What exactly is the Institute of Public Affairs Limited and why is it always in our faces?

What exactly is the Institute of Public Affairs Limited and why is it always in our faces?

Because this question comes up from time to time, here is a brief history of what is essentially an aggressive right-wing lobby group heavily influencing the Liberal Party. 

The Institute of Public Affairs Limited (IPA) is a Melbourne-based, right wing ‘free market think tank’ that was formed in 1943 by members of the business community allegedly for philanthropic purposes, however it only registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission on 10 June 1987. It pays no tax.

The IPA says of itself that since its inception it has been at the forefront of the political and policy debate, defining the contemporary political landscape.

It also declares that it supports the free market of ideas, the free flow of capital, a limited and efficient government, evidence-based public policy, the rule of law, and representative democracy. 

The Liberal Party of Australia was founded in 1944 by then United Australia Party (UAP) Leader of the Opposition Robert Gordon Menzies.

From its earliest beginnings IPA appears to have had close ties with the Liberal Party which continue to this day, with Liberal Party IPA members in the Australian Parliament. James Paterson (former IPA Deputy Executive Director) was picked to fill a Liberal Party senate vacancy and Tim Wilson (former IPA Director of Climate Change Policy and the Intellectual Property and Free Trade Unit) is the Liberal MP for Goldstein.

Other IPA members were also elected to federal parliament – Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm is in the Senate as was Family First’s Bob Day until November 2016.

Independent Australia reported on  April 2016:  

On his elevation to the senate Paterson emailed a letter to all IPA members in which he said, “I want you to know that I’m going to the Senate to fight for exactly the same things I have in my time at the IPA. I know if I ever fail to do so that IPA members will be the first to let me know where I have gone wrong!”.....

A second telling example concerns the response to the refusal in August 2014 to repeal race hate laws. As reported by Latika Burke in the Age (7/8/14) John Roskam said the IPA had “been contacted by many IPA members who are also Liberal Party members who have said they will resign their membership from the Liberal Party over this broken promise from the government,…”

It was also reported that Tony Abbott had phoned Andrew Bolt and John Roskam to inform them of the government’s decision. So Liberal party members apparently go to the IPA before protesting to their own MPs.

According to Source Watch IPA membership was originally restricted to no more than fifty-four people. However by 2009 this number had risen to 778 and now stands at 3,473 members.

For an organisation with such a relatively small membership it has an inordinately loud voice and, in its last published annual report in 2014-15 bragged that the IPA was mentioned 81 times in federal parliament, made 762 appearances in print media, 411 appearance on radio and 184 on television.

This particular annual report states that: IPA research and analysis is featured in the national media on average more than three times each day.

IPA annual revenue has been listed in the millions since at least 2008-09 and at 30 June 2015 revenue was listed as $3.4 million – with 60% coming from individuals, 20% from businesses, 18% from foundations and 2% listed as other. The organisation’s expenses at 30 June 2015 were recorded as $3 million.

A number of its donors are exceedingly generous – 64 of these unidentified donors gave between $5,000 and $49,999 each in 2014-15 with a further 15 giving $50,000+ each.

The IPA was endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) from 30 Mar 2006 and according to ABC News in February 2012:

In order for the IPA to become a DGR it had to apply to the Secretary of what is now the Federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research giving various undertakings.

Most importantly, it had to undertake to use all tax-deductible donations exclusively for scientific research, more particularly, "scientific research which is, or may prove to be, of value to Australia". In this context, the authorities have ruled that "scientific research" includes social scientific research.

The IPA also had to undertake to create a separate bank account into which all tax-deductible gifts must be deposited. The Institute's financial statements show that it keeps some of its cash in an account called "NAB Research Account". On June 30, 2010 it held $385,647.

It must also ensure that all disbursements from this research account are evaluated and approved by "a suitably qualified research committee" of at least five members, the majority of whom are appropriately qualified in the field of research that is to be undertaken or have appropriate experience in reviewing research, and who should be nominated on the basis of their "proven ability to direct a research program". As far as I can tell, the IPA has not made public the membership of its research committee.

The rules state explicitly that tax-deductible funds may not be used for "the organisation of conferences, congresses and symposia and the publication of information (other than the results of the ARI's own research work, undertaken through this program)."

All of this raises the question of whether donations to the IPA for which the donor has claimed a tax deduction are being used in compliance with the law.

The last published mention of an IPA Research Committee in 2013-14 included Professor Bob Carter, Professor Greg Craven, Dr Tim Duncan, Dr Michael Folie, Professor John Freebairn, Dr Scott Prasser and Dr Tom Quirk as committee members. So called ‘scientific’ research undertaken appears to be primarily related to its own policy platforms, including climate change denial.

