Meme of the Week

Some newspapers never learn.......

On 12 December 2014 the Australian Press Council released its findings in Adjudication 1627: Complainant/The Daily Telegraph:

The Council considers that the headline and other material on the front page collectively imply that a high proportion of DSP recipients are “slackers” and should not be receiving DSP. This implication is due partly to the fact that the comparison in the words prominently super-imposed on the two photographs, and in the article on the front page, was between the full number of war-wounded people and the full number of DSP recipients. The implication is also contributed to by the stark contrast between the apparently able-bodied people in the queue and the severely wounded soldier. The impact of the front page presentation was not adequately dispelled by any of the material that appeared on subsequent pages, and evidence provided did not justify the implication. Accordingly, the Council has concluded that the headline, headings and text on the front page breached the Standards of Practice requiring reasonable steps to ensure accuracy and fairness.

The Council also considers the implication that a high proportion of DSP recipients are “slackers” and should not be receiving DSP was offensive to an extent not justified by the public interest. Accordingly, the material also breached the Standards of Practice on that ground.

The very same day, in print and online The Daily Telegraph was at it again, this time using the term “rorters” and “lowlife rorters”:

Time to weed out the disability rorters: Crackdown on $16 billion welfare scheme

RORTERS who try to falsely claim millions of dollars in ­Disability Support Pensions will be flushed out of the ­system under a ­crackdown on the $16 billion welfare scheme.

From January 1, all new DSP ­applicants will be sent to ­Commonwealth-appointed doctors before they can be ­approved as part of a sweeping overhaul that will stamp out the “doctor shopping” rort.

The federal government will today announce that regular doctors will no longer be allowed to approve new DSP applications in the new year….

The Daily Telegraph failed to point out that a DSP applicant’s treating GP does not have the final say on whether or not a person is granted what its journalist described as "handouts".

It also avoided the subject of the need for applicants to provide corroborating evidence of their diagnosed conditions/symptoms from medical specialists and, supply reports from allied health professionals along with the results of diagnostics tests and any physical tests or assessments.

The newspaper also neglected to mention that the departmental Impairment Tables which have applied to all new applicants for DSP and any existing DSP recipients selected for medical review since 1 January 2012 are function-based not diagnosis based ie. The presence of a diagnosed condition does not necessarily mean that there will be an impairment to which an impairment rating may be assigned.

UPDATE

mUmBRELLA 15 December 2014:

The Australian Press Council has confirmed to Mumbrella the edition has attracted “at least one complaint” by 4pm, but did not specify how many, or the nature of them.

* Images from Your Democracy and mUmBRELLA   
                                                      

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's dangerously simplistic view of Australian society, culture and justice

This is Prime Minister Abbott's strange perspective on religion and society as seen through the lens of his imperfect understanding of Church history, theology and sociology:

The survival of faith, the flourishing of faith and the survival and the flourishing of the nations that are sustained by it – what a marvellous story.

“Here in this splendid church I should acknowledge the part that faith has played in our culture, in our public life, in the culture and public life of civilised countries,” he said.

“Our democracy is inspired by the gospel insight that every human being is born with equal rights and dignity in the eyes of God, and justice is inspired by the gospel insight that each of us should treat others as we would have them treat us in turn.”

[Tony Abbott, REMARKS AT ECUMENICAL CHURCH SERVICE, MELBOURNE, 11 December 2014]

A hint of how he came to hold this view can be deduced by reading an assessment of Abbott's history and character by the then Vice-Rector St. Patrick’s Seminary Fr. Bill Wright writing in The Bulletin on 25 August 1987:

“Others found him just too formidable to talk to unless to agree; overbearing and opiniated”….

“The study of theology did not capture Tony’s imagination. He did passably well; not as well as his academic background may have indicated. I do not recall that he ever talked about theology while at Manly. His concern was with churchmanship, how the Catholic Church could better commend itself to the hearts of Australians; how the individual priest could enliven and uplift those who were turning away from uninspired ministers.”….

“Tony on the other hand is inclined to come on strong, to score points, to skate over or hold back any reservations he might have about his case.”….

“Once Tony had beaten the system and was no longer able to locate the ‘struggle’ as being between himself and authority, he had no-one much else blocking his path but himself.”….

So what is Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey telling the country in the December 2014 Mid-Year Economic Outlook (MYEFO)?

What has the implementation of the Abbott Government's ideologically-driven economic policy left Australian families and businesses facing for the rest of its term in office?

For an in-depth look at the nation's prospects go to the MID‑YEAR ECONOMIC AND FISCAL OUTLOOK 2014‑15.

For the time being here is the briefest of outlines:

The December 2013 MYEFO stated that tax receipts had reduced by more than $37 billion for the period 2013-14 to 2016-17 – now total taxation receipts have been revised down by $6.2 billion in 2014‑15 and $31.6 billion to 2017-18, bringing the total write down in tax receipts since the Government was elected to over $70 billion .

