Australian Politics

Youth crime down, 2000-plus busted as cops blitz entire state

There must be an election coming up

Police have nabbed 2093 youth crims and charged them with 6167 offences since widespread deployments across Queensland targeting youth crime.

Commissioner Steve Gollschewski announced the milestone after Taskforce Guardian reached 102 deployments including more than 20 to crime-plagued Townsville.

He said 252 adults had also been charged during the operations and 980 people had been diverted from the youth justice system since Taskforce Guardian began in May 2023.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Massingham, who heads the youth crime taskforce for the service, said there had been a 22 per cent decrease in youth offending in Townsville from January to September, compared to last year.

He said overall there had been a 6.3 per cent decrease in youth offending in Queensland.

Assistant Commissioner Massingham said there had been decreases in nine of the 15 police districts.

“A very important indicator to me is those numbers won’t mean anything to people continue to feel unsafe in their home environments or where they walk along in the streets in their local communities,” he said on Tuesday.

“It’s not so much the numbers for me, it’s about our high visibility presence with Guardian.

Assistant Commissioner Massingham. said police had a solid understanding of the worst offenders after the deployments.

He said serious repeat offender numbers had decreased almost 18 per cent since November last year to 388, which was about 100 less than this time last year.

Police have been tracking social media accounts of some of the youths who post their exploits online, bragging about cars they’ve stolen or crimes they have committed.

“Our digital intelligence team, which is the first in this nation, we are intercepting livestream images invariably on social media of children in stolen vehicles (and it is) is a very very key aspect to the way we deploy Guardian,” he said.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-qld/youth-crime-down-2000plus-busted-as-cops-blitz-entire-state/news-story/d82af27d92a758a8c4fd4b05e73fa4ec

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Albo’s Orwellian Bill: Censoring free speech is dangerous, not to mention downright un-Australian

A friend of Socrates once visited the Delphic oracle to ask who is the wisest man in the world. The oracle told him that Socrates was. Socrates could not believe this, as he believed he knew men who were wiser than him, such as a politician friend of his. But when Socrates spoke to his friend he realised that the politician ‘thinks that he knows but he really knows nothing’. Socrates then went to speak to the poets and artisans but came away with similar conclusions. He then realised that, ‘The men most in repute were all but the most foolish; and that some inferior men were really wiser and better.’

Things have not changed much from Ancient Greek times. We still have politicians that think they know more. Our government wants to make sure it silences the ‘inferior men’ with its new misinformation laws.

No healthy society would empower a bunch of politicians to define what is true or false. Imagine living in a country where the politicians have the gall to tell the rest of us not to lie.

The Albanese government’s misinformation laws are fundamentally un-Australian. The Australian way is to thumb our nose at authority. The Australian way is not to suffer tall poppies telling us what to do.

But the Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill would see a two-tier society established when it comes to free speech. The Bill, astonishingly, exempts the media from being accused of spreading misinformation or disinformation. Just last month, the ABC was caught airing doctored footage from Afghanistan in an attempt to tar Australian soldiers as war criminals. This clear form of misinformation would be exempt from Albanese’s censorship regime.

The protection of the Australian military does not even rate a mention in the Bill. If you were going to protect a class of Australians from the spreading of lies, there is probably no more deserving group than those of us who put their life on the line to protect us.

Instead, the Bill defines ‘serious harm’ to be that which could damage electoral authorities, various identity groups, public health bureaucrats and, perhaps most amazing of all, the banks.

What marks this eclectic group out is that almost all of them have been guilty of propagating misinformation in recent years. Our banks have been found to have regularly defrauded their customers, public health authorities have admitted they lied to the public for the ‘greater good’ and even our otherwise decent electoral authorities lost 1,375 ballots during the 2013 Western Australia Senate election, causing a strange recount at the cost of $20 million.

All authorities, especially those that benefit from public funds, should be subject to free and unfettered criticism from the Australian public.

There is another more explicit way that this Bill is un-Australian. The new misinformation regime does not directly establish a government Ministry of Truth, but rather it requires social media companies to establish their own internal Ministries of Truth to police the speech of Australians.

