"I don't know who the dickhead is that thought up this incredible, brilliant idea; it's just a total waste of taxpayers' money" - Warren Mundine

Having read the following media release last Thursday I feel sympathy for Warren Mundine’s obvious sense of frustration at the announcement of yet another ‘make busy’ inquiry into the criminal justice system and indigenous incarceration.

It was only in March last year that the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committees began an Inquiry into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Experiences of Law Enforcement and Justice Services, which received fifty-one submissions and held hearings in Perth, Sydney and Canberra.

The final report was due on 25 August 2016, however as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pulled the plug on all current parliamentary inquiries on 9 May 2016 by calling a double dissolution federal election, time spent, taxpayers’ money and the efforts of concerned parties have come to naught.

Rather like most of the recommendations of previously completed state and federal inquiries into the Aboriginal experience of Australian society and its institutions.

UNCLASSIFIED

SENATOR THE HON GEORGE BRANDIS QC

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE

SENATOR THE HON NIGEL SCULLION

MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE­

ALRC inquiry into incarceration rate of Indigenous Australians

Today we announce that the Turnbull Government will ask the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to examine the factors leading to the over representation of Indigenous Australians in our prison system, and consider what reforms to the law could ameliorate this national tragedy.

It has been 25 years since the final report of the landmark Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, but Indigenous Australians are still overrepresented in Australia’s prisons. In 1991, Indigenous Australians made up 14 per cent of our nation’s prison population; by 2015, this had increased to 27 per cent.

Other worrying statistics include the fact that Indigenous children and teenagers are 24 times more likely to be incarcerated than their non-Indigenous peers, while Indigenous women are 30 times more likely to be incarcerated.

The ALRC’s inquiry is a critical step for breaking through these disturbing trends. The terms of reference will be subject to consultation, particularly with Indigenous Australians, state and territory governments who have primary responsibility for our criminal justice frameworks, as well as the broader legal profession.

The Turnbull Government is committed to reducing Indigenous incarceration and has committed $256 million in 2016-17 through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy for activities to address the drivers and improve community safety.

27 October 2016

Please tell me how Family First Senator Bob Day has the gall to remain in the Australian Senate after announcing his resignation

Commonwealth of Australia Constitution:

s44. Any person who:

(i)is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power; or

(ii) is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer; or

(iii) is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or

holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth: or

(iv) has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more than twenty-five persons;

shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

s45. If a senator or member of the House of Representatives:

1. becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in the last preceding section; or

2. takes the benefit, whether by assignment, composition, or otherwise, of any law relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors; or

3. directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take any fee or honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth, or for services rendered in the Parliament to any person or State;

his place shall thereupon become vacant.

Make no mistake, the following represents the insolvent liquidation of companies owned by Family First Senator Bob Day and family (with Bob Day as sole director) and foreshadows personal insolvency.  There are 207 houses still under construction and building work halted, an unspecified number of employees having no guarantee of full payment of wages/superannuation/holiday pay owed and, an unknown number of business creditors who will presumably meet with the liquidator in November 2016.

The Australian, 18 October 2016:

Senator Day said Home Australia and its subsidiaries in South Australia. Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales would be liquidated by McGrathNicol.

“As I have always agreed to sign personal guarantees to creditors, this closure also has serious implications for me and my family,” he said.

“Creditor liabilities greatly exceed our assets so we will also lose our family home.

“As for my role as a Senator, I will of course resign.”

Smart Company, 18 October 2016:

Matthew Caddy and Barry Kogan of McGrathNicol have been appointed as liquidators of parent company Home Australia Pty Ltd, as well as seven wholly owned subsidiaries: Homestead Homes Pty Ltd, Collier Homes Pty Ltd, Newstart Homes (SE QLD) Pty Ltd, Ashford Homes Pty Ltd, Huxley Homes Pty Ltd, Nationwide Australian Investments Pty Ltd, and Smart Road Property Rentals Pty Ltd.

Construction on all homes being built by Home Australia has ceased and the liquidators said in a statement on Monday their “immediate objective is to work constructively with relevant insurers and customers in an effort to facilitate the orderly recommencement of construction of uncompleted homes by alternative builders”.

McGrathNicol is also accepting expressions of interest from potential buyers for the entire Home Australia business or individual parts.

The Guardian, 27 October 2016:

Family First senator Bob Day’s collapsed house building empire owes a total of $37.8m, according to their liquidator.