In December 2013 company tax receipts were revised down by $180 million in 2013-14 and $7.1 billion across the four years to 2016-17 – now a mere twelve months later company tax receipts are being revised down by $2.3 billion in 2014‑15 and $14.4 billion over the forward estimates.

Weaker wage and employment growth is expected to continue through to at least 2017-18 - with 2016-17 to 2017-18 wage growth now predicted to be much lower than was anticipated in the December 2013 MYEFO.

The unemployment rate will rise even further than the 6.25% predicted in December 2013 – it is now predicted to reach 6.5%* in 2015 and stay that high until at least June 2016.

In December 2013 the consumer price index for the 2014-15 financial year was supposed to come in at 2 – it is predicted to rise to 2.5.

Despite repeated warnings about a predicted sharp fall in commodity prices which the December 2013 MYEFO failed to fully recognise – by December 2014 there appears to be an element of faux surprise at finding how sharp that fall actually was and a decision made to cast iron ore prices as the arch-villain of the piece.

The December 2013 MYEFO stated that the underlying cash deficit would be $33.billion for 2014-15 – now an underlying cash deficit of $40.4 billion is expected in 2014‑15.

In 2013-14 net government debt was $191.5 billion. Public debt (on which interest has to be paid) will be $425 billion in 2014-15

Total interest expenses on all public debt have risen from an predicted $16.3 billion for 2014-15 in the December 2013 MYEFO to $16.3 billion for the same financial year in the December 2014 MYEFO and, are projected to rise to $19.9 billion by 2017-18.

Unsurprisingly, despite May 2014 budget cuts, further announced cutbacks in federal government agency numbers and public service employee numbers; Abbott Government gross operating expenses are predicted to rise from $119 billion in 2014-15 to $120.9 in 2016-17 and $125.2 billion in 2017-18.

Miraculously and perhaps over-optimistically, in the latest MYEFO the nation's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been revised up from 2.5% for the 2014-15 financial year and 3% for the 2015-16 to 2016-2017 financial years to 3% and 3.5% respectively. Nominal GDP has also been revised up.

In the face of all this Joe Hockey is telling the world that he will now have the budget back in a very small surplus by 2019-20. Presumably if the Abbott Government gets a second term and he remains as federal treasurer.

Hockeynomics at its best.

* An unemployment rate of 6.5% represents in excess of 803,952 Australians without a job and the regular pay packet which comes with it.

Tony Abbott's Real Christmas Message: Over 15 million Australians likely see the cost of their GP increase by at least $5 and perhaps much more

It’s December 2014 and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott didn’t release his real Christmas Message on YouTube this year – he used a 9 December media release announcing he had cut Medicare rebate payments for standard GP visits by $5 and that there would be no Medicare fee increases for all services provided by GPs, medical specialists, allied health practitioners, optometrists and others until July 2018.

An est. 8 million patients, including children, pensioners, veterans, nursing home residents and others with concession cards would be exempt from the $5 co-payment.

That leaves over 15 million other Australians who are likely to find they have to pay extra to see their local doctor, even if the practice has a general policy of bulk billing patients for the current $37.05 Medicare standard consultation fee.

Given there is now also a requirement that general practitioners spend more time with patients to qualify for the standard consultation fee, many doctors may make the decision to abandon bulk billing altogether and charge an upfront fee of at least $60.

Medicare data for 2010-11 reveals that on the NSW North Coast an est. 83.9% of all medical services were bulk billed in the federal electorate of Richmond, 81.4% in the Cowper electorate and 72.6% in the Page electorate.

UPDATE

The Daily Mail 14 December 2014:

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) recommends GPs charge $75 for such consultations, meaning patients without concessions are usually out of pocket $37.95. But Dr Costa told The Newcastle Herald that because some doctors were already charging $80, it was likely some would be charging at least $100 by 2016.

Disgraced former Nationals MP Steven Rhett Cansdell wants to enter politics once more?

On 2 December 2014 The Daily Examiner reported that sixty-four year old Steven Rhett Cansdell is considering standing at the March 2015 Clarence Valley Council by-election.

This would not be his first foray into politics and voters need to think long and hard if his name turns up on the by-election ballot paper.

Cansdell previously served on Grafton City Council over a ten-year period commencing in 1993. 

This council was notorious for living well beyond its means - by 1999 it had used $1.722 million of internal reserves to fund current operating costs and was still running in deficit in June 2003. It disappeared in the forced amalgamation which saw the creation of Clarence Valley Council in February 2004.

After leaving local government Cansdell then stood at the next state election and entered the NSW Parliament on 22 March 2003 as the Nationals MP for Clarence.

He successfully stood for re-election in 2007 and 2011.

On 4 May 2011 Cansdell became Parliamentary Secretary for Police under the Minister for Police and Emergency Services Liberal MLC Mike Gallacher.

He resigned from Parliament on 16 December 2011 in the midst of questions concerning a statutory declaration and allegations that he (rather than one of his staff) was driving a speeding car caught by a traffic camera.

