of weaponry like HIMARS rockets.

Several US warships have called to port in the northern city in the last year, according to Stars and Stripes, including the guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale, the anti-mine ship USS Patriot and submarine tender USS Emory S. Land.

Between the perceived unreliability of the US and the continuing rise of China, Australia has in recent years embarked on an ambitious military buildup that has included not only purchasing long-range spy drones from Washington, but also an unprecedented naval expansion and even weighing the question of acquiring nuclear weapons.

According to a 2017 plan laid out by the Department of Defense, Canberra has set aside $65.3 billion for warship construction and another $1 billion for shipyard upgrades; the plans include two LHDs, 12 new submarines and nine new frigates.

Binoy Kampmark, senior lecturer at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, told Sputnik that "Australia is being asked to perform a deputy policing role in the Asia-Pacific region, one it has traditionally performed for its US allies."

https://sputniknews.com/asia/201912121077557845-australia-to-spend-715-million-upgrading-port-to-accommodate-more-us-navy-ships-report/

#7387792 at 2019-11-28 06:34:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #6 - YEAR OF THE BOOMERANG Edition

>>7374387
Scott Morrison responds to Pamela Anderson's Julian Assange plea

Pamela Anderson's impassioned plea for Scott Morrison to personally intervene to secure the release of Julian Assange has fallen on deaf ears, with the Prime Minister insisting the WikiLeaks founder front a British court to justify his actions.

Mr Morrison wrote to the former Baywatch star explaining that the Australian government had to respect Britain's judicial process and was unable to intervene any further.

In a copy of the letter, obtained by The Australian, Mr Morrison said Foreign Minister Marise Payne had oversight of the consular assistance offered to Mr Assange and the 48-year-old would not receive any special treatment.

"The Australian government continues to monitor Mr Assange's case closely, as it would for any other Australian citizen in detention overseas.

"Beyond providing consular assistance, it is important to note that Australia has no standing and is unable to intervene in Mr Assange's legal proceedings.

"Mr Assange is entitled to due process, including representation in the legal proceedings he faces in the UK.

"The proper place for Mr Assange to raise concerns about the lawfulness of his actions, or his treatment under the law, is through those legal processes, which should be allowed to run their course."

Mr Assange remains in a top-security British jail as he fights a US bid to extradite him on espionage charges that could see him sentenced for up to 175 years in the US.

Mr Morrison's letter came as Anderson arrived in Brisbane on Monday night, ahead of filming on a television commercial.

The model and actress had been invited to give a speech at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, calling for the Prime Minister to negotiate Mr Assange's safe return to Australia, but had to cancel the engagement because of a scheduling conflict.

It is understood Anderson had been invited to the nation's capital by South Australian cross-bench MP Rebekha Sharkie, and had also been scheduled to watch a session of question time and participate in a "Q&A" session with interested MPs and senators.

In a copy of her intended speech sighted by The Australian, Anderson was to claim Mr ­Assange was suffering "psychological torture" in jail.

"Every moment he is in there, he is in danger," she was to say.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/scott-morrison-responds-to-pamela-andersons-julian-assange-plea/news-story/ff122bb5d32842ee9fd630e188945e9d

#7355103 at 2019-11-14 07:18:19 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #6 - YEAR OF THE BOOMERANG Edition

Notables
are not endorsements

#5 - Part 1
>>6576626 Australian Vioxx Case: Merck Created Hit List to "Destroy," "Neutralize" or "Discredit" Dissenting Doctors
>>6576661 Brothers speared by marlin that crashed onto inflatable fishing boat off NSW coast
>>6576707 50 children saved after police bust online pedophile ring: Interpol
>>6576725, >>6584761, >>6584764 Krassenstein brothers banned permanently from Twitter
>>6576765 Papua New Guinea PM forced to deny being Australian after his citizenship is called into question
>>6576795 Global paedophile ring bust leads to rescue of 50 children amid fears of hundreds of abuse cases
>>6583739 Masonic / Luciferian symbolism in Queensland Police Emblem
>>6584728 Snap 'climate emergency' rally to disrupt parts of Melbourne CBD at midday
>>6585041 5G technology risks and Anons comments
>>6585216, >>6588423, >>6590233, >>6590336, >>6592990, >>6594378, Q Research Australia 404's - Helpful anon saves the day!

