Visiting Chinese academic heavied by the AFP and ASIO

SMASH AND GRAB

A Chinese language tutorial right here on a analysis journey was reportedly provided $2000 in a paper bundle by the “federal authorities” for intel about his community again residence, Guardian Australia says. Sources stated an individual approached the professor (who the paper didn’t title) in a Brisbane café however wouldn’t say what division they had been from — simply three days later the Chinese language man’s laptop computer and cell phone had been seized in a raid of his lodging by the AFP and ASIO. The person, who works at a serious Chinese language analysis college as an skilled on Sino-Australian relations, flew residence early sans tech, freaked out by the surveillance. It comes as a British parliamentary researcher engaged on China coverage has been arrested within the UK for allegedly spying for China, one thing information.com.au ($) known as “one of many biggest-ever spying breaches at Westminster”. The unnamed man had “hyperlinks” to senior Tories reminiscent of Safety Minister Tom Tugendhat, no matter “hyperlinks” means.

In the meantime Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the G20 condemning Russia’s “unlawful” conflict in Ukraine went laborious sufficient, though each Russia and China snubbed the summit, the declaration didn’t point out Russia, it affirmed Moscow and Beijing’s proper to disagree and, fairly tellingly, Moscow praised the doc as “balanced”. The AFR ($) studies Albanese additionally stated, and not using a lick of self-awareness, people, each “The science is obvious — our local weather has already modified” and “Australia has lengthy been a dependable international vitality provider [of coal and gas] and we are going to proceed to be.” As former NSW fireplace chief Greg Mullins instructed Guardian Australia final week, it’s as if our authorities is saying we’re going chilly turkey on taking medication… however we’ve acquired to promote them to take care of our life-style.

SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS

A Federal Courtroom jury may hear the high-profile spat between impartial NSW MP Alex Greenwich and former NSW One Nation chief Mark Latham for the primary time in historical past, a regulation skilled instructed the SMH ($). Greenwich is suing Latham for a “defamatory and homophobic” tweet about Greenwich being homosexual — College of WA’s Michael Douglas says “the ends of justice may warrant a trial by jury” as per the particulars about juries in Federal Courtroom. The paper provides the Federal Courtroom has mentioned earlier than whether or not defamation instances could also be finest heard by a jury. Why? Attitudes have modified so much previously few many years — together with about homosexuality — which means what we contemplate defamatory has shifted too.

In the meantime a Busselton man working for native council has written a narrative for a far-right web site known as XYZ describing the purpose of being elected as “resisting globohomo” whereas arguing no expertise is required to be a councillor. XYZ is a right-leaning nationalist web site identified for posting neo-Nazi content material (a current story known as Jews a “vital drawback for Western civilisation”). The West ($) says Stephen Wells describes himself on Telegram as a “racist, sexist, heterosexualist [sic] Christian, local weather change- and COVID-denying, anti-vax-supporting, democracy-scorning, whites-loving shit stirrer” — he’s attended anti-drag protests, known as the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood “perverts and degenerates” and ladies in politics as “whores”. Chair of the Anti-Defamation Fee Dvir Abramovich urged the WA Electoral Fee to take motion, although trying on the candidate necessities it’s not clear what it may do to cease him.

MISFORTUNES OF WAR

Former journalist Dean Yates, who headed up Reuters’ workplace in Baghdad in 2007, has described the “crushing, crushing second” WikiLeaks printed video footage of Collateral Murder, the ABC studies. It was filmed by American AH-64 Apache helicopter gun sight and confirmed a lethal air-to-ground assault the place two of Yates’ workers died — 22-year-old Namir Noor-Eldeen, a photographer, and 40-year-old Saeed Chmagh, a driver. Yates, who blamed himself, says his grief and trauma turned anger, leaving his household cautious of him, however he couldn’t cease. 9 years after the assault, he was recognized with PTSD and acquired trauma remedy that troopers and first responders normally get. It comes as ABC broadcaster Phillip Adams has written for The Australian ($) that WikiLeaks founder “Julian Assange’s ‘crime’ deserves the Nobel peace prize” as a result of it led to the world studying of US conflict crimes.