Twenty-two weeks after the state election Clarence electorate voters had to participate in the subsequent by-election. Based on the NSW Electoral Commission’s cost projection for the 2011 state election, the total bill for the two Clarence ballots would be in the vicinity of $903,000.

Politically, Cansdell appeared to sink from public sight after that by-election.

However, the details of Mr. Cansdell’s admitted wrongdoing and the local reaction lived on.

Political cartoon in The Daily Examiner on 24 January 2012:

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner on 14 March 2012:

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 19 January 2013:

LESSONS FROM POLITICAL HOUDINI

The award for the most outstanding public escape act of recent times must surely go to the former member for Clarence, Steve Cansdell. 

You recall Cansdell: he was the former professional boxer and parliamentary secretary for police who became the O'Farrell government's first political casualty only months after it took office. 

The then 60-year-old quit Parliament after his admission that he had falsified a statutory declaration to claim a staff member was driving when his car was snapped by a speed camera.
Cansdell was trying to avoid losing his driver's licence. Despite the incident occurring back in September 2005, he fell on his sword in September 2011, amid a chorus of sympathy from his Nationals colleagues. 

Cansdell was "paying a very heavy price for a lapse of judgment six years ago", the leader of the Nationals and Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, said at the time. 

Only later did it emerge that shortly before Cansdell put his hands up, the staff member in question, Kath Palmer, had blown the whistle on the episode to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. 

So if Cansdell was not quite pushed - he claimed he quit to save the government and the party from embarrassment - he was very firmly nudged. 

Not only had Palmer alleged the statutory declaration fraud, she alleged that Cansdell had also rorted a parliamentary staffing allowance by wrongly claiming it for the period she worked on the 2010 campaign of a Nationals colleague, Kevin Hogan, who was contesting the federal seat of Page. 

And so began a very strange - many would say disturbing - series of events involving the ICAC, the police and the Speaker of the NSW Parliament that remain unresolved to this day.
In October last year, just over a year after Cansdell walked into Grafton police station with his lawyer to make his admission, police announced they had concluded their investigation into the statutory declaration matter. 

"NSW Police Force will not instigate criminal proceedings," they said in a statement. 

What had happened? The statement explained police from the Coffs-Clarence local area command had identified the woman who signed the declaration but that "she declined to be interviewed by officers". 

Futhermore, it added, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions had said it was "not satisfied there are reasonable prospects for conviction for a Commonwealth offence".
For the NSW police, that was the end of the matter. But they omitted a couple of key details. 

While it was true Palmer, through her lawyer, had refused to be formally interviewed, she had offered to make what is known as an "induced statement" - one given in return for indemnity from prosecution. 

According to Palmer's lawyer, Mark Spagnolo, the police had earlier made it known they intended to charge Palmer with perverting the course of justice for her role in the false statutory declaration. Any admission in an interview was likely to lead to her being charged. 

Police deny she was threatened with a charge but their decision to refuse her offer to supply an induced statement was rather ambitiously twisted to become Palmer "declined to be interviewed". 

Second, the Commonwealth DPP claimed it had been verballed. It said it had simply advised the NSW police that they were not satisfied it was a Commonwealth offence - a subtle but important difference. 

Things became even more intriguing when it emerged the ICAC had referred the allegation that Cansdell had rorted his parliamentary allowance to the Speaker of the NSW Parliament, Shelley Hancock, who was technically Palmer's employer. 

The ICAC referred the matter "for action as considered appropriate". But no action was taken for a year by Hancock, until Spagnolo released the letter publicly through Fairfax. 

After that Hancock, who is also the Liberal member for South Coast, promised that parliamentary officers would "review the material" sent by the ICAC. This included a spreadsheet containing the dates on which Palmer alleged Cansdell submitted claims for the allowance that differed from the days she worked. That was last October. 

What has happened since then? Hancock passed the matter to the executive manager of the Department of Parliamentary Services, Rob Stefanic, who responded that he was "unable to reach any conclusions regarding the veracity of the claims made by the former electorate officer". 

Stefanic added that because, in his opinion, the allegations were "of minor significance", that so much time had elapsed and that both Palmer and Cansdell had resigned, no further action should be taken "in the absence of more conclusive information". (Never mind that the allegations, if proven, are similar to those which saw two former Labor MPs, Angela D'Amore and Karyn Paluzzano, branded corrupt by ICAC.) 

When Hancock was asked if the Parliament would contact Palmer to request "more conclusive information", she said it would not. 

"As Ms Palmer did not make a complaint directly to the Parliament, the Parliament will not be contacting the complainant for further information." 

So, 18 months since Palmer made her official complaint, there the matter lies: a tangled mess of contradictory claims, dead ends and official inertia. 

Palmer is understood to be considering whether to pursue the matter with Parliament or drop it altogether to get on with her life. 

Spagnolo has called for an inquiry into the police handling of the matter. The silence has been deafening. 