Almost all of these social media companies are foreign-owned. I do not think we need our fellow Australians policing each other’s speech, but I definitely do not want tech billionaires in San Francisco deciding what is said in Sydney.

Of course, there is another social media company called TikTok. This Bill would deputise TikTok to apply a censorship to the Australian people. The provisions of the Bill are so broad that TikTok would have no problem in applying the Chinese Communist party censorship regime to Australians, astoundingly with the backing of the Australian government.

Authorising foreigners to control what is discussed is the opposite of what should happen. In the last parliament, I co-authored a Bill with George Christensen that would outlaw the censoring of political discussion among Australians by foreign social media companies. Not only will I do everything to try to stop Labor’s Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill from becoming law, I will re-introduce a Bill to protect Australians’ right to speak freely online.

The prospects of stopping the new misinformation regime in the Senate are not great but I would hope that my friends on the left think deeply about this intrusion into people’s rights. The current Bill is clearly designed to combat anti-Voice and anti-vaccine views. The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill defines misleading information to include attacks on ‘referendum proposals’, and vaccines are mentioned eighteen times.

In the future this Bill could easily be weaponised to silence anti-war or anti-big business views. A few months ago, the Australian Conservation Foundation was briefly cancelled on X after it made some claims about nuclear energy. I thought its statements were wrong but I do not want an American social media company to have the power to silence an Australian organisation from speaking about an important public policy issue.

One of the most important reasons to allow free speech is so that we can listen and not just speak. When someone is silenced it is not just the rights of the person to speak that have been breached, it is also the rights of everyone else to listen to that person. I, as an Australian, have the right to listen to my fellow Australians, even the ones I disagree with.

A healthy society encourages the airing of different opinions. That is how we test and strengthen our own ideas. That is how we correct our mistakes. The duration of a lie depends on how quickly someone is allowed to point it out.

The government will probably ram its misinformation laws through the parliament. Ironically, laws designed to silence the Australian people will likely be passed by silencing the parliament and limiting debate.

But, even if we end up with a misinformation tsar, we should not be downcast. This desperate move is a sign that the left are losing. Every cancellation will be a vindication that we are right.

There is always a silver lining. If established, the misinformation tsar will become the best barometer of truth since the Delphic oracle. Except this time it will work in reverse.

Whatever the misinformation tsar says is false will actually turn out to be true.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2024/10/albos-orwellian-bill/

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Class war: ‘We’ll teach the Greens’, vow private schools

Fat chance that they will be able to budge the views of hard-Left Bandt, the Greens leader. He is an old-time Trotskyite, committed to maximum destrucion of socity as we know it

Independent schools are preparing to launch a nationwide campaign in Greens and marginal electorates calling out the “relentless and baseless vilification” of private schools and urging constituents not to support parties that would abolish their funding and limit educational choices.

Independent Schools Australia revealed it would begin targeting seats held by the left-wing minor party, as well as other hotly contested electorates, following increasing criticism over the allocation of government funding to private schools.

School funding is a crucible issue for Labor and its biggest source of division with its state ALP counterparts. The Greens are expected to push for reforms that would slash some independent schools’ funding in any power-sharing agreement with a minority Labor government.

ISA chief executive Graham Catt said his organisation was gearing up to take the fight to the Greens, with school leaders, teachers and parents making clear “they’ve had enough of the relentless and baseless vilification of families who simply want the best for their children”.

“Parents are making significant sacrifices in a cost-of-living crisis, and we know from our research that families – especially in key marginal seats – feel betrayed by policies that threaten their educational choices,” Mr Catt said.

“With an election approaching we will be working to ensure families’ voices are heard loud and clear in key electorates, including those held by the Greens.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt declared earlier this year that his party would be fighting for more public school funding and arguing against “the continued overfunding of those very wealthy private schools that clearly don’t need even more public funds”.

The row with the ISA could be one of the Greens’ first major tests in holding the formerly Liberal Queensland seats of Ryan and Brisbane, with the potential to complicate the party’s plan to win more wealthy marginal seats off Labor, the Coalition and teal independents at the next election.

