Monday, 25 November 2013
John gets mail about eco zombies
Apparently climate change deniers are not content with writing letters to the editors, they also like to drop the odd note to members of the twitterverse if this example received by John Iser of Armidale NSW is any indication:
Sunday, 24 November 2013
Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses To Child Sexual Abuse: Anglican Rev. Pat Comben former Clarence Valley Councillor
The Northern Star on 22 November 2013, Page 6:
"REMARKABLE and distressing" is how a former Anglican chaplain has described the way she saw members of the Grafton Diocese respond to claims of child sex abuse.
Jennifer Woodhouse told the Royal Commission former Grafton Diocese registrar Pat Comben suggested "Grafton would be better off" if child abuse survivor Richard 'Tommy' Campion was offered up to $50,000 in compensation rather than the opportunity to tell his story to an independent panel of professionals.....
Ms Woodhouse described the first response as "caring and warm" but said she found it remarkable and distressing that by 2006, after Mr Campion had unearthed several other victims, Mr Comben appeared "more concerned about the finances of the dioceses than he did about the many people who had been abused at the North Coast Church of England Children's Home".
Evidence given to the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses To Child Sexual Abuse, between 18 and 21 November 2013:
** A. .....We walked in to an office, a fairly large office. We had a number of tables put together. The Reverend Comben, as I recall, when I walked into the room, was sitting on a chair with his hands behind his head and with his feet up, which I interpreted as being something of a machismo role that he was trying to play out.
I put my hand across the table and shook hands with him, although the orphanage boy and the Celt in me felt like kicking the chair from underneath him, quite frankly.
He was showing a level of disrespect that I'd not come across in negotiations previously. Certainly I was there representing 41 people who were in various states of decompensation, and to be met with that level of what I perceived as ignorance --
Q. All right. In terms of the negotiations that occurred over the days 19 and 20 December, did Mr Comben's behaviour change from that early episode you've just described?
A. No. Mr Comben's feet remained in a prostrate position throughout most of the conference.....
Q. Sorry, was that inappropriate or an appropriate - I didn't quite hear?
A. Well, the poker playing is a given part of any settlement negotiations, effectively. When it comes to matters like this, I felt that that wasn't necessarily the appropriate way to proceed. But the Reverend Comben came back at one point and said, "Look, I've been back to" - I forget who he had called; I think it was Bishop Slater - "and the maximum we can go for each of these individuals is $10,000", and that if we were not going to settle, then, in Clint Eastwood style, he said, "Bring it on", which again I felt was inappropriate, but was consistent with the previous references to Tommy Campion as being a ringleader and other derogatory remarks that were made throughout the course of the process.
Q. What did he mean by "Bring it on", to your understanding?
A. Oh, again, his macho bravado was taking over and he was effectively telling us to bring these matters before the court, because he knew that we'd have significant
difficulties if they were not going to waive limitation periods to allow us to properly explore these matters and have some real transparency.
** Mr Harrison told me that Reverend Comben had been very rude in that meeting, and said, in reference to the group of victims, that we "should have been happy to have had a roof over our heads".
** Q. What I am interested in is whether that was an issue - that is to say, the association between the Anglican Church and the North Coast Children's Home - prior to the group claims, namely, when [CH]'s litigation was being discussed?
A. Yes, my best recollection was that it was always being said by Grafton that it really wasn't their home, you know, that it was not an Anglican home.
Q. In that period prior to Mr Campion's claim, who was the main proponent, if you like, of that particular view?
A. Oh, Pat Comben.
** The diocese, through its registrar, Reverend Pat Comben, indicated to the media that the claimants had substantial hurdles to overcome. He also questioned the factual basis for some of the claims and said that the home was a great North Coast community facility.
** Q. So just returning to that issue, what were the main concerns of the claimants about that interview?
A. I wonder if you could refer me to the exhibit itself?
Q. Yes. Sorry, it's not on the screen. SJH-15.
A. Well, there were a number of concerns.
Q. Could we have the whole page, please, on the screen.
A. It certainly wasn't an appropriate vehicle to be discussing these matters. This wasn't to be a trial by media. It was very much a self-serving article that Reverend Comben was trying to put out there, and he was also, in my view, trying to rally the community behind himself as if he was some knight in shining armour. He'd said in the fifth paragraph towards the bottom:
Increasingly I see these matters as being a challenge to the very community of Lismore.
They weren't. They were a very challenge to the Reverend Comben, not the community itself, in my view.
** 1 October 2006 media release distributed by Rev. Pat Comben:
ANG.9320.01802.0631
The Anglican Diocese of Grafton has been provided with 600 pages of statements and documents containing allegations of abuse to 42 former residents of the North Coast Childrens Home.
It is understood that a number of the claims go back more than fifty years and cover matters including discipline in the home and sexual assaults.