Cansdell now says he has gone bankrupt. 

And, while there is no suggestion he is implicated, the man he is alleged to have helped out by fiddling his taxpayer-funded entitlements, Kevin Hogan, has won Nationals preselection to contest Page at this year's federal election. 

As a lesson in the frustrations of being a political whistleblower, it doesn't get much more instructive than that.

Clarence cricket clubs can be their own worst enemies

Most sports organisations appreciate the free publicity local newspapers provide them with so it both surprising and annoying to repeatedly see the manner in which some cricket clubs in the Clarence valley submit the results of their matches to The Daily Examiner. Too often incomplete score cards are submitted. The Examiner provides written reports to accompany most matches but it cannot be expected to work magic with the information some clubs supply.

Come on, local cricket clubs, lift your game. It cannot be too difficult for scorers who don't the names of the opposing team's members to ask who it was that caught a catch, made a stumping, bowled a batsman ...

 This post penned by Clarrie Rivers

So what has former Howard Government Minister Peter Reith been doing since he was exposed as lobbyist for the gas industry

When No Fibs reported this on 1 November 2013 it probably surprised very few people:

It was interesting to see the opinion piece written by Peter Reith for The Drum – Fracking scare campaigns threaten our prosperity – especially considering Reith is a paid political lobbyist and chairman of the Victorian Government’s task force on the eastern gas market.

“The public debate is soon mired in myriad false claims, partly because government has not ensured the public is fairly informed and because some activists have other political agendas,” writes Reith.

To ensure that the public is fairly informed, and agendas and vested interests are properly tabled, it should be noted that Peter Reith is a lobbyist for First State Advisors and Consultants Pty Ltd.

Who does First State Advisers lobby for?           

A full list of Reith’s clients is published on the government website.

Two major players in the coal seam gas industry are Reith’s clients: Thiess and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.

Thiess has won a $1.8 billion contract from CSG producer QGC for the construction of gas compression facilities in Queensland’s Surat Basin.

Another of Reith’s lobbying clients, the NSW Aboriginal Land Council has applied to explore for coal seam gas beneath 40 per cent of the state, sparking outrage from indigenous and non-indigenous people alike….

It made the Gas Market Task Force final report predictable in its pro-unconventional gas conclusion:

Overall, the Taskforce considers that governments and industry should take collective action and adopt a greater sense of urgency to ensure the eastern gas market can adapt and take advantage of the significant structural changes occurring.

The focus of the Taskforce’s proposals for immediate action include facilitating new gas supplies and making the most of the sizeable gas resources available in eastern Australia. The Taskforce also supports a greater coordinated effort to implement existing national gas market reforms.

Potentially, a more ambitious package of integrated gas market reforms with the objective of increasing competition, liquidity and transparency in the eastern market could build on the existing national gas market reforms, but this requires more work and rigorous cost benefit analysis.

Finally, as unconventional gas makes an increasingly significant contribution to eastern market gas supply, strong leadership and community engagement is required. This will help to build confidence in the gas industry, which is becoming a leading national economic opportunity for Australia over the coming decades.

So what has Peter Keaston Reith arch-lobbyist been up to since then?

Well, he appears to no longer be a listed special counsel for First State Advisors and Consultants at federal or states level.

However, he remains a lobbyist for Bechtel Management Company Ltd, a company which has been on his client list at least since the time he headed the Victorian task force.

Bechtel Management Company Ltd is a civil engineering/construction subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation which has coal, oil and gas projects around the world. Including in the Pilbara region of West Australia and the Gladstone region in Queensland. 

The parent company claims its Curtis Island LNG project off the Gladstone coast; represents the greatest concentration of Bechtel projects anywhere in the world.

In its 2012 annual report Bechtel explained that; On Curtis Island, in eastern Australia, we are building three world-scale plants to process the region’s vast coal seam gas reserves.

Bechtel Corporation though the Bechtel Power Corporation is also a member of the UK Nuclear Industry Association.

Reith continues to talk up ‘natural’ gas and remains misleading about his relationship with the industry, as his 25 February 2015 article in The Sydney Morning Herald reveals:

I became interested in natural gas at the request of the Victorian government, which was concerned at the impact of gas sales to China and its implications for the eastern Australia gas market. The massive developments in Queensland are already imposing transitional effects. There is a real prospect Sydney could suffer gas shortages causing major dislocation to business. Gas prices are already rising and it could take at least three years to supply additional gas to Sydney if everything goes well and if the government holds its nerve.

How hot will it get on the NSW North Coast between now and 2079?

The NSW Dept. of Environment and Heritage has posted Climate Projection for NSW on its website.

These projections include a; Change in number of days a year max temp > 35ºC Hots days are projected to increase across the state by an average of 9 days per year by 2030. There are significant spatial differences across the state. The greatest increases are seen in the west of the region during summer and spring with an additional 10-20 days by 2030. The Great Dividing Range is not projected to experience any significant increases.

