/qresearch/ -  Q Research

>>24943430

Melbourne lord mayor tells antisemitism royal commission social cohesion is 'fraying'

Phoebe Pin - 24 August 2026

There has been a "fraying" of social cohesion in Melbourne since the start of the war in Gaza, the city's lord mayor has told the antisemitism royal commission.

The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has entered its final week of public hearings, with a final report due before the first anniversary of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece appeared at the inquiry on Monday to discuss the challenges the local government had faced in addressing division in the community since the outbreak of war in 2023.

"We saw a significant rise of protest in Melbourne and … some fraying of cohesion in our city," he said.

"I've found it to be one of the most challenging issues I've had to face as lord mayor of Melbourne."

Melbourne has the largest population of Jewish Australians in the country.

Synagogues spray-painted with 'threatening' graffiti

Mr Reece said synagogues in Melbourne had been graffitied on a near weekly basis since the start of the war in Gaza.

He said a targeted initiative aimed at removing "menacing" and "threatening" graffiti within one hour of reporting had cleaned more than 3,000 hateful items.

Mr Reece said of those, between 800 and 1,000 items of graffiti were antisemitic in nature.

"One of the things that has been most upsetting to me over the last two-and-a-half years is people telling me they are afraid to come into the city," he said.

"That was particularly focused around some of the protest activity we were seeing, but it was also focused around some of the awful materials we were seeing being put up around the city."

The commission heard one of the incidents which occurred in January 2026 required the removal of 40 posters which depicted one of the Bondi Beach shooters behind the word "Aussie".

Mr Reece said the city was working with other inner-city local governments to expand the rapid response initiative, which was resource intensive.

"It's very expensive," he said.

"One recommendation I would make to the commission is that you do give consideration to some sort of funding program from the Commonwealth or another level of government that would allow local governments who want to implement policies like this to do so," he said.

NSW premier open to extension call

Meanwhile, NSW Premier Chris Minns has weighed in on discussions about the length of the royal commission.

Last week, Liberal MP Julian Leeser made a bid to extend the inquiry and to call government ministers and the prime minister to give evidence.

Mr Minns on Monday said he had spoken to witnesses who had been "satisfied" with the royal commission so far.

"But, you know, if we need to go a couple of weeks longer, given that most of the expense was spent setting it up, that would seem to be money well spent because both the federal and the and the state government are relying on these recommendations to shape some of our policy," he said.

The royal commission previously said Commissioner Virginia Bell SC was "committed to completing the final report within the timeframe set in the Letters Patent".

"The Royal Commission is currently holding its ninth and final hearing block which concludes late August 2026," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"We've heard from more than 200 witnesses and received over 20,000 submissions as part of our inquiry."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/social-cohesion-royal-commission-hears-from-melbourne-lord-mayor/107070748

>>24943430

Chris Minns says antisemitism royal commission should run a ‘couple of weeks’ more if needed - and it would be worth it

JAMES DOWLING and LACHLAN LEEMING - 24 August 2026

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NSW Premier Chris Minns has backed extending the antisemitism royal commission by a “couple of weeks” if required, saying the move would be “money well spent” and putting him at odds with his federal counterparts.

Mr Minns on Monday said his government and the commonwealth were relying on recommendations from the Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission to form government policy.

Because of that, he said, he hoped the commission would speak to “as large a number of people as possible”.

“If we need to go a couple of weeks longer, given that most of the expense was spent setting it up, that would seem to be money well spent, because both the federal and the state government are relying on those recommendations to shape some of our policy,” he said at a press conference.

He said he had spoken to Jewish leaders who have appeared at the royal commission thus far, relaying that they had been happy with the platform they had been given.

“Given the expense and time that’s gone into the royal commission, and the fact that we’re not going to have another one for a long period of time, we are using this royal commission to get to the fundamental truths of what happened on the day, and also what happened in the lead up to that day, particularly around antisemitism,” he said, referring to the Bondi mass shooting.

“I’m hopeful that it will speak to as large a number of people as possible, and genuinely get the perspective of the community.

“I’ve also spoken to people who have given evidence … and thus far they’ve been satisfied both with the hearing they got and the platform that enabled them to make their case.”

The commission begins its final week of hearings on Monday and is focusing on social cohesion.

Independent Jewish advocate Marnie Perlstein, the organiser behind a petition for a royal commission into the Bondi Beach terror attack that attracted 94,000 signatories, launched a new campaign on Sunday for an extension.

More than 2600 people had signed her new petition as of Monday afternoon and Ms Perlstein urged royal commissioner Virginia Bell to request an extension if it was “what the public is asking for”.

