Category Archives: Australian security and counter-terrorism

Smorgasbord of conspiracy theories join forces at Sydney’s unofficial no rally – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

And now that I’ve introduced you to the “wanking off the dolphin” story, I’m going to skedaddle. Jordyn Beazley is set to steer the mighty blog ship for the next little bit, enjoy!

Our reporter Ben Doherty has been following developments at the UN this week and here’s the top of his story on Penny Wong’s speech, which was delivered in New York this morning Australian time.

With its special responsibility as a permanent member of the security council, Russia mocks the UN every day it continues its illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.

The rest of the permanent members and all member states must be unyielding in our response to Russia’s grave violation of Article II of our shared UN charter.

Continue reading...

Burney decries ‘unbelievably racist and bullying’ treatment in candid remarks to NSW premier – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Burney says Price’s comments ‘simply wrong’

Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney also described Jacinta Price’s comments as “simply wrong”.

It’s a real betrayal to the many families that have experienced things like Stolen Generations.

The idea that colonisation in any country ... doesn’t have long and far-reaching effects is simply wrong.

There are many people I’ve spoken to last night, this morning, that are very distressed and quite frankly, pretty disgusted. But I am going to focus on the goal here and that is a successful referendum.

Continue reading...

Opposition leader accused of being ‘chief propagandist’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

All eyes will be on the high court from about 10am, when it hands down its decision on whether Qantas illegally sacked its ground staff three years ago. The TWU brought the case and Qantas has appealed it all the way to the high court.

You can read some of the previous reporting here:

Continue reading...

Chinese academic raided by Australian police and offered $2,000 for information during trip

Posted on by

Exclusive: Sino-Australian relations expert had phone confiscated and was asked to provide information during ‘heavy-handed’ and ‘counterproductive’ episode

A Chinese academic visiting Australia on a research trip had his accommodation raided by Asio and the Australian federal police, and was offered $2,000 in cash by a man purporting to be from “the federal government” for information on his networks and contacts in China.

The academic, an associate professor at a major Chinese research university, is an expert on Sino-Australian relations and was visiting Australia between July and August. His surveillance comes as Australia seeks to restore its relations with China, with a confirmed prime ministerial visit to Beijing later this year.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Marise Payne to quit parliament – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

The Bureau of Meteorology is urging people in western Sydney, southern and central ranges and the Hunter region to tidy up loose items around their yards as damaging winds are extending over the areas today.

Gusty storms may hit Sydney and the Central Coast today, while there are possible severe storms heading to the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast this afternoon, with a risk of damaging winds and large hail, the BoM says.

Continue reading...

Labor’s counter-terror laws may stifle ‘political dissent’, Law Council warns

Posted on by

Journalists and civil liberty groups also concerned about proposed bill that creates new offences around accessing violent extremist material

Australia’s peak body for lawyers has joined civil liberty groups, journalists and advocacy groups to sound the alarm on proposed laws to criminalise the accessing of violent extremist material, saying the new powers are unnecessary and may inadvertently interfere with “legitimate matters of political dissent or struggle”.

The federal government is seeking to expand counter-terror powers by introducing new offences for possessing or controlling violent extremist material using a carriage service.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Home affairs tried to water down report critical of ‘extraordinary’ counter-terror powers, documents reveal

Posted on by

Exclusive: Department engaged researchers to review its preventive detention of terrorists, only to attempt to remove their most serious criticisms

Department of Home Affairs officials told researchers to water down a key report that threatened to undermine the government’s use of “extraordinary” counter-terror powers allowing individuals to be imprisoned for a crime they have not yet committed, documents show.

Australia’s preventive detention regime for terror offenders, which allows individuals to be imprisoned for up to three years to prevent a future crime, has been described as “extraordinary” and disproportionate by the nation’s independent national security laws watchdog, who called for its abolishment in March and said it was causing Australia to become a “coarser and harsher society”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australian teenager Yusuf Zahab ‘alive’ in Syrian prison months after reports he was killed in IS strike

Posted on by

Family ‘overwhelmed with joy’ after video emerges of teenager, believed to be Zahab, looking healthy and speaking into a camera

An Australian teenager believed killed in an Islamic State airstrike in Syria more than a year ago is believed to have been found alive. His family say they are “overwhelmed with joy”.

Yusuf Zahab was just 11 when he was taken into Syria by his family nearly a decade ago: his older brothers were IS fighters and recruiters.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australian businessman ‘in survival mode’ when he placated Chinese intelligence with open source information, documents claim

Posted on by

Federal police statement of facts tendered to court say Alexander Csergo was in ‘an enhanced state of paranoia’ about being detained in Shanghai

Alexander Csergo says his Chinese intelligence handlers would nominate where to meet.

When he would arrive, Ken and Evelyn - he only ever knew them by a single Anglicised name - would already be waiting and the restaurant otherwise empty of people: cleared, he believed, specifically for their meeting.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Marles says aircrew ‘yet to be found’ after military helicopter crash – as it happened

Posted on by

Four feared dead after Australian army helicopter crashes into waters off Hamilton Island. This blog is now closed

Tasmania police use cadaver dog in search for missing Belgian tourist

AAP reports Tasmania police hope an interstate cadaver dog can reveal where a missing Belgian tourist ended up after weeks of fruitless searches.

Continue reading...

News live: Burney rules out voice debate with Price, saying ‘this is about Australians not politics’

Posted on by

Follow live news updates today

Minister for education Jason Clare said increasing access to a Commonwealth-supported place at university will cost $34m over the next four years – “That’s a pretty good investment”.