A summary of climate change predictions for the NSW North Coast and maps of projected changes in the region's maximum & minimum temperature, rainfall, and future forest fire risk can be found here.

This map shows the change in mean number of days over 35ºC on the North Coast from 1990 up to 2020-2039:

By 2060-2079 the map will look like this:

Quote of the Week

Even if the Liberal Party do end up winning Fisher, there will be huge recriminations from this result. This is an 8% swing towards a 12 year-old state government in a seat Labor hasn't won since the 1985 state election. This is a result that can't be blamed in electoral boundaries. Someone is going to have to take responsibility for this result. Will it be the state Liberals? Will the finger be pointed at the federal Liberals? This is a very bad result for the Liberal Party in South Australia. [Antony Green, ABC News at 21:00 on Saturday 6 December 2014 during the Fisher SA by-election ballot count]

US torture report both an object lesson and warning for every citizen living in Abbott's Australia *graphic descriptions*

Mr Abbott said that while his government "deplores the use of torture we accept that sometimes in difficult circumstances difficult things happen" [The Australian, 16 November 2013]

Because in Abbott’s Australia the secular state is being slowly destroyed, human rights are not respected, international law is no longer honoured, ‘enemies’ can be denied natural justice and subjected to coercive physically abusive interrogation techniques, journalists can be gaoled if they report on the full range of activities of the nation's security agencies, the courts can be overruled and barefaced lying is considered a political virtue, this U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s detention and interrogation program has become both an object lesson and a timely warning for every Australian.

Excerpts from the study's 525 page Executive Summary:

The Committee makes the following findings and conclusions:

#1: The CIA's use of its enhanced interrogation techniques was not an effective means of acquiring intelligence or gaining cooperation from detainees.

The Committee finds, based on a review of CIA interrogation records, that the use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques was not an effective means of obtaining accurate information or gaining detainee cooperation.

For example, according to CIA records, seven of the 39 CIA detainees known to have been subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques produced no intelligence while in CIA custody.* CIA detainees who were subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques were usually subjected to the techniques immediately after being rendered to CIA custody. Other detainees provided significant accurate intelligence prior to, or without having been subjected to these techniques.

While being subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques and afterwards, multiple CIA detainees fabricated information, resulting in faulty intelligence. Detainees provided fabricated information on critical intelligence issues, including the terrorist threats which the CIA identified as its highest priorities.

At numerous times throughout the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program, CIA personnel assessed that the most effective method for acquiring intelligence from detainees, including from detainees the CIA considered to be the most "high-value," was to confront the detainees with information already acquired by the Intelligence Community. CIA officers regularly called into question whether the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques were effective, assessing that the use of the techniques failed to elicit detainee cooperation or produce accurate intelligence.

#2: The CIA's justification for the use of its enhanced interrogation techniques rested on inaccurate claims of their effectiveness.

The CIA represented to the White House, the National Security Council, the Department of Justice, the CIA Office of Inspector General, the Congress, and the public that the best measure of effectiveness of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques was examples of specific terrorist plots "thwarted" and specific terrorists captured as a result of the use of the techniques. The CIA used these examples to claim that its enhanced interrogation techniques were not only effective, but also necessary to acquire "otherwise unavailable" actionable intelligence that "saved lives."

The Committee reviewed 20 of the most frequent and prominent examples of purported counterterrorism successes that the CIA has attributed to the use of its enhanced interrogation techniques, and found them to be wrong in fundamental respects. In some cases, there was no relationship between the cited counterterrorism success and any information provided by detainees during or after the use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. In the remaining cases, the CIA inaccurately claimed that specific, otherwise unavailable information was acquired from a CIA detainee "as a result" of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques, when in fact the information was either: (1) corroborative of information already available to the CIA or other elements of the U.S. Intelligence Community from sources other than the CIA detainee, and was therefore not "otherwise unavailable"; or (2) acquired from the CIA detainee prior to the use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. The examples provided by the CIA included numerous factual inaccuracies.

In providing the "effectiveness" examples to policymakers, the Department of Justice, and others, the CIA consistently omitted the significant amount of relevant intelligence obtained from sources other than CIA detainees who had been subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques—leaving the false impression the CIA was acquiring unique information from the use of the techniques.

Some of the plots that the CIA claimed to have "disrupted" as a result of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques were assessed by intelligence and law enforcement officials as being infeasible or ideas that were never operationalized.

#3: The interrogations of CIA detainees were brutal and far worse than the CIA represented to policymakers and others.

Beginning with the CIA's first detainee, Abu Zubaydah, and continuing with numerous others, the CIA applied its enhanced interrogation techniques with significant repetition for days or weeks at a time. Interrogation techniques such as slaps and "wallings" (slamming detainees against a wall) were used in combination, frequently concurrent with sleep deprivation and nudity. Records do not support CIA representations that the CIA initially used an "an open, non-threatening approach," or that interrogations began with the "least coercive technique possible" and escalated to more coercive techniques only as necessary.