Mainstream Jewish community leaders have stayed hush on the prospect of an extension, but Ms Perlstein said she hoped a petition would show the public’s prevailing view.

“It affects potentially every single taxpayer in this country and that the public should have an opportunity to use their voice and have their opinion heard, and they can do that by choosing to sign or not sign the petition,” she told The Australian. “We will know over the next few days and weeks what the public truly thinks.

“There’s been a gap in terms of holding political leaders to account, those who failed in leadership: our Prime Minister, Tony Burke, Penny Wong, the people who made key decisions after October 7th, 2023.

“If it was a criminal case, you would call the person accused of a crime to the stand, and the people that are - in my mind - the most guilty of spreading racial hatred in Australia have not been called to give evidence.”

(continued)

>>24967669

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She said Ms Bell’s reasoning behind the commission’s method had also been opaque, giving the public little insight into the direction her inquiry was taking.

“Whether it’s Virginia Bell or Anthony Albanese, they shouldn’t ignore a public desire for an extension,” Ms Perlstein said.

“I’d also love to hear more from the commissioner about why she has made the decision not to call these people. If she’s going to stick with the time frame, if she’s going to stick with the terms of reference and stick with the current group of people that she’s calling and not take it any further, I would love to hear from her why.

“I really want to see the royal commission succeed and it’s done such good work already that with more people brought to the stand with more perspectives questioned and highlighted, I think it could uncover a lot more.”

The federal Coalition last week pushed for Labor to voluntarily extend the commission past its December 14 deadline, but the motion was quickly cut down when the Albanese government voted to gag debate on the issue.

Opposition education spokesperson Julian Leeser and legal affairs spokesperson Michaelia Cash on Monday seized on Mr Minns’ intervention, which is the latest in a series of departures from the position of federal Labor on policy addressing antisemitism.

The pair pushed in a joint statement for the government to volunteer an extension sufficient to address the commission’s “significant unfinished business”.

“Anthony Albanese should listen to NSW Premier Chris Minns and immediately extend the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The Prime Minister has nowhere left to hide on this issue,” they said.

“No one in the Jewish community cares about an arbitrary deadline. They care that the royal commission gets to the bottom of the terror Jewish Australians have been subjected to.

“They want to know how Australia reached this point, who failed to act, who enabled it and what must change to ensure it never happens again. The Prime Minister, and the ministers responsible for Home Affairs, Education, Attorney-General and the Foreign Minister, should front the royal commission and explain, under oath and from the very top, what went wrong.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/chris-minns-says-antisemitism-royal-commission-should-run-a-couple-of-weeks-more-if-needed/news-story/a823a8904d5ccde30b1451e4c9d677b8

Petition - Extend the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion

https://www.change.org/p/extend-the-royal-commission-on-antisemitism-and-social-cohesion

>>24947387

>>24954732

>>24954763

Two charged, CFMEU offices raided as police investigate Victorian construction sector

April Glover - August 24, 2026

Two men have been charged with gun and drug offences after a string of police raids linked to the Victorian construction industry, including one on the Melbourne headquarters of the troubled Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU).

Detectives from Taskforce Hawk executed warrants at six addresses on Monday, including at the CFMEU offices on Elizabeth Street in Melbourne’s CBD.

The raids were conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of “secret commissions”, police said.

Five men were arrested and were interviewed by police. None of the arrests were made at the CFMEU headquarters.

A 36-year-old Chirnside Park man was charged with possessing schedule 4 drug and was bailed to appear before court on November 10.

A 46-year-old man from Westbury was charged with failing to store a long arm firearm and failing to store ammunition as required by the Firearms Act 1996.

He was bailed to appear before court on January 11.

The remaining three men were released without charge.

Police seized four CFMEU-registered vehicles, 10 mobile phones, a schedule 4 poison, laptops, documents, iPads and USB storage devices.

Detectives were seen entering the offices and leaving with what appeared to be bags of evidence.

A .22 rifle and ammunition, which police allege were not stored lawfully, were also seized from an address in Westbury.

Taskforce Hawk, which was set up in July 2024, is probing alleged criminal behaviour within the construction industry, with a particular focus on the Victorian branch of the CFMEU.

Victoria Police said the investigation also relates to allegations of drug trafficking.

“Criminal conduct, involving corruption, intimidation and violence within the construction industry is unacceptable,” Detective Acting Superintendent Jamie Walker said.

“We will continue to target serious and organised crime entities and dismantle corrupt and criminal business activities in the construction industry.

“If you have any information – no matter how small you think it may be – please come forward and we will support and protect you.”

The charges come after former Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka was arrested on August 14 and faced further charges as part of an investigation into allegedly threatening and harassing emails sent to CFMEU administrators.