>>6591484 Huawei "Spent All Their Resources Stealing", Stunning New Exposé Shows
>>6591615 Bill and Hillary Clinton's Life in Exile
>>6591923 Sinodinos tapped for US role as Trump raises questions over Australia
>>6599705 Sea level data ALTERED by scientists to create false impression of rising oceans
>>6599742 Citigroup, JP Morgan, UBS Face Forex Cartel Class Action in Australia
>>6601276 Australian ships tailed by Chinese military in South China Sea
>>6601362 New Labor leader Anthony Albanese calls for end to climate wars
>>6607087 George Pell will not seek reduced sentence if appeal against guilty verdict fails
>>6607102 Further Pell related Anon comments Re-Posted from QRes
>>6607114 Army Virtue-Tweet Backfires: 1000s Expose "Heartbreaking" Horrors Of War

>>6607132 US investigative journalist finds evidence UK interfered in the US election (posted in Cairnsnews.org)
>>6607147 Australian rare-earth ore processor wants to build a plant in the US
>>6613332, >>6613478 U.S. Marines Tweet, Shoalwater Bay Training Area, QLD Australia, "All Aboard" plus Q Post #22
>>6625985 U.S. Marines Twitter uses same picture for Australia and Norway tweet
>>6626004 Anon raises more questions about Norway - relevance to U.S. Marine tweets?
>>6628813 U.S. Marines Australia Tweet "All Aboard" now deleted.
>>6616149 Anons comments on Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs
>>6616155 Treated like trash: south-east Asia vows to return mountains of rubbish from west
>>6616161 Trade Me (NZ ebay clone) pulls 'It's Okay To Be White' T-shirts
>>6616188 New Zealand Gun Control Lobby Pushes Registration, Total Semiautomatic Ban

>>6616256, >>6626034 Australian navy pilots struck by lasers in South China Sea
>>6616262 Boy who 'egged' Australian politician donates $100K GoFundMe cash to Christchurch mosque shooting victims
>>6625973 US Marine killed in NT training accident
>>6626008 Australia poised for rate cut as economy continues to weaken
>>6626021 StandWithUs Tweet: Frank Lowy has finally made Aliyah and returned home to Israel
>>6626046 New Zealand removes any reference to Jesus from parliamentary prayer
>>6626575 China's communist party has so much power in New Zealand that western countries may stop sharing intelligence
>>6635421 No 5G in Brussels - Radiation concerns
>>6635428 Bit of comic relief - Fuhrer Bill Shorten cracks it
>>6635431 New Mosquito eradication method, toxin derived from Australian Blue Mountains funnel-web spider

>>6642777 Nestle Says Requirement to Report Use of Slave Labor Would Cost Consumers More Money
>>6643646 Federal election 2019: Minor cousins of Right propped up Coalition victory
>>6659499 Two Australians' viral anti-gun video sends stern warning to US politicians
>>6659893, >>6660526 Video: Three Chinese Warships make surprise entrance into Sydney
>>6667096 Australian National University data breach exposes staff, students in sophisticated attack
>>6667630 Australian government, spy chiefs secretly urge UK to ban Huawei
>>6668041 Ben Fordham targeted after AFP raid political editor Annika Smethurst's home over spy story
>>6668084 George Pell appeal: What you need to know
>>6668086 Livestream links for Cardinal George Pell's appeal
>>6669993 Four dead in Darwin shooting, one arrested

#7273549 at 2019-07-31 08:47:31 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 - Shill count HIGH Edition

Lawyer wants PM to raise Assange with US

Julian Assange's lawyer has urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to raise her client's extradition case when he meets with US vice president Mike Pompeo at the weekend.

Jennifer Robinson was in Canberra to drum up support for the WikiLeaks founder who is fighting extradition to the US where he faces numerous charges including espionage.

His case should be of "great concern" to all Australians, Ms Robinson - who represents Assange in the UK - told reporters on Wednesday.

"This is a dangerous precedent for all of the media and a dangerous precedent being set against an Australian citizen."