The waterboarding technique was physically harmful, inducing convulsions and vomiting. Abu Zubaydah, for example, became "completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth.” Internal CIA records describe the waterboarding of Khalid Shaykh Mohammad as evolving into a "series of near drownings." Sleep deprivation involved keeping detainees awake for up to 180 hours, usually standing or in stress positions, at times with their hands shackled above their heads. At least five detainees experienced disturbing hallucinations during prolonged sleep deprivation and, in at least two of those cases, the CIA nonetheless continued the sleep deprivation.

Contrary to CIA representations to the Department of Justice, the CIA instructed personnel that the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah would take "precedence" over his medical care, resulting in the deterioration of a bullet wound Abu Zubaydah incurred during his capture. In at least two other cases, the CIA used its enhanced interrogation techniques despite warnings from CIA medical personnel that the techniques could exacerbate physical injuries. CIA medical personnel treated at least one detainee for swelling in order to allow the continued use of standing sleep deprivation.

At least five CIA detainees were subjected to "rectal rehydration" or rectal feeding without documented medical necessity. The CIA placed detainees in ice water "baths." The CIA led several detainees to believe they would never be allowed to leave CIA custody alive, suggesting to one detainee that he would only leave in a coffin-shaped box. One interrogator told another detainee that he would never go to court, because "we can never let the world know what I have done to you." CIA officers also threatened at least three detainees with harm to their families—to include threats to harm the children of a detainee, threats to sexually abuse the mother of a detainee, and a threat to "cut [a detainee's] mother's throat."

#4: The conditions of confinement for CIA detainees were harsher than the CIA had represented to policymakers and others.

Conditions at CIA detention sites were poor, and were especially bleak early in the program. CIA detainees at the COBALT detention facility were kept in complete darkness and constantly shackled in isolated cells with loud noise or music and only a bucket to use for human waste. Lack of heat at the facility likely contributed to the death of a detainee. The chief of interrogations described COBALT as a "dungeon." Another senior CIA officer stated that COBALT was itself an enhanced interrogation technique. At times, the detainees at COBALT were walked around naked or were shackled with their hands above their heads for extended periods of time. Other times, the detainees at COBALT were subjected to what was described as a "rough takedown," in which approximately five CIA officers would scream at a detainee, drag him outside of his cell, cut his clothes off, and secure him with Mylar tape. The detainee would then be hooded and dragged up and down a long corridor while being slapped and punched.

Even after the conditions of confinement improved with the construction of new detention facilities, detainees were held in total isolation except when being interrogated or debriefed by CIA personnel.

Throughout the program, multiple CIA detainees who were subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques and extended isolation exhibited psychological and behavioral issues, including hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia, and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation. Multiple psychologists identified the lack of human contact experienced by detainees as a cause of psychiatric problems.

#14: CIA detainees were subjected to coercive interrogation techniques that had not been approved by the Department of Justice or had not been authorized by CIA Headquarters.

Prior to mid-2004, the CIA routinely subjected detainees to nudity and dietary manipulation. The CIA also used abdominal slaps and cold water dousing on several detainees during that

period. None of these techniques had been approved by the Department of Justice.

At least 17 detainees were subjected to CIA enhanced interrogation techniques without authorization from CIA Headquarters. Additionally, multiple detainees were subjected to techniques that were applied in ways that diverged from the specific authorization, or were subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques by interrogators who had not been authorized to use them. Although these incidents were recorded in CIA cables and, in at least some cases were identified at the time by supervisors at CIA Headquarters as being inappropriate, corrective action was rarely taken against the interrogators involved.

#15: The CIA did not conduct a comprehensive or accurate accounting of the number of individuals it detained, and held individuals who did not meet the legal standard for detention. The CIA's claims about the number of detainees held and subjected to its enhanced Interrogation techniques were inaccurate.

The CIA never conducted a comprehensive audit or developed a complete and accurate list of the individuals it had detained or subjected to its enhanced interrogation techniques. CIA statements to the Committee and later to the public that the CIA detained fewer than 100 individuals, and that less than a third of those 100 detainees were subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques, were inaccurate. The Committee's review of CIA records determined that the CIA detained at least 119 individuals, of whom at least 39 were subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques.

Of the 119 known detainees, at least 26 were wrongfully held and did not meet the detention standard in the September 2001 Memorandum of Notification (MON). These included an "intellectually challenged" man whose CIA detention was used solely as leverage to get a family member to provide information, two individuals who were intelligence sources for foreign liaison services and were former CIA sources, and two individuals whom the CIA assessed to be connected to al-Qa'ida based solely on information fabricated by a CIA detainee subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. Detainees often remained in custody for months after the CIA determined that they did not meet the MON standard. CIA records provide insufficient information to justify the detention of many other detainees.