Setka resigned as the CFMEU’s Victorian boss in 2024 after media reports uncovered alleged criminal infiltration of the union.

The union’s construction and general divisions were placed under administration by the federal government in 2024 in response to the allegations.

Police are also investigating allegations of corruption to supply information to an impending royal commission into the building industry.

https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/vic/five-arrested-after-cfmeu-offices-raided-in-melbourne-20260824-p60r11.html

>>24943430

>>24967669

Royal commission to end by Wednesday, shortening final hearings

JAMES DOWLING - 25 August 2026

Antisemitism royal commissioner Virginia Bell has restated her commitment to a December 14 deadline and confirmed she will end hearings two days early, despite escalating calls for the probe to be extended.

A spokesperson for the Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission confirmed it would end its ninth and final hearing block on Wednesday - despite setting aside the rest of the week for evidence - after The Australian first reported it had called the majority of its last witnesses and was eyeing an early conclusion.

Ms Bell and her counsel assisting will each provide closing statements during Wednesday’s hearing.

“Following hearings, the royal commission will focus on preparation of the final report,” the spokesperson said.

“The commissioner is committed to completing the final report within the timeframe set in the letters patent.”

It has and will hear from a collection of sporting groups on Tuesday, including the Australian Rugby League, Netball Australia and Jewish sports organisation Maccabi Australia. The sporting anti-racism organisation Reflect Forward and migrant support group Settlement Services International are also on Tuesday’s witness list.

On Tuesday, Angus Taylor said the abrupt end to public hearings constitutes a “betrayal of the Jewish community”.

“It is absolutely the wrong thing to do. This is a government that has never wanted this royal commission. They did it under duress and there are clear witnesses that need to be called that haven’t been,” he told News24.

“There needs to be transparency and accountability. We owe that to the families. We owe that to the Jewish community. We owe that to all Australians.

The Opposition leader rebuffed suggestions that the government was limited in its ability to extend the commission and should defer to royal commissioner Virginia Bell, saying “if the government wanted to fix it, they can fix it”.

Senior figures among the mainstream Jewish community groups have privately said Ms Bell should hold herself to the commission’s December 14 deadline, or even have it ready before the beginning of Hanukkah on December 4. However, a growing portion of the public have pushed for the commission to be extended and a petition to that effect had accrued 4600 signatures by Tuesday morning.

Parliament’s most senior Jewish MP Julian Leeser last week campaigned for an extension to the commission and said on Tuesday its premature end to hearings should be reversed.

“Let me be clear: responsibility for the early end to this commission lies entirely with the Prime Minister,” he said.

“It was the Prime Minister who wrote the terms of reference and set the deadlines, and even now it is the Prime Minister who could extend the commission. It is only his stubborn refusal to extend its terms of reference that is getting in the way.

“We, as a nation, will not prevent another attack if we don’t hold people to account who allowed the hatred to fester into violence. The message we will send is that there is no consequence for a failure to lead; no responsibility for the actions that set the conditions for tragedy.”

Independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender said these calls risked politicising an inquiry she said should remain independent.

“We should be trying to step away from the politics of this,” she told News24. “We should be careful as politicians to be telling an independent royal commission what they should be doing and how they should be conducting their activities.

“I’m conscious that some of those peak bodies of the Jewish community haven’t been backing this (extension).”

NSW Premier Chris Minns on Monday said he would back an extension of a “couple of weeks” if required and said it would be “money well spent”, departing from the position of the federal government who have emphasised the “independence” of Ms Bell’s inquiry and gagged debate in parliament of an extension.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/royal-commission-to-end-by-wednesday-shortening-final-hearings/news-story/3ce68938c37be936997c6f7d879291f6

>>24914045

Sydney graffiti vandal denied parole after board rules he holds extremist views

CHRISTINE MIDDAP and ELIZABETH PIKE - 24 August 2026

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The NSW parole authority has ruled that a man who went on a “f*k Israel” graffiti spree through Sydney’s eastern suburbs will not be granted early release because he had not resiled from his “extremist views’’ and may engage or incite others to violence.

The findings in the case of Mohommed Farhat, 22, handed down on Monday, are in stark contrast to a Supreme Court judge’s decision that Farhat carried out the graffiti and vandalism attack for money, not ideology, and had suffered an injustice by being wrongly labelled antisemitic.

Justice Desmond Fagan recently refused an application by the state to place Farhat on a one-year supervision order under the Terrorism Act when he is released from prison, finding the young Muslim man was a “vandal for hire” and did not pose a significant terror threat.

He said he wanted his central findings to be communicated to the State Parole Authority “to be taken into account, to the extent the authority might see fit’’ in finalising its decision on Farhat’s review of its decision last year that he would not be eligible for parole because he posed a serious identifiable risk to the community.

