Bridget Archer MP speaking in support of Motion seeking to bring Australian journalist & activist home: "For more than 4½ thousand days and counting, Julian Assange has not experienced true freedom. We're now just a week away from a decision on his final UK court appeal, where he faces up to 175 years in prison over 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse. We know that his life is at risk."

 

Hansard, Votes and Proceedings, Motions, Wednesday 14 February 2024:

Assange, Mr. Julian Paul

Mr WILKIE (Clark) (16:48): I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following:

(1) the Member for Clark moving:

That this House:

(a) notes that:

(i) on 20 and 21 February 2024, the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom will hold a hearing into whether Walkley Award winning journalist, Mr Julian Assange, can appeal against his extradition to the United States of America;

(ii) Mr Assange remains incarcerated in HMP Belmarsh in the UK, awaiting a decision on whether he can be extradited to the USA to face charges for material published in 2010, which revealed shocking evidence of misconduct by the USA; and

(iii) both the Australian Government and Opposition have publicly stated that this matter has gone on for too long; and

(b) underlines the importance of the UK and USA bringing the matter to a close so that Mr Assange can return home to his family in Australia.

(2) debate on the motion being limited to the mover, seconder and two other Members;

(3) speaking times being 10 minutes for the mover and five minutes for all other Members speaking;

(4) amendments to the motion not being permitted; and

(5) any variation to the arrangement being made only on a motion moved by a Minister.

The SPEAKER: Is the motion seconded?

Mr Josh Wilson: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.....

(Speakers to the motion were Andrew Wilke MP Independent, Josh Wilson MP Labor Party, Bridget Archer MP Liberal Party and Adam Paul Bandt MP The Greens. All spoke in support of the motion) 

The House divided. [17:20]

(The Speaker—Hon. Milton Dick)

DIVISION: AYES 86 (44 majority) NOES 42 PAIRS 0

Right click on image to enlarge

Question agreed to.

Cartoons of the Week

Ben Jennings

 

Dave Grunland

Are multinational fossil fuel corporations leading Australian governments & regulators by the nose?

 

By the time Word War II drew to a close 77 years ago the world geopolitical map saw Australia identified not just as an existing state within the United Kingdom's wider economic zone, but as a prospective permanent political and economic client state of other Big Powers. Its natural resources to be harvested by fossil fuel corporations & extractive industries, exploited by foreign investors and its population a reliable supplier of future cannon fodder in support of their individual and sometimes joint global ambitions.

For her part, Australia would present as obligingly grateful for being treated as a commodity 'owned' by the wealthy top percentile of the northern hemisphere and the largest transnationals.

Nothing much appears to have changed since then…..

The Saturday Paper, 7 January 2023:

A United States congressional committee investigating fossil fuel disinformation has published internal documents on a major Australian fossil fuel project – described by energy multinational Chevron as “an Australian icon” – in what has become the investigation’s final publication before Republicans took control of congress on Tuesday.

The second and final memo, released by the US house oversight and reform committee, includes information from internal documents subpoenaed by the committee about Chevron’s plans to extract gas from its Gorgon project on Barrow Island, off the coast of Western Australia, beyond 2056. The committee included Gorgon as an example of how the industry is “doubling down on long-term fossil fuel investments” while publicly claiming that gas is “merely a ‘bridge fuel’ ” to cleaner energy in spite of scientists’ “significant concerns about continued reliance on natural gas in a warming climate”.

The committee released memos in September and December last year, alongside thousands of pages of internal documents subpoenaed from BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute. A sixth subpoena issued to the American Chamber of Commerce did not result in any documents being provided.

The two memos include references to the Australian activities of three of the four big oil companies it investigated – BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil – however, the December 2022 memo includes a particularly detailed focus on the Gorgon project, a joint venture led by Chevron, with partners including Shell and ExxonMobil.

According to the committee, the documents reveal that Chevron “is prepared to swoop in and expand its own fossil fuel business … even if other companies ultimately agree to reduce oil and gas production …”

In total, more than 200 of the 589 pages of Chevron documents published by the committee in December relate to Chevron’s operations in Australia, although many are covered almost completely by black boxes. The documents include a heavily redacted 179-page binder provided to Chevron board members visiting Australia and the Gorgon project in 2016, including details ranging from cultural advice on how to order a flat white to information on Chevron’s long-term ambitions for what it is describing as the “largest single-resource development in Australia’s history”.