A spokesman for liquidator McGrath Nichol told Guardian Australia on Thursday that the seven companies owe unsecured creditors a total of $19.6m.

The figure dwarfs initial estimates that unsecured creditors were owed $12.5m.

The companies owe a total of $18.2m in secured debt, of which National Australia Bank is owed $17.5m. Those debts will take priority over the unsecured creditors.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) 26 October 2016:

Name:	HUXLEY HOMES PTY LTD
ACN:	106 443 216
ABN:	41 106 443 216(External Link)
Registration date:	24/09/2003
Next review date:	24/09/2017
Status:	External Administration
Type:	Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Locality of registered office:	TEA TREE GULLY SA 5091
Regulator:	Australian Securities & Investments Commission

17/10/2016

7E8438321

Notification of Appointment of Liquidator (Creditors' (505J) Voluntary Winding Up)

Unfortunately for parliamentary democracy, Senator Day appears to have now rethought his statement of 17 October that he was resigning from the Senate and now intends to stay indefinitely as his announcement was apparently only one of future intent.

Wellington Times, 24 October 2016:

……Senator Day issued a short statement.

"I refer Fairfax to my statement last Monday expressing an intention to resign as a result of my family company's problems," he said.

One Adelaide-based expert in receivership and company administration said it was unlikely Senator Day's companies could be wound up quickly and suggested a possible bankruptcy was at least six months away.

Parliament will return on November 7 for three final sitting weeks of the year, with the Senate expected to vote on the two bills used for trigger the July 2 double dissolution election.

Senator Day's vote will be crucial as the government seeks nine out of 11 crossbenchers to support the legislation. If he is not present for the votes, he would seek a pair with Labor.

UPDATE

ABC News, 1 November 2016, 12:37pm:

Family First senator Bob Day has tendered his resignation, effective immediately.

Pressure had been mounting on the now-former senator to resign as his construction company crumbled.

World Economic Forum "Global Gender Gap Report 2016" - Australia

In 2016 the World Economic Forum ranked Australia in the top tier when it came to educational attainment – with  females having an equal literacy rate, comparable rates to males when it came to primary and secondary school enrolments and, a much higher rate of enrolment in tertiary education.

Yet this year Australia ranks 46^th out of 144 nations on the Global Gender Gap Index. In 2006 this country managed 15^th place out of 115.

In terms of ranking for economic participation and opportunity Australia was placed 42^nd.

However, in terms of wage equality for similar work (equal wage), high-income classified Australia now ranks 60^th and 57^th on estimated earned income - females on average earning est. 37 per cent less per annum than males.

In overall ranking the countries which do better than Australia are from 1 through to 45; Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Rwanda, Ireland, Philippines, Slovenia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Switzerland, Burundi, Germany, Namibia, South Africa, Netherlands, France, Latvia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Mozambique, Estonia, Bolivia, Belgium, Lithuania, Moldova, Cuba, Barbados, Spain, Belarus, Portugal, Costa Rica, Argentina, Luxembourg, Canada, Cape Verde, Bahamas, Poland, Columbia, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Jamaica, Lao PDR, Trinidad and Tobago & the United States.

When it comes to the number of women with seats in parliament or holding ministerial positions, Australia ranks 50^th and 75^th respectively.

At this rate Australian women will reach full economic and political parity with men in about 200 years.

'Dropstitch Dot' attempted to arrest Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan who "fled the scene"

According to The Northern Star on 25 October 2016:

“Nanna Dot Moller, known to many as 'Dropstitch Dot' performed the 'arrest' handing a Kevin Hogan impersonator the warrant along with a list of the charges as the man himself had fled the scene.”

The police did not look amused after being called to the protest event at the Nationals MP’s Lismore office on 24 October 2016.

The very, very threatening Northern Rivers contingent of the Knitting Nannas and a NSW police officer in imminent danger of ‘hardware’ overload on his uniform

“According to Nanna Twomey the protest is related to off-shore processing and protecting the environment.

"We are protesting against the children in detention as well as the way that they've treated our land," she said.

She also claims that MPs no longer represent citizens.”

Essential Research vs Morgan Research on Australian support levels for "Muslim immigration"

Image from 4plebs.org thread of

The Australian 21 September 2016

Roy Morgan Research, 26 October 2016:

In stark contrast to the widely reported Essential Research Poll in mid-September that claimed Australians opposed Muslim Immigration 49% cf. 40%, independent research by Roy Morgan shows Australians continue to support Muslim immigration (58% cf. 33%) as well as Asylum Seeker Immigration (66% to 25%).