It is unclear whether the parole authority, which heard Farhat’s case in March but only handed down its determination on Monday, considered Justice Fagan’s judgment. It did not accept Farhat’s explanation that he was not motivated by antisemitism, but was offered money by an anonymous source to carry out the attack in the large Jewish neighbourhood of Woollahra in 2024.

“In the authority’s view, the offending was reflective of a deep-seated adherence on the part of the offender to an extremist ideology of an antisemitic character,’’ the parole board said.

The parole authority doubted Farhat’s story and his commitment to rehabilitation.

“Such doubt stems, in part, from what the authority considers to be the offender’s unacceptable account of his motivation to become involved in the offending, and his asserted (and equally unacceptable) ignorance of the ideology which underpinned it.

“In the authority’s view, those matters are inconsistent with a willingness on the part of the offender to come to terms with, and address, what it regards as his adherence to such ideology.”

Under the finding Farhat will not be released until October, when his 20-month sentence expires. The NSW Attorney-General, Michael Daley, is seeking urgent legal advice on a possible appeal against Justice Fagan’s refusal to order special monitoring of Farhat when he is released, while Farhat’s legal team is considering a possible action for miscarriage of justice.

Justice Fagan’s decision has attracted widespread attention, not just for its findings on Farhat but due to the detailed arguments distinguishing anti-Israel speech from antisemitism and his criticism of a widely adopted definition of antisemitism.

He was critical of the “inept drafting’’ of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, saying it was verbose and imprecise and was being used to stifle debate by conflating political criticism of Israel with Jewish hatred.

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>>24970997

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Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the decision smacked of judicial activism.

“The IHRA definition has been almost universally accepted, certainly by the Jewish world, and by both major political parties in Australia,” he said.

Special envoy to combat antisemitism Jillian Segal, told The Australian the IHRA definition of antisemitism was not designed to replace “legal tests or determine criminal liability”.

Ms Segal has led efforts to have universities, media companies and the government adopt the definition, which has been formally endorsed by the federal government and the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

“(The definition) is a practical tool that helps people and institutions recognise antisemitism in context,” she said.

Ms Segal expressed her respect for the independence of the judiciary and would not respond directly to Justice Fagan’s findings.

Justice Fagan said the magistrate who sentenced Farhat erred in finding that the graffiti slurs – “f*k Israel” and PKK coming” – were antisemitic and reflective of hatred and prejudice toward Jewish people and the State of Israel.

He said the magistrate had not been provided with key evidence, including Farhat’s full bank statements, or that counter-terrorism police had accepted that Farhat had been recruited and was not ideologically motivated.

The sentencing magistrate had said it was “difficult to accept” Farhat’s claimed ignorance of the meaning of a Hezbollah tattoo on his neck but Justice Fagan placed little weight on the significance of the tattoo.

He said while the young man may have had some degree of sympathy for the cause of Hezbollah at the time of the offences there was insufficient evidence that he had adopted any political or religious ideas sufficient to embrace an ideology.

In submissions to the parole authority the Corrections Commissioner referred to footage showing Farhat leading a Hezbollah chant at a public protest and a photograph of his dog wearing a t-shirt bearing a Hezbollah symbol, and footage of the offender saying “Who’s a Hezbollah doggie”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/sydney-graffiti-vandal-denied-parole-after-board-rules-he-holds-extremist-views/news-story/910a38487c2fefdaf6c939f6c67a4095

>>24831694

>>24831733

New Chinese ambassador Liu Jinsong urges Canberra to respect ‘core interests’

YONI BASHAN - 25 August 2026

China’s new ambassador to Australia has declared the two countries have “no historical grievances” and “no fundamental conflicts of interest”, while urging Canberra to respect Beijing’s “core interests and major concerns” as he begins his posting.

Liu Jinsong arrived in Sydney on Monday aboard an Air China flight before continuing by bus to Canberra, where he takes up his posting as Beijing’s 16th ambassador to Australia.

In a lengthy written statement issued on arrival, the career diplomat cast the relationship as naturally complementary, while acknowledging the need to manage the disputes that have repeatedly strained ties between the countries.

“The prospects for co-operation are promising, but properly managing differences and expectations is crucial,” Mr Liu said.

“Interactions between individuals and between nations require mutual respect, equality, and seeking common ground while reserving differences.”

China routinely invokes its “core interests” when discussing Taiwan and questions of sovereignty, while Canberra and Beijing remain divided over regional security, foreign interference, human rights, and Australia’s alliance with the US.

Mr Liu, 54, arrives after five years as director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Asian Affairs, making him one of Beijing’s most senior officials responsible for diplomacy across the region.