Diocesan Registrar Rev Pat Comben said he was surprised at the amount of personal detail of the material while "substantial threshold legal and responsibility questions remain totally unresolved."
The Church has been asked by the claimant's solicitors to respond before the 20th October, a date Rev Comben says is unrealistic.
"It has taken the solicitors for the claimants almost twelve months to collect and collate this material and we will require time to properly assess it and respond," Rev Comben said.
"Our legal advice is clear that there are substantial hurdles to be overcome by the solicitors for the claimants.
"I would hope that these issues can be resolved before increased costs are borne by the individual claimants supplying further personal and medical information which may not be needed because no claim can be made.
"I am concerned that a number of people mentioned as alleged perpetrators are not and never were staff members of the home or even church workers.
"These individuals, many of whom are still living, named as alleged perpetrators have a right to state their response to the allegations and even have their day in court.
"There are also, I believe, substantial factual errors in the material given to us about the home and its management.
"Increasingly I see these matters as being a challenge to the very community of Lismore.
"We have a wide range of evidence that points to the home being a great North Coast community facility, run and 'owned' by the community, with tremendous support from individuals and service clubs.
"Some of the matters complained of might have been standard practice in Australia some decades ago.
"Some of the complaints being raised are a potential affront to all those individuals who willingly gave their time and money to a home that In their eyes did an essential and great job.
"The Church will do all it can to speed the matter up, but in view of the legal uncertainties will continue to contest the matters as presently put to us In the name of all former staff, the wider community of Lismore and the church itself," Rev Comben said.
Murdoch media compares Abbott Government to a bad spy spoof script
Herald Sun 21 November 2013:
If it wasn't so serious, you'd think it was a rejected storyline for the spy-spoof TV series Get Smart.
Would you believe four years ago one of Australia's most secret spy agencies monitored the mobile phone of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife Ani and eight of his inner circle? And would you believe they then bragged about how clever they were in a PowerPoint presentation with the now laughable slogan "reveal their secrets - protect our own".
We share our intelligence with the US but our secrets have been revealed by security contractor and one-time CIA employee Edward Snowden, who gave 200,000 classified documents to the British press and then fled to Russia.
And it's all led to Tony Abbott's first real crisis as Prime Minister, as he comes under fire for his response to the spy bungles.
Indonesia has recalled its ambassador, halted military ties, stopped co-operation in the fight against people smugglers and frozen information-sharing on counterterrorism. Australia's most famous prisoner in Bali, Schapelle Corby, could even have her hopes for release tied up in this storm.
In Jakarta there are protests and the burning of Australian flags outside the our embassy. In Darwin, Indonesian troops taking part in war games with Australia simply walked out.
It is a disaster for Abbott, who is trying to regain control from chaos.......
Saturday, 23 November 2013
The testosterone flows as Abbott and O'Farrell Governments create joint NSW strike team to combat gang crime
UNCLASSIFIED
Hon. Michael Keenan MP
Minister for Justice
Hon. Michael Gallacher MLC
NSW Minister for Police & Emergency Services
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
Friday, 22 November 2013
NSW STRIKE TEAM TO COMBAT GANG CRIME
Minister for Justice, Michael Keenan, and NSW Minister for Police, Michael Gallacher, today announced that the Commonwealth and NSW Governments are establishing a joint strike team to combat gang crime, as part of the $64 million National Anti-Gangs Squad.
The NSW Strike Team will comprise of officers from New South Wales Police, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Taxation Office. As part of this Strike Team, the NSW Police will have access to Commonwealth intelligence from agencies including the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Taxation Office, Centrelink, Customs and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
“All Strike Teams, under the National Anti-Gangs Squad, have been fast tracked and are now operational, as part of the Federal Government’s commitment to combatting gang crime across Australia, ” Mr Keenan said.
“What we are seeing is an unprecedented level of cooperation between Australian law enforcement agencies and their state colleagues to target gang-related crime.”
“Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs are the public face of organised crime in Australia. These gangs have national and often international dimensions and as a result demand a national response, which we are committed to delivering with our state colleagues.”
“We are serious about stopping the scourge of bikie crime across the country. The National Anti-Gangs Squad is just one of a raft of initiatives that the Government has to make sure that no place in Australia is a safe haven for organised crime,” Mr Keenan said.
NSW Police Minister Michael Gallacher said we are serious about tackling gang crime and we are building stronger state and federal partnerships with all agencies working together.
“This joint strike team is an important step in an enhanced national approach to targeting organised crime.
“We are taking many measures to target organised crime and we welcome this investment by the Commonwealth in the safety and security of our State,” Minister Gallacher said.
Further Information: Minister Keenan – Hannah Weir 0417 862 688
Minister Gallacher – Clint McGilvray 0413 285 186
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