According to the committee, internal documents shared with the board by then chief executive John S. Watson “emphasize” Chevron’s “long-term intentions for [Gorgon], despite climate concerns” and “the profits Chevron predicts it will reap”…...

Of the unredacted pages related to Chevron’s Gorgon trip, some are less pertinent than others. A cultural information section explains how light mocking should be considered “friendly banter” and not “an insult”. A rare unredacted section of the agenda shows the executives, directors and spouses were scheduled to receive a two-hour overview of Australian politics from Peter van Onselen, who is introduced as contributing editor at The Australian.

The December 2022 memo was not the first time the Gorgon project attracted the committee’s attention. Its September 2022 memo noted a carbon capture and storage facility at Gorgon that had “repeatedly failed to meet its storage target by about 50%” as an example of problems with that technology.

Another Australian example included in the December memo relates to BP’s strategies towards working with regulators here. A 2016 email from a BP executive to John Mingé, chairman and president of BP America, compares the company’s mindset in engaging with regulators in countries including Australia, the US and Germany.

The email describes how BP had gained an “advantaged position” with the regulator of its Australian oil refinery by engaging “proactively”. According to the internal memo, BP documents provided to the committee “show BP executives acknowledging that the company’s actions are often obstructionist towards the development of climate policy”.

Overall, the internal documents, along with further scientific sources cited by the memo, reveal that many of the public claims made by fossil fuel companies have been intentionally misleading.

As the committee’s then chair, Carolyn Maloney, said at a hearing in February: the investigation revealed that ExxonMobil scientists knew about the dangers of fossil fuels in 1978, and in the decades since, the fossil fuel industry has “waged a multimillion-dollar disinformation campaign” to prevent climate action, “all to protect its bottom line”…..

On December 25, journalist Amy Westervelt reported that, contrary to previous plans stated by the committee during its term, the December 9 memo may be the last document it publishes.

That same week, the new chair of the Democratic minority in the house oversight committee, Jamie Raskin, shared that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma.

The committee’s work being abruptly curtailed after only 18 months contrasts with the long-term time scales of the companies it is investigating, such as Chevron’s plans to secure profits beyond 2050. The Saturday Paper put a request for comment to Chevron but did not hear back before going to press.

Although the committee’s investigation is on hold, the US is significantly in front of Australia in its attempts to hold fossil fuel companies accountable.

Last month, Puerto Rico became the latest US jurisdiction to file climate accountability lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, joining dockets filed by seven US states and at least 35 municipal governments.

Puerto Rico – an unincorporated territory of the US in the Caribbean, where storms made worse by climate change have caused major recent disasters – is the first to use the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in its climate fraud case against Shell and other companies.

According to Wiles, it could be a “big loss” for these cases if the million pages held by the committee “never see the light of day”.

“The documents that have been released so far definitely provide new evidence on the side of the plaintiffs against the defendants.”

In Australia there are currently at least two court cases related to so-called greenwashing making their way through courts, including one case lodged by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility.

In 2022, two Australian regulators, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, announced plans to investigate greenwashing using existing laws.

Considering the memo’s revelation that BP has internally described its more proactive approach of working with regulators in Australia, it is unclear to what extent regulators alone can address the industry’s influence…..

BACKGROUND

North Coast Voices:

Friday, 6 January 2023

Global oil and gas industries make a combined US$4 billion in profit a day (or US$1 trillion annually) & have done so for the past 50 years. That obscene wealth is thought to be how these industries induce politicians & governments to only pay lip service

Monday, 2 January 2023

Who is undermining Australia’s climate change mitigation goals? Listing lobbyists contracted to act on behalf of fossil fuel industries

Australia not as tolerant of British far right nutters since global COVID-19 pandemic entered its second year

 

IMAGE: ABC News, 18 July 2021

The Guardian, 18 July 2021:

British far-right figure Katie Hopkins has been dumped as a cast member of Seven’s Big Brother VIP and will leave the country after breaching her contract, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Hopkins, 46, broadcast a live video from what she claimed was a Sydney hotel room on Saturday morning, describing Covid-19 lockdowns as “the greatest hoax in human history” while joking about elaborate plans to breach quarantine rules.

