Hands off! The ABC pays its own way, says ABC boss

The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 June 2018:

ABC boss Michelle Guthrie has dramatically hit back at the Liberal Party over its call to privatise the public broadcaster, vowing the ABC will not be a "punching bag" for political and vested interests, and labelling the attacks as cynical, misplaced and ignorant.

In a provocative speech intended to "call out" the ABC's critics, Ms Guthrie also presented new data showing the broadcaster generates as much annual economic activity as it receives from taxpayers.

And she declared the public views the ABC as a "priceless asset" that should not be sold, no matter how much a commercial buyer might be prepared to fork out.

"[Australians] regard the ABC as one of the great national institutions [and] deeply resent it being used as a punching bag by narrow political, commercial or ideological interests", Ms Guthrie said.

"Inherent in the drive against the independent public broadcaster is a belief that it can be pushed and prodded into different shapes to suit the prevailing climate. It can't. Nor should it be."

Ms Guthrie said she wanted to respond specifically to the motion passed by the Liberal Party federal council at the weekend calling for the ABC to be sold off, "even if others are keen to downplay it".

ABC Managing Director, Michelle Guthrie, speech at the Melbourne Press Club, 19 June 2018:

For those who prefer an abacus-type approach to this debate, I have some fresh information. How do you put a price on the value of the ABC? In pursuit of that answer, the ABC has commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to do some research. Their report is still being compiled and will be released next month. The early findings are interesting. They show that the ABC contributed more than $1 billion to the Australian economy in the last financial year - on a par with the public investment in the organisation.  Far from being a drain on the public purse, the audience, community and economic value stemming from ABC activity is a real and tangible benefit.....

Deloitte calculates that the ABC is helping to sustain more than 6000 full-time equivalent jobs across the economy. It means that for every 3 full-time equivalent jobs created by the ABC, there are another 2 supported in our supply chain – local artists, writers, technicians, transport workers and many more. In hard figures, the research shows that the ABC helps to sustain 2,500 full-time equivalent jobs in addition to the 4000 women and men who are directly employed by the public broadcaster.

The Turnbull Government and the Liberal Party are well aware that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) generates income and the government is a beneficiary.

The 2016-17 annual report, which like all the public broadcaster's annual reports is tabled in parliament, shows the ABC received $1.03 billion in federal government funding.

It also received $70.4 million in own-source revenue (sale goods/rendering services etc.) and recorded a total of $1.03 billion in own-source income.

In addition, that same financial year the ABC paid the Turnbull Federal Government a one-off dividend of $14 million.

But then again, the repeated funding cuts have never been about the ABC living within its means or paying its own way, 

The Liberal and Nationals only ever seem to want to privatise government agencies which return money to treasury - after all their silvertail mates are not interested in cheaply buying businesses that aren't capable of being turned into private enterprise cash cows.

The Australian Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs put a dog whistle to his lips and blew hard last week

This is Australian Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Liberal MP for Aston and child of British migrant parents, Alan Edward Tudge, quoted by ABC News on 14 June 2018:

The Federal Government is considering new English language requirements for anyone seeking permanent residency, with figures showing close to 1 million people in Australia cannot speak basic English.

Australia accepts up to 190,000 permanent migrants each year and while they need to prove they can understand English, their spouses, children and extended family accompanying them do not.

Multicultural Affairs Minister Alan Tudge argued this had created the "concerning situation" where "close to a million" Australians now do not speak the national language.

"That's not in the interests of those migrants but nor is it in the interests of social cohesion, because if we can't communicate with one another, it's very difficult to integrate," he said.

So there are “close to a million” Australians who don’t speak English, are there?

Although the article mention the 2016 Census it is unclear if Alan Tudge has actually read the English proficiency data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

As is usual for a Coalition minister, he is applying a dog whistle to his lips and blowing hard.

This is what that census actually revealed:

*In the Australia in 2016 there were 2,071,384 females and 1,997,244 males who spoke another language at home who reported they spoke English well or very well;

*Another 460,039 females and 359,882 males who spoke another language at home reported a degree of difficulty in speaking English;

*That’s a total of 819,922 people stating a degree of difficulty or 3.5% of a population of 23,401,907 persons counted at the 2016 Census; and

*Of the number who had difficulty in speaking English only 193,036 (aged 0 to 85 years and over) spoke no English at all - that’s 0.82% of the entire Australian population.

