Foreign service is ‘stretched to the point of ineffectiveness’ as it tries to deal with a fragmenting world order, report says
Some parts of Australia’s overseas diplomatic network are “stretched to the point of ineffectiveness” and need a staffing boost, a review has warned the government.
The review, overseen in part by the influential foreign policy expert Allan Gyngell who died last week, has identified “serious gaps” in Australia’s foreign service.
Continue reading...Report which cast doubt over use of VERA-2R tool in detaining terror suspects post-sentencing was not shared with state governments or legal aid
Legal Aid lawyers were left oblivious to a damning government-held report which cast doubt on a tool used to lock up or control 25 of their clients on the basis they might commit a terrorist offence in the future.
Guardian Australia has revealed serious problems with the way the federal and New South Wales governments have wielded extraordinary powers to detain or control individuals for crimes they have not yet committed.
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Continue reading...Hayley Le, whose clients were assessed to be at risk of offending due to extreme beliefs, calls for judicial review of ‘confronting’ conduct
Lawyers for four men targeted using extraordinary terrorism powers are outraged at the failure to disclose serious problems with a tool being used to predict their clients’ likelihood of future offending.
The lawyers say the conduct should be subject to urgent judicial review.
Continue reading...Coast guard say passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island. Follow live
The US coast guard has confirmed that an Australian man fell overboard on the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship, which was travelling from Brisbane to Hawaii.
The coast guard said the passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island.
500 nautical miles south of Hawaii’s Big Island a man fell overboard on Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. He is an Australian national.
A Hercules airplane is on scene conducting a search. At the moment it is the only asset that’s on scene searching.
We’ve been on scene since 9am. And with the crew’s endurance and the fuel constraints of the vessel they should be there for about six hours since arriving on scene.
What I can confirm is the budget will have a cost of living package that is targeted to the most vulnerable. We’ve been clear about that. Obviously some of that is the assistance and support on energy relief. We’ve had the announcements around medicines in the last day.
We are focused on making sure we can do the right thing for those that are doing it tough, but within an environment where there are a lot of demands on the budget in a lot of areas.
Continue reading...Australia’s intelligence agency tells parliamentary inquiry that racist groups are using extremist symbols to raise their profile
Australia’s domestic intelligence agency Asio has welcomed a Coalition bill to ban Nazi symbols including the Sieg Heil salute, telling a parliamentary inquiry it would help prevent recruitment and radicalisation by far-right extremists.
The bill was introduced by shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, days after a group of men from the Nationalist Socialist Network repeatedly performed the salute on the steps of Victoria’s parliament last month.
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Continue reading...‘Every death at Gallipoli was like a sapling torn out of the earth,’ Albanese says in first dawn service address as PM. Follow the day’s news live
Symbolic sea burial held at Gold Coast dawn service
At the Anzac Day dawn service at Currumbin on the Gold Coast, the local surf life-saving club held a symbolic burial at sea.
Our two countries already work closely together. William has had a long association with Australia. He’s the chair of our naval expert advisory panel that’s already providing advice on our naval acquisitions, and even when he was a serving officer in the US navy, he provided a critical role, he played a critical role in supporting our efforts, for example, he was instrumental in improving the Collins Class submarine to make it the best diesel-powered submarine in the world.
…We do have Australians involved with that review. It will be a short, sharp review, just to check that we got the right structure of our surface fleet to complement the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.
Continue reading...Climate change and humanitarian crisis are calling on too many ADF resources which should be reserved for conflict, Tony Sheldon says
Australia needs to rethink how it uses its defence force for natural disasters, reserving its troops for conflict and limiting their deployment except for in the most extreme events, according to the government’s special envoy for disaster recovery, senator Tony Sheldon.
After the release of the defence strategic review on Monday, the senator also said the government should help locals respond to emergencies before considering creating a new civilian agency.
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Bandt: if budget can afford stage-three tax cuts it can afford to lift Australians out of poverty.
Bandt is also highly critical of the government as it appears set to reject a call from its very own expert advisory panel to raise the jobseeker rate. He says if the budget can afford to keep stage-three tax cuts, it can afford to lift Australians out of poverty:
Everyday people are not causing inflation. They are the victims of inflation. Now, Labor has found over a quarter of a trillion dollars for tax cuts for billionaires and politicians that can’t lift people out of poverty.
Labor’s not making hard choices in this budget, they’re making everyone else make hard choices, like whether to pay for the rent or whether to put food on the table.
We’ll have a look at all of the recommendations of the review, and the government’s response when it’s released fully but a major party stitch up isn’t going to fix the inflation problem.
We need more than just outsourcing the issue of tackling inflation to the RBA, which is what Liberal and Labor want to do. We know that it is excessive profiteering that is driving higher prices and inflation in this country. It’s not the everyday people.
Continue reading...National security experts express concern over resumed construction of a Chinese station which could be used for intelligence operations
Australia should be concerned about the prospect of China using a new research station in Antarctica to assist surveillance operations in the southern hemisphere, according to national security experts.
Satellite imagery collected by Washington-based thinktank, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), shows construction of the station on Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea has resumed for the first time since 2018.
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Continue reading...Intelligence agency wants government security clearance system ‘hardened’ to protect sensitive information
Foreign spies are “aggressively seeking secrets across all parts of Australian society”, including trying to recruit “disloyal” government insiders to access classified information, Asio has warned.