Peta Credlin was allegedly an IPA staffer at one time.

Because the IPA keeps its membership list extremely private one can only speculate on its contents, however some donors, members and/or supporters have come to light over the years. These are: international media mogul Rupert Murdoch on the IPA Council from 1986 to 2000, mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, columnist Andrew Bolt, former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, former Liberal prime minister John Howard, Exxon, Shell, Caltex, BHP-Billiton, Western Mining Corporation, Murray Irrigation Limited, Monsanto, Woodside Petroleum, Phillip Morris and British American Tobacco.

The IPA has been attacking the idea of public broadcasting for years:

 https://youtu.be/qZ_Kbiwl2ok

The IPA apparently looks favourably on U.S. president-elect Donald J. Trump. Its current Adjunct Fellow Georgina Downer (daughter of former Liberal minister and present Australian Ambassador to the Court of St. James Alexander Downer) stating: Donald Trump's historic victory represents a huge opportunity for middle America. It is a rejection of liberal internationalism, political correctness and the progressive politics of urban elites in favour of traditional American values - love of country, family and, for many, faith. Like Brexit, it heralds a return to the pre-eminence of the nation state, of national sovereignty and democracy.

Known IPA policies in August 2012:

1 Repeal the carbon tax, and don't replace it. It will be one thing to remove the burden of the carbon tax from the Australian economy. But if it is just replaced by another costly scheme, most of the benefits will be undone.

2 Abolish the Department of Climate Change

3 Abolish the Clean Energy Fund

4 Repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act

5 Abandon Australia's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council

6 Repeal the renewable energy target

7 Return income taxing powers to the states

8 Abolish the Commonwealth Grants Commission

9 Abolish the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

10 Withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol

11 Introduce fee competition to Australian universities

12 Repeal the National Curriculum

13 Introduce competing private secondary school curriculums

14 Abolish the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)

15 Eliminate laws that require radio and television broadcasters to be 'balanced'

16 Abolish television spectrum licensing and devolve spectrum management to the common law

17 End local content requirements for Australian television stations

18 Eliminate family tax benefits

19 Abandon the paid parental leave scheme

20 Means-test Medicare

21 End all corporate welfare and subsidies by closing the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education

22 Introduce voluntary voting

23 End mandatory disclosures on political donations

24 End media blackout in final days of election campaigns

25 End public funding to political parties

26 Remove anti-dumping laws

27 Eliminate media ownership restrictions

28 Abolish the Foreign Investment Review Board

29 Eliminate the National Preventative Health Agency

30 Cease subsidising the car industry

31 Formalise a one-in, one-out approach to regulatory reduction

32 Rule out federal funding for 2018 Commonwealth Games

33 Deregulate the parallel importation of books

34 End preferences for Industry Super Funds in workplace relations laws

35 Legislate a cap on government spending and tax as a percentage of GDP

36 Legislate a balanced budget amendment which strictly limits the size of budget deficits and the period the federal government can be in deficit

37 Force government agencies to put all of their spending online in a searchable database

38 Repeal plain packaging for cigarettes and rule it out for all other products, including alcohol and fast food

39 Reintroduce voluntary student unionism at universities

40 Introduce a voucher scheme for secondary schools

41 Repeal the alcopops tax

42 Introduce a special economic zone in the north of Australia including:
a) Lower personal income tax for residents
b) Significantly expanded 457 Visa programs for workers
c) Encourage the construction of dams

43 Repeal the mining tax

44 Devolve environmental approvals for major projects to the states

45 Introduce a single rate of income tax with a generous tax-free threshold

46 Cut company tax to an internationally competitive rate of 25 per cent

47 Cease funding the Australia Network

48 Privatise Australia Post

49 Privatise Medibank

50 Break up the ABC and put out to tender each individual function
51 Privatise SBS
52 Reduce the size of the public service from current levels of more than 260,000 to at least the 2001 low of 212,784

53 Repeal the Fair Work Act

54 Allow individuals and employers to negotiate directly terms of employment that suit them

55 Encourage independent contracting by overturning new regulations designed to punish contractors

56 Abolish the Baby Bonus

57 Abolish the First Home Owners' Grant

58 Allow the Northern Territory to become a state

59 Halve the size of the Coalition front bench from 32 to 16

60 Remove all remaining tariff and non-tariff barriers to international trade

61 Slash top public servant salaries to much lower international standards, like in the United States

62 End all public subsidies to sport and the arts

63 Privatise the Australian Institute of Sport

64 End all hidden protectionist measures, such as preferences for local manufacturers in government tendering

65 Abolish the Office for Film and Literature Classification

66 Rule out any government-supported or mandated internet censorship

67 Means test tertiary student loans 

68 Allow people to opt out of superannuation in exchange for promising to forgo any government income support in retirement