So what any reasonable person can say with regard to English proficiency is that a total of 193,036 people from a non-English speaking background, ranging from newborns up to the very old do, not speak any English.

That number is 806,964 short of being one million - it's not even "close to a million".

As a ploy for presenting yet another bill to parliament which allows denial of permanent residency or denial of citizenship to migrants from non-English speaking countries, Alan Tudge’s argument is full of holes.

Barnaby Joyce continues to lay waste to his political reputation

This was Nationals MP for New England Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce in late May 2018....

Photograph: Alex Ellinghausen @ellinghausen on Twitter

His journey to this point....

1. Stood for election to the Australian Senate on the back of an untrue statutory declaration in 2004;

2. As a senator for Queensland made an untrue declaration in 2010 and continued making untrue declarations in 2013 and 2016 by which time he was a Member of the House of Representatives with a NSW seat and Deputy Federal Parliamentary Leader of the National Party;

3. Became Deputy Prime Minister on 12 February 2016;

4. December 2016 began a relationship with a female member of his staff;

5. Calls for his resignation as Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources in June-July 2017 after allegations of ministerial misconduct in the allocation of Murray-Darling Basin water licences;

6. In August 2017 refused to resign from the Australian Parliament once it was discovered he had been ineligible to nominate as a candidate at federal elections since birth due to dual citizenship and, refused to stand down as Deputy Prime Minister;

7. Parliament referred the matter to the High Court of Australia;

8. Was ruled ineligible to sit in the Australian Parliament in an October 2017 High Court ruling and removed from parliament;

9. Accepts $40,000 cheque from billionaire head of mining company at a 21 November 2017 National Agricultural Day gala dinner, thanks her effusively saying he intends to spend this money on his property. Allegedly returned cheque next day incorrectly telling media that it was only a novelty cheque he was handed on the night, not a bankable cheque.

10. Having corrected his citizenship status, was re-elected as the MP for New England in a 2 December 2017 by-election and then re-instated as Deputy Prime Minister by the Turnbull Government;

11. On 6 December 2017 admits he separated from his wife but fails to reveal commenced co-habitation with a new pregnant partner;

12. January 2018 holidays with new partner in Queensland and on the Clarence Coast NSW;

13. On 7 February demands his personal privacy be respected;

14. February 2018 publicly admits to reporters that former staffer is his new partner, but it is not until 19 March that he officially includes her as such on Register of Members' Interests;

15. In February 2018 an internal investigation into his use of parliamentary expense entitlements was reportedly underway;

16. Allegations of sexual harassment appear in the media as well as allegations of public intoxication;

17. On week’s leave from 20 February 2018 to avoid embarrassing the Turnbull Government by becoming Acting Prime Minister while Turnbull was overseas;

18. Calls for privacy for self and new partner;

19. Resigned as Deputy Prime Minister 26 February 2018;

20. On 14 March 2018 belated entered gift of six months free rental accommodation in Armidale onto Register of Members' Interests. 

21. In March 2018 publicly raises doubts that he is the biological father of expected male child;

22. Baby born 16 April 2018 and admits he is the biological father;

23. By late April it was common knowledge that he had signed book deal for an autobiography with an August 2018 deadline for completion;

24. After giving a number of newspaper and televised interviews over the course of eleven weeks concerning his failed marriage/new relationship, he was reportedly paid $150,000 in May for a Channel 7 television interview yet to be aired; 

25. States this money will be placed in trust for infant son and social media discusses trusts as tax minimisation tool; 

26. As of 31 May 2018 existence of trust account and payment for interview not included in Register of Members' Interests; 

27. Commenced up to eleven weeks personal leave as of 29 May 2018 after private interview with Prime Minister. Media reporting that this leave is covered by a medical certificate, which ensures that he meets provisions concerning member absence from parliament and obliges the Opposition by convention to pair him in House Of Representatives voting thus allowing Coalition to continue governing.
Personal leave covers period in which Channel 7 interview might go to air; and

28. Release of Channel 7 promotional clips shown on 29 May 2018 reveal there is almost nothing Joyce will not say or do to keep the media spotlight trained on him.

To be continued....

http://cathywilcox.com.au/

Fair Funding Now campaign kicked off in the Page electorate on 23 May 2018

When Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan stated that "our local community was a winner from this year’s budget with money put back into family budgets, the creation of more jobs and a guarantee of the essential services that we depend on as the Government continues to heavily invest in regional infrastructure" and "Our schools will also receive an extra $23.5 billion over the next decade. This means funding per student is increasing by around 50 percent over the decade making sure our children get the education they deserve" he appears to have misjudged the mood of the electorate.