CIA Headquarters instructed that at least four CIA detainees be placed in host country detention facilities because the individuals did not meet the MON standard for CIA detention. The host country had no independent reason to hold the detainees.

A full accounting of CIA detentions and interrogations may be impossible, as records in some cases are non-existent, and, in many other cases, are sparse and insufficient. There were almost no detailed records of the detentions and interrogations at the CIA's COBALT detention facility in 2002, and almost no such records for the CIA's GRAY detention site, also in Country

At CIA detention facilities outside of Country the CIA kept increasingly less-detailed records of its interrogation activities over the course of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program.

#17: The CIA rarely reprimanded or held personnel accountable for serious and significant violations, inappropriate activities, and systemic and individual management failures.

CIA officers and CIA contractors who were found to have violated CIA policies or performed poorly were rarely held accountable or removed from positions of responsibility. Significant events, to include the death and injury of CIA detainees, the detention of individuals who did not meet the legal standard to be held, the use of unauthorized interrogation techniques against CIA detainees, and the provision of inaccurate information on the CIA program did not result in appropriate, effective, or in many cases, any corrective actions. CIA managers who were aware of failings and shortcomings in the program but did not intervene, or who failed to provide proper leadership and management, were also not held to account.

On two occasions in which the CIA inspector general identified wrongdoing, accountability recommendations were overruled by senior CIA leadership. In one instance, involving the death of a CIA detainee at COBALT, CIA Headquarters decided not to take disciplinary action against an officer involved because, at the time, CIA Headquarters had been "motivated to extract any and all operational information" from the detainee  In another instance related to a wrongful detention, no action was taken against a CIA officer because, "[t]he Director strongly believes that mistakes should be expected in a business filled with uncertainty," and "the Director believes the scale tips decisively in favor of accepting mistakes that over connect the dots against those that under connect them."  In neither case was administrative action taken against CIA management personnel.

Excerpts from Executive Summary footnotes:

On November 2002, a U.S. military legal advisor visited DETENTION SITE COBALT and described as a "CIA detention facility, noting that "while CIA is the only user of the facility they contend it is a [Country REDACTED] facility.

The U.S. military officer also noted that the junior CIA officer designated as warden of the facility "has little to no experience with interrogating or handling prisoners." With respect to al-Najjar specifically, the legal advisor indicated that the CIA's interrogation plan included "isolation in total darkness; lowering the quality of his food; keeping him at an uncomfortable temperature (cold); [playing music] 24 hours a day; and keeping him shackled and hooded." In addition, al-Najjar was described as having been left hanging—which involved handcuffing one or both wrists to an overhead bar which would not allow him to lower his arms—for 22 hours each day for two consecutive days, in order to "'break' his resistance." It was also noted al-Najjar was wearing a diaper and had no access to toilet facilities……

According to CIA records, Abu Ja'far al-Iraqi was subjected to nudity, dietary manipulation, insult slaps, abdominal slaps, attention grasps, facial holds, walling, stress positions, and water dousing with 44 degree Fahrenheit water for 18 minutes. He was shackled in the standing position for 54 hours as part of sleep deprivation, and experienced swelling in his lower legs requiring blood thinner and spiral ace bandages. He was moved to a sitting position, and his sleep deprivation was extended to 78 hours. After the swelling subsided, he was provided with more blood thinner and was returned to the standing position. The sleep deprivation was extended to 102 hours. After four hours of sleep, Abu Ja'far al-Iraqi was subjected to an additional 52 hours of sleep deprivation, after which CIA Headquarters informed interrogators that eight hours was the minimum rest period between sleep deprivation sessions exceeding 48 hours. In addition to the swelling, Abu Ja'far al-Iraqi also experienced an edema on his head due to walling, abrasions on his neck, and blisters on his ankles from shackles……

See December 1, 2005, Memorandum for the National Security Advisor, Director of National Intelligence, from Porter Goss, Central Intelligence Agency, subject, "Counter interrogation Technique

PDB Draft titled: [REDACTED] December 2005, ALT

ID: 20051217 PDB on Abu Jafar al-Iraqi. Urging the change to the draft PDB, one of the interrogators involved in Abu Ja'far al-Iraqi's interrogation wrote, "If we allow the Director to give this PDB, as it is written, to the President, I would imagine the President would say, 'You asked me to risk my presidency on your interrogations, and now you give me this that implies the interrogations are not working. Why do we bother?' We think the tone of the PDB should be tweaked. Some of the conclusions, based on our experts' observations, should be amended. The glass is half full, not half empty, and is getting more full every day." See email from: [REDACTED].....

Full transcript of Executive Summary here.

The Australian Citizenship and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 appears to allow the revocation of citizenship solely based on Immigration Minister Scott Morrison's own opinion of the citizen

On 30 October 2014 the Australian Senate referred the Australian Citizenship and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 to the Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.