The intelligence agency said “hostile foreign powers and their proxies” were seeking to test the Australian government’s security clearance system.
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Continue reading...The 55-year-old businessman appeared via video link at Parramatta magistrates court. This blog is now closed
‘Really disturbing footage’: David Pocock responds to gas seep video
Senator David Pocock has called the video showing large methane gas bubbles active on the surface of Queensland’s Condamine River “really disturbing footage”.
Continue reading...Alexander Csergo, 55, was arrested in the Sydney suburb of Bondi on Friday on one count of reckless foreign interference
An Australian man charged with a foreign interference offence will remain behind bars until Monday after his case was adjourned in Sydney.
Alexander Csergo, a 55-year-old businessman who normally lives overseas, was arrested in the Sydney suburb of Bondi on Friday for allegedly sharing information with individuals who work for a foreign intelligence service, the Australian federal police said in a statement.
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Kerrynne Liddle says ‘prove it’s not happening’ on child sexual abuse in Alice
Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle, the first Indigenous senator from South Australia, and a name being touted as a contender for shadow minister for Indigenous Australians after Julian Leeser’s resignation.
I think we have to be really careful about politicising this issue, because matters related to any form of assault are sensitive, but important to understand and respond to.
… I think what’s really important though, is it can’t ignore the issue of sexual abuse, but you must also tackle those issues, alongside other issues which include [service] delivery and decision dysfunction.
Do you encourage your leader to temper his language given we haven’t yet seen evidence to say that there is a widespread phenomenon of this?
I say prove it’s not happening. And then we can have a conversation about the kind of language that we can actually use for this.
… You’ve got you’ve got the statistics, which everyone accepts are underreported and underrepresented. You’ve got to have relationships with communities to enable people to start talking about these safe spaces for young people to raise this issue of need to support people to have housing so that young people and older people are not at risk of this.
It’s possible to be optimistic about Australia’s economic future, and to be realistic about a global slowdown.
Continue reading...Global director general says ‘state of in-limbo cannot last longer’, with about 40 citizens still believed to be detained indefinitely
Australia and other countries must continue to rescue their citizens from “dire” conditions in camps in north-eastern Syria, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.
The global director general of the Geneva-based humanitarian organisation, Robert Mardini, said the “state of in-limbo cannot last longer”.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: Morrison government used risk assessment tool known as VERA-2R on 14 occasions after receiving independent report
The Morrison government was warned of serious problems with a tool designed to predict future crime before using it on 14 occasions over three years, including to justify the use of extraordinary preventative detention powers for terrorist offenders who had finished their sentences.
Guardian Australia can also reveal that, in three separate cases, the government failed to disclose to defendants that it knew of deep flaws with the tool being used to assess their likelihood of future offending.
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Continue reading...James Paterson says regulatory barriers in US could imperil access to AI, hypersonic weapons and other advanced systems
Australia needs to be “ruthless” about prioritising which technologies it pursues under the second pillar of the Aukus pact to overcome “regulatory barriers” in the US, the shadow minister for cybersecurity and countering foreign interference, James Paterson, has said.
The Liberal senator made the comments on the Guardian’s Australian politics podcast, warning that an “absence of consensus” in the US and a “clear plan” in Australia could see it miss out.
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Former Tasmanian Liberal premier condemns party’s opposition to voice
Tasmania is the last Liberal state government left in the country and its former premier has taken to social media this morning to speak out against the federal party’s decision to oppose the voice to parliament.
Should the Liberal party maintain its opposition to the voice it will simply accelerate its increasing irrelevance.
I have asked for Cyber Security NSW to issue advice to NSW government employees, to implement this change as soon as possible.
I will no longer be using TikTok.
Continue reading...Australians will find out at 2.30pm AEST whether the Reserve Bank will pause its interest rates hikes after 10 consecutive rises. Follow the day’s news live
Australia’s new high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, says becoming a republic is “inevitable” even if Australians are proud to have the British monarch as their head of state.
In his first interview since taking up the post, Smith told the Times newspaper that most British people would be “indifferent” to Australia getting rid of the monarchy and it would not damage the countries’ relationship.
There is a lot of affection and respect for the monarchy in Australia.
That affection and respect hasn’t gone away because of Australia contemplating from time to time what it should do about its constitutional arrangements.
My personal view is it’s inevitable. But how that’s progressed is entirely a matter for the Australian government of the day.
Our public-sector workers do a great job serving their fellow Victorians and we’re proud to support them. In addition to wage increases, workers will be able to obtain a sign-on bonus while productivity improvements will bring the potential for further advancement of conditions.
The policy provides fair outcomes for employees while being responsible as we deal with the types of budget challenges faced by families, businesses and governments across the world.
Continue reading...Prohibition of Chinese social media app follows similar bans in other western countries
The Australian government has banned the use of Chinese social media app TikTok on government devices, following similar bans in other western countries.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said he had authorised the secretary of his department to issue a mandatory direction to prohibit the TikTok app on devices issued by commonwealth departments and agencies.
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Continue reading...Peak legal body endorses findings by independent monitor that recommends scrapping continuing detention orders
Australia’s peak lawyers body has urged the government to abolish “fraught” powers that allow terrorist offenders to be imprisoned so as to prevent possible crimes being committed in the future.
Last week a damning report by Australia’s national security law watchdog recommended scrapping continuing detention orders, which allow terrorist offenders to be imprisoned for three years on the basis of predicted crimes rather than for any crime they have committed.
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