69 Immediately halt construction of the National Broadband Network and privatise any sections that have already been built

70 End all government funded Nanny State advertising

71 Reject proposals for compulsory food and alcohol labelling

72 Privatise the CSIRO

73 Defund Harmony Day

74 Close the Office for Youth

75 Privatise the Snowy-Hydro Scheme

A further 25 IPA ideas to shape Australia can be found here.

Founding Board 1943:

Sir G.J. Coles CBE, H.G. Darling, G.H. Grimwade, H.R. Harper, W.A. Ince, C.D. Kemp, F.E. Lampe MBE, Sir Walter Massy-Greene (former Nationalist Party senator and former Menzies UAP Government appointee to the Treasury Finance Committee), Sir L.J. McConnan KB, C.N. McKay, W.E. McPherson, Sir Keith Murdoch, Sir Ian Potter, The Hon. A.G. Warner (later Minister in Victorian Liberal-Country Party Government).

Current IPA Board:

John Roskam, Executive Director, member of the Liberal Party of Australia, former Manager of Government and Corporate Affairs for Rio Tinto Group

Rod Kemp, Chairman, former Liberal Party senator and son of IPA co-founder

Janet Albrechtsen, Director, News Corp journalist

Harold Clough, Director, Liberal party donor

Tim Duncan, Director, former Liberal party media adviser, former Head of Australian External Affairs at Rio Tinto

Michael Folie, Director, former Shell Australia director and former Deputy Chairman of InterOil Corporation

Michael Hickinbotham, Director, South Australian property developer and Liberal Party supporter/donor

Geoff Hone, Director, lawyer specialising in company law

Rod Menzies, Director, multi-millionaire, Executive Chairman Menzies International (Aust) Pty Ltd 

William Morgan, Director,

Maurice O'Shannassy, Director, Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Officer at BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited, Chairman MWH Capital Pty Ltd

Current staff:

Darcy Allen, Research Fellow

Richard Allsop, Senior Fellow

Morgan Begg, Researcher and Editor, FreedomWatch

Chris Berg, Senior Fellow

Simon Breheny, Director of Policy

Sinclair Davidson, Senior Research Fellow

Stephanie Forrest, Research Scholar, Foundations of Western Civilisation Program

Father James Grant, Adjunct Fellow

Peter Gregory, Research Fellow

Brett Hogan, Director of Research

John Hyde, Emeritus Fellow

Scott Hargreaves, Senior Fellow

Aaron Lane, Legal Fellow

Jennifer Marohasy, Senior Fellow

Mikayla Novak, Adjunct Fellow

Jason Potts, Adjunct Fellow

Tom Switzer, Adjunct Fellow

James Bolt, Digital Communications Manager

Rachel Guy, Development Coordinator

Nina Lohanatha, Administrative Assistant

Andrew Poon, Director, Finance and Administration

Anniessa Putri, Finance Assistant

Sarah Wilson, Membership and Special Events Coordinator

Matthew Lesh, Research Fellow, Future of Freedom Program

Andrew Bushnell

Bella d'Abrera, Director, Future of Freedom

Daniel Wild

Evan Mulholland, Media and Communications Manager

Georgina Downer, Adjunct Fellow

Michael Husek

Staff in 2013-14:

Dr John Abbot—Senior Fellow, Darcy Allen—Research Fellow, Dr Richard Allsop—Senior Fellow, Morgan Begg—Editor, FreedomWatch, Chris Berg—Senior Fellow, James Bolt—Communications Coordinator, Simon Breheny—Director, Legal Rights Project, Professor Bob Carter—Emeritus Fellow, Professor Sinclair Davidson—Senior Fellow, Stephanie Forrest—Research Scholar, Father James Grant—Adjunct Fellow, Peter Gregory—Research Fellow, Rachel Guy—Development Manager, Brett Hogan—Director, Energy and Innovation Policy, John Hyde—Emeritus Fellow, Nick Jarman—Development Associate, Aline Le Guen—Editor, IPA Review, Nina Lohanatha—Administrative Assistant, Dr Jennifer Marohasy—Senior Fellow, Dr Mikayla Novak—Senior Fellow, Hannah Pandel—Research Fellow, James Paterson—Deputy Executive Director, Rob Phayer—Internal Systems Manager, Andy Poon—Director, Finance and Administration, Professor Jason Potts—Adjunct Fellow, Martin Proctor—Campus Coordinator, Anniessa Putri—Finance Assistant, Tom Switzer—Adjunct Fellow, Henry Travers—Multimedia Coordinator, Sasha Uher—Campus Coordinator, Sarah Wilson—Membership Coordinator.

