Friday 7 June 2019
Northern NSW residents are still over-represented when it comes to smoking cigarettes
The Daily Examiner, 4 June 2019, p.7:
Northern NSW residents
are still over-represented when it comes to smoking cigarettes.
Despite years of
warnings and anti-smoking campaigns, statistics taken in 2016 reveal 20.3 per
cent of population in the North Coast Local Health District is smoking.
The rate has remained
largely unchanged for years as a report released by the Cancer Institute showed
the number of smokers in 2011 stood at 20.4 per cent
This contrasted with
statewide smoking trends which showed the number of smokers had dropped
considerably over the past decade, down from almost 20 percent to just 15.2 per
cent in 2017.
There was a clear
difference between metropolitan and regional areas, with city health districts
recording bigger falls and one regional health district, Western NSW, recording
an increase of four per cent since 2012.
Males aged 25-34 were
the most likely to be lighting up as 25.9 per cent of the group were smokers
compared to 11.8 per cent of women the same age.
In fact, the only age
group in which women out-smoked men was in the 55-64 and 65-74 categories and
in both cases it was only a one per cent difference.
A higher proportion of
women reported smoking while pregnant, with Northern NSW recording a rate five
per cent above the state average of 8.3 per cent......
Labels:
health,
Northern Rivers
So who is to blame for the new Morrison Government?
As of 4:09pm on Thursday 6 June 2019 an est. 6,613,352 Australian citizens had voted for the
Liberal-Nationals Coalition at the 18 May 2019 federal election, by either directly giving their first preference to
one or the other of these two political parties or placing them high on the range
of second preference choices printed on ballot papers.
So let’s get
one thing clear, it is not the fault of any one state or territory that the hard
right Morrison Coalition Government was returned to power. It is not the fault
of Labor or the Greens.
Full
responsibility for the election result lies with those est. 6,613,352 people and, they know who
they are.
They are the
voters now personally responsible for any and all actions of the Morrison Government,
from the date government ministers were sworn-in post-election to the day the
2022 federal election is held.
To all those
individuals I say this:
If the national
economy tanks in the next three years – it’s your fault;
If wages fall
even further behind the cost of living for low and middle income households –
it’s your fault;
If there is no significant increase in the Newstart allowance meaning that young and older job seekers continue to starve in an economy which has limited job
vacancies – it’s your fault;
If the
national debt increases even further to cope with reckless government spending
and dubious overgenerous government tenders – it’s your fault;
If the annual
budget blows out into significant deficit because so many greedy people are joining the franking credit rort – it’s your fault;
If Liberal and National parliamentarians become even more profligate while on the public purse – it’s
your fault;
If there are
more budget funding cuts to essential services, including health, public education, welfare, domestic violence, legal assistance – it’s your fault;
If more
people suicide because of the federal government's flawed and punitive debt
recovery system – it’s your fault;
If there is
an increase in the privatisation of government services with a corresponding decrease
in adequate service delivery – it’s your fault;
If the cost
of child care continues to make life economically difficult for women wanting to
participate in the workforce – it’s your fault;
If women pushed onto the ParentsNext scheme continue to be punished by the Morrison Government by the withholding of money to feed their babies and small children – it’s your fault;
If young first home buyers continue to be squeezed out of the housing market by investors and property speculators – it’s your fault;
If young first home buyers continue to be squeezed out of the housing market by investors and property speculators – it’s your fault;
If there is
an increase in discrimination against vulnerable groups, including the LBGTI community
– it’s your fault;
If human rights abuses continue in immigration detention centres – it’s your fault;
If the frail elderly don't have access to timely free urgent dental care – it’s your fault;
If the National Disability Insurance Scheme continues to fall short of its legislated responsibilities and administrative goals, leaving the needs of clients unmet – it’s your fault;
If human rights abuses continue in immigration detention centres – it’s your fault;
If the frail elderly don't have access to timely free urgent dental care – it’s your fault;
If the National Disability Insurance Scheme continues to fall short of its legislated responsibilities and administrative goals, leaving the needs of clients unmet – it’s your fault;
If the poor continue to have limited access to and no real equity in the benefits derived from a modern democratic society – it’s your fault;
If the discriminatory cashless welfare card is extended to more areas across the country and/or to wider categories of welfare recipients – it’s your fault;
If the discriminatory cashless welfare card is extended to more areas across the country and/or to wider categories of welfare recipients – it’s your fault;
If blatant
water rorts and water thefts continue and more towns/cities run low or are completely
out of drinking water over the next three years – it’s your fault;
If environmental degradation of the river systems in the Murray-Darling Basin is not halted – it’s your fault;
If a federal government data breach compromises your privacy or the privacy of a friend or family member – it’s your fault;
If environmental degradation of the river systems in the Murray-Darling Basin is not halted – it’s your fault;
If a federal government data breach compromises your privacy or the privacy of a friend or family member – it’s your fault;
If the number of citizens arrested and tried for calmly speaking truth to power begins to rise – it’s your fault;
If the
Morrison Government loses China’s goodwill as our largest trading partner in
order to curry favour with US President Donald Trump – it’s your fault; and
If climate
change hammers this nation into the ground over the next three years – it’s your fault.
