On 30 May 2017 I requested copies of documents, cables or correspondence to and/or from Mr Pezzullo or his office in relation to the US refugee resettlement deal/program with the Trump administration. On 13 September 2017 the then Department of Immigration and Border Protection declined access to 16 documents: Three cables dated 31 January 2017, […]
Defence: the water is rising
June 5, 2019 By Leave a Comment
In its final report released in May 2018 the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee recommended that the Department of Defence consider releasing an unclassified version of the work it had undertaken to identify climate risks to its estate. That hasn’t been done. A 2013 report titled ‘Project AZ5220: Adaptation and planning strategies […]
UAE & Saudi Arabia: Australia’s conspiracy of silence
September 27, 2018 By Leave a Comment
At the 73rd UN General Assembly it was revealed that a child dies every 10 minutes due to war-related causes in Yemen. This follows comments by the UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock that the fight against famine in Yemen was being lost. Yet none of this has nudged Australia to issue autonomous sanctions on either […]
Assange & the laws that don’t bind us
June 18, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Tomorrow marks six years since Julian Assange walked into the Ecuadorian embassy to seek asylum. It is now over two years since the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that the detention of Julian Assange violated Articles 9 and 10 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and Articles 7, 9(1), 9(3), 9(4), […]
Continuing Government evasiveness
June 9, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Media reports that Australian government officials have visited Julian Assange in his Ecuadorian embassy refuge in London is welcome news. But the Government still won’t say whether or not it agrees with the 2016 findings of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. On 6 February 2016, referring to that report, Foreign Minister Julie […]
Are Australia’s military exports to Saudi Arabia legal?
March 24, 2018 By 1 Comment
Documents recently produced under Freedom of Information laws confirm that in the two years from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017 sixteen military licences were granted for the export of military equipment from Australia to Saudi Arabia. Until now it was widely believed that only four military licences were issued. Redactions to the FOI […]