She called on Mr Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne to raise the issue when they host Mr Pompeo at AUSMIN in Sydney on Sunday.

Assange, 48, is serving a 50-week prison sentence in the UK for skipping bail after he spent seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

He fled to the embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden for questioning over sexual assault allegations.

Ms Robinson, who last saw Assange in Belmarsh prison a few weeks ago, has "serious concerns" for his health.

"His health has obviously deteriorated significantly and (there's) likely permanent damage on his health as a result from his time in the embassy," she said.

"He does not deserve the treatment he has received and it's time for the Australian government to speak up."

The US has indicted Assange on 18 charges including allegations of conspiring with intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a classified Pentagon computer.

His extradition case is due to begin in February.

But former Greens senator Scott Ludlam, who has known Assange since 2011, said the government should not wait for the matter to grind through British courts for "two or three years".

"Julian Assange needs to come home," he told reporters.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6304159/lawyer-wants-pm-to-raise-assange-with-us/?cs=14264

#7196599 at 2019-07-26 06:23:47 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 - Shill count HIGH Edition

Top US officials to visit Australia next week for talks with Morrison

New York: US President Donald Trump's top diplomat and his newly-installed defence chief will travel to Australia next week for meetings with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other senior Australian politicians.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mike Esper will lead the US delegation to Australia for the annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) in Sydney on Sunday, August 4.

The meetings are held every year between the two countries' top foreign affairs and defence officials, alternating between the US and Australia.

They come a month before Morrison travels to Washington DC, where he will receive a rare state dinner with Trump.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who was then defence minister, attended last year's talks in California alongside her predecessor Julie Bishop. This will be the first time Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has participated in the talks.

This year's event comes as tensions between the US and Iran continue to escalate and with the US and China about to re-open negotiations on trade.

"As part of his AUSMIN engagement, the secretary will participate in dialogues aimed at strengthening the Alliance, working shoulder-to-shoulder with Australia to meet global and transnational challenges, and safeguarding sovereignty in Pacific Island countries and Southeast Asia," US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

"The secretary will also meet with Prime Minister Morrison to discuss continued collaboration on advancing our shared set of values, principles, and overlapping interests."

Pompeo, one of Trump's most trusted advisers, will also travel to Thailand and Micronesia on the trip.

Esper was only confirmed to the position this week by the US Senate, making this his first overseas trip since being appointed the permanent defence secretary.

He replaces James Mattis, who resigned just before Christmas because of policy disagreements with the President.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/top-us-officials-to-visit-australia-next-week-for-talks-with-morrison-20190726-p52axo.html

#6912108 at 2019-07-04 06:06:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 - Shill count HIGH Edition

>>6894966
Alek Sigley 'released from detention' in North Korea, Scott Morrison says

Australian Alek Sigley has been freed from detention in North Korea more than a week he was reported missing, landing safely in China after Swedish officials helped to secure his release.

Mr Sigley arrived in Bejing this morning, telling reporters he was feeling "great", but declining to answer any questions about his time in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"I'm fine. I'm very good," he said.

He was accompanied by Swedish Government envoy Kent Rolf Magnus Harstedt, and was ushered out of the airport by an embassy vehicle shortly after.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the release of Mr Sigley in Question Time this afternoon.

"Alek is safe and well," Mr Morrison said.

"We were advised that the DPRK have released him from detention and he has safely left the country and I can confirm that he has arrived safely [in China].

"On behalf of the Australian Government I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the Swedish authorities for their invaluable assistance in securing Alek's prompt release, which demonstrates the value of discreet behind-the-scenes work by officials in solving sensitive consular cases in close partnership with other governments.

"I'm sure we all could not be more pleased."

The 29-year-old's father, Gary Sigley, said he was very happy to hear his son was safe.

"I'm sure that he'll be reunited with his wife very soon," he said.

"We hope to see him in the not too distant future as well and give him a big hug and kiss.

"We're very happy that he's safe and sound."

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said Swedish diplomats met with North Korean officials on Australia's behalf on Wednesday to discuss Mr Sigley's disappearance.