There are no excuses, there is no magical do over. The est. 6,613,352 Australian citizens who either voted directly or indirectly for the Liberal-Nationals Coalition chose the political path we are now on.
These people alone are to blame for whatever flawed or corrupt actions the Morrison Government takes and the consequences of that government's neglect or indifference during its current term in office.
I reiterate. Each of you brought the second Morrison Government into existence. You own that fact. So don't even try to deflect the blame onto others.
Labels:
elections 2019,
Morrison Government
Thursday 6 June 2019
A word or two on the Australian economy…….
“The
financial year ending in 24 days will be recorded as Australia’s worst since
1992, when the nation was struggling to recover from the 1991 recession.” [Contributing
Editor Michael Pascoe, The
New Daily, 5 June 2019]
With wages growth stagnant and a rise in unemployment the slowing economy became even slower last month as consumers kept their wallets closed, perhaps sensing the uncertainty behind Prime Minister Scott 'Liar from the Shire' Morrison's empty brag of a strong economy during the recent federal election campaign.
Australian Treasurer and Liberal MP for Kooyong Josh Frydenberg let the cat out of the bag when speaking with the banks ahead of the 4 June 2019 Reserve Bank official cash rate cut when he was variously reported as admitting the economy faced significant problems or domestic and international economic challenges. A few days later it was factors which weighed on the economy.
Here is how mainstream media and statisticians presented the situation........
The
Age, 2 June
2019:
On the basis of
the December
quarter numbers Australia is already in a recession on a per capita
basis. It has been there before in its record-setting period of economic
expansion, but there is a sense this time that it will be lucky to avoid a
contraction.
Slowing economic trends
are unlikely to have reversed in the first quarter of 2019. We haven’t seen
those March quarter numbers yet, but they are unlikely to be good, and may be
bad. Political uncertainties will not have helped.
What is in prospect is
the sort of outcome that will compound the concerning result in the second half
of 2018 when GDP slowed dramatically to 1 percent year-on-year.
If that slowdown becomes
entrenched, Australia will tip into a recession for the first time in a
generation with all the consequences that will follow. This includes an
indelible political context.
After six years in
office, the Coalition cannot reasonably blame its predecessor for tepid wages
growth, weak productivity gains, spiralling household debt, a doubling of net
government debt, and a depreciation of the Australian dollar by about 30 per
cent since a Tony Abbott-led government took office in 2013.
Interest rate cuts may
further weaken the dollar. This would be good for commodities exporters, bad
for consumers.
A booming property
sector fuelled by easy credit and lax Foreign Investment Review Board
strictures on Chinese
money flooding the market contributed to an illusion of wellbeing, the
so-called wealth effect: or, perhaps, better described as the “wealth
illusion’’.
Cuts to interest rates
may give the economy a bump. The removal of the spectre of a Labor government,
at odds with aspirational Australia, may encourage investment.
