Christian Porter is correct — this is an extremely unsatisfactory state of affairs. The "rule of law" is a fine thing.
It is, at its simplest, the principle that laws be applied equally, that an accused is innocent until proven guilty, that proper checks and balances exist upon the exercise of power, that access to justice be available for all. Christian Porter — the Attorney-General, the custodian of Australian laws — this week appeared drawn and pale as he confronted the disorienting prospect of a world in which the rule of law did not apply. Anyone who has witnessed the frightening power of online mobs or the ability of demagogues to inflame real-world violence with lies cannot help but feel sympathy for his shaken plea that order be restored, that due process govern the dispensing of justice amid the most "wild, intense and unrestrained series of accusations I can remember in modern Australian politics".
For the first law officer, this was a development of existential import. His shock and grief were raw and apparent. Julian Assange's extradition to the US rejected by UK court over mental health fears. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face charges including espionage, a London court has ruled.
Key points: US authorities had requested Julian Assange's extradition to face 18 charges over a series of WikiLeaks releasesA UK judge has refused the request on the basis of Assange's mental condition and risk of suicideThe US has indicated it will appeal against the court's decision US authorities have accused the 49-year-old WikiLeaks founder of conspiring to hack government computers and of violating an espionage law in connection with the release of confidential cables by WikiLeaks in 2010-2011. Inside the title fight: The war of words over Dr Jill Biden points to an unfair history. "Each day on twitter there is one main character," a user of the microblogging website once wrote.
"The goal is to never be it. " Sage words, to be sure. China's Communist Party accused of influencing Australia's Chinese-language media - ABC News. Australia's media has faced "persistent efforts" by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to influence and censor content, according to a new report from an Australian think tank.
Key points: Chinese social media platform WeChat has accelerated CCP influence and censorship in Australia, the report foundIt found a number of Chinese-language media organisations in Australia had direct links to Chinese state mediaThe report urges the Federal Government to better protect news media from foreign influence In an analysis of 24 privately-owned Australian media organisations that produced news media in Chinese, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) found four had evidence of CCP ownership or financial support — including the Australia Pacific Media Group which has been previously criticised for being a propaganda arm for the CCP through its publication Pacific Time.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. ABC chair Ita Buttrose will not be sacked over response to Federal Government's Four Corners questions, Paul Fletcher says - ABC News. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has rejected suggestions he plans to sack ABC chair Ita Buttrose if he is unhappy with her response over a Four Corners investigation.
The Communications Minister sent 14 questions to the ABC board about a Four Corners episodeAmong them, he questioned why the personal lives of politicians were judged to be newsworthyThe ABC is expected to respond to the letter in the coming days Mr Fletcher wrote to the ABC board on December 1 with more than a dozen questions about the program, Inside the Canberra Bubble, which centred on alleged misconduct by ministers Alan Tudge and Christian Porter. He told ABC Insiders he was expecting a "serious and substantive" response from the public broadcaster but was not considering firing Ms Buttrose over the spat. Senate unanimously passes motion calling on NT Government to reverse ban on media publication - ABC News. A motion calling on the Northern Territory Government to reverse its media ban on a local news publication has passed unanimously in the Senate.
Key points: Federal Labor is now at odds with the NT Labor Government over its handling of press freedomsMedia freedom advocate Peter Greste has re-extended his offer to the Government to mediate the dispute The NT Government says its position has not changed following the Senate motion The NT Independent, a news site that covers Northern Territory current affairs and politics, has been locked out of NT Government press conferences since April. Government departments and bureaucrats also do not respond to the publication's questions. I'm always the only scientist in the room in a wheelchair. It shouldn't be this way - ABC News. Eleanor Beidatsch has a passion for palaeontology, but that's not as strong as her passion to see more people with disability accepted and succeeding in the sciences.
When I look around a room, I don't often see anybody else like me. In all the time I've been at university I've never seen another student in a wheelchair and I've seen only a couple with other sorts of disabilities. It can get lonely sometimes. Living with a disability is challenging, but I've always believed in perseverance.
