Australia

Indigenous Australian To Take Ex-Netanyahu Spokesperson To ICC

December 14, 2024 Joe Lauria and Cathy Vogan, Consortium News. Resist! Australia, Genocide, International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel

The charge of “advocating genocide” against Australian Mark Regev, a former Israeli ambassador to Britain and spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will head to the International Criminal Court after Australia’s prosecution service dropped the case following a diplomatic note from Israel. The charge against Regev was brought initially in a private prosecution by Uncle Robbie Thorpe, an indigenous Krautungalung Elder and human rights advocate. Thorpe charged Regev with aligning himself as a government spokesman with statements made by Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, which the U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian occupied territories called genocidal.

Emergency Summit Regarding Antarctic Meltdown

November 29, 2024 Robert Hunziker, Counter Punch. Resist! Antarctica, Australia, climate crisis, Sea level rise

Hundreds of scientists gathered in Australia for an “emergency summit” within the auspices of the inaugural Australian Antarctic Research Conference d/d November 2024. This gathering of 450 mostly “early-career” polar scientists flexed scientific muscles to alert the world to the what’s happening to our planet, taking off the gloves and coming out swinging. They claim we’re got a bigger problem than generally realized: “Efforts to slow down climate change through coordinated global action are paramount to protect the future of Australia, Antarctica, and our planet,” Ibid.

Coal Ships Blocked As Rising Tide Activists Form Line Across Channel

November 24, 2024 Alex Bainbridge, Isaac Nellist and Chloe DS, Green Left. Resist! Australia, climate crisis, Coal, Flotilla, kayaktivism

The Rising Tide “People’s Blockade” of the world’s largest coal port at Muloobinba/Newcastle began on November 19. The protestival is demanding: “No new coal and gas projects; 78% tax on fossil fuel export profits to fund workers’ transition; and end coal exports from Newcastle by 2030”.

Australia: Whistleblower David McBride Wins Leave to Appeal

October 12, 2024 Cathy Vogan, Consortium News. Resistance Report Australia, David McBride, Journalism, Legal System, Press Freedom

Australian military whistleblower David McBride was back in the Canberra Supreme Court on Wednesday where he won leave to appeal his conviction for leaking evidence of alleged war crimes by the Australian military in Afghanistan to Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC. McBride was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison in May. The former military lawyer was forced to plead guilty to stealing and leaking the classified documents to the media after he was essentially denied a defense at his trial last November. McBride’s defense had rested on the court accepting his argument that his oath to the British crown gave him a duty beyond obedience to military orders to instead inform the entire nation of government wrongdoing. The court rejected that argument.

How Australia Helps The United States Destabilize Asia

September 30, 2024 Maxwell Lane, People's Dispatch. Strategize! Asia, AUKUS, Australia, China, New Cold War, US Imperialism, US-China relations

September 15 marked the third anniversary of the announcement of the AUKUS (Australia, the UK, the US) agreement. The purpose of this agreement is for Australia to buy nuclear-powered submarines from the UK and the US This increases interoperability with US forces that are projecting their power in the region along the Chinese coast. Furthermore, Australia is participating in the QUAD and SQUAD, “[i]nformal Alliances in the Indo-Pacific.” The city of Darwin in northern Australia has been opened up for the US forces, including planes carrying nuclear weapons. In addition, Australia has long housed bases for US spy satellite systems.

US Mobilizes Allies To Reject UN Resolution Against Israeli Occupation

September 18, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. Educate! Australia, International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel, Israeli Occupation, Joe Biden, Palestine, United Nations (UN), US Imperialism

The US government is lobbying its western allies to reject a draft resolution set to be presented at the UN on 18 September calling on Israel to end its illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. “Joe Biden’s government is urging Australia to say no to a draft UN resolution by the Palestinian Authority (PA),” Sky News Australia reported on Tuesday, adding that Washington is calling on its allies “to either reject or abstain from the vote.” The UN General Assembly (UNGA) will vote on Wednesday on the landmark resolution that demands Israel end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months.

Acclaimed Journalist Charged With ‘Anti-Semitism’

August 29, 2024 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. Educate! Australia, Genocide, Israel, Journalists, Media, Palestine, Suppression

For retweeting two tweets on X critical of Israel, famed Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis is facing charges of allegedly violating the country’s Racial Discrimination Act. The complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission from Alon Cassuto, the CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, highlights just two Kostakidis retweets from January this year, both of which contain a video of a speech by Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in which he allegedly called for the ethnic cleansing of Israel. One of the retweets is from independent British journalist Richie Medhurst, who was arrested at Heathrow airport and held for nearly 24 hours under the U.K. Terrorism Act this month.

Pine Gap Readies For US Nuclear War

August 22, 2024 Peter Cronau, Consortium News. Educate! Australia, China, Nuclear Weapons, Wars and Militarism

The rapid expansion of the Pine Gap satellite surveillance base near Alice Springs, Australia from 35 to 45 satellite dishes, is designed to give the U.S. the edge in a potential nuclear war with China. Where desert oaks and spinifex tufts once baked in the Central Australian sun, three new white domes have mushroomed in a 14 hectare clearing along the western edge of the U.S.’ “most important surveillance base” in the world. Under huge plastic radomes, three of Pine Gap’s new satellite dishes have been built to receive information from a new generation of U.S. spy satellites that bring a heightened level of surveillance of China’s nuclear missile launch sites at a time of increasing confrontation between China and the U.S. and its allies.