Five weeks ago, Australians were bombarded with the news that we, as a nation, or the majority of us, did not want Muslims coming into the country – based on a poll by Essential Research.

I said at the time, in several interviews (Listen to radio interview with 2SER), that we believed it was highly unlikely that these results were true.  Roy Morgan surveys over several years from 2010 to 2015, showed majority support for Muslims, refugees and others immigrating to Australia. We believed it highly unlikely that sentiment would have changed so dramatically. The latest Roy Morgan Research showed indeed Australians continue to support Muslim Immigration, albeit with a reduced majority.

It is crucial that public opinion surveys on such important issues as this are independent and conducted with a sample which is truly representative of the Australian population.

The increasingly prevalent use of internet surveys using ‘Commercial panels’ of respondents is extraordinarily dangerous. ‘Commercial panels’ are typically recruited in a variety of ways – opt-in, competitions, acquired email lists etc. The size of the ‘Commercial panel’ can never make up for the unknown and unknowable biases.

We see it as a little like the ‘sub-prime’ fiasco in the US that was at the heart of the Global Financial Crisis. Combining large quantities of ‘high risk’ mortgages into packages and re-labelling them didn’t make them any less risky.

When it comes to sampling the Australian population – combining ‘highly skewed’ lists of people doesn’t magically create a representative sample representing a cross-section of Australians.

Roy Morgan conducted this latest survey, and previous waves of the research, at our own cost because we believe it is important the people of Australia are accurately represented on an issue of such social, human and moral importance.

Click here to see the full results of the latest Roy Morgan survey on attitudes to immigration and population.

Roy Morgan Research, 25 October 2016:

Muslim Immigration

Support for Muslim immigration is down 7% from a year ago (65% support in October 2015), although it is up 4% from July 2010 (54% support).

Importantly, a majority of L-NP supporters (51% support cf. 36% oppose), ALP supporters (67% support cf. 25% oppose), Greens supporters (88% support cf. 5% oppose) and supporters of Independents/ Others (58% support cf. 34% oppose) all support Muslim immigration.

However, the overwhelming majority of One Nation supporters are opposed to Muslim immigration (87% opposed cf. 4% support).

Immigration Levels & Population

Now 40% (up 3%) of Australians support immigration remaining about the same and a further 21% (down 11%) want to see immigration levels increased; this constitutes a clear majority of Australians 61% (down 8%) who support immigration remaining the same or increasing while 34% (up 8%) want immigration levels reduced and 5% (unchanged) can’t say.

Australians are split on the effect of immigrants on Australia’s culture and way of life: However, there has been a negative shift in the last year – back to lower than recorded in 2010. 32% (down 5%) of Australians believe immigration has a positive effect on Australia; 32% (up 1%) believe immigration has a negative effect while 25% (up 6%) believe immigration has little effect and 11% (down 2%) can’t say.

Most Australians want relatively moderate population growth – 34% (up 2%) want a population under 30 million in 2046, and only 24% (down 6%) want a population of 35 million or more. This is a shift away from growth levels that were seen as acceptable a year ago – but nowhere near the 2010 levels when 56% wanted a population under 30 million in the year 2040.

Twitter takedown and court cases over the seas in Clinton & Trump Land

Lumen (formerly Chilling Effects) database record of a takedown request which saw a tweet removed and a Twitter account suspended:

DMCA Takedown Notice (Tweet)

SENDER

Kaj Eriksen Inc.

[Private], , ,Sent on October 23, 2016

RECIPIENT

Twitter

[Private]San Francisco, CA, 94103, US

Received on October 23, 2016

SUBMITTER

Twitter, Inc.

ALLEGEDLY INFRINGING URLS:

https://t.co/FaGCCC5x3X

https://twitter.com/liberalsexposed/status/790220186829791232

The Twitter hashtag timeline the offending tweet was posted in was probably #LiberalsExposed which is a thread focussing on the current U.S. presidential election.

JUSTIA Dockets and Filings:

Kittos v. Donald J. Trump For President, Inc. et al  [Former refugee sues Trump campaign]

Plaintiff David Kittos alleged that Defendants Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., Donald Trump, Sr., Donald Trump, Jr. and Michael Pence used an authorized copy of his photograph in a campaign advertisement in violation of the Copyright Act. Specifically, Defendant Donald Trump, Jr. tweeted the plaintiff's photograph with this accompanying text: "[i]f I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem."

