“We will not be intimidated, especially when we are trying to stop a genocide,” he told the house.
“Any time police officers resort to the use of force against non-violent protesters, they violate these principles and undermine the consent and respect necessary for the police to do their job.”
Right-wing Australian billionaire and money-bag climate change denier Gina Reinhart apparently doesn't want people to see her portrait by the Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira in the National Gallery.
Crossbenchers and Bridget Archer call for David McBride to be pardoned.
A group of 29 federal crossbenchers and Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer have written a letter to the Albanese government calling for it to request a full #pardon for jailed military lawyer #DavidMcBride.
On Tuesday, McBride was sentenced to prison for five years and eight months for taking classified defence documents about the war in Afghanistan from his former employer, the Australian defence force, and leaking them to ABC journalists.
The documents formed the basis for the ABC investigative series, The Afghan Files, which revealed #warcrimes committed by Australian soldiers. McBride will serve at least two years and three months in a Canberra jail as part of his non-parole period.
The letter, sent on Thursday, urges the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, to advise the governor-general to grant McBride a full pardon to “end this injustice”.
“In 2020, prime minister, you told media outlet Crikey, in relation to the Collaery prosecution, ‘the idea that there should be a prosecution of a whistleblower, for what’s a shameful part of Australia’s history, is simply wrong’. It is equally shameful that the first person imprisoned in relation to Australia’s war crimes in Afghanistan is not a war criminal but the source of the Afghan Files reporting, journalism that was undeniably in the public interest.”
The letter also calls for the prosecution of former tax employee, #RichardBoyle, to end. Boyle spoke out internally, then to an independent watchdog and then to the media in 2018 about the Australian Taxation Office’s aggressive pursuit of tax debts from small businesses, which he said was destroying lives and causing unnecessary trauma to help the agency meet revenue goals.
Boyle is awaiting an appeal decision about whether he can use federal #whistleblower protection laws to gain immunity from his charges.
The group is also calling for Labor to commit to overhauling #whistleblowing laws this term, including work to establish a whistleblower #protection commission by next year. #auspol
"But I am entitled to make decisions in my personal life including selling a property that I own because I wish to move on in my personal life in a different direction. The property was bought when my personal circumstances were different."
Let's remember that part of that change in his 'personal circumstances' is his move into publicly-funded supported accommodation, and that he has already sold, at a massive profit, another property in Canberra which was paid for with his parliamentary travel allowance
Sydney council reverses ban on same-sex parenting books after fiery meeting
Good.
"Hate is not a family value." Hmmm… I like that. Neither is bigotry.
Also note that the Maritime Union of Australia came out and supported rescinding the book ban. And thanks go to them. Perhaps a reminder for everyone to join a union.
"Former military lawyer David McBride sentenced to almost six years in jail for sharing classified information with journalists.
"The material released by McBride was used in the Australian ABC's The Afghan Files story, which revealed allegations that Australian soldiers were involved in illegal killings."
"This is a genocide": Australian Labor Senator breaks with government over Israel war
"Labor Senator Fatima Payman has accused Israel of conducting a genocide in Gaza in the most strident criticism of Israel by a government MP since the war in Gaza began."