America begins to gird for battle against Trump's ideological excesses

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded in 1920 and by its own reckoning now is the “leading civil liberties advocate in the Supreme Court. With over 200 staff attorneys and an extensive network of cooperating attorneys, we handle thousands of cases each year on behalf of clients whose rights have been violated”.

On 11 November 2016 it threw down the gauntlet in what may become the biggest battle to retain the full gamut of civil liberties and human rights in America since the 1960s.

Click on image to enlarge

At 7:01 AM on 18 Nov 2016 ACLU tweeted this:

On  the same day the ACLU website displayed this banner.

Have an Optus, Vodaphone or Telstra mobile phone account? Your personal details may be on sale in Mumbai

The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 November 2016:

Corrupt insiders at offshore call centres are offering the private details of Australian customers of Optus, Telstra and Vodafone for sale to anyone prepared to pay.

A Fairfax Media investigation can reveal Mumbai-based security firm AI Solutions is asking between $350 and $1000 in exchange for the private information, but even more if the target is an Australian "VIP, politician, police, [or] celebrity".

AI Solutions is just one of potentially several private companies selling phone records, home addresses and other private details of Australian telecommunication company customers. They in turn have received the information from employees of the call centres used widely by Australian businesses.

Security industry sources said the practice has been long-standing. AI Solutions has told customers it has sold people's personal data for several years.

Optus has called in the federal police to investigate the data breach after it was contacted by Fairfax Media.

Optus, Telstra - which is holding an investor briefing in Sydney on Thursday - and Vodafone have stressed they are aware of the problem and have invested heavily in security procedures to counter it.

The revelation underscores the risks facing Australian consumers and businesses as a vast amount of personal or private data is collected and often stored offshore by service providers, financial institutions and government agencies.

It also raises fresh concerns about risks faced in using offshore call centres, where it may be more difficult to ensure data security.

AI Solutions actively markets its services to prospective Australian clients via an Indian businessman who uses the name Imran Khan. It is unclear if this is a false name.

But Fairfax Media has confirmed that AI Solutions has previously, and on numerous occasions, sold Australians' personal data to third parties.

It recently wrote to a Melbourne corporate intelligence and security company, boasting that it has a "long list" of Australian clients buying data from the offshore call centres.

"There are … 3 major telecom numbers details I can provide you. Telstra, Vodafone and Optus," the Indian company's representative wrote in a text message to a prospective client seen by Fairfax Media.

The company charges $350 to provide a person's home address and charges $1000 for a "full extract". This includes a person's home address, date of birth, alternative phone numbers and "more than 1 years billing statements" and "calling data history".

"And for VIP, politician, police, celebrity, charges are different," one message said.

While the data being illegally sold will not contain the actual content of text messages or what has been said during phone calls, it does contain information about who a person has called, the location at which a call is made and other sensitive data and metadata.

This information could be of use to companies engaged in corporate spying or intelligence gathering, private investigators, marketing firms and organised criminals seeking to engage in identity fraud, or to locate people. It is possible that foreign intelligence services could also use the data theft service.

The Indian firm requests payment via Western Union or Money Gram remittance services……

The Australian Federal Police said it had spoken with Optus and Vodafone and had subsequently provided information to Indian authorities.

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, media release, 17 November 2016:

Statement by the Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, on personal information of Australian telecommunication customers

17 November 2016

I am concerned about allegations that personal information of Australian telecommunication customers is being offered for sale online. My office is making enquiries with Optus, Telstra and Vodafone to determine what further action I may take in this matter.

These allegations, and the community response they have generated, are a reminder that Australian customers expect businesses to handle their personal information in line with Australian law no matter where they operate. 

If anyone has privacy concerns about this incident they can contact my office on 1300 363 992 or enquiries@oaic.gov.au.

So you thought Donald Trump would have no immediate effect on Australian politics?

So you thought US president-elect Donald J. Trump and his transition team would have no immediate effect on Australian politics?

Well here is the privately educated, multi-millionaire son of a wealthy father, Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull echoing and aligning himself with the privately educated, billionaire son of a wealthy father Donald John Trump and the GOP presidential election machine, by referring disparagingly to “elite media” in this ABC News article of 14 November 2016:

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised the "elite media" for not focusing on the public's real concerns, citing President-elect Donald Trump's campaign focus on the economy.