However, what should be
concerning the government, as it prepares for the first session of the 46th
parliament in early July, is that unemployment in April ticked up to 5.2 per
cent from 5 per cent, and underemployment jumped to 8.5 per cent.
Finally, this brings us
to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s pledge to bring the budget back into surplus in
2020-21 and begin paying down debt. If a recession bites that undertaking will
not be worth the budget papers on which it is written.
The question will then
become whether - and how quickly - the Morrison government can bring itself to
admit its budgetary projections, reaffirmed by a docile Treasury in its
pre-election economic and fiscal outlook (PEFO), misfired.
Rather than surpluses as
far the eye can see and tax cuts on the horizon it would be dealing with an
entirely different scenario.
What would be needed in
that case is real stimulus for capital works projects rather than short-term
fixes in the form of tax cuts that might be good for the sale of Harvey Norman
flat-screen televisions, but will do little for wages growth or the economy
overall.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), media
release, 4 June 2019:
Retail turnover fell 0.1
per cent in April
Australian retail turnover fell 0.1 per cent in April 2019, seasonally adjusted, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Retail Trade figures.
This follows a rise of 0.3 per cent in March 2019.
"There were mixed results across industries" said Ben Faulkner, ABS Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys, "with falls in Household goods retailing (-0.9 per cent), Cafes, restaurant and takeaway food services (-0.7 per cent), and Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-1.2 per cent), which were offset by rises in Other retailing (0.8 per cent), Department stores (1.8 per cent), and Food retailing (0.2 per cent)."
In seasonally adjusted terms, there were falls in New South Wales (-0.4 per cent), Victoria (-0.4 per cent), the Northern Territory (-0.5 per cent), and the Australian Capital Territory (-0.2 per cent). There were rises in Queensland (0.7 per cent), South Australia (0.6 per cent), Western Australia (0.1 per cent), and Tasmania (0.3 per cent).
The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.2 per cent in April 2019, following a 0.2 per cent rise in March 2019. Compared to April 2018, the trend estimate rose 2.9 per cent.
Online retail turnover contributed 5.7 per cent to total retail turnover in original terms in April 2019, which was unchanged from March 2019. In April 2018, online retail turnover contributed 5.4 per cent to total retail.
Reserve Bank of Australia. media
release, 4 June 2019:
Statement by Philip
Lowe, Governor: Monetary Policy Decision
At its meeting today,
the Board decided to lower the cash rate by 25 basis points to
1.25 per cent. The Board took this decision to support employment
growth and provide greater confidence that inflation will be consistent with
the medium-term target.
The outlook for the
global economy remains reasonable, although the downside risks stemming from
the trade disputes have increased. Growth in international trade remains weak
and the increased uncertainty is affecting investment intentions in a number of
countries. In China, the authorities have taken steps to support the economy,
while addressing risks in the financial system. In most advanced economies,
inflation remains subdued, unemployment rates are low and wages growth has
picked up.
Global financial conditions
remain accommodative. Long-term bond yields and risk premiums are low. In
Australia, long-term bond yields are at historically low levels. Bank funding
costs have also declined further, with money-market spreads having fully
reversed the increases that took place last year. The Australian dollar has
depreciated a little over the past few months and is at the low end of its
narrow range of recent times.
The central scenario
remains for the Australian economy to grow by around 2¾ per cent in
2019 and 2020. This outlook is supported by increased investment in
infrastructure and a pick-up in activity in the resources sector, partly in
response to an increase in the prices of Australia's exports. The main domestic
uncertainty continues to be the outlook for household consumption, which is
being affected by a protracted period of low income growth and declining
housing prices. Some pick-up in growth in household disposable income is
expected and this should support consumption.
Employment growth has
been strong over the past year, labour force participation has been increasing,
the vacancy rate remains high and there are reports of skills shortages in some
areas. Despite these developments, there has been little further inroads into
the spare capacity in the labour market of late. The unemployment rate had been
steady at around 5 per cent for some months, but ticked up to
5.2 per cent in April. The strong employment growth over the past
year or so has led to a pick-up in wages growth in the private sector, although
overall wages growth remains low. A further gradual lift in wages growth is
expected and this would be a welcome development. Taken together, these labour
market outcomes suggest that the Australian economy can sustain a lower rate of
unemployment.