On Saturday home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, ordered an urgent review of whether Hopkins has breached her visa conditions by publicly flouting quarantine rules.

But the review has been superseded by a decision to terminate her contract, Guardian Australia understands.

Talent contracts have an out-clause: don’t bring the network into disrepute.

It is also a requirement of any overseas personality to comply with visa conditions.

Seven confirmed the decision on Sunday afternoon.

“Seven Network and Endemol Shine Australia confirm that Katie Hopkins is not part of Big Brother VIP,” the network said. “Seven and Endemol Shine strongly condemn her irresponsible and reckless comments in hotel quarantine.”

Hopkins was contracted to Shine rather than Seven.

Last year, Hopkins had her Twitter account with 1.1m followers permanently suspended for violating the platform’s “hateful conduct” policy.

Hopkins, who was repeatedly retweeted by former US president Donald Trump, was removed to “keep Twitter safe”, according to the social media platform.

Hopkins previously compared migrants to cockroaches and claimed the photograph of a dead Syrian boy lying on a beach that sparked a wave of compassion across Europe was staged, as well as stating that people with dementia should not “block” hospital beds…..

UPDATE

Sounds like Ms. Hopkins is on her way back to the U.K. as I write.....

NSW Police, News, Monday, 19 July 2021 04:21:23 PM:

Police attached to the hotel quarantine operation were notified of an alleged breach of the Public Health Order (Covid-19 Air Transportation Quarantine) at a hotel on Sussex Street, Sydney, about 8.45pm on Friday (16 July 2021).

Following inquiries, a 46-year-old woman was issued a $1000 Penalty Infringement Notice for not wear face covering yesterday (Sunday 18 July 2021).

NSW Police assisted Australian Border Force with the transfer of the woman to Sydney International Airport this afternoon (Monday 19 July 2021), following the cancellation of her visa, departing to the United Kingdom.

Cartoon of the Week

 

David Pope

Mark Knight

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison states that net zero emissions will be achieved through technology and "the animal spirits of our business community". I rather thought it was those very same animal spirits which had been globally polluting our atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1700s

 

On 19 April 2021 at the Business Council of Australia Annual Dinner Prime Minister Scott Morrison informed the world that; “We are going to meet our ambitions with the smartest minds, the best technology and the animal spirits of our business community. We need to change our energy mix over the next 30 years on that road to net zero emissions…..It will be achieved by the pioneering entrepreneurialism and innovation of Australia’s industrial workhorses, farmers and scientists.

It will be won in places like the Pilbara, the Hunter, Gladstone, Portland, Whyalla, Bell Bay, the Riverina. In the factories of our regional towns and outer suburbs. In the labs of our best research institutes and scientists. It will be won in our energy sector. In our industrial sector. In our ag sector. In our manufacturing sector. That’s how you get to net zero.

It would appear that his first step on this journey is to make a token investment in ‘clean’ energy by way of $539 million in funding for new projects involving hydrogen product and capture & storage, which will apparently be fuelled by both black and brown coal – thereby increasing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions Australia releases into the atmosphere.

This folly was pointed out by ABC News on 21 April 2021:

Getting hydrogen into a pure, useable form takes a lot of energy and this process can produce a lot of emissions.

And so, that is why experts talk about different types of hydrogen — brown, black, grey, blue and green.

Only "green" hydrogen is produced entirely through renewable power and has zero emissions. The others use electricity made by coal (black or brown) or gas (grey), sometimes with carbon capture and storage (blue).

The Government call its hydrogen plans "clean" — a combination of hydrogen from gas and renewables.

The Climate Council says the term is "misleading" for average Australians.

Its website states: "Proponents of fossil-fuelled hydrogen have used this to describe fossil fuel hydrogen linked to carbon capture and storage, as well as renewably sourced hydrogen."

"Only the variety of hydrogen generated with renewables … belongs in our zero emissions future."….

The government insists real progress is being made on CCS technology.

However, many climate scientists believe, when it comes to fossil-fuel energy production, CCS is not a serious alternative to wind and solar power.

Some, like the Climate Council, see it as an attempt to prolong the use of fossil fuels.