He has previously served as China’s ambassador to Afghanistan and held diplomatic posts in Thailand, Japan, Britain and India, as well as working in China’s Taiwan Affairs office. An economics graduate raised in Xinjiang, he recalled visiting Australia as a junior diplomat 30 years ago and finding echoes of his vast western Chinese home region in the Australian landscape.

Describing his new posting as “like receiving a baton on a race track”, Mr Liu told of reading “hundreds of volumes of old archives” on the bilateral relationship before departing Beijing, saying he had been struck by “the yellowed pages and pencil signatures” of past diplomatic exchanges.

He succeeds Xiao Qian, who left Australia after more than four years in the post. Mr Xiao arrived in January 2022 when bilateral relations were near their lowest point in decades, but went on to oversee a significant thaw after the election of the Albanese government.

Since that time, ministerial dialogue has resumed, Anthony Albanese has visited China twice, and Beijing has dismantled trade restrictions that had targeted about $20bn worth of Australian exports. China remains Australia’s largest trading partner, with trade reaching $326bn last year.

The economic repair, however, has not erased strategic mistrust. Mr Liu takes up the post after Australia condemned China’s July test of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile into the Pacific as “destabilising”, and amid continuing friction over Chinese military conduct in the South China Sea.

The Albanese government’s pledge to return Darwin Port to Australian ownership is another looming dispute. Mr Xiao warned before his departure that Beijing would defend the interests of Chinese company Landbridge, which holds a 99-year lease over the strategic facility.

With the countries approaching the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year, Mr Liu pledged to “safeguard China’s national interests” while acting as a guardian and promoter of the comprehensive strategic partnership.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/new-chinese-ambassador-liu-jinsong-urges-canberra-to-respect-core-interests/news-story/4f833e31c5b8e32806137fc73af30072

https://au.china-embassy.gov.cn/dshd/202608/t20260824_12009203.htm

>>24831694

>>24831733

>>24971039

China's new ambassador to Australia Liu Jinsong arrives to assume post

Global Times - Aug 24, 2026

China's new Ambassador to Australia Liu Jinsong arrived in Australia on Monday afternoon to assume his new post, according to a release from the Chinese Embassy in Australia.

In written remarks upon arrival, Liu said Australia is an important country and that he feels deeply honored and responsible to serve as the 16th Chinese ambassador to Australia, likening his new role to taking over the baton in a relay race.

Chinese Consul General in Sydney Wang Yu, representatives of the Chinese community and Chinese enterprises in Australia, as well as Australian officials, welcomed Liu upon his arrival, according to the release.

Thirty years ago, as a young Chinese diplomat in charge of Asia-Pacific cooperation affairs, I first set foot on Australian soil, yet I did not feel like a stranger… I could see here the same vast and expansive landscapes as those of my hometown of Xinjiang, Liu said.

China and Australia have no historical grievances or fundamental conflicts of interest. Their economies are highly complementary and their cultures could really enrich each other. The prospects for cooperation are promising, while properly managing differences and expectations is also crucial, Liu noted in the written remarks.

"I will perform my duties with dedication, listen with an open mind, safeguard China's national interests, implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries," Liu said, adding that he will serve as a guardian and promoter of the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.

Liu succeeds Xiao Qian as China's ambassador to Australia. Liu previously served as Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The ministry's website currently lists Shen Minjuan as Director General of the department.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202608/1368902.shtml

>>24841277

>>24881172

>>24891907

>>24891941

New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon proposes under-16s social media ban

Aoife Hilton - 24 August 2026

New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has unveiled a proposed law banning children younger than 16 from using social media platforms, citing what he said on Monday was "harm being done to a generation" of young people.

If re-elected in November, Mr Luxon is seeking to make his conservative government the latest worldwide to enact age restrictions for social media platforms after Australia enacted its world-first under-16s social media ban in December 2025.

"We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children," Mr Luxon said in a statement.

He said 2025 research showed a third of New Zealand teenagers spent at least five hours a day on social media.

"Social media is exposing them to harmful content, addictive technology and pressures they are not equipped to deal with and it's affecting their family life, mental health, sleep, and education."

Platforms would be fined 10 per cent of their revenue

Under the law, platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook could be fined up to 10 per cent of their global revenue for failing to meet their obligations — taking "reasonable steps" to check users were older than 16.

This could include "existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services and formal ID," according to material supplied by Mr Luxon's party.

Like Australia, New Zealand would not penalise parents or children under the proposed bill. However, its penalty system differs from Australia's approach of imposing a maximum fine of $99 million.