As part of research by the ISA conducted late last year, more than 80 per cent of the 2000 parents surveyed agreed it was important that families had the right to choose which school was best for their child.

More than 70 per cent agreed every child had a right to “some level of government funding” for their education, while 66 per cent agreed that if independent school funding was cut, the public system could not cope with the increased enrolments.

The Albanese government sought to quell concerns over a lack of funding for public schools this month, with Education Minister Jason Clare introducing legislation to lift the commonwealth share of state school funding by $16bn over the next decade after intense negotiations with states and territories.

Mr Catt said all students in all school sectors should be supported to “access a great education”, but that this should not result in attacks against private schools and campaigns to have their funding slashed.

“The relentless attacks against independent schools, particularly by the Greens, only hurt the families and teachers who deserve better,” he said.

“With over 700,000 students and growing, many of whom attend independent schools in what will be hotly contested marginal seats, we will be advocating strongly for these families during the election.”

The amount of government funding a school needs is based on the Schooling Resourcing Standard. The commonwealth provides 20 per cent of a public school’s funding needs, while states and territories are required to provide the other 80 per cent.

For private schools, the funding arrangement is flipped so the federal government provides 80 per cent and states and territories deliver 20 per cent.

The Greens and the Australian Education Union have steadily ramped up criticism against private schools in recent years, with the AEU conducting several rounds of analysis that showed disparities between private and public schools.

As part of this, the AEU released a report showing five elite private schools splurged more money on new facilities than governments spent on half of Australia’s public schools collectively in 2021.

Mr Catt said the majority of students in independent schools – which included specialist schools such as Muslim and Jewish institutions – came from middle to low-income families, with median annual school fees sitting at just over $5500.

“(These families) should be supported, not penalised, for making educational choices that align with their values and aspirations for their children,” he said.

“Over 85 per cent of capital funding comes from these families, who are taxpayers too.”

Greens primary and secondary education spokeswoman Penny Allman-Payne said private schools received $51m from the federal government every day, and yet some of the richest schools were “still gouging parents and carers”.

“It’s great to see the private school lobby highlighting the stark inequity of Australia’s two-tiered school system,” Senator Allman-Payne said “But I think many private school parents would be surprised that they want to campaign against the Greens, when we’re the only party calling out the outrageous fees that parents are being charged by wealthy private schools. Meanwhile, public school teachers are spending their own money to provide stationery for their kids – I think every parent and carer in the country knows that’s not right.”

As part of the calculation for the level of federal funding a private school will receive, parents’ “capacity to contribute” is looked at alongside other considerations, with commonwealth funding tapering off the higher the median income of the families whose child attends the school.

“Independent school parents are taxpayers, and yet they face criticism for choosing the best education for their children and subsidising the cost by paying fees,” Mr Catt said. “Meanwhile, families across Australia face a postcode lottery, where the quality of education depends on their location. All families should have the right to make the best educational choice for their kids, and politicians need to support – not punish – those decisions.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/class-war-well-teach-the-greens-vow-private-schools/news-story/2e469a960cde0cb0cf152e80c8ea22e9

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Dreaming or dreamt up? Mystery of the blue-banded bee deepens

The artist behind the “blue-banded bee” mural cited by federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to justify her veto of the Blayney goldmine was a member of the main resistance group against the $1bn project, and the local government had never heard of the Dreaming story before the artwork was painted.

The Australian can reveal Brisbane artist Birrunga Wiradyuri, a Wiradyuri man whose mural was used as evidence in Ms Plibersek’s official reasons against the mine, was a regular contributor with the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation and a member up until at least this August.

The WTOCWAC’s highly disputed claims that the Blayney mine site is a place of historical and spiritual significance to local Aboriginal people are the centre of Ms Plibersek’s moves to kybosh the mine.

Amid deepening questions about the validity of the anti-mine group’s claims, it also can be revealed that the blue-banded bee Dreaming story has not appeared in any of the six ethnographic studies seen by mine owner Regis Resources and there is no public evidence of the story before 2022.