The recent inflation
outcomes have been lower than expected and suggest subdued inflationary
pressures across much of the economy. Inflation is still however anticipated to
pick up, and will be boosted in the June quarter by increases in petrol prices.
The central scenario remains for underlying inflation to be
1¾ per cent this year, 2 per cent in 2020 and a little
higher after that.
The adjustment in
established housing markets is continuing, after the earlier large run-up in
prices in some cities. Conditions remain soft, although in some markets the
rate of price decline has slowed and auction clearance rates have increased.
Growth in housing credit has also stabilised recently. Credit conditions have
been tightened and the demand for credit by investors has been subdued for some
time. Mortgage rates remain low and there is strong competition for borrowers
of high credit quality.
Today's decision to
lower the cash rate will help make further inroads into the spare capacity in
the economy. It will assist with faster progress in reducing unemployment and
achieve more assured progress towards the inflation target. The Board will
continue to monitor developments in the labour market closely and adjust
monetary policy to support sustainable growth in the economy and the
achievement of the inflation target over time.
Climate change litigation and Australia
Pointing out the potential risks to business and government of ignoring or denying the reality of climate change.....
The
Canberra Times,
29 May 2019:
Since the late 1990s,
Australian politics on climate change has been divisive.
Although Australia
signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, it did not ratify it until 2007.
Then, in
2011, the Clean Energy Act purporting to reduce greenhouse emissions was passed,
only to be repealed in 2014.
In 2016, Australia
ratified the Paris Agreement and the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol;
however, any serious action on climate change remains to be seen.
At the same time, some
states and territories also have emissions reduction targets.
The uncoordinated
approach is a problem for at least two important reasons.
First, climate change is
an ever-increasing phenomenon, with tremendous impact on corporate, social and
political discourse. Any meaningful legal framework to govern climate change
requires the development of a legal consensus at the federal level, in line
with international commitments.
Second, there is a
rising wave of climate change-related litigation globally which is headed for
Australia. Climate change litigation 2.0 (targeting companies) and climate
change litigation 3.0 (targeting governments) will sink Australia, unless
drastic measures are implemented.
Under the current legal
regime, company directors may only be liable if found to be in breach of their
duty of care or for failing to address a foreseeable risk. However, guidance
from case law suggests that it is difficult to establish that the actions or
omissions of a particular entity or director caused or contributed harm to be
suffered by another. With the arrival of climate change litigation 2.0, this
will all change.
For one, litigation 2.0
will force companies to assess and report on the risks of climate change and
potentially set out plans for mitigating those risks. The recent tide of
comments from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the
Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Reserve Bank of Australia
are a testament to this.
Companies and their
directors could soon face liability (including personal liability) if they fail
to assess and address risks relating to climate change. Investors, shareholders
and even communities will be able to recover losses and seek damages from
companies and their directors, auditors and advisors, for failing to assess and
mitigate risks.
As major climate change
attribution studies emerge to assist in tracing particular weather events with
greenhouse gasses, causation will be easier to establish. It is likely that in
the future, courts will rely on such studies to conclude that a particular
entity has contributed, at least in some proportion, to a particular harm……
Although unprecedented
and unheard of in Australia, climate change litigation 3.0 will be the next
phase. It will allow Australians to bring action against the government for
failing to mitigate risks.
Claims of this nature
around the world are already proving to be quite successful.
The Urgenda
litigation in the Netherlands is the leading example. In that case, a Dutch NGO
argued that the Netherlands Government had breached its duty of care to the
Dutch people by failing to mitigate the risks of climate change and reducing
greenhouse gases. The remedy ordered by the court was that the Netherlands
Government reduce emissions by at least 25 per cent by the end of 2020….. [my yellow highlighting]
It should be
noted that on 8 February 2019 the NSW
Land and Environment Court in its judgment Gloucester
Resources Limited v Minister for Planning [2019] NSWLEC 7 accepted
that climate change formed part of critical reasons to reject a mine
development.