Excluded from both Australia's ban and New Zealand's proposed law are messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, online gaming platforms like Roblox and AI apps with productivity uses — including ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot.

Proposal comes amid criticism of Australia's ban

Mr Luxon's government has considered such a law since Australia's world-first social media ban for under 16-year-olds took effect in December 2025.

Since Australia's law came into force, countries including Canada, Brazil and Indonesia have enacted bans too, while many other countries are studying or developing laws.

Child safety advocates and some parents have welcomed age restrictions, while privacy groups say the rules can be cheated and that forcing users to supply identification raises privacy concerns.

Professor Nicholas Carah, director of the Centre for Digital Cultures and Societies at the University of Queensland, says there are "two big problems that other countries ought to learn from the Australian experience".

"The first is that the ban doesn't actually work in practice. Young people are still easily able to access social media," he said, echoing reports that more than eight in 10 Australian teenagers are still using social media three months after the ban was enacted.

"The other problem is that the ban is regressive, it fails to recognise that social media platforms are important places for young people to learn, to socialise and to express themselves.

"If social media platforms harm young people then the real task is to make them safe."

Hannah Storey, Head of Children and Young People's Digital Rights at Amnesty International, echoes this sentiment and adds that an under-16s social media ban does not address the harm platforms can inflict on adults too.

"Bans rely on age verification measures, which raise significant privacy concerns, while doing nothing to address the underlying design choices that make many platforms addictive and amplify harmful content," she told the ABC.

"Children who get around bans, and adults who remain on the platforms, will continue to face the same risks.

"We should use the momentum behind this issue to focus on making platforms safe by design for all users, rather than restricting who can access them."

NZ government divided on proposed ban

New Zealand's proposed law has been vehemently opposed by the other two parties that make up the government along with Mr Luxon's centre-right group National — libertarian ACT and populist NZ First.

Both minor parties repeated on Monday their plans to vote against the law.

Politicians from the largest opposition party, centre-left Labour, have not decided if they would vote for it, leader Chris Hipkins said.

However, there would not be enough time for politicians to hold a vote on the proposal before New Zealand's parliament dissolves on October 1 ahead of November's general election, Mr Luxon said.

Bills in New Zealand are required to pass three rounds of voting, usually over a period of months, before they become law.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/new-zealand-pm-proposes-under-16s-social-media-ban/107073346

WA government to ban character references for all criminal cases in wake of Western Power rape saga

Keane Bourke and Samantha Goerling - 25 August 2026

The ability for convicted criminals to rely on good character references from family, friends and colleagues to reduce their sentences will be banned in Western Australia, after three government employees were stood down for supporting a former colleague convicted of rape.

The WA government has rushed to ban the practice after revelations three Western Power staff provided references to a senior manager who was jailed for raping a former colleague on a work trip.

Currently, judges can reduce the sentences of convicted criminals based on character references provided to the court.

Work had already been underway to end the practice in child abuse cases, but the Cook government was pushed into taking further action after the Western Power saga was made public.

Jeffrey David Spinner, 59, was sentenced to five years in jail after taking a female colleague to his hotel room when she was heavily intoxicated in 2024, and assaulting her.

Court transcripts included eight positive character references from his colleagues which the judge found indicated the rape was "out of character".

One Western Power colleague said Spinner had always acted "respectfully and appropriately" towards her and others, while another described him as having a "strong moral compass".

Three of those colleagues have been stood down pending a probe ordered by Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, who today announced there would also be an independent cultural review into the utility.

'Favourable' treatment

A government statement noted there had been "growing concern" about a perception people with "professional standing, community status or strong personal networks" were getting "favourable" treatment as a result of good character references.

The state's leading family and sexual violence advocate had warned the practice allowed unreliable evidence into courtrooms and risked making victims feel they were to blame.

Attorney-General Tony Buti said legislation currently being drafted would be expanded to ban references for all crimes, saying the reforms were incredibly important.

"We have heard from victims, particularly child sex abuse victims and domestic violence victims, that they feel re-traumatised when they have to hear that their offender is a 'good bloke'.

"Too often someone's supposed good character is actually helping facilitate their offending.

"We're putting an end to that with the government introducing these reforms to the sentencing act, which we will introduce next year."

'Good bloke defence'

A snap review of the Western Power case, and the utility's handling of the matter, was expected to be completed around the start of this week.

Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the case had highlighted "significant concern" about the use of good character references.

"It is clear that the public doesn't support good character references. I don't support them either," she said in a statement.

"Put simply - convicted criminals shouldn't have the benefit of glowing references when it comes to sentencing.

"Today's announcement is a sensible move which will ensure our court processes meet community expectations and bring WA into line with other jurisdictions."