"On behalf of the Australian Government may I express our deepest gratitude to Swedish authorities for their prompt and invaluable assistance in securing Alek's prompt release," she told the Senate.

Senator Payne said she would not be releasing any more information about the case out of respect for Mr Sigley's privacy.

Mr Sigley was reported missing by friends last week.

The 29-year-old, who was believed to be the only Australian living in North Korea, began studying for a master's degree in Korean literature at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang last year.

He is the founder of Tongil Tours, an Australian-based company specialising in guided tours to North Korea since 2013.

In 2017 he told the ABC North Korea was "a fascinating country, there's no other country in the world like North Korea" and said it was not dangerous to travel there.

"If we thought it was unsafe, we'd stop doing these tours," he said at the time.

Mr Sigley grew up in Perth but attended the Australian National University in Canberra before moving overseas.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-04/alek-sigley-north-korea-alive-scott-morrison-confirms/11278724

#6715686 at 2019-06-10 04:28:42 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 - Shill count HIGH Edition

AFP media raids: defence agencies refuse to say if minister was told before leaks referred to police

Defence agencies are refusing to say whether they consulted with the then defence minister Marise Payne before referring leaks of classified information to the Australian federal police.

The AFP has confirmed that it began its investigations into the ABC's report of alleged unlawful killings by Australian troops in Afghanistan and Annika Smethurst's report of plans to extend spy powers after it received referrals from agency heads in July 2017 and August 2018 respectively.

Payne was the relevant minister for both the defence department and the Australian Signals Directorate at the time of the referrals.

Both agencies refused to respond to questions from Guardian Australia about whether they had consulted with Payne before asking the AFP to investigate, with the Department of Defence saying it would be "inappropriate" to respond.

The ongoing secrecy over the handling of the raids comes as the AFP faces the possibility of two inquiries into its widely condemned actions when parliament resumes next month. The chair of the committee overseeing law enforcement agencies, Craig Kelly, has pledged to review the AFP's conduct, while crossbench senators are also pushing for a separate Senate probe.

Labor's shadow home affairs minister, Kristina Keneally, has said a Senate inquiry is "an option open to the opposition", but it would still require the full support of the crossbench to become a reality.

The ABC is also considering taking legal action over the raid, its chair confirmed on Monday. Ita Buttrose said the broadcaster had consulted lawyers about its options but had not "briefed anybody yet".

"At this point, we're really assessing the allegations to see what actions can be taken and we want to make sure that we're in the strongest available position to defend ourselves and also our journalists," Buttrose told ABC radio.

Matthew Collins QC, president of the Victorian Bar Council, confirmed he had been retained by the ABC but could not comment further.

Buttrose also said she would be meeting with the prime minister, Scott Morrison, about the raid this week.

"I'm not going to tell the prime minister what to do but I will tell him how we feel at the ABC and how I feel," she said.

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, has claimed the AFP's investigation happened at "arm's length" from the government, saying he had been aware that the investigation was under way, but had no prior knowledge of the media raids.

Under the AFP's guidelines, matters where the execution of a search warrant may have "politically sensitive implications" should be raised with the minister responsible for the AFP, by the relevant minister or department at the time of the referral.

"This enables the government to be informed at the earliest juncture of potentially politically contentious matters that may require investigation by the AFP," the guidelines state.

As the government faces sustained pressure over the nature of the raids, former defence secretary and former head of ASIO Dennis Richardson said agencies needed to be "cautious" about referrals to the AFP.

"If you refer a matter to the AFP they take control of that, and it goes where it goes - they drop some, they pursue others," Richardson told ABC radio.

"This one ... was a matter referred to them two years ago and it pops out of the woodwork now. That to me is not unusual, but I do think that it points to the fact that you need to be cautious in what you refer to the AFP if you don't want it to surprise you down the track."

He said he understood the "emotional reaction" to the raids, but believed it was "misplaced" to suggest the AFP was trying to intimidate the media.

"It might have had the consequence of that, but everything I know about the AFP would lead me to believe that the AFP is not in the space of deliberately setting out to intimidate the media."