Gloucester Resources
decided not to appeal this decision and the proposed 830ha Rocky
Hill Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley region will not proceed.
Labels:
climate change,
coal,
Gloucester,
Land and Environment Court,
law,
mining
Wednesday 5 June 2019
Australia's national greenhouse gas emissions are still rising according to Morrison Government data
The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Coalition Government
has always taken a desultory approach to publishing Australia’s greenhouse gas
emissions data.
On 24 May
2019 it finally presented the United Nations with National
Inventory Report 2017 and its last published quarterly report to the
Australian people was in September 2018.
That 3rd
quarter 2018 update stated that:
Emissions for the year
to September 2018 are estimated to be 536 Mt CO2 -e, up 0.9 per cent (4.6 Mt
CO2 -e) on the previous year, primarily due to increased LNG exports (19.7 per
cent).
Only three sectors in this graph show any real improvement since 1990 and even these become somewhat static after 2013.
Total emissions have
steadily risen in the years following 2013 until in September 2016 they had reached 527.2 Mt of CO2-e, by September 2017 533.3 Mt of CO2-e, by March 2018 535.8 Mt of CO2-e and by September 2018 our
national emissions were 536 Mt CO2-e.
The Morrison
Government has informed the United Nations that its Preliminary estimates for 2018
indicate total net emissions of 537.4 Mt CO2-e with increases in stationary
energy, transport and fugitive emissions and decreases in emissions from electricity.
Within this
figure is a preliminary estimate for total 2018 fugitive emissions from the gas
and oil sector which was almost 30 million tonnes CO2-e. With flaring and venting
accounting for est. 69 percent of this figure (See Figure 3.7 in National
Inventory Report 2017). This venting and flaring primarily contains carbon
dioxide and methane gases.
The
Sydney Morning Herald
reported on 29 May 2019:
Australia's greenhouse
gas emissions in 2018 rose for a fourth year in a row, an increase at odds with
the country's Paris climate pledge, according to a government submission to the
United Nations.
The National
Inventory Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change showed
emissions last year were 537 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (which
include all greenhouse gases), based on preliminary figures.
That tally, which
includes changes to land-use and forestry, was up 0.4 per cent from 2017's
534.7 million tonnes of CO2-e.
The Morrison government
is due to release its full figures for 2018 emissions by the end of this month.
The UN report provides an indication of which way the trajectory will be
pointed.
Rather
laughably the Sydney Morning Herald journalist who wrote this article appears to have expected the Morrison Government to
have given a full accounting of Australia’s 2018 greenhouse gas emissions by 31 May 2019.
Five days later came news of what has become the usual complaint along with the usual response from a Coalition federal government trying to find new ways of burying the bad news that Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are still rising.
Five days later came news of what has become the usual complaint along with the usual response from a Coalition federal government trying to find new ways of burying the bad news that Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are still rising.
The
Guardian, 3 June 2019:
Labor and the Greens
have demanded the government immediately release national greenhouse emissions
data, and have warned the new emissions reduction minister could be in contempt
of parliament for missing the deadline to publish the figures.
Angus Taylor’s first act
in his new role was to miss a Senate-set deadline on Friday for the publication
of Australia’s emissions data for the December 2018 quarter.
The Senate passed an
order last year that requires the minister to publish the quarterly greenhouse
gas inventory no later than five months after the end of each quarter.
For the December quarter
that date was 31 May.
The government, via a
statement from the environment department, said late on Friday: “We anticipate
the quarterly update of Australia’s national greenhouse gas inventory: December
2018 will be released soon.”
But Labor’s climate and
energy spokesman, Mark Butler, said Taylor “must immediately release the latest
emissions data”.
“Angus Taylor has failed
his first task as new emissions reduction minister,” Butler said. “This is a
disgrace and shows total disregard to the Australian people and Senate process.
“But really it’s no
surprise considering Angus Taylor has
continually argued against climate action and is part of a government that has
continually lied about what their emissions data actually shows, which is that
emissions are rising and we’re not on track to meet our international climate
commitments.”