Echo NetDaily, 23 May 2018:

Principals, parents and teachers in the Page electorate will join with community members at the local launches of the Fair Funding Now campaign at Grafton and Sandy Beach today and tomorrow.

The campaign aims to secure fairer funding for public schools and a reversal of the Turnbull Government cuts which will cost local schools over $23 million in 2018 and 2019 alone.

Speakers at the campaign Grafton launch today (Wednesday) will include NSW Teachers Federation president Maurie Mulheron, South Grafton PS principal, Peter South and P&C President Kelly Vickers while principal Dianne Blevin will address the Sandy Beach PS event tomorrow.

Mr Mulheron said: ‘We are running the Fair Funding Now campaign because a fair go for all children is needed now.

‘All children in the Page electorate should have the opportunity to get the highest quality public education.

‘Polling by the union shows the overwhelming majority of voters in 18 key marginal electorates, including Page, believe federal funding for public school is too low and that funding should be increased straight away.

More important than tax cuts

‘Results show school funding will be a key federal election vote decider, with 83 per cent of respondents stating that public school funding is very important or fairly important to how they will vote. 

‘School funding is more important to voters than cutting company tax rates, with 79 per cent of respondents stating that increasing public school funding to the national schooling resource standard is better for Australia’s future than cutting company tax rates.

 ‘If our leaders can’t commit to ensuring every school is at 100 per cent of the resourcing standard, then they should look at every parent and teacher in the eye and explain to them why their children aren’t a priority.

‘We will be active across Australia, through social media, outdoor advertising, and targeted action in 18 marginal Federal seats including door knocking and phone banks.

Essential Research 22 May 2018 polling results suggests that this campaign will gain grass roots favour.

Click on images to enlarge

Perhaps Mr. Hogan should remember the last Nationals Deputy Speaker who held the seat of Page and who also voted blindly followed the  Coalition party line no matter what policy madness was on the table.

His end was less than glorious - facing a mutinous electorate and lacking credibility, he retired ahead of the 2007 federal election, before the could be sacked by voters. 

Is the war about which political party showed the most disrespect towards the Australian Constitution and Parliament about to spill more blood?

Newcastle Herald, 18 May 2018:

The citizenship crisis could claim more government MPs after Attorney-General Christian Porter said they had to prove their possible dual citizenships were renounced.

Labor says this puts Treasurer Scott Morrison, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, and 12 other coalition MPs in danger.

Mr Morrison's maternal grandfather was born in New Zealand, while Mr McCormack's was born in Greece in 1896.

The citizenship test in the constitution has already forced more than a dozen MPs to quit because they were citizens of foreign countries at the election.

"The requirement is that you have to show that you've completed the renunciation process," Mr Porter told reporters in Perth on Friday.

"You need to evidence not merely the start of the renunciation process but its completion.

"So when people haven't done that, no matter who they are, they need to do so."

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus says it sets a new benchmark that goes too far.

"Mr Porter has created a test that many of his own MPs fail. This is a very dangerous path for the government to go down," Mr Dreyfus said.

He says 14 coalition MPs have not shown evidence of completed renunciations, despite having parents or grandparents born overseas.

Mr Porter had earlier attacked Labor MP Emma Husar because she had not provided documented proof she had renounced Polish citizenship, which she was entitled to through her paternal grandparents.

Ms Husar says she wrote to the Polish consulate to renounce any entitlement 16 days before her nomination for federal parliament in 2016.

But Mr Porter says Ms Husar had not put on the citizenship register any documented evidence her renouncement was accepted.

Ms Husar told The Australian on Friday she had nothing more to add.

"You have to have something to renounce. You have to have something in order to give it back. I am not a dual citizen," she said.

Under new rules set to be introduced before upcoming by-elections, candidates have to give their citizenship information to the Australian Electoral Commission.

It will then be made public, but the AEC won't be given the power to adjudicate the eligibility of candidates.

News.com.au, 18 May 2018:

NEW TEST FOR MP CITIZENSHIP?

* If renunciations are required, as the Attorney-General suggests, then there are eligibility doubts over more federal MPs.

COALITION

* Scott Morrison: Maternal grandfather born in NZ, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Michael McCormack: Maternal grandfather born in Greece. Greek Embassy does not have him registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.

