Miranda Devine's conspiracy theory travels into regional NSW

On 26 October 2013 Prime Minister Tony Abbott had a handful of right wing media trolls to dinner at Kirribilli House and one, Miranda Devine, returned this hospitality by obligingly beginning  a conspiracy theory on 20 November about the timing of Fairfax media reports on Australia’s spying activities in Indonesia.

Why did The Guardian sit on its bombshell allegations about Australia spying on Indonesia for five months? Ms. Devine began, went on to imply the timing was suspect, then demolished her own argument by including some inconvenient facts.

Andrew Bolt hopped on the bandwagon (along with fellow dinner invitees Greg Sheridan and Paul Sheehan) on 21 November and hasn’t exhausted his vitriol yet.

Her theory was also quickly picked up by a Northern Rivers troll who ditched the inconvenient facts and sent off a letter to the editor which was published in The Daily Examiner on 21 November 2013:

Leftwing nonsense

According to the latest revelations by the ABC, Australian spies have had their eyes and ears focused on Indonesia for years, intercepting the president's telephone calls at will and generally doing what spies are paid to do.

Shock, horror in Indonesia and threats to disembowel present relations with Australia, while the ALP demands PM Tony Abbott apologise and the ABC lovingly stirs the pot.

The question here is just when did this ABC/Guardian coalition really discover these damning revelations considering the so-called Snowden leaks have been about for quite a while, certainly before September 7, 2013, and the spying claims relate to the period of the previous Labor/Green government.

Why now with relations with Indonesia at a critical point, and not at any period of time between 2007, a year Snowden alludes to, and September 6, 2013, the six years Rudd/Gillard/Rudd took turns in the captain's cabin steering us in circles?

The election loss really got up the noses of Labor and the Green lefties and this sort of nonsense designed to detract from the workings of the new government is a good reminder of just why we voted them out en masse.

Fred Perring,
Halfway Creek

Almost as quickly, the Perring version of this conspiracy theory was knocked down in another letter to the editor on 23 November 2013:

No conspiracy

Fred Perring [The Daily Examiner, November 21, 2013] is hot on the heels of what he obviously believes is a possible Guardian Australia-ABC conspiracy, with regard to their reporting of alleged spying on the Indonesian President, his wife and assorted ministers/advisers.

"Why now, with relations with Indonesia at a critical point, and not at any period of time between 2007, a year Snowden alludes to, and September6, 2013, the six years Rudd/Gillard/Rudd took turns in the captain's cabin steering us in circles?" he asks, concerning publication of these news articles.

Now let me see - the public record shows that the original story broke on June 5, 2013, that the US National Security Agency was collecting metadata from internet service providers' records of phone calls.

The whistleblower revealed his identity on or about June 9, and then revealed Australia's links to the spy web, with a map identifying the location of Australian assets assisting American Government covert operations.

Between June 16-27 it became obvious that Snowden had taken a large number of classified intelligence documents and was releasing them to select international media as a single information transfer.

On October 31, the National Security Agency (NSA) admitted that the classified documents stolen numbered somewhere between 50,000 and 200,000 individual documents.

The agency also admitted it had no way of knowing precisely which documents had been accessed until the media reported on them.

ASIO has conducted an audit of documents it shared with foreign intelligence agencies, but the Department Of Defence's Signals Directorate remains silent on whether it was aware that its documents has gone feral, before Guardian Australia and the ABC jointly reported on the directorate's alleged spying activities.

Now, if we take NSA's conservative estimate of 50,000 documents available to the media, a news agency would have to read and check the details of at least 295 intelligence documents a day to have opened all the documents by the day I write this letter.

All of which points to the fact that The Guardian UK did not have these documents before June 5, and has not yet completed reviewing all the documents in its possession.

In fact, according to evidence before a November 19 Senate Estimates Environment and Communications Legislation Committee hearing, The Guardian UK did not give Guardian Australia access to the relevant documents until November, and the ABC was not alerted to the existence of documents outlining alleged spying on Indonesia until approximately 24 hours after Guardian Australia came into possession of these documents.

Senate Estimates evidence also revealed that the ABC consulted with government authorities prior to publication and "in light of representations that were made, a decision was made to withdraw some elements" of these sensitive documents.

So on the basis of the publicly available timetable of the Snowden leak, it was impossible for the ABC to publish any details between 2007 and September 6, 2013; and therefore Mr Perring's conspiracy theory fails.

JUDITH M. MELVILLE

Yamba

APN gets a jump-start on news events

At 6.45pm Eastern Daylight Saving Time on Monday 25th November APN websites carried tomorrow's news.

What's next? Can readers look forward to seeing tomorrow's race results today? The punters would certainly look forward to seeing them.