"The Gorgon CCS trial has been a big, expensive failure. It is capturing less than half the emissions needed to make CCS viable," the Climate Council's website states.

"CCS is extremely expensive and cannot deliver zero emissions."

"There are still no successful projects operating anywhere in the world."

While The Guardian on April 2021 published these telling quotes:

Harry Guinness, a former Liberal adviser and chief executive of the centre-right thinktank the Blueprint Institute, said the US was planning to spend about 35 times what Australia allocated in the last federal budget on green stimulus, and the government would need to commit to serious finance if Australia was to make a transition to net zero by 2050 as Scott Morrison has said is his preference…..

“Our friends and allies are going to want to see tangible commitments. They’ve been quite clear about that, it’s no mystery,” Guinness said. “If we are in the game of bringing technologies down the cost curve we need finance and incentives, including pricing carbon. Actions speak louder than words.”

Tony Wood, the Grattan Institute’s energy program director, said there was little detail in what the government had announced on Wednesday, making it hard to assess, but that Australia was spending significantly less on hydrogen than some other countries.

He said Australia was also offering support for hydrogen made with fossil fuels where others were backing “green hydrogen” made with renewable energy only.

“I don’t see any evidence that Australia has developed positions that are leading the world,” he said…..

Announcing the funding on Wednesday, Morrison said hydrogen was “zero emissions gas”.

The Greens said as the government planned to support hydrogen made with fossil fuels as well as renewable energy its commitment was “just more cash for coal and gas”. The party’s leader, Adam Bandt, said it paled next to multibillio-dollar green hydrogen commitments by other countries including South Korea, Germany, Spain, France, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

“This government’s obsession with coal and gas is about to cost Australia as other countries invest heavily in green hydrogen, giving them the edge as future markets open up,” Bandt said. “With all our wind and sunshine, this is Australia’s competitive advantage to seize, but it is being lost.”…..

Richie Merzian, the Australia Institute’s climate and energy program director, said it appeared the government was “once again using climate action to support fossil fuel companies”. He said that under current commitments it was possible by 2030 the US would have halved its emissions and the UK cut its emissions by two-thirds but Australia was sitting on a 26% cut while still subsidising fossil fuels…..

I was talking to a public servant climate policy in his portfolio the other day who said 'at least when we were in enviro (dept) we felt like climate policy might relate vaguely to the environment. Now we're just the department for coal and gas. No ones even pretending anymore '

— Polly Hemming (@pollyjhemming) April 21, 2021

Morrison must think the Australian electorate and every OECD government around the world are so monumentally stupid as to not realise that these announcements (and their lack of detail, fuzzy timelines or no guaranteed funding) are solely for the benefit of US President Joe Biden 's two-day virtual Leaders Summit which began on 22 April 2021, with a weather eye out for the twelve-day UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) to be held in Glasgow during November 2021.

By the time all his half-promises and evasions concerning zero emissions have failed to meet the 2050 target date, Scott Morrison will be 81 years of age and I will be long dead - having lived all my life in a country which only genuinely attempted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for six short years between June 2007 to September 2013.

A Short Explanation Of 'The Dismissal': Queen Elizabeth II and her lawful representative in Australia knowingly betrayed the people of this nation

The Age, 14 July 2020:

The Palace letters have proved to be every bit the bombshell they promised to be, and neither the Queen nor Sir John Kerr emerge unscathed. In his vast, increasingly frequent letters and telegrams to the Queen, the governor-general provides the most extraordinary vice-regal commentary on the decisions and actions of a prime minister and elected government imaginable. They provide a remarkable window onto Kerr’s views of Gough Whitlam, his planning, his options, his fears, and his eventual decision to dismiss the government. 

Letter by letter, particularly from late August 1975, months before supply had even been blocked in the Senate, Kerr draws the Queen into his planning regarding the crisis unfolding in the Senate, including the possible use of the reserve powers. Kerr details options and strategies, which are then discussed with the Queen through her private secretary, Sir Martin Charteris.

These include Kerr’s concern that prime minister Whitlam might recall him as governor-general, which he discussed with Prince Charles in September 1975 in a profound breach of political and constitutional practice. Charteris writes: "Prince Charles told me a good deal of his conversation with you and in particular that you had spoken of the possibility of the Prime Minister advising The Queen to terminate your Commission with the object, presumably, of replacing you with someone more amenable to his wishes. If such an approach was made you may be sure that The Queen would take most unkindly to it." 

