Defence chief cites 'negative public attention' in decision to wind back move to revoke honours

The chief of Defence pulled back on revoking honours awarded to Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, citing a desire not to "be at odds" with the government's position on the issue and to avoid "negative public attention".

General Angus Campbell announced late last year that he would recommend that the Meritorious Unit Citation (MUC) be stripped from Special Operations Task Groups that served in Afghanistan.

The MUC was awarded to the Task Groups for "sustained and outstanding warlike operational service in Afghanistan from 30 April 2007 to 31 December 2013, through the conduct of counter-insurgency operations in support of the International Security Assistance Force".

About 3,000 personnel received the collective award.

The decision was made in response to the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) report into allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan that detailed 39 allegations of murder and recommended 19 current and serving special forces soldiers be prosecuted.

"It has to be said that what this report discloses in disgraceful and a profound betrayal of the Australian Defence Force's professional standards and expectations," the IGADF report stated.

"The inquiry has recommended the revocation of the award of the Meritorious Unit Citation, as an effective demonstration of the collective responsibility and accountability of the Special Operations Task Group as a whole for those events."

"I have accepted the Inspector-General's recommendation," General Campbell said in his response to the IGADF report in November, "and will again write to the Governor-General, requesting he revoke the Meritorious Unit Citation awarded to Special Operations Task Group rotations serving in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2013".

But shortly after the release of the IGADF report, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said "no decisions" had been made on revoking the MUC.

Veterans, media, and some Returned Service League officials had condemned General Campbell for "betraying" veterans of the Afghanistan conflict.

"If General Campbell has not felt the bitch slap from all those millions of Australians out there, he needs to pull his head out of his arse," Senator Jacqui Lambie said in response to the decision.

Within a month of the IGADF report becoming public, the Defence chief released a statement stepping back from the decision to immediately revoke honours.

Documents, obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information, reveal that the Defence chief was aware of political and public disquiet about his announcement.

The Afghan Files

The ABC's Afghan Files stories in 2017 gave an unprecedented insight into the operations of Australia's elite special forces, detailing incidents of troops killing unarmed men and children and concerns about a "warrior culture" among soldiers.

The documents, which are mostly redacted, include a ministerial briefing note by General Campbell, titled Consideration of Special Forces honours and awards 2007-2013.

"In light of public controversy regarding the revocation of the Meritorious Unit Citation, I am of the view that a slower, more deliberate approach to implementing the Inspector-General's recommendations regarding individual honours and awards will ensure the review process is thorough considered by Defence," General Campbell wrote to then defence minister Linda Reynolds.

General Campbell said an independent oversight panel would consider any action by Defence in response to the IGADF report.

"It will ensure work is not undertaken which could be perceived to be at odds with the publicly stated government direction to defer work on honours and awards, amongst other recommendations, until completion of the Implementation Plan," wrote General Campbell.

Vowing to maintain a "deliberate and consistent approach" to implementing the IGADF's recommendations, General Campbell also noted that outcomes did "have the potential to attract negative public attention".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-31/defence-chief-toes-government-line-on-honours/100038490

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Australians stranded overseas take frustrations to United Nations, lobby the government’s ‘extreme restrictions’

A number of Australians who have been left “stranded” overseas since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic have taken their complaints straight to the top, after failing to negotiate a safe passage home with the Australian government’s “extreme restrictions”.

All have started vaccination programs while some are fully vaccinated and have the help of world renowned human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC.

The complaint was filed on Monday at the UN’s Human Rights Committee in Geneva, Switzerland, claiming the government “has arbitrarily breached their right to return to the land of their birth or citizenship”, according to a statement by Stranded Aussies, the group of volunteers affected by the flight caps.

“We think that it is of great international significance that Australia is the only Western democracy that does not have a bill of human rights that protects the rights of Australians to return home.”

The group includes a volcanologist from Melbourne who has been trying to return to Australia since March last year, a microbiologist who lives in New Jersey but wants to return home to Tasmania with his Australian wife and a family from the UK who “want to be closer to loved ones”.

“We are just a group of ordinary Aussies who have been left high and dry by an unfeeling government, and we are supporting these cases because they demonstrate how badly Australia is treating its own citizens,” spokeswoman Deborah Tellis said.

