The undiscussed refugee never-never
When Tony Abbott promises to cut bureaucracy, I rather doubt ASIO is at the top of his list of places to look for savings. It should be, given that its budget has grown from 60-odd million dollars in 2001 to [...]
ASIO gets wider remit, to furious debate…only kidding
Apparently, ASIO’s role in economic espionage and counter-espionage is to be stretched so broadly that the catch-all of “national security” can no longer always be applied:
Detainees and protestors
Australia has been asked to take 17 Uighur detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Held for the past 7 years, they were declassified as “economy combatants” back in 2005. They can’t go back to their home, in north-western China, because of the [...]
What the hell?
If this is accurate, heads are going to roll: Defence heads have ordered an investigation into claims departmental officials conducted covert inquiries into their minister Joel Fitzgibbon. The unnamed officials investigated the defence minister’s association with a Chinese-born Sydney businesswoman [...]
Just because you're paranoid
While ASIO routinely over-reached in its early years in its spying on various activists, it seems (at least in terms of what’s come to light) that some of the worst examples of “secret police” surveillance of community organizations has come [...]
Why the hurry to arrest Benbrika's mob?
Well, the current round of trials for Abdul Nacer Benbrika and his followers have finally ended, after a marathon trial and three weeks of jury deliberations. Seven, including Benbrika, were found guilty of various terrorism offences; four were acquitted, and [...]
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