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Isocracy 2018 Annual General Meeting
2018, October 5 - 09:49 — isocr
On Saturday October 20 the Isocracy Network will be holding its Annual General Meeting at the Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre, Faraday Street, Carlton at 3pm.
The guest speaker is Professor Clinton Fernandes of the University of New South Wales, a historian and foreign policy specialist. Clinton will be speaking on Australian Foreign Policy and the Australia–East Timor spying scandal.
Professor Clinton Fernandes' presentation is now available.
http://isocracy.org/files/Coordinating-the-Instruments-of-Statecraft.pdf
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Managerial willpower vs Physics
On a related subject, this looks like managerial willpower vs physics. And physics will win every time.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/ruinous-project-in-east-timor-could...
And this situation wouldn't exist if Australia hadn't been so disingenuous towards East Timor.
Background on the Witness K
Background on the Witness K issue and East Timor spying scandal.
https://theconversation.com/as-witness-k-trial-opens-questions-over-how-...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93East_Timor_spying_scandal
Former attorney-general George Brandis was asked to approve the controversial prosecution of an Australian spy and his lawyer more than two years before consent was finally granted, a document obtained by the ABC has revealed.
The ex-spy, known as "Witness K", and his lawyer Bernard Collaery are facing charges under the Intelligence Services Act 2001 for allegedly conspiring to communicate secret information to Timor-Leste's government sometime between May 2008 and May 2013.
Mr Collaery is also accused of sharing information with ABC journalists about an operation which saw Australia bug Timor-Leste's cabinet room in Dili during negotiations over oil and gas reserves worth an estimated $40 billion.
There has been much speculation about why the Government has suddenly moved to prosecute Witness K and Mr Collaery, almost four-and-a-half years after ASIO raided their homes.
More at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-06/government-sat-on-witness-k-prosec...
A practical task that we can achieve..
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/13/witness-k-case-la...
Australia's "national interest" has always meant private profit for corporations at the price of human rights for the Timorese.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/07/oil-and-gas-had-h...
Interview with Professor Clinton Ferndandes on 3CR on Australian Foreign Policy and his new book "Island off the Coast of Asia".
Well worth a listen!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TwdpX3vz-rlfNgPuMTQS5EY1nFVGhT5j/view?t...
A grotesque scandal.
In a small courtroom in Canberra last month, federal prosecutors finally began their controversial – or “scandalous” and “grotesque”, as some critics put it – case against a former spy and his lawyer for allegedly leaking details of a secret espionage operation targeting Timor-Leste.
But there were two noticeable absences: neither the spy, known as Witness K, nor his lawyer, Bernard Collaery, were in court.
“I have no one to charge,” observed the chief magistrate, Lorraine Walker. “Where are we going from here?”
It was a good question.
The pair is allegedly accused of revealing confidential information about an Australian operation to spy on Timor-Leste during sensitive negotiations about the division of a lucrative underwater oil and gas deposit.
Prosecutors have revealed no details about the alleged crime and the government intends to keep it that way. It wants to have the case heard under the National Security Information Act, which would keep almost all elements of it secret. This would allow the government to privately admit to an operation that, aired publicly, would deeply embarrass it and might raise questions about the legality of its actions.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2018/10/13/the-fight-keep-the-witnes...
Well, isn't that interesting?
Well, isn't that interesting?
From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours…
Why, you old Sharma.
It’s well known Liberal candidate for Wentworth Dave Sharma was a former diplomat. But what else lurks in his past? Quite possibly, a connection to the most disgraceful spy scandal in recent Australian history and our most immoral foreign policy decision. According to his CV, Sharma was a legal adviser to former foreign affairs minister and stock photo caricature Alexander Downer from 2004-06. This was the period covering Australia’s illegal spying on Timor-Leste and its attempts to blackmail the Timor-Leste government into complying with Australia’s demands around access for Woodside — the beneficiary of Australia’s entire regional foreign policy — to “Timor Gap” petroleum reserves. Did Sharma play any role in either of these shameful events? As legal adviser to Adelaide’s own Boy Mulcaster (and later Woodside consultant) Lex Downer, it’s hard to see how he couldn’t have.
Of course, who should Sharma have hosted almost immediately on arrival to his gig as ambassador to Jerusalem in 2013? Why, a delegation from Woodside. At least he would have felt at home.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/10/05/witness-k-scandal-resource-companies/