So will our delegation of cross-party politicians to Washington DC later this month progress the whistleblower’s case to return to Australia, as Crikey reported on final week? The Dialog’s Michelle Grattan factors out the US “undercut its personal case” in opposition to Assange by its remedy of Chelsea Manning, who was pardoned by then-president Barack Obama. However Assange’s case has turn into conflated with the Edward Snowden nationwide safety saga within the minds of People (he leaked a heap of 5 Eyes data, as The Guardian explains), an skilled instructed Grattan. Apparently Snowden is now in Russia, which has most likely made the US much more decided to say Assange’s scalp. Talking of transparency, NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley’s workplace is refusing to launch paperwork concerning the tasering of 95-year-old girl Clare Nowland, the SMH ($) studies. Nowland died seven days later. An FOI from the state opposition resulted in blacked-out paperwork, with closely redacted emails and briefings. The cops instructed me to, a spokesperson for Catley stated.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

Die-hard Worm readers might know the sheer unbridled fervour that Fats Bear Week elicits on this author. It’s an annual competitors held in October that crowns the bear who has stacked on the very best variety of kilos for the snoozy hibernation months. However fanatics are free to tune into the bear cam any time of the yr to see the lethal teddies snack on surprised salmon, and it’s lucky that just a few truly do, as a result of they saved a person’s life this week. Followers had been admiring the tranquil panorama of Dumpling Mountain in Katmai Nationwide Park when a dishevelled hiker all of the sudden stumbled into view, seemed down the barrel of the digital camera and mouthed the phrases “Assist me.”

Horrified viewers rapidly contacted the park’s rangers swearing they’d simply seen a hiker on his final legs within the video stream, as The Guardian tells it. There wasn’t a whiff of scepticism amongst Katmai workers about their “devoted” Fats Bear Week neighborhood’s fairly outlandish declare — authorities rapidly launched a full-scale search by way of the 1.7 million-hectare distant space, which led to the rescue of 1 fairly soggy and windblown hiker. He’s fully wonderful, the park assured followers on the platform previously referred to as Twitter, however bear cam saved his life. And it was all because of a handful of people who find themselves actually huge on bears bingeing on the Benedict breakfast fundamental to bulk their our bodies. It appears greed actually is nice in spite of everything.

Wishing you the arrogance of a pre-hibernation bear at present.

It’s nice to be again with you after my two weeks off, and I’ll be writing your Worm from my residence city of Newcastle for the following fortnight. Up the mighty Knights.

SAY WHAT?

[Peter Dutton’s] personal Indigenous affairs [spokeswoman] killed it on Thursday night time. Not solely that, his Coalition companion is totally not going to entertain one other referendum.

Noel Pearson

Make no mistake, the Cape York chief warned, the opposition chief is mendacity about holding a second referendum on Indigenous constitutional recognition, and Nationals Chief David Littleproud wouldn’t log out on one even when he did.

CRIKEY RECAP

Enterprise Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott (Picture: AAP/Lukas Coch)

“It’s been a tough week for large enterprise, with Qantas distracting everybody from what employers thought the true challenge must be — Labor’s outrageous industrial relations modifications to higher defend ‘contractors’ and to criminalise wage theft. Like most IR modifications in favour of staff — and the Truthful Work Act itself, again when Julia Gillard secured passage of it within the Rudd years — it should finish funding, destroy productiveness, smash financial development and in any other case usher within the 4 horsepeople of the apocalypse.

“The case of the wage theft component of the invoice is fascinating, nonetheless, because the foyer group for the largest companies, the Enterprise Council of Australia (BCA), can’t convey itself to oppose criminalisation. That may relate to the truth that, by our rely, 39% of BCA members have been pinged for underpaying staff. And that features a number of the worst offenders, reminiscent of Wesfarmers, BHP, the large banks, the Go8 universities and quite a few huge regulation corporations.”

An announcement by the Affiliation of Crap Australian Cartoonists

“ACAC is a separate chapter, affiliated with the MEAA, that protects the distinctive curiosity of Australian humorous artists who a) stumbled into the job as no-hopers around the workplace, b) are good drafters, however actually silly, c) are gifted illustrators who ought to by no means have been allowed to put in writing their very own materials, d) had been as soon as good cartoonists now struggling age-related cognitive decline and/or e) are youngsters of higher cartoonists who wanted a gig.