ICC To Rule If The Australian Government Is Complicit In Genocide

August 6, 2024 Farah Abdurahman, Michael West. Resist! Australia, Gaza, Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel, Palestine

The evidence of complicity by Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and senior parliamentarians has been accepted into the ongoing International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine. The ‘Article 15 Communication’ submitted by Birchgrove Legal in March this year named Prime Minister Albanese as an accessory to genocide, making him the first leader of a Western nation to be referred to the ICC under the Rome Statute. In personalised correspondence received this week, the Office of the Prosecutor – International Criminal Court (OTP-ICC) advised Birchgrove Legal that the 92-page document, which was endorsed by more than one hundred Australian lawyers and barristers, had been “added to the evidence gathered and transmitted to relevant staff members for further review.”

Campaigners Are Targeting Fossil Fuel Financial Backers With Lawsuits

July 1, 2024 Isabella Kaminski, DeSmog. Resist! Australia, climate crisis, Climate Justice, Lawsuit, Report

Campaigners are increasingly taking out lawsuits against the funders of fossil fuels and other climate-harming activities, according to a new report. In its annual review of climate litigation, published June 26, the London School of Economics and Political Science’s (LSE) Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment identifies a modest but growing number of lawsuits challenging the flow of finance to projects that worsen climate change. In total, 33 cases that challenge the flow of funding have been recorded since academics began keeping track nine years ago. Six were filed in 2023.

The Heroism Of David McBride

May 16, 2024 John Kiriakou, Consortium News. Educate! Afghanistan, Australia, David McBride, Legal System, War crimes, Whistleblowers

Sometimes a whistleblower does everything right. He or she makes a revelation that is clearly in the public interest. The revelation is clearly a violation of the law. And then he or she is even more clearly abused by the government. It would be great if these stories always had happy endings. Unfortunately, they don’t. In this case, the whistleblower, the hero, Australian David McBride has been sentenced to five years and eight months in prison for telling the truth. He will not be eligible for parole for 27 months. David McBride is former British Army officer and a lawyer with the Australian Special Forces who blew the whistle on war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, specifically the killing of 39 unarmed Afghan prisoners, farmers, and civilians in 2012.

Whistleblower McBride Sentenced To Five Years, Eight Months

May 15, 2024 Joe Lauria and Cathy Vogan, Consortium News. Educate! Afghanistan, Australia, David McBride, War crimes, Whistleblowers

A federal judge in Canberra, the Australian capital, has sentenced military whistleblower David McBride to nearly six years in prison for leaking classified material to the media that revealed Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. Supreme Court Justice David Massop ruled on Tuesday morning local time that “only a prison sentence is appropriate,” and handed down 68 months — 5 years and 8 months. Consortium News‘ Cathy Vogan, who is inside the courtroom, reported that McBride “will go to jail until 2030. He is led out of the court by three policemen. A woman takes his dog.”

Whistleblower David McBride To Be Sentenced

May 8, 2024 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. Resistance Report Afghanistan, Australia, David McBride, Legal System, War crimes, Whistleblowers

A sentencing hearing has concluded in the case of Australian whistleblower David McBride who was forced to plead guilty to leaking classified documents to the media after he was essentially denied a defense at his trial in November. The documents ultimately revealed evidence of war crimes committed by the Australian Defence Force. Justice David Mossop will pronounce the sentence next Tuesday. The government has demanded more than two years in prison, while the judge could impose as little as house arrest, monitoring , and counseling outside prison for up to four years. McBride, a former military lawyer, was charged with stealing government documents and giving them to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Meanwhile In Australia, Campus Protests Undisturbed

May 3, 2024 CN Live!, Consortium News. Resist! Australia, Campus Movement, Israel, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Student Activism

“Last week students in Australia established encampments at their universities in solidarity with Palestinians. These join the dozens of solidarity camps established across the US and elsewhere in recent weeks. Like their peers, Australian students are calling on their institutions to end relationships with weapons companies that are enabling Israeli war crimes, and urging our government to sanction Israel and cut military ties. The Jewish Council of Australia strongly rejects the claims that these protests are a threat to Jewish students and staff.

Pro-Palestine Protest Camps Spread Worldwide

May 3, 2024 The Cradle. Resist! Australia, Campus Movement, Israel, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Police, Student Activism

Students at several universities in Australia have launched rallies to protest Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza, as the spread of the massive pro-Palestine protests sweeps across western nations. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up an encampment at the University of Sydney, the country’s largest, last week. Other encampments opposing the mass murder of Palestinians have since popped up on campuses in Melbourne, Canberra, and other cities in Australia. On Friday, students marched on the Sydney University campus to protest the Israeli offensive and demand that their institution divest from companies linked to Israel.

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