It is a defining feature of a constitutional monarchy that the monarch "has to remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters", that the Queen must remain above politics at all times. Hundreds of pages challenge that claimed political disinterest, as Kerr relays conversations, meetings, and events to Buckingham Palace in the context of the most intensely political situation unfolding in Australia.

On September 30, "I had an interesting conversation yesterday with the Prime Minister about the current political and constitutional problems"; on September 20, "The Prime Minister and I had a detailed and important talk … and he has told me privately that he has another tactic in mind." What is pivotal throughout these letters is that the Queen, through her private secretary, engages with Kerr on these inherently political matters, even advising him on the powers of the Senate and, critically, the existence and potential use of the contentious and contested reserve powers to dismiss the government. 

Let’s take just one example, from the first glimpse at the letters, Charteris’ letter to Kerr of November 4, 1975, on the reserve powers: "Those powers do exist … but to use them is a heavy responsibility … I think you are playing the 'Vice-Regal' hand with skill and wisdom. Your interest in the situation has been demonstrated, and so has your impartiality. The fact that you have the powers is recognised, but it is also clear that you will only use them in the last resort and then only for constitutional and not for political reasons."

Charteris followed this up the next day with the clearest suggestion that the reserve powers may need to be used which, Charteris wrote, "places you in what is, perhaps, an unenviable, but is certainly a very honourable position. If you do, as you will, what the constitution dictates, you cannot possible [sic] do the Monarchy any avoidable harm. The chances are you will do it good". He ends with a reference to the "discretion left to a governor-general". These critical letters provided Kerr with the advice and comfort he needed to feel secure that the Palace accepted the existence and potential use of the reserve powers as he moved towards dismissing the Whitlam government......

Read the full article by inaugural Distinguished Whitlam Fellow with the Whitlam Institute at Western Sydney University, Emeritus Professor at Monash University, and former Director of the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University, Jenny Hocking.

Read all the 'Palace Letters' at https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/kerr-palace-letters.

Dismissal of the Whitlam Labor Government (11 November 1975): full range of Buckingham Palace correspondence with then Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr will be available for online viewing from 11am on Tuesday, 14th July 2020

National Archives of Australia, 9 July 2020:

The National Archives of Australia will release the Kerr Palace Letters on Tuesday 14 July. 

National Archives Director-General David Fricker said all the letters will be released without exemption. 

‘In line with the High Court ruling of 29 May, the National Archives has examined the records for public release under the provisions of the Archives Act 1983 and I have determined all items will be released in full,’ Mr Fricker said. 

The records cover the period of Sir John Kerr’s term as Governor-General (1974–77). 

There are six files, which include more than 1000 pages. 

There are 212 letters, many with attachments such as newspaper clippings, reports, and copies of letters related to meetings and events attended by Sir John Kerr during his tenure as Governor-General. 

Applicants that have sought access to the Kerr Palace Letters will be advised of the release date. Mr Fricker said, ‘The National Archives is proud to function as the memory and evidence of the nation, to preserve and provide historical Commonwealth records to the public.’ 

Digital copies of the Kerr Palace Letters will be made publicly available on the National Archives’ website from 11.00am on Tuesday 14 July.

Warning to Canberra: British MPs here to listen and act as they arrive in Norfolk Island on fact-finding programme