* Zed Seselja: Both parents, all grandparents born overseas, no renunciation confirmation provided. Croatian embassy says he is not a citizen.

* Julia Banks: Greek father and four Greek grandparents. Greek Embassy does not have her registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.

* Alex Hawke: Mother and maternal grandparents were born in Greece. Greek embassy does not have him registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.

* Craig Kelly: South African maternal grandfather, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Nola Marino: No documents proving she does not get Italian citizenship from her husband. Father born in the USA, maternal grandfather born in Sweden, paternal grandparents born in Italy.

* Llew O'Brien: Paternal grandfather born in Canada, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Ken O'Dowd: Paternal grandmother born in the Netherlands, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Tony Pasin: Italian mother and father, grandparents on both sides, document says he is not eligible to apply for Italian citizenship, but not whether he is a citizen.

* Angus Taylor: Maternal grandparents born in NZ, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Alan Tudge - Maternal grandfather born in Canada, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Tim Wilson: Maternal grandfather born in India, no renunciation confirmation provided.

LABOR

* Emma Husar: Polish grandparents, checked that she did not have citizenship but renounced it anyway, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Mark Dreyfus: Jewish father and paternal grandparents fled Nazi Germany and stripped of their citizenship. No renunciation confirmation provided.

* Michael Danby: Jewish father and paternal grandparents were born in Germany. Father was stripped of citizenship when he arrived in Australia. No renunciation confirmation provided.

Once a banker always a a banker

People need to know why Malcolm's on the side of the cheating banks.

Here are the ads we're running on TV. It's not good enough that Turnbull spends all his time defending and supporting the big end of town and treats working people like trash. #auspol #banksrc pic.twitter.com/lHDatAo27Y

— ETU⚡️VIC (@ETUVIC) May 13, 2018

via @ETUVIC

There are currently fifteen [15] members of the Turnbull Government who formerly worked in the banking, finance, insurance, and/or for-profit superannuation industries and three [3] who worked for large accountancy firmss or lobbying groups.

Tweets of the Week

Today DHS told the senate, that so far:

Robodebt has cost $276 million to administer.

And... Robodebt has 'recovered' $279 million.

While they can separate forecast savings for newspaper headlines, apparently it's not possible to do that with actual savings.#notmydebt pic.twitter.com/Q6M6NaY09p

— NotMyDebt (@not_my_debt) May 8, 2018

DHS was asked how many robodebts are awaiting reassessment. They failed to answer. We've heard from people waiting months.

So far 652,898 reassessments have been initiated.

30,953 debts have changed in value or been wiped. That's 30,953 debt notices that were wrong.#notmydebt pic.twitter.com/LJd3WxDJV4

— NotMyDebt (@not_my_debt) May 9, 2018

DHS are including 'prevented debts' in their savings from robodebt.

What happens if a company in the private sector banks a possibly avoided future liability as a cash asset?

See: Blue Sky Alternative Investments - majority of board resigned

Time for robodebt resignations? pic.twitter.com/jsdQVM4NAa

— Sarah Masting (@sarah_masting) May 8, 2018

Liberal Party apparatchik lays out part of Turnbull Government workplace reform game plan?

More rabid than the most rabid Liberal and Nationals party members elected to the 45th Australian Parliament, former CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry & present inaugural Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell, released a 4 page position paper on 27 April 2018. 

On those double-spaced A4s Ms. Carnell managed to lay out the what looks very like an Institute of Pubic Affairs-Coalition Government game plan.

Amongst other things found on this wish list are:

By-pass the Fair Work Commissioners by creating an "online dispute resolution tool as an early intervention to quickly resolve more straightforward termination disputes".

* “small business must make good [on underpaid wages owed to workers] but there is to be "no prosecution, penalty or fine”. 

* “Lower the compensation cap, and reduce the cost and time of conciliation and settlement processes” with “maximum compensation limited to 13 rather than 26 week’s pay”.

* “Recognise and legally accept the common small business practice of paying a buffer above the minimum award wage on the assumption this will ‘take care’ of additional obligations” so that businesses do not have to meet the full legal conditions of employment.

* “Elevate substantive over procedural matters for unfair dismissal” - after all employers shouldn't have to fully comply with a Fair Work Commission code.

* Provide "free access to legal expertise" for employers, that is free access to private businesses involved in matters before the Fair Work Commission which is funded by the taxpayer.