The current Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs members are: Senator the Hon Ian Macdonald (LP, QLD) (Chair), Senator Jacinta Collins (ALP, VIC) (Deputy Chair), Senator Catryna Bilyk (ALP, TAS), Senator Barry O'Sullivan (NATS, QLD), Senator Linda Reynolds (LP, WA), and Senator Penny Wright (AG, SA), with Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (AG, SA) to replace Senator Penny Wright (AG, SA) as substitute member.

Persons making submissions to the standing committee concerning this bill apparently had only four business days to prepare as the Abbott Government insisted that the bill was urgent.

The standing committee held public hearings on 10 and 19 November 2014 and, on 1 December handed down its report on the Australian Citizenship and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014. The report can be found here.

The discretionary power allowed the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection under this bill is worrying. His personal decisions will be protected from merits review and he will have the power to override decisions of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Additionally the bill is further flawed and in the words of the committee report; the standard of proof required for a person's citizenship to be revoked for fraud or misrepresentation without conviction has been reduced too far; that is, from 'beyond a reasonable doubt' to the satisfaction of the minister.

The committee also worries that a ministerial decision to revoke citizenship may also be used to render the child(ren) of an Australian citizen stateless and, points to the fact that what the Abbott Government's Explanatory Memorandum states the bill will do  is not what the bill itself states it does with regard to children.

There is a Dissenting Report by Australian Labor Senators which concludes; The Australian Labor Party has serious concerns about the significant increase in discretionary power this legislation would provide the Minister. It is crucial that the Australian Parliament deal with matters relating to citizenship with the highest diligence. It is the greatest gift a nation can bestow on a migrant. Labor will not support the passing of legislation that has the potential to unfairly affect a person’s citizenship.

There is also a Dissenting Report of the Australian Greens which concludes in its turn; the amendments proposed in this Bill will have serious implications for Australian citizens. The unchecked and unprecedented power that is placed in the hands of the Minister, should this Bill pass, is unwarranted and has not be sufficiently justified by the government.  As rightly noted by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, no Minister or government authority should be exempt from independent oversight. This is inconsistent with the rule of law and democratic principles.[8]Similarly, attempts to extend the 'good character' provisions to children may result in Australia contravening a number of human rights obligations. For these reasons, the Australian Greens recommend that this Bill not be passed.

The political message Abbott Government MPs were sent home with after the Australian Parliament recessed

Some of the political ‘messages’ voters can expect to see turn up as quotes in local media once Coalition MPs have settled back into their home electorates - before they leave again in early February 2015:

Abbott Government Briefing Notes For Coalition MPs, Friday 5 December 2014 by clarencegirl

1,500 Essential Energy jobs on the chopping block and reliable power supply at risk on NSW North Coast

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released a draft revenue determination for the NSW electricity distributor, Essential Energy, for the five year period through to June 2019.

The Draft Essential Energy distribution determination 2015–16 to 2018–19 affects many residential and business customers on the NSW North Coast

                                                                             

According to Essential Energy on 27 November 2014:

The AER draft determinations released today would mean, if implemented:

• Immediate job reductions of 4,600 employees (38%) across NSW (Ausgrid 2,400, Endeavour Energy

700 and Essential Energy 1,500).

• An inability to place 750 apprentices, currently in training, when they graduate to trade over the

next four years.

• A likely reduction of $460m in vegetation management programs over the next four years.

• Deterioration in the time taken for electricity networks to restore electricity supply to communities

after major storm events.

AER apparently also expects Essential Energy to increase efficiency savings by exposing customers to more frequent brownouts and blackouts during peak demand periods [AER Draft Determination Overview, p26].

The number of hot days are increasing on the NSW North Coast and, maximum daily temperatures in Grafton during the first six days of December 2014 were between 29°C and 33.5°C, Lismore’s maximum daily temperature for the same period ranged between 26.5°C and 30.8°C, Casino’s maximums reached 28.9°C and 35.3°C, while Kyogle’s  maximums fluctuating between 31.8°C to 35.3°C.

When one combines this heat in the first six days of an Australian summer with the aging population demographic of the region, it does not take a genius to see that any increase in power outages carries a risk to the health and wellbeing of older residents as well as infants and the ill.

Battling heat with no power for fan or air conditioner due to what should be an avoidable power outage may mean that nursing mothers and the frail aged will find little comfort in the fact that that AER expects residential electricity bills to decrease next financial year under its plan.

The NSW Nationals MP for Clarence response on 3 December in the Clarence Valley Review was weak to say the least:

Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis said that “every consumer would welcome a drop in electricity prices to households and small businesses”, but opposed the idea of further job cuts at EE.
“What we [the Nationals] don’t agree with is the impact on regional communities, with any job losses,” he said.
“That’s why we opposed the sale of poles and wires in the first place – and that’s why the Nationals fought to secure EE remaining in government hands.

But then, this is a politician who has conveniently forgotten that earlier this year he voted for the second phase of privatisation of the state’s electricity infrastructure:

Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has voted with his party to back the State Government's proposed sell-off of electricity infrastructure.

[The Daily Examiner, 13 June 2014]