The Prime Minister made the comments when pressed by 7.30 host Leigh Sales on recent polling.

Mr Turnbull, who cited poor polling when he ousted his predecessor Tony Abbott, said the focus should be on issues instead of opinion.

"I would have thought after this last election in the United States that people might focus less on the polls and less on the opinions of commentators on the ABC and other elite media outlets, and focus instead on what people are actually saying," he said.

                                                                         

"Everyone's got slightly different concerns, but a big common factor is concern about economic security.

"One of [Donald Trump's] compelling arguments to many Americans was that he was going to make America great again.

"He was going to do that by driving economic growth."….

Mr Turnbull also criticised the ABC for ongoing debate over the Racial Discrimination Act during the 7.30 interview.

The Government has set up a parliamentary inquiry into the laws to examine whether they impose any limits on free speech and to recommend any amendments.

When asked whether this was a concern for everyday Australians, Mr Turnbull said it was the media who were focused on the law.

"18C is talked about constantly on the ABC, constantly in what's often called the elite media," he said.

"I've focused overwhelmingly on the economy."

Eighteen Coalition MPs spoke on the issue during last week's partyroom meeting, ahead of the Prime Minister announcing the inquiry's establishment.

As 2016 draws to a close it is apparent that global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising - albeit a little slower than before

The Global Carbon Project was established in 2001 “to assist the international science community to establish a common, mutually agreed knowledge base supporting policy debate and action to slow the rate of increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere”.

It released its Global Carbon Budget 2016 this month.

Here are some of the Power Point graphs in this budget report:

NOTE: All the data is shown in billion tonnes CO2 (GtCO2 ) 1 Gigatonne (Gt) = 1 billion tonnes = 1×1015g = 1 Petagram (Pg) 1 kg carbon (C) = 3.664 kg carbon dioxide (CO2 ) 1 GtC = 3.664 billion tonnes CO2 = 3.664 GtCO2 (Figures in units of GtC and GtCO2 are available from http://globalcarbonbudget.org/carbonbudget)

Source: CDIAC; Le Quéré et al 2016; Global Carbon Budget 2016

In July 2015 The Climate Institute produced a fact sheet indicating that Australia was responsible for 1.4 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, 26 tCO₂ annually per person (per capita) and 640 tCO₂ per unit of GDP.

Despite knowing these facts and despite having the effects of climate change literally in our face in Australia this last decade, the Turnbull Government is once again giving into short-term industry interests at the expense of the natural environment, soil quality and long-term water security - not just risking future domestic food shortages due to the degradation of a major food bowl but rather in a worst-case scenario risking widespread starvation as more and more land becomes hostile to reliable food production due to lack of sufficient environmental water flows keeping vital river systems alive.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 November 2016:

The federal government is consigning the Murray River to a "certain slow death" and killing the Murray-Darling Basin Plan by reneging on a promise to increase environmental water flows, South Australian Environment Minister Ian Hunter has said.

Before what was described as a heated meeting of the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council in Adelaide on Friday morning, Mr Hunter called on the Prime Minister to sack his deputy, Barnaby Joyce.

"We saw what happened in the millenium drought. It's beyond shameful that upstream politicians would even consider consigning the South Australians to the same fate in the future," said Mr Hunter.  

Without extra water, the mouth of the Murray would dry up, he said……

Powerless to rein in diplomats' excesses the Australian Government decides to name and shame

News media have been reporting on the flagrant disregard of Australian law by members of the diplomatic community for decades and finally in the Australian Capital Territory they are trying a new approach to traffic violations by diplomats.

ABC News, 17 November 2016:

Foreign diplomats who disregard Australian law will be named and shamed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade amid a crack-down on reckless driving.

The department has struck a deal with the ACT Government to ensure diplomats are no longer immune to having their licences suspended for serious offences that endanger the public.

Freedom of Information documents reveal the crack-down was prompted by concerns about a litany of offences on Canberra roads involving excessive speed and, on occasion, drink-driving.

One Saudi diplomat received a $1,811 fine after being caught travelling at 135 kilometres per hour near Parliament House at 2:00am on a Tuesday.

Another told police he had not had anything to drink despite returning a blood alcohol reading of 0.15, triple the legal limit.

DFAT's chief of protocol briefed 90 diplomats on the new rules in August and "strongly reiterated the message of compliance with Australia's laws".

Internal documents showed the department would no longer be redacting the names of diplomats who broke the law and refused to pay fines.