* “The FWO to review the mechanism for providing definitive [free] advice so small businesses can have certainty and can rely on [in tribunal hearings] when defending a dispute to the FWC”.

* “tackle the behavior [sic] of those who do not do the right thing and gain unfair advantage”.

Earlier in the year on 31 January Ms. Carnell was in the media as Ombudsman decrying any reasonable increase in the national minimum wage.

So there you have it - supressed wages growth and less worker rights are on the agenda in the lead up to the forthcoming federal election.

Former hotelier, Australian Minister for Small and Family Business, the Workplace and Deregulation & current Liberal MP for Reid, Craig Laundy, is also "keen to make life easier for small and family businesses to navigate our complex industrial relations system". 

He would be most pleased if businesses would "use their trust and friendship with their workers" to convince them that any changes to industrial relations legislation is going to turn their futures into paradise here on earth.

A guide for those following the Turnbull Government response to evidence given in the Financial Services Rooyal Commission

It won't be long before members of the Turnbull Government - from lowly backbenchers through to cabinet ministers - will be seeking to find excuses to give banks, along with finance and insurance companies, a 'get out of gaol free' card despite whatever findings and recommendations are contained in the final report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

It almost goes without saying that such big political donors are bound to have some members of the government willing to fight in their corner in order to water down whatever post-royal commission legislative provisions are proposed.

To help with discerning just who might play those games, here is a list of Liberal and Nationals MPs and senators with banking/finance/insurance/superannuation backgrounds or who worked for large accountancy firms.

Altogether they make up 16.98 per cent of the Turnbull Government.
 

AUSTRALIAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 45TH PARLIAMENT

Malcolm Turnbull MP (Lib) – former investment banker, Goldman Sachs

Josh Frydenberg MP (Lib) - former director, Deutsche Bank AG 

Kelly O’Dwyer MP (Lib) - former executive, National Australia Bank

Mathias Cormann MP (Lib) – former health services manager & acting general manager, HBF Insurance

Scott Bucholz MP (Lib) - former agri-finance manager

Bert Van Manen MP (Lib) - former bank officer, financial adviser 

Jason Falinski MP (Lib) - former strategy and M&A, Insurance Australia Group

Steven Ciobo MP (Lib) - former senior associate, Australasian Institute of Banking and Finance

John McVeigh MP (Lib) – former graduate executive trainee, Bank of Queensland

Barnaby Joyce MP (Nat) - former rural banker

Kevin  Hogan MP (Nat) -  former money market and bond trader, State Bank of NSW/Colonial State Bank & former Investment officer, Australian Catholic Superannuation Fund, former superannuation consultant 

Michelle Landry MP (Nat) - former supervisor, National Australia Bank

David Littleproud MP (Nat) – former banking and finance roles

AUSTRALIAN SENATE 45TH PARLIAMENT

Jane Hume SEN (Lib) - former investment research manager NAFM/ NAB, private banker NAB, senior manager, Rothschild Australia, vice president Deutsche Bank

Arthur Sinodinos SEN (Lib) - former banker

Dean Smith SEN (Lib) - former head insurance strategy, IAG

OTHER MEMBERS OF TURNBULL GOVERNMENT WHO FORMERLY WORKED FOR LARGE ACCOUNTANCY FIRMS/FINANCIAL INDUSTRY GROUPS

Ian Goodenough MP (Lib) - former accountant and senior associate, Financial Services Institute of Australasia

Michael Sukkar MP (Lib) – former senior consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Matt Canavan SEN (Nat) – former senior executive, KPMG 

Note: Employment descriptions are ones that have been used by MPs & Senators themselves as of 28/04/18

The man who would be prime minister

“In terms of ministerial oversight, the portfolio has the following ministers: the Minister for Home Affairs, who sits in the cabinet and who is also separately sworn as the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection; the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs; the Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity; and the Assistant Minister for Home Affairs. The core functions of the department are policy, strategy, planning and coordination in relation to the domestic security and law enforcement functions of the Commonwealth as well as managed migration and the movement of goods across our borders…..four portfolio agencies that sit alongside the department, which are statutorily independent, but they are within the portfolio. They all, like me, report to the cabinet minister. The Australian Federal Police, ACIC, AUSTRAC and Australian Border Force. That is four. Then, with the passage of relevant legislation that is currently before the parliament, ASIO will move across soon.”  [Secretary Dept. of Home Affairs Michael Pezullo at Senate Estimates Hearing, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, 26 February 2018]

The worry about concentration of political power per se and that power in inappropriate hands…….