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/10/afp-media-raids-defence-agencies-refuse-to-say-if-minister-was-told-before-leaks-referred-to-police

#6675982 at 2019-06-05 08:21:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 - Shill count HIGH Edition

Quote:

Ms Smethurst, the national politics editor of the Sunday Telegraph and other News Corp Australia titles, reported last April that Australia's Home and Defence ministries were discussing a proposal that would grant new powers to the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), a cyber intelligence agency.

She wrote that under the plan, emails, bank records and text messages of Australians could be accessed by the ASD if the two ministries gave their approval. Currently, the ASD is not allowed to spy on Australians, though the domestic spy agency, ASIO, can investigate citizens with a warrant.

Ms Smethurst's report included images from a top secret document.

At the time, the two ministries and the ASD released a joint statement saying: "There is no proposal to increase the ASD's powers to collect intelligence on Australians or to covertly access their private data."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48511217


Quote

Smethurst's article revealed that the emails, bank accounts and text messages of Australian citizens could be secretly accessed by government spies without a trace under the proposal, as long as the Defense and Home Affairs ministers approved the plan.

The raid comes three weeks after the federal election returned the Morrison government to power, leaving Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton at the helm.

Current Australian law prohibits the ASD from spying on citizens - a power left to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the country's domestic spy agency.

Smethhurt revealed that Dutton and former Defense Minister Marise Payne had reviewed the proposal, however it had not moved beyond that stage to be formally presented to the government.

https://stocktalkjournal.com/aussie-feds-raid-news-corp-journalists-home-after-government-spying-expos/

#6674244 at 2019-06-05 02:38:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 - Shill count HIGH Edition

>>6674233

RP from QRes#8525

Aussie Feds Raid News Corp Journalist's Home After Government Spying Exposé

Australian federal police officers are raiding the home of News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst over an April, 2018 story accusing the government of radical new espionage powers allowing the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to monitor citizens for the first time, according to the Daily Telegraph (via the Herald Sun).

Ms Smethurst, the political editor for News Corp Sunday titles includingThe Sunday Telegraph, was at home preparing to leave for work this morning when several Australian Federal Police officers arrived with a warrant from an ACT magistrate giving them authority to search her home, computer and mobile phone.

Ms Smethurst complied with the warrant and is presently waiting for the raid to be completed. She has declined to answer questions apart from confirming her identity. -Herald Sun

Smethurst's article revealed that the emails, bank accounts and text messages of Australian citizens could be secretly accessed by government spies without a trace under the proposal, as long as the Defense and Home Affairs ministers approved the plan.

The raid comes three weeks after the federal election returned the Morrison government to power, leaving Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton at the helm.

Ms Smethurst's original story included images of top-secret letters between the secretary of Home Affairs, Mike Pezzullo, and his counterpart in Defence, Greg Moriarty, outlining a plan to potentially allow government hackers to "proactively disrupt and covertly remove" onshore cyber threats by "hacking into critical infrastructure." -Herald Sun

Current Australian law prohibits the ASD from spying on citizens - a power left to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the country's domestic spy agency.

Smethhurt revealed that Dutton and former Defense Minister Marise Payne had reviewed the proposal, however it had not moved beyond that stage to be formally presented to the government.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-03/aussie-feds-raid-news-corp-journalists-home-after-government-spying-expose

#6616149 at 2019-05-29 12:35:32 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 - Shill count HIGH Edition

Anons comments on Marise Payne
RP from QRes#8448

Paynes an interesting one. She was Minister for Defence before Turnbull got the axe. So she overlooked the Australian Signals Directorate (NSA equivalent) and now shes Minister for Foreign Affairs and overlooks the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (CIA equivalent).

She knows whats going on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marise_Payne

#6602301 at 2019-05-27 18:32:39 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #5 - Shill count HIGH Edition

No Australian request for US Barr probe

Australia hasn't yet been asked to "participate" in an investigation into the circumstances that sparked a multi-year probe into whether Donald Trump's 2016 US presidential campaign colluded with Russia.

US Attorney-General William Barr has been tasked with examining the events that prompted the FBI probe, and Mr Trump wants Australia's role examined.

The president said on Friday he has declassified "potentially millions of pages" of intelligence documents related to surveillance activities on his campaign so Mr Barr can analyse them.