"[It is] DFAT's view the embassies/high commissions should face the reputational consequences if their officers disrespect the road rules or drive recklessly," the document said.

"This is a fundamental issue of safety. We expect diplomats not only to obey the law, but also to pay fines without delay."

The department has battled to get foreign diplomats to pay their fines for years causing frustration for staff, the police and the ACT Government…..

The documents revealed the department would not disclose a small number of offences because they "had the potential to damage Australia's international relations with some countries".

"In addition, the information released on this occasion includes advice on the new demerit point system for diplomats to be implemented in the ACT under which diplomats will no longer be immune from having their licenses subject to suspension for three months if they incur a total of 12 demerit points or more within a three-year period," one document said.

In the case of serious traffic infringements, DFAT's chief of protocol can request that ambassadors or high commissioners "express concern" to their diplomats or ultimately, cancel a diplomatic visa…..

BACKGROUND

The Canberra Times, 16 November 2016:

A Russian diplomat in Canberra has agreed to apologise over an incident where he allegedly went into a road rage against a young female motorist in the capital last month.

The apology comes after MP Gai Brodtmann alleged two Russian diplomats threatened and bullied the motorist after one of the embassy staffers drove his car into hers at the Coles supermarket car park in Manuka.

The Labor MP says "consular staff from the Russian Embassy allegedly flouting local laws and threatening residents are the latest shocking example of diplomats putting the safety of the Canberra community at risk."

The diplomat in question Edward Shakirov said he and his colleagues found Ms Brodtmann's allegations "surprising" but he would try to resolve the matter with an apology to the other motorist.

Russian diplomats in Canberra have a well established record for racking up speeding and other traffic offences on the city's roads and then refusing to pay the fines, citing diplomatic immunity.

At the last count, the Embassy had more than 250 fines for speeding, illegal parking, running red lights and other offences around Canberra with local authorities powerless to to anything but send "courtesy letters".

In the latest incident diplomat Sergei Letiagin​ is alleged to have driven into the car belonging to young public servant Erika Bacon in a minor car park bingle.

According to Ms Brodtmann's letter of complaint to the Russian Ambassador, Mr Letiagin was unable to speak to Ms Bacon in English, so he summoned a colleague, Edward Shakirov, from the nearby Embassy.

Ms Bacon's account, backed up by witnesses at the scene, is that the two Russians then tried to bully her into accepting liability for the damage to her car.

Ms Bacon, a former employee of Fairfax Media, called police after, she alleges, the Russians became aggressive and threatening to her and to the passers-by who tried to help.

Canberra police and federal agents arrived to calm the situation down…..

Sydney Criminal Lawyers, excerpt, 7 October 2016:

Get Out of Gaol Free

One foreign official was caught driving at 135km/h at 2am, triggering a high speed police chase when he failed to pull over. After eventually stopping, the man failed to produce a driver licence of any description and blamed the incident on forgetting to take his antibiotics. A driver would ordinarily be charged with 'police pursuit' – or 'Skye's law' – a serious offence which can lead to full time imprisonment. However, he could not be charged due to his status as a diplomat.

Other examples include a diplomat who drove with a high range blood alcohol concentration of 0.15, and a Mexican Embassy staffer who refused to comply with a breath test, telling police:

"I don't want to, so I don't have to. I'm here with my family … I'll complain If I hear anything about this".

In another case, a Saudi Arabian diplomat was caught speeding through an intersection at 107km/h in an 80km/h zone. He refused to stop for police sparking a chase, which police ultimately discontinued due to safety concerns. Again, he could not be charged.

Diplomatic Relations and Immunity

Diplomatic immunity arises from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, which was adopted into Australian law by section 7 of the Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act of 1967.

The section essentially protects diplomatic agents from being criminally prosecuted in foreign states. That immunity extends to family members, servants, administrative and technical staff.

The section is intended to promote relations between nations, but has in some cases had the opposite effect. Importantly, the immunity is not absolute as it can be waived by the diplomat's home country.

Waiving Immunity

A waiver of diplomatic immunity normally occurs when the government of the country where the alleged offence took place asks the diplomat's country of origin to waive immunity, and the latter agrees.

Cases of waiver are relatively rare. In the United States, a former Republic of Georgia diplomat who lost control of a car while driving drunk and killed a person resulted in such a waiver.

The diplomat was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and four counts of aggravated assault, and ultimately convicted and sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment.

In a case which occurred in Canada, senior Russian diplomat Andrei Knyazev lost control of his car, killing one person and seriously injuring another. He denied being intoxicated but refused a sobriety or breath test. In that case, Russia declined to waive immunity, instead prosecuting Knyazev when he returned home.