Read tomorrow's news today here.

Court case reveals Clarence Valley Council's poor management practices

In Collins v Clarence Valley Council (No 3) [2013] NSWSC 1682 judgment went in Council’s favour.

However, the case exposed a numbers of flaws in its policies and processes that councillors need to address.

Excerpts from the judgment:

1 At about 3.00pm on Friday, 9 April 2008, the plaintiff, Dr Ann Collins, was riding her bicycle along the Bluff Bridge. She was participating in an organised charity ride. The Bluff Bridge is a wooden bridge and forms part of the Orara Way. It straddles the Orara River at Lanitza, New South Wales. The front wheel of Dr Collins' bicycle became stuck in a gap between planks on the bridge. Dr Collins fell over the low guardrails on the side of the bridge, with the bicycle still attached to her feet. She fell into a rocky ravine adjacent to the river. Dr Collins suffered significant injuries. It is common ground that if she was to succeed in these proceedings she would recover damages in the amount of $822,632.00 less any deduction for contributory negligence.

7 To some the success of the Council in defending Dr Collins' claim may appear counter-intuitive. While riding her bike in a proper and lawful manner she encountered a wooden bridge on a public road in a poor state of repair. Dr Collins responded to the risk that she perceived was posed by the bridge in a reasonable manner, namely by weaving her way across her side lane of the bridge to avoid her wheels becoming trapped. Yet the accident still happened. The Council is able to avoid liability primarily because of its own ignorance of the risk posed by the structure whose responsibility it was to maintain and the limits on its own resources. Its ignorance of the risk does not reflect well upon its own practices. Whether the limits on its resources exist because of its own inefficiencies or because of factors beyond its control cannot be inquired into. However all of these matters reflect policy choices made by the Parliament in enacting the CLA. Whether those choices reflect a sensible approach to loss distribution that encourages efficient and safe practices of public bodies is not a matter for the Court to assess.

197 ....I have already noted the concession by Mr Bailey as to his state of knowledge of the use of the Orara Way by cyclists and the inadequacies of the bridge for use by cyclists in [54] and [64] above. Clearly Mr Bailey's inspection was less than adequate. What is the point of conducting inspections on a road if an obvious defect that can cause danger to a known category of lawful users of the road is not identified and reported upon?... 

206 The findings that I have made above necessarily mean that the test posed by s 43A(3) is not satisfied in relation to all of the suggested precautions save for a sign (and an inspection). However in relation to a sign I am satisfied that the test in s 43A(3) is made out. Objectively considered there was no rational reason to confine Mr Bailey's inspection in February 2008 to the risk posed by motor vehicles. Why exclude motorcycles and bicycles given that they are common on roads? Even a cursory inspection of the bridge as at that time would have revealed that the bridge was a potential danger for cyclists. Further, as at March 2008 the Bluff Bridge was ranked eleventh most in need of replacement and six of the bridges ahead were scheduled (and funded) for a complete rebuild. The local cycle club had nominated the area of road including the Bluff Bridge as its preferred area for at least its annual race and possibly monthly outings. While a sign was hardly a perfect response it was cheap and easy to undertake and was likely to ameliorate the risk faced by at least a significant group of the likely cyclists traversing the bridge. If the Council did not propose to take some step to repair or rebuild the bridge then it was unreasonable in the sense used in s 43A(3) for it not to have at least erected a sign as it did subsequently. (I make the same finding in relation to the inspection conducted by Mr Bailey for the reasons noted at [197]. However, as noted, this conclusion does not advance the matter beyond the conclusion that the Council should have placed a sign at the southern entrance to the Bluff Bridge.)

207 Thus Dr Collins has succeeded in establishing the Council was negligent in satisfying s 5B(1)(c) and overcoming s 43A in failing to placing a sign of the kind that they subsequently erected on the southern approach to the Bluff Bridge. However for the other reasons I have stated her case fails.

209 For the sake of completeness I will address the allegation of contributory negligence. The Council contended that Dr Collins' own negligence contributed to her accident in that she failed to dismount either before or while she was on the bridge, she slowed down at the crucial time and it is submitted that she must have not been keeping a proper look out at the point she fell over. I reject all of these contentions. I have already found that prior to entering the bridge she observed the gaps in the planks and decided to cross the bridge at a diagonal, bearing in mind the need to avoid the middle of the road because of the potential threat posed by logging trucks. To suggest that Dr Collins should have taken some further steps for her own safety beyond that is to truly engage in hindsight analysis.

Abbott's a-burning in 2013

 

AT HOME IN OCTOBER....

 

AND ABROAD IN NOVEMBER

* Photographs found at Google Images

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:

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.......