The Saturday Paper, 28 April 2018:

Peter Dutton is arguably the most powerful person in the country. In his new ministry he has oversight for national security, for the Federal Police, Border Force and ASIO, for the law enforcement and emergency management functions of the Attorney-General’s Department, the transport security functions of the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, the counterterrorism and cybersecurity functions of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the multicultural affairs functions of the Department of Social Services, and the entire Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

It is hard to imagine any member of federal parliament less suited to exercise the sort of powers now held by Dutton. It is easy to argue that no minister should be entrusted with such vast powers. But the fact that those powers are in Dutton’s hands is seriously alarming.

Ministerial powers are subject to limits. The rule of law means that the limits are subject to supervision by the judicial system. Most ministers understand that. Dutton apparently does not…..

On April 7, 2018, Dutton called for “like-minded” countries to come together and review the relevance of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

So, here it is: Australia’s most powerful minister is wilfully mistreating innocent people at vast public expense. He is waging a propaganda war against refugees and against the people who try to help them. And he is trying to persuade other countries to back away from international human rights protection.

He tries to make it seem tolerable by hiding it all away in other countries, so that we can’t see the facts for ourselves. [my yellow highlighting]

Evidence that the community concern is justified…….

MSM News, 29 April 2018:

Ministers are planning to make it easier for the government to spy on its own citizens, a leaked document has revealed.

As it stands, the Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation need a warrant from The Attorney-General to access Australians' emails, bank records and text messages.

But ministers are reportedly planning to amend the Intelligence Services Act of 2001 to allow Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Defence Minister Marise Payne to give the orders without the country's top lawyer knowing. 

The intelligence - which could include financial transactions, health data and phone records - would be collected by a government spy agency called the Australian Signals Directorate. 

The plan was revealed by a leaked letter from Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo to Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty.

The top secret letter, written in February and seen by The Sunday Telegraph, details a plan to 'hack into critical infrastructure' to 'proactively disrupt and covertly remove' cyber-enabled criminals including child exploitation and terror networks. 

In March, the plan was outlined in a ministerial submission signed by Mike Burgess, the chief of the Australian Signals Directorate.

It states: 'The Department of Home Affairs advises that it is briefing the Minister for Home Affairs to write to you (Ms Payne) seeking your support for a further tranche of legislative reform to enable ASD to better support a range of Home Affairs priorities.'

But a proposal to change the law has not yet been made.

A spokesman for the Defence Minister Ms Payne said: 'There has been no request to the Minister for Defence to allow ASD to counter or disrupt cyber-­enabled criminals onshore.' 

      

An intelligence source told The Sunday Telegraph that the proposals could spell danger for Australians.

'It would give the most powerful cyber spies the power to turn on their own citizens,' the source said.

The letter also outlines 'step-in' powers which could force companies to hand over citizens' data, the source added.

The submission says the powers would help keep Australian businesses and individuals safe. [my yellow highlighting]

The inherent dishonesty of the Dept. of Home Affairs…..

Secretary of Department of Home Affairs Michael Pezullo, Senate Estimates, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, 26 February 2018, denying the possibility of by-passing the judiciary and “the country's top lawyer”:

As I said at the last estimates meeting of this committee, all executive power is subject to the sovereignty of this parliament and to the supremacy of the law. In bringing the security powers, capabilities and capacities of the Commonwealth together into a single portfolio, these fundamentals will remain in place. All of them are crucial attributes of liberty. I repeat what I said last year to this committee: any contrary suggestion that the establishment of Home Affairs will somehow create an extra judicial apparatus of power bears no relationship to the facts or to how our system of government works, and any suggestion that we in the portfolio are somehow embarked on the secret deconstruction of the supervisory controls which envelop and check executive power are nothing more than flights of conspiratorial fancy that read into all relevant utterances the master blueprint of a new ideology of undemocratic surveillance and social control. [my yellow highting]

Ministerial denial - of sorts....

When confronted by the mainstream media Dutton supported government spying on its citizens, saying he believes there is a case to be made for giving the Australian Signals Directorate more powers to investigate domestic cyber threats, with appropriate safeguards in place and "If we were to make any changes ... I would want to see judicial oversight or the first law officer (attorney-general) with the power to sign off on those warrants".

Hands up everyone in Australia who will sleep well knowing that the tsar has spoken. *crickets*