The government has been
under pressure because its climate policy has been failing to stall Australia’s
emissions, which have been increasing every year for the past four years.
The Senate passed the
order for rolling quarterly deadlines last year to address delays in the
publication of national carbon pollution figures.
* For a list of all available Quarterly Updates of Australia's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory go to http://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science-data/greenhouse-gas-measurement/publications#quarterly.
Yaegl Yarning Circle on Birrinba (Clarence River) foreshore at Maclean
The Daily Examiner, 29 May 2019 |
The Daily Examiner, 29 May 2019, p.5:
A location in Maclean
once synonymous with exclusion of indigenous people from the town’s business
district has been turned into a symbol of inclusion.
The site of the Yarning
Circle, in MacNaughton Place, was chosen because it once marked the
“demarcation line” that blocked the Yaegl people’s access to the centre of
Maclean.
A director of the Yaegl
Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, Dianne Chapman, said the line was
not something lost in the past.
“The significance of the
site is that a lot of our elders who have passed on would fish there,” Ms
Chapman said.
“They would come across
from Ulugundahi (Island). Because of that demarcation line they would have to
wait there until they got permission.
“Back in the old days
there used to be ‘dog tags’ they called them. They were cards that enabled
certain people, under the Aboriginal Protection Act, to go to places.
“Not everyone, just
certain people that they could give permission to do that.”
Ms Chapman said her
grandfather had been one of the people who the authorities at the time
entrusted with one of those cards.
“It wasn’t that far
away,” she said. “There’s a lot for the wider community to realise what
happened to Aboriginal people.”
Ms Chapman said the
yarning circle would give the local community a chance to catch up on the
region’s local heritage going back tens of thousands of years.
“It’s sad a lot of the
local community know more about Scottish people here than they do about
Aboriginal people,” she said.
She said the yarning
circle was somewhere Aboriginal people could meet to talk and reminisce and
share culture based on the spoken word.
“We are a culture based
on language and face-to-face contact,” she said. “This is how we connect to
each other and our land. It’s who we are.”
Tuesday 4 June 2019
On 4 June 2019 federal police raided home of Newscorp journalist over story detailing an alleged government proposal to spy on Australians
It seems that someone in the Morrison Government may have laid a complaint........
Braidwood
Times, 4 June
2019:
Federal police have
raided the home of a journalist over a 2018 story detailing an alleged
government proposal to spy on Australians.
Australian Federal
Police officers produced a warrant to search the home, computer and mobile
phone of Canberra-based News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst, The
Daily Telegraph reports.
The story in question
had included images of letters between the heads of the Home Affairs and
Defence departments, discussing potential new powers for the Australian Signals
Directorate (ASD).
The powers would have
allowed the ASD's cyber sleuths to monitor Australian citizens and businesses
on home soil, rather than being limited to gathering intelligence on
foreigners, the story said.
The AFP said the raid is
in relation to "alleged unauthorised disclosure of national security
information" and that no arrests are expected on Tuesday.
"Police will allege
the unauthorised disclosure of these specific documents undermines Australia's
national security," the agency said in a statement…...
BACKGROUND
Sunday Tasmanian, 6 May 2018, p.13:
The Federal Government
has “war-gamed” scenarios where our cyber spy agency needed to be
given the power to investigate Australian citizens.
Last week the Sunday
Tasmanian revealed a secret plan to increase the Australian Signals
Directorate’s powers to allow them to spy on Aussies.
Department bosses
claimed there was “no proposal to increase the ASD’s powers to collect intelligence
on Australians”. But letters between Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo and
Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty reveal the departments of Home Affairs and
Defence allocated staff to war game a raft of scenarios where the ASD would
need to spy on Australians.
The list of scenarios
were compiled in two attachments and sent to the heads of both departments
under the headline “scenarios proposed by Home Affairs”.
The document explains
how ASD could be used to disrupt “onshore and offshore online threats” such as
“disrupting child exploitation networks and terrorist networks” and “illicit
drug importation, money laundering and serious crimes”.
Last week’s Sunday
Tasmanian exclusive has prompted calls for MPs to have greater oversight of
Australia’s intelligence agencies…..