So while diplomatic immunity can enhance relations between countries, it should be used responsibly rather than as a licence to commit offences with impunity – which can result in animosity between sovereign states.

This is just not good enough, Premier Baird!

This lack of prior consultation with indigenous Native Title holders or registered claimants happens too often at state and local government level in NSW to be considered instances of accidental oversight.

It certainly does not show the NSW Government in a good light when it ignores both federal and state legislation and/or regulations requiring such consultation.

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Common Era 2016: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it*

Richard I. Evans, 2005, The Third Reich in Power, excerpt from Chapter 17 “Division of Spoils”:

…. Hitler made generous subventions to a number of other aristocratic landowners to help them with their debts and keep them conspiring with the ex-Kaiser.

In order to facilitate such generosity, the funds allocated in the state budget for Hitler’s personal disposal increased steadily until they reached the astonishing sum of 24 million Reichsmarks in 1942. Hitler could add to these sums the royalties derived from sales of My Struggle, purchased in bulk by Nazi Party organizations and a virtually compulsory item on the ordinary citizen’s bookshelf. These amounted to 1.2 million Reichsmarks in 1933 alone. From 1937 Hitler also claimed royalties on the use of his portrait on postage stamps, something Hindenburg had never done; one cheque alone handed over by the Minister of Posts was for 50 million Reichsmarks, as Speer, who was present on the occasion, reported later. The annual Adolf Hitler Donation of German Business added a further sum, along with fees and royalties paid every time one of Hitler’s speeches was published in the papers. Hitler also received considerable sums from legacies left to him in the wills of the grateful Nazi dead. When all this was taken into account, it was clear that Hitler had little use for the modest salary of 45,000 Reichsmarks he earned as Reich Chancellor, or for the annual expense allowance of 18,000 Reichsmarks; early on in his Chancellorship, therefore, he publicly renounced both salary and allowance in a propagandistic gesture designed to advertise the spirit of selfless dedication in which he ruled the country. Nevertheless, when the Munich tax office reminded him in 1934 that he had never paid any income tax and now owed them more than 400,000 Reichsmarks in arrears, pressure was brought to bear on the tactless officials and before long they had agreed to write off the whole sum and destroy all the files on Hitler’s tax affairs into the bargain. A grateful Hitler granted the head of the tax office, Ludwig Mirre, a pay supplement of 2,000 Reichsmarks a year for this service, free of tax.

Hitler’s personal position as the Third Reich’s charismatic Leader, effectively above and beyond the law, gave not only him but also others immunity from the normal rules of financial probity. His immediate subordinates owed their position not to any elected body but to Hitler alone; they were accountable to no one but him. The same personal relationships replicated themselves all the way down the political scale, right to the bottom. The result was inevitably a vast and growing network of corruption, as patronage, nepotism, bribery and favours, bought, sold and given, quickly assumed a key role in binding the whole system together. After 1933, the continued loyalty of the Party faithful was purchased by a huge system of personal favours. For the hundreds of thousands of Nazi Party activists who were without employment, this meant in the first place giving them a job. Already in July 1933 Rudolf Hess promised employment to all those who had joined the Party before 30 January 1933. In October the same year, the Reich Office for Unemployment Insurance and Jobs in Berlin centralized the campaign to provide jobs for everyone with a Party membership number under 300,000, all those who had held a position of responsibility in the Party for over a year and anyone who had been in the SA, the SS or the Steel Helmets before 30 January 1933. 

* George Santayana, 1905, The Life of Reason

Just because it is beautiful........(17)

Here's some slow-mo whale watching action from the weekend with @sydneywhales... talk about non-stop breaching!  pic.twitter.com/2BdZIcpyS5

— Australia (@Australia) November 7, 2016

Even before that environmental vandal NSW Premier Mike Baird further weakens state environmental law large scale land clearing is increasing

ABC News, 14 November 2016:

In a country with one of the highest land clearing rates in the world, laws making it easier for farmers to clear native vegetation from their properties are expected to be passed in New South Wales within days.

Earlier this month, a leading scientist advising the Baird Government on the proposed changes quit in protest.

Professor Hugh Possingham warned that rather than protecting biodiversity, the laws would allow a doubling of broad-scale clearing that would put some native animals at risk of extinction.

The current laws are supposed to prevent that kind of clearing without permits.

But a Lateline investigation shows the State Government's environmental watchdog has dropped investigations into illegal clearing, after direct political intervention…..

The shocking 2014 murder of environment officer Glen Turner by farmer Ian Turnbull highlighted the ongoing battle being waged in the bush, where huge economic pressure for higher returns clashes with the need to conserve native vegetation.