“Our members carry out an important service that different cartoonists can not fulfil. With our distinctive lack of know-how of fundamental political frameworks, naïve sentimentality, clouded pondering, ignorance of the historical past of racist imagery, and shit sense of humour, we fill the areas that right-wing media would in any other case go away clean. We do the thankless work: drawing an image of Alan Joyce standing with suitcases full of cash subsequent to a flight attendant who says …”

Historical tennis membership beneath menace from native title declare

“Simply as advocates for marriage equality had made no provisions for penguins being pressured into loveless same-sex unions, this week has proven that Voice advocates might not have adequately thought of the unintended penalties of strikes to deal with inequality, nonetheless well-intentioned.

“2GB host Ben Fordham introduced us the story of the way forward for the Naremburn Tennis Courts, and claims that the membership has been forged right into a storm of uncertainty because of an unresolved Aboriginal land rights declare regarding the web site. He’s devoted two days to the difficulty, interviewing Metropolitan Native Aboriginal Land Council CEO Nathan Moran, state MP for Willoughby Tim James and former Tennis Australia president Steve Healy.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Luis Rubiales resigns as president of Spanish FA over Jenni Hermoso kiss (BBC)

Sudanese military kills at the least 40 individuals in a drone assault on Khartoum (Al Jazeera)

US seizes practically 1 million barrels of Iranian oil allegedly certain for China (CNN)

Māori are ‘not indigenous’, [New Zealand First Leader] Winston Peters claims (Stuff)

Beatification for Polish household murdered for sheltering Jews (BBC)

Russia makes an attempt to carry native elections in occupied elements of Ukraine (euronews)

Morocco survivors search help as earthquake toll passes 2100 (Reuters)

THE COMMENTARIAT

How Philip Lowe was caught on the cusp of historical past — Ross Gittins (The SMH) ($): “Outgoing Reserve Financial institution boss Dr Philip Lowe was our most academically excellent governor, with the very best moral requirements. And he was a pleasant particular person. However if you happen to decide him by his file in preserving inflation throughout the Reserve’s 2 to three% goal — as some do, however I don’t — he achieved it in simply 9 of the 84 months he was in cost. Even so, my guess is that historical past will probably be kinder to him than his current critics. I’ve been round lengthy sufficient to know that, from time to time — say, each 30 or 40 years — the financial system modifications in ways in which undermine the economics career’s standard knowledge about how the financial system works and the way it must be managed.

“That is what occurred within the second half of the Seventies — proper on the time I turned a journalist — when the arrival of ‘stagflation’ brought on macroeconomists to change from a Keynesian preoccupation with full employment and financial coverage (the finances) to a monetarist preoccupation with inflation and financial coverage (at first, the availability of cash; then rates of interest). My level right here is that it took economists a couple of decade of livid debate to finish the shift from the previous, failing knowledge to the brand new, extra promising knowledge. I feel the bottom has shifted once more beneath the economists’ toes, that the macroeconomic style goes to swing from financial coverage again to fiscal coverage however, as but, just a few economists have seen the writing on the wall.”

The Indigenous Voice to Parliament is nothing to concern — Chris Kenny (The Australian) ($): “Earlier than I get into this horridly divisive and more and more private Voice debate, let me share some constructive phrases about what’s, in spite of everything, an optimistic and uplifting proposal. The case for voting Sure has not been put extra eloquently, or pithily, than by Paul Kelly — not this paper’s esteemed editor-at-large who writes powerfully in opposition to the Voice proposition, however Paul Kelly, the nation’s biggest singer-songwriter. In a sublime and heartfelt Fb submit of about 250 phrases, Kelly springboards from the intrinsic worth of 60,000 years of Indigenous tradition. ‘That this present and this deep historical past should not but recognised in our founding doc appears to me an enormous gap in our soul. And a giant knock to our thought of ourselves because the land of the honest go,’ writes Kelly.

“Sure, the honest go, it has lengthy been my favoured abstract of the Voice proposal. ‘Recognition is just not achieved with wonderful sounding phrases and feel-good statements however by promising to pay attention,’ Kelly goes on, dismissing the patronising various of preambular symbolism and slicing to the core request. Kelly then references the chasm in life outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. ‘That yawning hole is unfair and diminishes us all. By saying Sure to a Voice and listening to it, we are able to deal with these issues in a simpler method.’ Sure, it diminishes us all, which is why the Voice proposal is just not solely about uplifting our Indigenous brothers and sisters however about binding us into a greater nation.”