He said on ABC RN this morning:

If you’re a young Indigenous person today, you’re more likely to go to jail than you are to university.

The cost of having somebody in jail every year is about $120,000. The cost of a university place is $11,000.

Tuna sushi.

Continue reading...

Foreign spies using sensitive court proceedings to collect information, Australia’s intelligence community says

Posted on by

Director general of national intelligence says NSI Act needs to be modernised but defended tough secrecy laws amid ‘unprecedented’ levels of espionage

Australia’s intelligence community believes foreign spies are using sensitive court proceedings as an “intelligence collection tool” while defending the need for tough secrecy laws.

Australia’s national security law watchdog, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, on Wednesday began public hearings examining the use of laws designed to protect sensitive information during court proceedings.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘My son is innocent’: mother of imprisoned Australian businessman denies he’s a Chinese spy

Posted on by

Lawyers say Alexander Csergo brought home list of requests from aspiring Chinese handlers to ensure he would be believed by Australian authorities

An Australian businessman facing a foreign interference charge brought home a “shopping list” given to him by two Chinese intelligence officials as evidence of China’s overt and ultimately unsuccessful efforts to cultivate him as a source, his lawyers say.

The list, which Alexander Csergo slipped between the pages of a magazine to spirit out of China, requests information about whether Australia’s new Aukus alliance is “preparing for [a] Taiwan war”, about competition between the US and China in the Pacific, and about the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Senator says treaty ‘the only way forward’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Julian Leeser, the former shadow minister for Indigenous affairs and yes campaigner, has reassured ABC Radio that the voice to parliament is a “safe change” with cross-party support as the referendum draws nearer.

“Right from the beginning of my participation in this debate, I’ve called for a higher standard of debate and I’ve said that we should focus on issues of people,” he said.

I was proud to put my signature to the yes case. The yes case provides a positive reason for voting … It speaks to the practical results from change. It explains why recognition makes a difference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But it’s a safe change. It’s a change supported by people from all sides of politics.

Continue reading...

Nationals accuse Labor of ‘hypocrisy’ over response to scathing APVMA report – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Cabinet meeting to decide Lowe’s successor today

Philip Lowe will be replaced as the Reserve Bank governor, with today’s cabinet meeting to decide his successor, Guardian Australia has confirmed.

If I was asked to continue in the role, I would be honoured to do that and I would continue.

If I am not asked to continue in the role, I will do my best to support my successor, and the treasurer has said he will make an announcement before the end of this month.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: China’s access to TikTok data ‘needs to be interrogated’, Shoebridge says

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

It will be easier for women to medically terminate pregnancies up to 63 days of gestation, now that the Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved an application from MS Health to amend restrictions on the prescribing of MS-2 Step (Mifepristone and Misoprostol).

MS-2 Step was only able to be prescribed by a doctor certified to prescribe the medicine, and then dispensed by a pharmacist who was a registered dispenser.

We’re investing in the care economy, we’re investing in manufacturing and we’re investing in critical infrastructure to create secure, well-paid jobs for Australian workers.

While we know that slowing global growth, higher prices and higher interest rates will impact our economy and labour market and continue to strain household budgets over the coming months, Australia is in a better position than nearly anyone else to face the challenges ahead.

Continue reading...

Minister suggests rate pause based on uncertain outlook – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Foreign minister Penny Wong says the focus of Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo’s visit to Australia will be on strengthening economic ties between the two countries, on ABC RN this morning.

One of the things we’re focused on is how do we improve our economic ties. Obviously, the nation is an increasing economic power and will be over the next decade. We want to make sure we’re partners in that. So there will be a great focus on the economy and the economic relationship.

You’ll see some big changes to make sure we make business travel easier.

Continue reading...

Bernard Collaery trial highlights ‘prohibitive’ and ‘onerous’ government secrecy restrictions, lawyers claim

Posted on by

Exclusive: Whistleblower’s legal team detailed the ‘profound’ cost of the commonwealth’s rules in inquiry into the effectiveness of the National Security Information Act 2004

The secrecy restrictions around Bernard Collaery’s prosecution were so severe that he was forced to obtain government approval for his lawyer to view evidence against him, communicate with his legal team in-person in secure rooms chosen by the commonwealth, physically transport documents around the country at exorbitant cost and compose drafts on commonwealth laptop computers at pre-approved locations.

The national security law watchdog is currently investigating the operation and effectiveness of the National Security Information Act 2004, which the federal government uses to protect sensitive information during court proceedings.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Banks stick to rate hike predictions – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Historical societies say banning hate symbols could impact history preservation

Historical societies are also concerned about the proposal to ban Nazi and Islamic State symbols, AAP reports. They worry it will limit education and the preservation of history, and impact memorabilia value.

Modellers need to be able to purchase these items (and) symbols, let alone the basic right of Australian citizens to partake in the legitimate hobby of collecting modelling military items.

The words inscribed on the Islamic flag are sacred words and written by Muslims on a daily basis.

These words are taken directly from our scripture, the Holy Quran, and therefore cannot be subject to a ban.

Continue reading...

Home affairs withheld serious concerns about crime prediction tool during Benbrika case, court hears

Posted on by

Judge suggests there may have been ‘interference with administration of justice’ and government officials could be referred ‘to relevant authorities’

The Department of Home Affairs deliberately withheld information that raised serious questions about the reliability of a future crime prediction tool because it wanted to keep using it on other offenders, the Victorian supreme court has heard.

The supreme court justice Elizabeth Hollingworth is considering whether convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika should be subject to an extended supervision order while he is held in immigration detention, and the conditions of such an order.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...