Medianet Release
29 Aug 2016 1:21 PM AEST - Warning to Canberra: British MPs here to listen and act as they arrive in Norfolk Island on fact-finding programme Media Release 29th August 2016 Warning to Canberra: British MPs here to listen and act as they arrive in Norfolk Island on fact-finding programme On arrival tomorrow in Norfolk Island, a delegation of British Parliamentarians will begin a three day fact-finding programme in response to Canberra's annexation of Norfolk Island.  The delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Select Committee member, Andrew Rosindell MP (Conservative, Romford) will seek to gain further understanding about the key issues and to hear first-hand the views and opinions of Norfolk Islanders. Hosting the delegation is Andre Nobbs, Technical Advisor to the Council of Elders and former Norfolk Island Chief Minister, who first proposed a visit of UK Parliamentarians to Norfolk Island after receiving positive soundings from MPs during his visit to London last November.  Mr Nobbs states that the purpose of the delegation is to highlight that the process to remove self-government was based on misleading and flawed data and the process was enacted against the wishes of the majority of the people of Norfolk Island. An invitation to visit Norfolk Island was sent towards the end of 2015 and during June this year a report was provided to MPs in Westminster and the invitation to visit the island was discussed in detail culminating in an agreed timing and commitment to a neutral evaluation of the Island's situation. On behalf of the Council of Elders, the Norfolk Island People for Democracy and the majority of Norfolk Island people as identified in official referendum, Andre Nobbs states: "Upon my return from London, we identified that Norfolk Island has many friends who are keen to listen and act, this week's visitation and engagement with the community is testament to that fact.  We are pleased to welcome Mr Rosindell and his two colleagues, Ms Paula Sherriff MP and Mr Daniel Kawczynski MP. "So let this be a warning to Canberra - the people of Norfolk Island want a different constitutional arrangement - and that means self-determination and self-government.  There was and is still room for a collaborated, successful and productive outcome and we would like the opportunity to engage - with an independent oversight body to ensure all parties do the right thing."
	© Australian Associated Press, 2016

On 7 May 2015 there is a general election in the U.K. Are you eligible to vote?

North Coast Voices received this email from the Leader of the Green Party of England & Wales on 14 March 2015.

__________________________

Greetings from London, where we Greens are in the final weeks of our biggest-ever national election campaign.

Did you know that all Australian adults currently in the UK are eligible to vote in British elections?

It’s true. So are most British citizens living in Australia. The UK elections on May 7 are the most important in a generation — and a Green vote has never been more powerful.

Find out if you can vote in the UK election today.

British politics is broken. 3.5 million children live in poverty but the old parties all support huge cuts to public services. The Conservative government here is slashing clean energy and expanding fracking across the country — just like Tony Abbott.

But people here are standing up. Nearly 50,000 people have joined the Green parties of the UK in the last year alone. There is a hunger for change and it’s showing in the polls. Predictions show that if we can turn out every Green supporter on May 7, we will help decide who forms the next government.  

That’s why we need you. Our key seats will come down to a handful of votes — eligible overseas voters could decide this election for the Greens.

If you're an Australian in the UK or a British citizen in Australia, register to vote today.

Just like in Australia, the Greens are the only party keeping multinational companies honest about the tax they (don’t) pay. We’re for keeping healthcare in public hands and providing good homes for everyone.

I was the only party leader to mention climate change in the election debates last month.

For the good of the planet, keeping a Green voice in the UK Parliament has never been more important. That’s why we need everyone next month.

Please, register to vote in the UK election today - and vote Green on May 7 to change politics forever.

Yours,

Natalie Bennett
Leader, Green Party of England and Wales

PS As an Australian myself, I really appreciate your support in this. Know any Australians in the UK at the moment — or British citizens living in Australia? Please forward this email to them to get the word out. We can change politics, but it’s going to take all of us.

__________________________

Voting in a UK General Election

In a UK parliamentary general election, registered voters in every area of the country vote for an MP to represent them in the House of Commons. There are 650 geographical areas - these are called constituencies.

You can vote in a UK parliamentary general election if you’re registered to vote and:

 * aged 18 or over on polling day

 * a UK citizen, Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Irish Republic

 * not legally excluded from voting (eg because you’re in prison)

You can’t vote in a UK parliamentary general election if you are:

 * under 18

 * a member of the House of Lords

 * a European Union citizen (and not also a UK, Irish or Commonwealth citizen)

 * in prison (apart from remand prisoners)

Clarence House ban ensures rolling antipodean satire by the Chaser team

The promotional clip



and two of the final no-access-to-the-wedding clips





No wonder Prince Charles issued a ban on using footage of the Windsor-Middleton wedding “in any drama, comedy, satirical or similar entertainment program or content” - The Chaser team's fame had gone before it and someone at the BBC had likely seen the promo and insisted the letter of the broadcasting rights contract be observed.

Still, Clarence House was naive to hope that the matter would end there with no prospect of raw, biting or even downright silly satire surfacing in response and, now the ABC is running the complete clip set on iView for the next twelve days.

Tell an average Australian "No" in an upper-class English accent and the rest is very predictable.