Every day is filled with battles, whether they're small struggles to get through a daily routine despite the fatigue and pain that plague my body, or larger fights for life-saving equipment or medication. Whatever the challenge, I believe in pushing ahead until I overcome it. I am not going to pretend this has been an easy journey. It's difficult enough for most people to get their degree, let alone balancing studying and living with a disability, and mine is more of a challenge than most. Scott Morrison and Murdoch's News Corp empire 'operating like a team', former PM Malcolm Turnbull says - ABC News. Malcolm Turnbull has accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison of working as "a team" with News Corp newspapers and Sky TV.
Key points: The former PM says Scott Morrison is "cleaving very closely" to the Murdoch pressA petition calling for a royal commission into media diversity has more than 500,000 signaturesTony Abbott says he "never" leaked details of Cabinet discussions to News Corp The former prime minister has joined Kevin Rudd in backing a petition for a royal commission into media diversity and the role of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which they both believe is a malevolent and partisan force in Australian political life. In his recent memoir Mr Turnbull accused Mr Murdoch of bringing his prime ministership down.
"Morrison, I think, has determined not to suffer the same fate I did from the right of the Liberal Party in the Murdoch press," he told 7.30. "So Morrison is cleaving very closely to the Murdoch press, and they are backing him up. Ban junk food ads on public transport and other WA Government property, health agencies say - ABC News. Leading health agencies including the Telethon Kids Institute and the Cancer Council want the WA Government to immediately stop advertising junk food on government property like bus shelters, billboards and next to train stations.
Key points: The health costs of junk food far outweigh ad revenue, the agencies sayTheir report says a quarter of WA children are overweight or obeseBut it warns opposition from industries could be a big obstacle to any ban The agencies have released a new report which says it will not only improve people's health but will help save the Government hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade in the fight against obesity and other chronic diseases. The Cancer Council's director of cancer prevention, Melissa Ledger, said the ban would be easy for the State Government to put in place. "We really want to see the Government stop allowing junk food industries to advertise on their property," she said. Quarter of WA kids overweight or obese. Parler app rockets to top of downloads list as Donald Trump fans rail against US election result - ABC News.
Donald Trump has been tweeting up a storm in the wash-up to the US election.
But it appears millions of his supporters have flocked to a rival social media site that has rocketed to the top of the downloads list in the days since Joe Biden was declared president-elect. It's called Parler, and it has become a beacon for Mr Trump's fanbase to rail against the election result and spread claims of voter fraud without checks or balances. One expert warns this could be a dire sign of things to come. Tired of coronavirus conspiracy theories in your Facebook feed? So was Elissa — so she did something about it - ABC News. When the coronavirus pandemic first became serious back in March, Elissa McKay started noticing more and more troubling social media posts appearing in her feed.
"It ran the entire spectrum from it [COVID] is no worse than the flu, all the way up to it has been planned, this is a hoax, it doesn't exist or it does exist and it is part of government control," she said. She also noticed a lot of fury directed at the media. "And 'the media' was a catch all term, it was everyone from the ABC all the way up to Andrew Bolt. It was, 'I don't like what you are telling me so I am going to shoot the messenger.'" What worried the Mount Dandenong mum and former communications advisor was where people would then turn for vital health information if they were not consuming news during the pandemic. Foxtel given $10 million federal grant without plan for spending it, FOI documents reveal - ABC News.
Foxtel has been given a blank sheet for choosing how to spend a $10 million Federal Government grant and does not need to submit anything about it until next year, documents reveal. Key points: The documents come after Sports Minister Richard Colbeck personally intervened to block documents about the controversial grant being releasedThe $10 million grant is an extension of a $30 million program that was announced in a single line in the 2017 Federal BudgetA Communications Department spokesperson said Foxtel was only provided flexibility on how it presented information it was required to report on The documents, obtained under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, show the Federal Communications Department gave Foxtel free rein to allocate millions of dollars of taxpayer money granted to broadcast under-represented sports.
Petition calling for media royal commission and setting Australian record tabled in Parliament - ABC News. Australia's largest-ever parliamentary e-petition, which calls for a royal commission into media diversity and has more than 500,000 signatures, has been submitted to the House of Representatives.