Australia now has the 5th highest rate of land clearing in the world.

In 2015, a study by NSW Parks and Wildlife found that 60,000 hectares was being cleared per year in the state — a four-fold increase on previous State Government figures……

For two years until end of 2015, the Priestleys collected evidence of alleged illegal clearing and sent it to the State Government watchdog, the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).

Last year, without explanation, the OEH halted its investigation.

"I'm completely devastated," Claire Priestley said.

"I've grown up on that land, I've been out there my whole life. It's devastating to see that a large conglomerate can come into this community, it seems like they have a special privilege to just clear what they want."

Mr Priestley has photographed what he claims is the aftermath of broadscale land clearing, including images of several bulldozers and piles of smouldering native vegetation.

"You can virtually clear the size of the moon and get away with it but you can be in trouble for trespass by taking photos."

Approvals for native clearing are required to be on a public register.

The NSW Environmental Defenders Office recently searched for any approvals given to the Harris business to clear land on its properties west of Walgett.

"We have searched those registers. They're complex registers. You navigate through them by GPS coordinates," EDO chief solicitor Sue Higginson told Lateline.

"With the resources we've had available to us we have searched those registers and we have not turned up any approval for the native vegetation clearing that the Priestleys have witnessed on the Harris properties."

Lateline can also reveal that the Office of Environment and Heritage dropped an investigation into alleged illegal clearing by 12 farmers in the nearby Wee Waa area due to what it believed was the risk of a "catastrophic consequence" if environment officers entered farmers' properties.

The decision to suspend the Wee Waa investigation was the result of an email sent in May 2015 by Nationals state MP Kevin Humphries, urging the investigation be dropped because it was "too explosive" and "not warranted".

Mr Humphries, the Member for Barwon, warned that farmers were looking to blockade any attempt for an on-site visit by OEH and if the visits went ahead it would be "the start of something that will escalate very quickly between farmers from around the state and the authorities".

Despite Mr Humphries' email, there is no evidence that the farmers were planning to blockade OEH inspectors.

Mr Humphries denies the email perverted the course of justice…..

Former station manager Bill Keene has accused the OEH of being unwilling to stop big players in Australia's agricultural industry.

"No doubt they're monitoring it, they're just not doing anything. They're all noise," he said.

For 28 years Mr Keene managed Brewon station, now owned by P & J Harris & Sons.

He was invited by the OEH to be a witness in an investigation of the Harris company's alleged illegal clearing before the Priestleys complained to the agency.

Mr Keene claims he provided information of illegal clearing on Brewon station to the OEH based on satellite imagery of the property.

He left the area a decade ago but he has reviewed recent aerial footage of the Brewon station obtained by Lateline which he compared to a 2013 Google map.

"I've seen from one end to the other and I know the country inside out. All this country to the west has all been cleared and sown under wheat.

"There's been a massive expansion of clearing and to the best of my knowledge it's been done without permission."

"It's all wheat now. That country's fragile out there and I don't see why people should blatantly illegally clear things like the TSRs [trade stock routes].

"They're there for a reason, they're Crown land. They don't own them so why can they try and squeeze an extra few bags of wheat or whatever?"

Tony Graham, the manager who succeeded Bill Keene on Brewon, said the previous station owners would have loved the opportunity to farm more country.

"We did contact the relevant authorities to try and get that done but no permits were ever issued and under no circumstances was I aware we'd be able to do that.

"That's the reason why the Native Vegetation Act was put in place, just for the protection of that native vegetation."

When the Harris business bought the property in 2010, Mr Graham was told his service was no longer required.

A year later, the Office of Environment and Heritage asked him if he too would be a witness against the business.

"I was given some aerial maps, satellite imagery pre-2010 and post-2010.

"I was asked which country we had set aside for farming and for grazing and it was pretty obvious from those aerial images that it was chalk and cheese as to what had occurred to the country post my time as manager of Brewon.

"Just on those aerials in excess of 5 to 8,000 acres that we certainly didn't have anything to do with, country that I believe had been cleared."

After two years of consultations, Bill Keene and Tony Graham were told the Harris investigation would not go to prosecution.

Tony Graham: "I was very upset. I was very angry given the time myself and another of the previous managers put into it."

The Harris Business repeatedly declined interview requests, referring Lateline to its lawyers.

It denies all allegations of illegal land clearing.

It dismisses Chris and Claire Priestley as bitter losers, accuses the family of waging a vicious hate campaign, and highlights the fact the siblings' mother apologised for earlier defamatory statements, which she also retracted.