Wiradyuri declared in February 2022 that the mural on the wall of the Bathurst post office was tied to a songline east of the Belubula River. But the Bathurst Regional Council said on Monday it was not aware of the Dreaming story before commissioning the artwork.

“The subject of the art (the blue-banded bee) was developed in partnership with elders during the commission,” a spokesperson said. “Council was not aware of the story prior to this.”

Wiradyuri previously has consulted with WTOCWAC on artworks significant to the Bathurst area, with a February 2022 post on the mural tagging the group, while a June 2022 post gave its “love, esteem respect (sic) and gratitude to the Traditional Owners and Elders of the Bathurst area, the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation for their counsel and sharing of Cultural Knowledge”.

The WTOCWAC later would cite his artwork in its submissions detailing the blue-banded bee’s longstanding significance to the Blayney site on which the McPhillamys mine was to be established.

In an interview with local newspaper Western Advocate at the time of the artwork’s display, Mr Wiradyuri said he consulted with members of the WTOCWAC in its creation regarding its cultural significance.

“In close consultation with Aunt Wirribee, Uncle Mallyan, Uncle Yanha and Uncle Dinawan (WTOCWAC member and historian Uncle Bill Allen), the story of the bee became an artwork that evolved as we delved deeper into the storytelling process,” he said in an interview.

Documents from the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations also indicate that Wiradyuri was a member of the WTOCWAC from November 2021 to August this year, a period beginning after the artwork was commissioned until two years past its completion.

As revelations came out about his mural’s role in the decision to veto the mine and his membership of the most prominent local anti-mine group, Mr Wiradyuri was contacted for comment but had not responded by deadline.

Roy Ah-See – one of the most senior Wiradjuri leaders on the national stage and former chairman of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council – has told The Australian elders from the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council believed the songlines of the blue-banded bee Dreaming “had never previously existed”.

Significant surveys in 2021, including the Philip Clarke Aboriginal Cultural Values Mapping Report, the Lance and Kamminga report and the Sneddon cultural surveys, did not mention the Dreaming.

In her detailed reasons, Ms Plibersek said six members of the OLALC, including five Wiradyuri elders, had disputed the veracity of the blue-banded bee Dreaming in a February submission.

“Information about a public artwork by Wiradjuri artist Baranga Wiradjuri (Birrunga Wiradyuri), named the Blue Banded Bee Creation Story, was also submitted to support the validity of the Dreaming as an Aboriginal tradition,” she said in her report. “Whilst not identical, the description of the artist’s interpretation of the Dreaming is largely consistent with WTOCWAC’s explanation.”

Additional details on the Dreaming story were provided to Ms Plibersek by an unnamed Wiradyuri elder whose submission was delayed due to medical issues.

Mr Wiradyuri began painting in the 2010s, later opening his own gallery in Spring Hill, Brisbane.

He was born Robert Henderson and presented his art under that name until at least August 2018, before going by Birrunga Wiradyuri.

Originally from rural NSW, he has lived in Queensland since primary school, primarily around the Sunshine Coast.

Created in collaboration with Indigenous artists Kane Brunjes and Stevie O’Chin, the artwork’s portrayal and placement on a songline is detailed on Mr Wiradyuri’s gallery website.

“Our sacred mountain is Wahluu (Mount Panorama). There is a sacred songline that runs from Wahluu to Bubay Wahluu (Mount Stewart) and it is this songline that is portrayed in the work,” the caption reads.

“We Wiradyuri, with the counsel and guidance of our Elders, performed a healing ceremony that healed this Songline in 2018. In 2022 the production of the work was housed in Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre which is on that Songline.”

In an interview with Bathurst radio station 2BS from February 2022, Wiradyuri said the work “very much sticks to that story (of the blue-banded bee); it’s very close to us Wiradyuri”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/mural-cited-in-blayney-mine-rejection-made-in-consultation-with-dissident-indigenous-group/news-story/24dce73a3a5cd153cb915e7497197936