“The government is responsible for quarantine and has a duty to allow its citizens to return and enter into it – it should force the states to admit us and provide for them to increase their quarantine facilities. What it must not do is to breach international law.”

Nearly 500,000 Australians have returned to the country since the beginning of the pandemic but there are still more than 36,000 Australians who remain overseas due to arrival caps.

State and territory governments use these caps to manage “pressure” on quarantine facilities.

The government says these measures “are temporary and will be reviewed”.

In figures released to the Senate from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) last week, 4860 of the 36,206 Australian overseas registered to return home are described as vulnerable.

India has the largest numbers of Australians who have said they want to come home, followed by the UK, the US, Philippines and Thailand. Some have written an open letter to “every one living in Australia”.

“The damage it is doing to many stranded Australians is terrible – they are unable to get back to see dying parents or sick relatives, unable to return to take up jobs or start university courses,” Ms Tellis said.

“By going to the UN, we hope to highlight what an unfeeling government Mr Morrison heads.”

Of the 20 repatriation flights announced by the government earlier this year, 12 have arrived while the rest are due to be completed by April 17.

Victoria announced it would accept international flights again from April 8 but the problems persist, with several international airlines, including Singapore Airlines, recently complaining over the lack of information and operational challenges of flying into the country due to the ever-changing border rules.

Stranded Aussies have blamed the caps for preventing them from returning and say they have made efforts and are “willing to comply with all necessary public health measures, including fourteen days quarantine in Australia”.

Their petitions claim Australia has breached the UN’s International Covenant “because they have no effective remedy – they cannot go to court to require the government to live up to its obligations to permit its citizens to return home”.

DFAT secretary Frances Adamson told Senate estimates last week officials had done “exceptional work” getting Australians home during the pandemic but DFAT’s Assistant Secretary Lynette Wood conceded she could not predict when all stranded Australians would finally return home.

“Just be clear, the cup keeps refilling,” Ms Wood said. “It’s not like it’s a finite number and the door has closed. More and more people have registered.”

But in their claim to the UN, the Australians say the government has “prevented tens of thousands of citizens from ‘calling Australia home’” and that “the right to return to one’s native land is regarded as fundamental in international law”.

They have said that all they ask for is for “Australia to provide enough robust Quarantine capacity to allow enough of us home per week, so that the number of us stranded actually moves downward, and that quarantine is able to be booked alongside a flight, so we don’t get cancelled at the whim of the airlines trying to juggle the incoming flight caps.”

They also called for more quarantine space and a “booking system to reliably be able to get home – that’s it”.

Mr Morrison told reporters he intended to get “as many people as possible home, if not all of them, by Christmas”, while Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said he wanted to “ensure that every Australian who wants to come home is home by Christmas”.

And yet, tens of thousands of Australians remain stuck overseas as life here slowly returns to normal. In fact the number of “vulnerable” Australians has risen since the PM’s Christmas promise.

“International law recognises the strong bond between individuals and their homeland and no respectable government would impose travel caps to prevent, for over a year, its citizens from returning if they are prepared to do quarantine,” Geoffrey Robertson QC, who has advised the petitioners, said.

“Both our political parties have, in the past, done what they can to help Australians overseas but Mr Morrison is behaving as if in a moral vacuum – he does not seem to care very much about the suffering caused to fellow Australians.”

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/australians-stranded-oversees-take-frustrations-to-united-nations-lobby-the-governments-extreme-restrictions/news-story/135fc1372aff108a8cf6e8f872583fb3

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Dwelling approvals record a strong rise in February:

Dwelling approvals record a strong rise in February: Australia
The number of dwellings approved rose 21.6 per cent in February (seasonally adjusted), after falling 19.4 per cent in January, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Bill Becker, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS, said: “Approvals for private houses increased 15.1 per cent in February, exceeding the previous record-high set in December last year.”

“Since the introduction of the Homebuilder grant in June 2020, private house approvals have risen by almost 70 per cent.”

Approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses (i.e. townhouses and apartments) rose by 45.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms, coming off a nine-year low in January.

Total dwelling approvals rose in Queensland (40.5 per cent), Tasmania (31.6 per cent), Victoria (21.7 per cent), Western Australia (19.1 per cent) and New South Wales (16.1 per cent). Dwelling approvals fell in South Australia (3.4 per cent).