Memo to Gillard and Obama: So what is the precise difference?

Try and pick the “anti-American” “terrorist” ”traitor” who should be prosecuted and deserves to die from the reputable newspaper which is reporting on foreign affairs.
Yes, it’s the Australian citizen and Wikileaks editor who should be assassinated.

Where is the logic when both editors have published identical material on the same day from the same original source?

Well, there is no logic being applied by Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama as heads of their respective governments.
Nor is logic something being practiced by sections of the international media, as evidenced from the U.S. Fox News excerpt above where it is very evident that none of the speakers have actually read any of the cables they mention.

It is becoming increasingly hard to believe that current Swedish legal moves against the Wikileaks editor are not now perverted by design so as to eventually see him extradited to the United States.

Something which will eventually involve the reputation of British Prime Minister David Cameron and his government:

Informal discussions have already taken place between US and Swedish officials over the possibility of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange being delivered into American custody, according to diplomatic sources.
Mr Assange is in a British jail awaiting extradition proceedings to Sweden after being refused bail at Westminster Magistrates’ Court despite a number of prominent public figures offering to stand as surety.
His arrest in north London yesterday was described by the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates as “good news”, and may pave the way for extradition to America and a possible lengthy jail sentence.

Examples of the published cables:

The New York Times published online, Executive editor W. Keller, 2 December 2010:

Date 2009-08-06 05:28:00 Source Embassy Kabul Classification SECRET S E C R E T KABUL 002246 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/A, INL, EUR/PRM, INR, OSD FOR
FLOURNOY, CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICENT KABUL FOR
COS USFOR-AE.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2019
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MARR, AF
SUBJECT: COMPLAINTS TO GIROA ON PRE-TRIAL RELEASES AND
PARDONS OF NARCO-TRAFFICKERSREF: REFTEL KABUL 02245 Classified By: DEPUTY AMBASSADOR FRANCIS J. RICCIAR DONE FOR REASONS 1.4
(B) AND (D)1.

(S) SUMMARY: On numerous occasions we have emphasized with
Attorney General Aloko the need to end interventions by him
and President Karzai, who both authorize the release of
detainees pre-trial and allow dangerous individuals to go
free or re-enter the battlefield without ever facing an
Afghan court. On July 29th, Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh
and Deputy Ambassador Frances Ricciardone demarched Attorney
General Muhammad Ishaq Aloko about our concern over pre-trial
releases and presidential pardons of narco-traffickers
(Reftel Kabul 02245) In Spring 2008, Post had previous
demarched National Security Advisor Rassoul about our concern
over pre-trial releases. Despite our complaints and
expressions of concern to the GIRoA, pre-trial releases
continue. END SUMMARY

Wikileaks published online, Senior editor J. Assange, 2 December 2010:

VZCZCXYZ0001OO RUEHWEBDE RUEHBUL #2246 2180528ZNY SSSSS ZZHO 060528Z AUG 09 ZDKFM AM EMBASSY KABULTO SECS TATE WASH DC IMMEDIATE 0662S E C R E T KABUL 002246SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/A, INL, EUR/PRM, INR, OSD FORFLOURNOY, CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICENT KABUL FORCOS USFOR-AE.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR AF SUBJECT: COMPLAINTS TO GIROA ON PRE-TRIAL RELEASES ANDPARDONS OF NARCO-TRAFFICKERSREF: REFTEL KABUL 02245Classified By: DEPUTY AMBASSADOR FRANCIS J. RICCIAR DONE FOR REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D)

¶1. (S) SUMMARY: On numerous occasions we have emphasized withAttorney General Aloko the need to end interventions by himand President Karzai, who both authorize the release ofdetainees pre-trial and allow dangerous individuals to gofree or re-enter the battlefield without ever facing anAfghan court. On July 29th, Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Kohand Deputy Ambassador Frances Ricciardone demarched AttorneyGeneral Muhammad Ishaq Aloko about our concern over pre-trialreleases and presidential pardons of narco-traffickers(Reftel Kabul 02245) In Spring 2008, Post had previousdemarched National Security Advisor Rassoul about our concernover pre-trial releases. Despite our complaints andexpressions of concern to the GIRoA, pre-trial releasescontinue. END SUMMARY