Speaking at a press conference, Ms Sanderson said "the 'good bloke' defence simply doesn't stack up".

The New South Wales Parliament earlier this year passed laws to ban character references in all criminal cases.

In February the Victorian government announced it planned to scrap good character references in all cases.

Western Power cultural review ordered

It was also announced that an independent cultural review will be launched into Western Power.

"As a state-owned utility, I expect a high standard of Western Power. That standard has not been met," Ms Sanderson said.

"I've been concerned about the evidence that has been presented to my office and Western Power.

"We have received a number of complaints. They range from the very serious to minor misconduct."

The minister was pressed on the matter, and she confirmed they had received one other serious, credible and possibly criminal complaint relating to historical sexual assault.

Western Power chief executive Gair Landsborough said it had been a challenging few weeks for the organisation and internal investigations had highlighted cultural issues and allegations of bullying.

Mr Landsborough said he expected the organisation would benefit from the independent review, which would consider employee experiences, how standards are set, training and reporting pathways.

"There's no place for bullying or misconduct in our workplace," he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-25/wa-government-to-ban-character-references-for-all-criminals/107074518

>>24847519

Children rescued, alleged international paedophile ring busted

Riley Walter - August 25, 2026

Warning: Graphic content

Seven foreign nationals are in custody facing significant prison terms after Sydney detectives helped dismantle sophisticated overseas child abuse networks, foiling a suspected plot to abuse at least one child.

The men – from the United Kingdom, United States, Mexico, Poland and Uruguay – were arrested between April and August after NSW sex crimes squad detectives working under two long-running investigations, Strike Force Trawler and Strike Force Constantine, identified account holders allegedly sharing abusive material online.

Strike Force Constantine was established last May to investigate the distribution of satanic and ritualistic child abuse online, while Strike Force Trawler targets broader offending using online and telecommunication networks.

Over several months, strike force detectives from the child exploitation internet unit analysed intelligence gleaned from various platforms and online channels before referring alleged offenders to overseas law enforcement agencies.

Last Friday, US authorities arrested a man in Missouri who detectives identified after he allegedly shared child abuse material with what police say is a known online paedophile ring. A three-year-old in the man’s custody was placed into child protection. The man is expected to be charged with offences related to child sexual abuse and child abuse material possession and distribution.

Last month, detectives identified another Missouri-based man, a 23-year-old, allegedly running an online chat group linked to a paedophile ring producing and distributing extreme child abuse material. He has been charged and remains in custody.

Around the same time, detectives informed Mexican authorities that a man accused of distributing child abuse material online allegedly planned to travel to the United States to sexually abuse a child known to him. He was arrested at the border, where he was allegedly found with child abuse material in his possession. He has been charged with child abuse offences and remains in custody.

A man in Gloucestershire, in South West England, was also arrested after allegedly disclosing online the sexual abuse of a child known to him. He was charged with child abuse-related offences and remains in custody.

“It’s not just online, imaginary, AI child abuse. At the heart of this child abuse is a victim. Somewhere in the world, a real human who is being victimised and exploited,” Deputy Commissioner Scott Cook told this masthead during a wide-ranging interview focused on child abuse last month.

“We’ve already saved children in other parts of the world by making direct contact with police in other countries who have interdicted and saved children. We’ve saved children in Australia.

“Getting children out of harm, no matter where they are in the world, is something we’re committed to as an agency.”

Investigations under Strike Force Constantine and Strike Force Trawler are ongoing.

Anyone with information that may assist investigations into the distribution of child abuse material is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000

https://crimestoppers.com.au

https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/children-rescued-alleged-international-paedophile-ring-busted-20260824-p60r0t.html

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/threeyearold-child-rescued-as-nsw-police-investigation-smashes-global-pedophile-ring/news-story/f1ff8eebdb98f485926d6d6510fa0ef3

https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/article?id=127169

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>>24970971

Antisemitism royal commission a ‘lost opportunity’ without an extension: security chiefs

'JAMES DOWLING - 26 August 2026

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A group of the nation’s most eminent national security leaders, including former governor-general David Hurley, has demanded the antisemitism royal commission urgently be extended, raising concerns no cabinet ministers have been called to give evidence, and arguing the inquiry has not had enough time to thoroughly understand the rise of antisemitism or Islamist extremism.

As Commissioner Virginia Bell on Monday announced public hearings would be cut short by two days, the distinguished intelligence and defence experts said the long-sought probe would be a “lost opportunity” unless granted an extension, and its year-long time frame meant it was impossible for vital witnesses to be called.

Issuing a direct plea to Anthony Albanese to extend the inquiry, the group also said it was “regrettable” that federal ministers would not be called to testify considering the government’s role in establishing budgets and setting policy priorities.