Approvals for private sector houses rose across all mainland states in February; Queensland (25.4 per cent), Western Australia (16.7 per cent), New South Wales (14.5 per cent), Victoria (11.1 per cent) and South Australia (4.0 per cent).

The value of total building approved increased 23.3 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms. The value of total residential building rose 21.0 per cent, comprising a 22.8 per cent rise in new residential building, and a 11.1 per cent increase in alterations and additions. The value of non-residential building also increased in February (27.5 per cent).

https://www.miragenews.com/dwelling-approvals-record-a-strong-rise-in-537413/

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Santos gives green light to $4.7b new gas field off Australia

Santos, one of Australia’s largest oil and gas producers, has given the go-ahead to its $4.7 billion Barossa gas project north of Darwin after its plans were put on hold last year amid the coronavirus-driven market crash.

The green light for the offshore gas and condensate project also kickstarts a $US600 million ($786 million) investment in the Darwin LNG plant’s life extension and pipeline projects, which will extend the facility life for around 20 years, the company said.

“As the economy re-emerges from the COVID-19 lockdowns, these job-creating and sustaining projects are critical for Australia, also unlocking new business opportunities and export income for the nation,” Santos managing director Kevin Gallagher said.

“The Barossa and Darwin life extension projects are good for the economy and good for local jobs and business opportunities in the Northern Territory.”

Santos and other ASX-listed oil and gas companies last year were forced to slash their spending budgets, cut back drilling and halt growth plans as coronavirus restrictions began hammering energy demand and prices.

Australia’s exports of LNG, a fuel widely used in power generation, heating and manufacturing, fell sharply from $50 billion to $33 billion, as commodity prices fell. But benchmark prices for LNG cargoes have begun to bounce back in Asia, from historic lows of under $US2 per million British thermal units to more than $US12 in the March quarter as a freezing cold winter in North Asia boosted demand. The federal government expects the LNG prices to hover around $US6.90 during the three months to June 30.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt, who joined Mr Gallagher for the announcement in Darwin on Tuesday, said the Barossa go-ahead was a “tremendous show of confidence” in the long-term future of Australia’s resources sector. “It is also a great sign that oil and gas market conditions have improved,” Mr Pitt said.

However, the Barossa field contains high levels of carbon dioxide, raising questions about its impact on Santos’ emissions footprint. Wood Mackenzie analyst Shaun Brady said Santos would need to deliver on energy efficiency projects and its proposed Moomba carbon capture and storage facility in order to offset the added emissions.

“Santos has a goal to be net-zero by 2040 and reduce emissions by 30 per cent through 2030,” he said. “With such a high carbon intensity, Santos must now deliver the projects that can offset this impact.”

Climate campaigners on Tuesday said the greenhouse gas emissions from Barossa were likely to significantly increase Australia’s emissions profile.

“This could be one of the dirtiest gas fields in Australia, leading to immense harm to the environment in the immediate vicinity, and accelerating dangerous climate change,” said Richie Merzian of the Australia Institute.

“There are real questions about Australia’s ability to deliver on its commitments on the Paris Agreement if this project is approved.”

RBC Capital Markets analyst Gordon Ramsay said Santos was targeting production costs of $US2 per million British thermal units, “making it the lowest cost new source of LNG supply in the Australian region” at $US5.50.

Mr Gallagher said Barossa would be one of the lowest-cost, new LNG supply projects in the world and would give Santos and Darwin LNG a competitive advantage in a tightening global LNG market.

Santos said the project represented the biggest investment in Australia’s oil and gas sector since 2012.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/santos-gives-green-light-to-4-7b-new-gas-field-off-australia-20210330-p57f4e.html

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE TIED)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)

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Explicitly racist abuse not deemed illegal in Australia

The campaigner who successfully pushed to get Coon cheese renamed has had his racism complaint terminated despite receiving an abusive email saying he had an “ugly black face”.

The hate mail, sent to Aboriginal anti-racism activist Dr Stephan Hagan by Don Harris on January 14, said he was “part of the world’s dumbest race” and “a broken, conquered people”.

Harris referred to a “miserable black existence” and “absolute inferiority to the white man”, concluding with “May the Aryan man rule forever” and attaching further white supremacist quotes.

Dr Hagan said the email had caused him and his wife “considerable distress”, adding that he felt “violated and fear for my safety and that of my family all because I dared to challenge the status quo of a racial slur used on a popular cheese brand.”

However, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Monday told Dr Hagan that it had decided to terminate the complaint without inquiry.

“I am satisfied that it is misconceived and/or lacking in substance,” said the response to the complaint from Jodie Ball, the Commission president’s delegate.

She said she understood Dr Hagan would be “disappointed” by the decision but that he had “not sufficiently explained” which human right had been violated or how that right had been impaired.

“I acknowledge that you found the content of the email offensive and upsetting and that due to prior experiences where you say you were abused and threatened, the email made you feel concerned about you and your family’s safety,” wrote Ms Ball.

But she said that the incident did not meet the threshold to qualify as racial hatred under the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) because it did not take place in public.

“It is arguable that the email that is the subject of your complaint is an act done because of your race, colour or national or ethnic origin and that it would be reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate a reasonable person of your race, colour or national or ethnic origin,” said Ms Ball. “However, from the information provided to date, the email does not meet the requirement in the law that it is an act done ‘otherwise than in private’.”

She said the email was sent directly to Dr Hagan via email, and that while he claimed the information was now in the public domain after news outlets covered the Commission’s original response, “it appears that this is because you spoke publicly about the email that you received, rather than because the writer of the email caused the words and image to be communicated to the public.”

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/aboriginal-campaigners-complaint-over-racist-email-thrown-out/news-story/151c5e69175860de1f6bf4890b2687ef

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The ABC declares there is 'NO such thing as free speech in Australia' as it defends censoring comments left on a story about a transgender swimmer

Saying "nasty" things about transgenders blew their committment to free speech out of the water

The ABC has boldly declared 'there is no such thing as free speech in Australia' after banning users during a heated discussion about a transgender swimmer on the national broadcaster's Facebook page.

The strident declaration about free speech came after some users were kicked off the page over alleged transphobic and sexist comments.

A page moderator had earlier urged users to be constructive, not nasty, when commenting about an article about a transgender swimmer.

In the article, swimmer Cassy Judy said she became a target for 'hurtful' comments after McIver's Ladies Baths, in Coogee, banned pre-surgery trans women.

'I feel like it's given license to some people to come out and say things that are quite hurtful to trans women like myself or gender nonbinary people,' she told the ABC.

'Things like ... 'You are what's between your legs'.'

'For me, [the baths] was a place where I went before surgery just to feel accepted and included as a woman.'

An initial moderator post in the article thread asked people to avoid being 'nasty' in response to the article and warned that the page 'will not tolerate any transphobic or sexist commentary'.

'We will be hiding comments and banning users without further notice if you breach our terms'.

It posted a link to the terms, which under the heading 'ABC Online Communities' said it encourages 'rigorous debate and the sharing of diverse opinions' but 'expects community members to treat each other with respect and courtesy'.

The conditions also reserve the right to 'edit, remove or exercise its discretion not to publish' comments if deemed to 'violate laws regarding harassment, discrimination, racial vilification, privacy or contempt' or to be 'abusive, offensive or obscene; inappropriate, off topic, repetitive or vexatious'.

Later on Thursday, the page moderator stated: 'We have deleted and banned users as per ABC's Terms of Use' and again provided the link.

From there, the moderator's message became notably more strident, stating: 'FYI - There is no such thing as free speech in Australia.'

'Hate speech or transphobic comments will not be tolerated regardless if it's your opinion.'

'If it is your opinion than perhaps you need to educate yourself on equality, empathy and equity.'

The moderator challenged people to make a formal complaint - providing a link - 'If you're 'upset' about your harmful comments being removed and 'your taxpayer dollars'.'

The comments left in the discussion were heated, but appeared to be evenly balanced - some supportive of Ms Judy's statements and view, and some opposed.

Free speech in public forums is complex and depends on the context, however the Australian Human Rights Commission states: 'The Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression.'

Freedom of expression in media is generally accepted, but in a major international statement, is understood to be balanced by responsibility to show 'respect of the rights or reputations of others.'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the ABC and to the author of the original article, Monique Schafter, for comment.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9404935/No-thing-free-speech-ABC-defends-censoring-feedback-transgender-swimmer-story.html

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Education Dept run by Leftist union

Tracy Tully caused uproar recently when she gave an interview to The Sunday Mail’s Stephanie Bennett, speaking out about a toxic culture of bullying and favouritism in the Queensland education department.