Key points: Half a million people have signed a petition calling for a royal commission into media diversity in AustraliaLabor MP Andrew Leigh has tabled the petition in ParliamentSet up by former PM Kevin Rudd, it is Australia's largest e-petition and third largest petition overall The petition was initiated by former prime minister Kevin Rudd. Government ban on NT Independent news outlet sets dangerous precedent, experts say - ABC News.
The NT Government's decision to blacklist an online publication from Government press conferences and information channels has been denounced by critics as an assault on press freedom. The NT Government first kicked the NT Independent out of a press conference in AprilThe Dean of Law at UNSW says the Government's ban could breach the constitutionAustralians have an implied freedom of political communication, enshrined by the High Court The NT Government claims it has frozen out the NT Independent, a news site that covers Northern Territory current affairs and politics, because of grievances with its publisher. Coronavirus, bushfires, political dramas: ABC News Channel marks 10 years on air covering the decade's big stories. Paul Fletcher says ABC funding is rising each year. Is he correct? - ABC News.
Government powers mean Attorney-General will decide if ABC journalist will be prosecuted - ABC News. Changing the ABC's pronunciation guidance on Indigenous words - ABC News. How old newspaper clippings in ABC archives played a key part in The Eleventh podcast about Gough Whitlam's dismissal - Radio - ABC News.
The Invisible Man, Leigh Whannell's horror revamp, explores the hidden terror of domestic abuse. Updated about 4 hours agoMon 24 Feb 2020, 9:18pm. The Stranger, Australia's answer to Doctor Who, premieres on ABC iview after decades in the vaults - RetroFocus. Posted about 4 hours agoSat 1 Feb 2020, 8:58pm Way back when Doctor Who's TARDIS was only just taking off, an Australian TV series was exploring the science fiction genre. Rupert Murdoch's son James criticises News Corp, Fox for climate change and bushfire coverage. Updated 9 minutes agoWed 15 Jan 2020, 1:11am. Australia's culture of secrecy has built a complex web that hampers press freedom. Analysis Updated 31 minutes agoSat 17 Aug 2019, 1:26am. Terania Creek landmark environmental protest remembered four decades on. Posted 46 minutes agoSat 17 Aug 2019, 12:05am. Nine Entertainment moves for total control of Macquarie Media radio network. Updated about 2 hours agoMon 12 Aug 2019, 3:18am.
Donald Trump's administration is after Julian Assange and it serves as a warning to us all. Updated 33 minutes agoMon 29 Jul 2019, 1:11am WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is being aggressively pursued by the Trump administration, despite Donald Trump's enthusiastic embrace during the 2016 election campaign. Mr Trump famously declared "I love WikiLeaks" during the campaign as WikiLeaks began rolling out a series of leaks damaging to Hillary Clinton. Mr Assange — an Australian citizen — is now charged with 17 counts of espionage and one count of hacking and faces a possible 175 years in jail if he is eventually extradited to the United States and found guilty. French reporter Hugo Clement questions 'unfair' arrest, says it will feature in documentary. Posted yesterday at 6:17amFri 26 Jul 2019, 6:17am. Peter Dutton says that 'nobody is above the law' but should that apply to politicians?
Analysis Updated 57 minutes agoSat 13 Jul 2019, 12:34am Auberon Waugh is credited with coining the term 'the chattering classes', which Wikipedia notes is a "generally derogatory term often used by pundits and political commentators to refer to a politically active, socially concerned and highly educated section of the 'metropolitan middle class', especially those with political, media, and academic connections".
Australian Federal Police accessed journalists' metadata, stoking new media freedom concerns. Updated yesterday at 4:54amTue 9 Jul 2019, 4:54am Federal police have accessed metadata from journalists' phones almost 60 times within a year, adding to a debate about balancing national security and media freedom. Kerry O'Brien defends the ABC and calls out media 'failures' in impassioned Logies speech. Kerry O'Brien defends the ABC and calls out media 'failures' in impassioned Logies speech. Bald Archy Prize founder Peter Batey dies aged 85. How our selectively implemented foreign influence laws have undermined democracy. Forty years in public broadcasting — what has and hasn't changed - News coverage - ABC News. Political interference experienced at ABC, Senate committee says in calling for overhaul.