"He can look and I hope he looks at the UK and I hope he looks at Australia and I hope he looks at Ukraine," Mr Trump told reporters.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia has not been asked to be part of Mr Barr's investigation.

"We have not been asked to participate. We would, of course, consider such a request were it to be made," she told ABC Radio National on Monday.

The minister has also followed Prime Minister Scott Morrison's lead by not commenting on what the investigation may cover.

"We don't intend to engage in a public commentary that might entail any risk that we're seen to prejudice the ongoing examination of these matters in the US."

The move has been denounced by some members of US Congress who predicted trust between the Five Eyes intelligence sharing nations - the US, Australia, UK, Canada and New Zealand - could be eroded.

The FBI probe led to Bob Mueller being appointed as US Special Counsel to investigate links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

His report pointed to a 2016 meeting between in a London bar between then Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos and Australian's then high commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer.

Mr Downer claimed Mr Papadopoulos told him at the bar Russia had damaging material on Trump's presidential rival Hillary Clinton.

The information was forwarded to Canberra and then passed on to US intelligence services and the FBI.

Mr Papadopoulos in return claimed Mr Downer spied on him during the bar meeting, a charge Mr Downer rejects.

Papadopoulos later pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. He was sentenced to 14 days' jail.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/no-australian-request-for-us-barr-probe

#6014726 at 2019-04-02 07:07:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #4 - Q Goes Down Under Edition

Australia, Holland, Russia start talks over downed MH17
Sourced from QRes#7687

By TREVOR MARSHALLSEA Associated Press SYDNEY - Mar 27, 2019 1:11 AM

The Netherlands and Australia confirmed Wednesday that three-way talks with Russia have begun over the ongoing criminal investigation into the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.

The two countries announced last year they were holding Russia responsible for providing the missile fired by pro-Russian forces in war-torn Ukraine that brought down the jet, causing the deaths of all 298 people aboard. The dead included 196 people from the Netherlands and 38 from Australia.

Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne said Wednesday that the first trilateral talks about state responsibility for the incident took place earlier this month, after diplomatic approaches were made earlier this year.

"We cannot go into the content of this process because confidentiality is vital here," Blok said at a joint news conference with Payne in Sydney. "But I can say this: We remain committed to achieving truth, justice and accountability."

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/australia-holland-russia-start-talks-downed-mh17-61970728


BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE …

BREAKING: Ukrainian Security Boss Admits Ukraine Shot Down MH-17, Planned Ethnic Genocide in Donbass

Specialists from the USA and the UK prepared a division of the SBU (Department No. 5) who went to train in the US and abroad to organize terrorist attacks and sabotage in Donbass

https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/03/breaking-ukrainian-security-boss-admits-ukraine-shot-down-mh-17-planned-ethnic-genocide-in-donbass/


Why is MSM narrative saying Australia and the Netherlands attempting to criminalize Russia over a downed aircraft Russia did not shoot down?

Is this the continuation of the narrative that Russia is "Evil"?

#4940385 at 2019-01-28 18:31:00 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #2

Australia backs Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president

The Australian government has announced support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido after he announced himself interim president on Wednesday.

"Australia recognises and supports the President of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, in assuming the position of interim president, in accordance with the Venezuelan constitution and until elections are held," Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said in a statement.

"Australia calls for a transition to democracy in Venezuela as soon as possible."

The announcement comes after the United States called on the world to "pick a side" on Venezuela, as the country grapples with deadly mass protests and political unrest.

Mr Guaido claims he is entitled to the presidency on the basis that President Nicolas Maduro's reelection to a second six-year term was fraudulent.

Mr Maduro cruised to reelection last May amid low turnout and allegations of vote buying by the government.

Australia has now joined Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and a string of Latin American countries in recognising Mr Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader until elections are able to be held in the conflict-stricken country.

Mr Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013 and has the support of the armed forces, has refused to stand down and rejected an international ultimatum to call elections within eight days.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-backs-venezuela-s-opposition-leader-juan-guaido-as-interim-president

Australian Gov for regimes change for gold oil and Israel. Noahide world order is coming!