Tully also told Bennett the powerful Queensland Teachers’ Union was a Labor puppet.

Tully said she and others were heckled for not openly advocating for the Labor Party, and at a public meeting was told in front of witnesses to sit down and shut up.

Tracy doesn’t know Woodridge manual arts teacher, David Frarricciardi, but their stories of union wrongdoing are strikingly similar.

Last year on this page Frarricciardi told how he quit the QTU because he was tired of its relentless promotion of ALP candidates and causes.

Tully claims QTU members were pressured to distribute Labor Party material in the lead-up to state elections, and that principals who refused to go on strike were harassed.

She told me teachers in marginal seats were transferred if they did not co-operate with pro-Labor campaigns.

“They ousted a principal who would not support the Labor Party,” she said.

“They wanted me to distribute Labor Party pamphlets and I refused.’’

She believes the cosy relationship between the QTU and the education department fosters intimidation and corruption.

She has made a complaint to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Like Frarricciardi, Tully said she was a swinging voter who has never been a member of a political party.

She resented it when the union started throwing its weight around and deliberately trying to undermine her authority.

She recalls a hostile meeting where a group of unionists arrived to tell her to change the curriculum.

“They came into my office and shut the door and started to tell me what to do.

“It was highly unprofessional, and I told them so. I sent them packing. I said, don’t dare come and here and try to stand over me. I told them the union does not run the school, the principal does.

“The union wouldn’t know how to run a school. I said, ‘Next time make an appointment and we can discuss it’.”

She has an unpleasant memory of her days in Charleville in 2011 when she disobeyed an order by a bureaucrat not to close the school as flood waters rose. “When the water got up to my knees I knew it was time to get out,’’ she said.

Police friends told her she had done the right thing, but the department sent two Ethical Standards Unit men to investigate her.

In her memoir FEARless (Ultimate World Publishing), she says she felt bullied. “The guys acted like police officers serving a summons,” she said.

Tully said she stood her ground and dismissed “wild” allegations against her and other teachers.

“They threw a giant toddler tantrum, raising their voices and slamming their hands on the table, then stormed out of the interview room,” she wrote.

“Welcome to the Queensland education department’s investigative process.”

The tape-recorded meeting was an attempt to “shame me” and “break me”, she said. It didn’t.

Tully, 60, from Charleville and Toowoomba, said several teachers suffering anxiety due to bullying had contacted her after she blew the whistle in the Sunday Mail.

Chris Neville at Condon Charles Lawyers in Toowoomba has been engaged by them to start a class action.

Tully, who was described by a colleague as a voice for the voiceless, says wrongdoing festers behind the scenes because teachers are prevented from speaking out by the Public Service Act.

The Act strips teachers and principals of their basic human rights, she said.

The department was “a secret world where those who step out of line were harassed by narcissist bureaucrats”.

“You can’t defend yourself. They allow anyone to make an allegation without a signed statutory declaration and without evidence. It’s a free for all.’’

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/insight/tracy-tully-takes-on-qld-education-bureaucrat-bullies/news-story/1c20c2c4c7564c79b2c2a4b4afd1ca09

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A crazed African driver purposefully sped towards pedestrians in a road rage row, pinning a terrified woman against a wall

An investigation is underway following the hit-and-run crash that left a woman injured in Sydney’s west.

At 6.30pm on Saturday, emergency services were called to Penelope Lucas Lane near Virginia Lane, Rosehill, after reports a pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle.

Police have been told a man and woman were involved in an argument with an unknown man who was driving a Skoda Octavia.

The unknown man then allegedly drove the vehicle at the pedestrians, pinning the woman against a wall.

The unknown man reversed and fled the scene in the vehicle.

The 41-year-old woman was treated at the scene for a severe lower leg injury, before being taken to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition.

The 37-year-old man suffered a minor foot injury and did not require hospitalisation.

Officers from Cumberland Police Area Command attended, and detectives commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

An extensive search of the area and surrounds was conducted, and the vehicle was located on Crown Street, Harris Park a short time later.

The driver had fled the scene prior to police arrival.

The man is described as being of African appearance, with short curly hair, wearing a red basketball jersey and shorts.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9412193/Rosehill-Sydney-Police-hunt-crazed-driver-pinned-woman-wall-road-rage-attack.html

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE TIED)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)

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