Sunday Telegraph, 29 April 2018, p.5:
Australia’s intelligence
watchdog has warned the Australian Signals Directorate against any moves that
would change the agency’s focus “to people and organisations inside Australia”
instead of focusing on activities overseas.
The veiled warning came
in March during a review into new laws which established the ASD as a statutory
body.
In her submission,
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) Margaret Stone, a former
Federal Court judge, said under the current laws ASD is not permitted to access
digital information located inside Australia.
“Accessing data located
inside Australia is properly an action that requires an ASIO or police
warrant,” she said in her submission.
“Nothing in the
Intelligence Services Act would allow ASD to access restricted data on a
computer physically located inside Australia — even where doing so would assist
in gathering intelligence or disrupting crime,” she said…..
Sunday Telegraph, 29 April 2018, p.4:
Two powerful government
agencies are discussing radical new espionage powers that would see Australia’s
cyber spy agency monitor Australian citizens for the first time.
Under the plan, emails,
bank records and text messages of Australians could be secretly accessed by
digital spies without a trace, provided the Defence and Home Affairs
ministers approved.
The power grab is
detailed in top secret letters between the heads of the Department of Home
Affairs and Defence, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, which outline proposed new
powers for Australia’s electronic spy agency — the Australian Signals
Directorate (ASD).
The Sunday Telegraph can
reveal the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Mike Pezzullo first
wrote to the Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty in February outlining the plan to
potentially allow government hackers to “proactively disrupt and covertly
remove” onshore cyber threats by “hacking into critical infrastructure”.
Under current laws the
ASD — whose mission statement is “Reveal Their Secrets — Protect Our Own” —
must not conduct an activity to produce intelligence on an Australian.
Instead, the Australian
Federal Police and domestic spy agency ASIO have the power to
investigate Australians with a warrant and can ask ASD for technical advice if
they don’t have the capabilities they need.
The Attorney-General is
responsible for issuing ASIO warrants, but the agency’s operations will fall
under the umbrella of Home Affairs.
Under the proposal, seen
by The Sunday Telegraph, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Defence
Minister Marise Payne would tick off on orders allowing cyber spooks to target
onshore threats without the country’s top law officer knowing.
Last month the proposal
was compiled in a top secret ministerial submission signed by ASD boss Mike
Burgess. The proposal outlines scenarios where Canberra-based cyber spies would
use offensive tactics to “counter or disrupt cyber-enabled criminals both
onshore and offshore”.
“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 The
Sunday Telegraph understands Mr Dutton has not written to Minister Payne and no
formal proposal for leglslative amendments have been presented to Government.
“The Australian Signals
Directorate has not prepared ministerial advice seeking permissions to allow
ASD to counter or disrupt cyber-enabled criminals onshore,” a spokesman for Ms
Payne said.
An intelligence source
said such reforms would allow cyber spies to secretly access
digital information on Australians without detection, including financial
transactions, health data and phone records.
“It would give the most
powerful cyber spies the power to turn on its own citizens,” the
source said.
The letter also details
a proposal for coercive “step-in” powers, meaning the intelligence agency could
force government agencies and private businesses to “comply with security
measures”.
The intelligence source
said ASD could be able to compel companies and government agencies to hand over
data or security information…… [my yellow highlighting]
The
Guardian, 25
January 2018:
Proposed changes to
Australia’s national security laws that could see journalists and
whistleblowers jailed for up to 20 years will “criminalise” reporting and
undermine the media’s ability to act in the public interest, the nation’s major
news outlets have warned.
In a joint
submission, 14 major media outlets including the ABC, Fairfax Media and
News Corp said sweeping changes to national security laws proposed by the
federal government would place journalists at “significant risk of jail time”
for doing their jobs.
The reforms,
tabled just hours after marriage equality became law in December, would
increase tenfold the maximum penalty for anyone who communicates or “deals
with” information which could potentially “cause harm to Australia’s
interests,” where that information is obtained via a government official
without authorisation.
Labels:
AFP,
intelligence,
journalists,
media,
national security,
News Corp,
spies
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