Plaintiff: David Kittos

Defendant: Donald J. Trump For President, Inc., Michael Pence, Donald Trump, Jr., Donald Trump, Sr. and Does 1-10

Case Number: 1:2016cv09818

Filed: October 18, 2016

Court: Illinois Northern District Court

Office: Chicago Office

County: XX Outside US

Presiding Judge: Gary Feinerman

Nature of Suit: Copyright

Cause of Action: 17:501 Copyright Infringement

Jury Demanded By: Plaintiff

Benaissa v. Keep America Great Pac [Democrat PAC fundraiser being sued by US surgeon over allegations found in this August 2016 political media release]

Plaintiff: Rafik Benaissa

Defendant: Keep America Great Pac, Francesca Lucia, Jon Cooper, Nathan Lerner, Scott Dworkin, Chuck Westover and Jarad Geldner

Case Number: 1:2016cv07796

Filed: October 5, 2016

Court: New York Southern District Court

Office: Foley Square Office

County: NewYork

Presiding Judge: Gregory H. Woods

Nature of Suit: Assault, Libel, and Slander

Cause of Action: 28:1332

Jury Demanded By: Plaintiff

Doe v. Trump et al [Allegations of sexual assault of a child said to have occurred in 1994]

Defendant: Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein

Plaintiff: Jane Doe

Case Number: 1:2016cv07673

Filed: September 30, 2016

Court: New York Southern District Court

Office: Foley Square Office

County: XX Out of State

Presiding Judge: Ronnie Abrams

Nature of Suit: Assault, Libel, and Slander

Cause of Action: 28:1332

Jury Demanded By: Plaintiff

Peterson v. Clinton et al [Democrat PAC fundraiser and Hillary Clinton being sued]

Defendant: Hillary Rodham Clinton, DNC Services Corporation and USA

Plaintiff: Harold Peterson

Case Number: 1:2016cv00429

Filed: September 23, 2016

Court: New Hampshire District Court

Office: Concord Office

Presiding Judge: Joseph N. Laplante

Nature of Suit: Civil Rights: Other

Cause of Action: 28:2201 Declaratory Judgment

Jury Demanded By: None

Allister v. Rodham Clinton et al [Self-described “Aspiring President of The United States” sues 26 people/institutions (including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton) and goes down in flames on 13 December 2016]

Plaintiff: Sonja M. Allister

Defendant: Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Benjamin Carson, Catherine Parrish Carpenter Andrews, Kevin Matthew Andrews, Emily McCormick, Bowdre George Longo, Roswell Police Department, C. T. Jackson, Shelby Sanford, Lynn Apt, Roswell Police Department Group, The City of Atlanta, Kasim Reed, Alpharetta Police Department, Peachtree City Police Department, Atlanta Police Department, East Point Police Department, College Park Police Department, Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, GA, The City of Alpharetta, The City of Peachtree, The City of Roswell and The State of Georgia

Case Number: 1:2016cv03273

Filed: August 31, 2016

Court: Georgia Northern District Court

Office: Atlanta Office

County: Fulton

Presiding Judge: Richard W. Story

Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights

Cause of Action: 42:1983

Jury Demanded By: None

The Desperation Of Barnaby Joyce: letter publicly released at a cost to Australian taxpayers of an est. $293 per word plus legal fees

Barnaby Joyce letter by FairfaxPolitics on Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/document/328667010/Barnaby-Joyce-letter

The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 October 2016:

Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon has fought for the release of the letter, which was emailed directly to Mr Joyce and Tony Abbott's former head of department Michael Thawley, since the independent Information Commissioner ruled it should be made available.

Mr Joyce's department fought that ruling, spent $80,000 on engaging Ernst & Young to review its public information processes, and then fought the matter through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal before giving up the fight just after Parliament rose for two weeks on Friday.

"This letter shows Paul Grimes was deeply concerned about Barnaby Joyce's behaviour. He was challenging Joyce's integrity," Mr Fitzgibbon said on Monday.

"He clearly thought what Joyce did was not appropriate. This letter indicates he was being bullied.

"What Barnaby Joyce did was to sack Paul Grimes to save himself."

The Deputy Prime Minister's office stressed that Mr Joyce did not sack Mr Grimes, rather Mr Abbott asked him to stand aside on advice of Mr Thawley.