“The speed with which the royal commission has been forced to conduct its hearings has not allowed detailed review of the rise of antisemitism, Islamist and other forms of extremism in Australia,” the group’s open letter reads.

“It does not give the royal commissioner the opportunity to follow up lines of investigation in light of subsequent evidence, and it has not made it possible for some individuals to give evidence who clearly have valuable contributions to make.”

The collection of eminent Australians includes Mr Hurley, former Australian Secret Intelligence Service chiefs Paul Symon and Rex Stevenson, ex-Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty, ex-army chiefs Peter Leahy and Rick Burr, former Australian Defence College commander Mick Ryan, former air force chiefs Geoffrey Brown and Geoffrey Shepherd, ex-navy chief David Shackleton, former Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo and ex-Defence Department deputy secretary Peter Jennings.

The 30 undersigned military and national security chiefs were key advocates for the royal commission, having signed a similar joint statement calling for its establishment.

A spokesperson for the commission on Tuesday restated Justice Bell’s commitment to deliver her final report by the Albanese government’s December 14 deadline, and confirmed she would end the Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission’s ninth and final hearing block on Wednesday, despite setting aside the rest of the week for evidence.

The Australian first revealed the commission had called the majority of its last witnesses and was eyeing an early conclusion.

Justice Bell and her counsel assisting will each provide closing statements during Wednesday’s hearing, at which Holocaust survivor and former Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Nina Bassat, and Chabad of Bondi rabbi Yehoram Ulman – father-in-law of Bondi victim Eli Schlanger – will be the last Jewish Australians to give evidence.

“Following hearings, the royal commission will focus on preparation of the final report,” the spokesperson said.

“The commissioner is committed to completing the final report within the time frame set in the letters patent.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns on Monday said he would back an extension of a “couple of weeks” if required and that it would be “money well spent”, departing from the position of the federal government, which has emphasised the “independence” of Justice Bell’s inquiry and gagged parliamentary debate on an extension.

“As a matter of urgency, the federal government must extend the deadline for completion of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion,” the letter says. “If the royal commission is not allowed the time and scope needed to do its work, this will have been a lost opportunity to build social cohesion in Australia.

“Given the well understood principle of ministerial responsibility, it is surprising and regrettable that ministers are unlikely to be called. It is the government, not officials, which determines budgets, sets policy priorities, has access to the full intelligence picture and ensures that officials are focused on the key tasks.”

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Angus Taylor on Tuesday said the abrupt end to public hearings constitutes a “betrayal of the Jewish community”.

“It is absolutely the wrong thing to do,” he told News24. “This is a government that has never wanted this royal commission. They did it under duress and there are clear witnesses that need to be called that haven’t been.

“There needs to be transparency and accountability. We owe that to the families. We owe that to the Jewish community. We owe that to all Australians.

The Opposition Leader rebuffed suggestions that the government was limited in its ability to extend the commission and should defer to the commissioner, saying “if the government wanted to fix it, they can fix it”.

Senior figures among the mainstream Jewish community groups have privately said Justice Bell should hold herself to the commission’s assigned due date, or even have it ready before the beginning of Hanukkah on December 4. However, a growing portion of the public has pushed for the commission to be extended and a petition to that effect had accrued 6700 signatures by Tuesday afternoon.

“Let me be clear: responsibility for the early end to this commission lies entirely with the Prime Minister,” Mr Leeser said.

“It was the Prime Minister who wrote the terms of reference and set the deadlines, and even now it is the Prime Minister who could extend the commission. It is only his stubborn refusal to extend its terms of reference that is getting in the way.

“We, as a nation, will not prevent another attack if we don’t hold people to account who allowed the hatred to fester into violence. The message we will send is that there is no consequence for a failure to lead; no responsibility for the actions that set the conditions for tragedy.”

Wentworth independent MP Allegra Spender said these calls risked politicising an inquiry she said should remain independent.

“We should be trying to step away from the politics of this,” she told News24. “We should be careful as politicians to be telling an independent royal commission what they should be doing and how they should be conducting their activities.

“I’m conscious that some of those peak bodies of the Jewish community haven’t been backing this (extension).”

The commission heard from a collection of sporting groups on Tuesday, including the Australian Rugby League, Netball Australia and Jewish sports organisation Maccabi Australia.

The head of Australia’s largest Jewish sporting body called for nationally consistent discrimination policies across sporting codes and ranging from local to state and national leagues.

“I don’t believe that our referees and umpires actually can identify what an antisemitic incident is,” Maccabi Australia general manager David Goldman said. “It often gets passed off as just rudeness or a snide remark.

“Without being able to articulate what antisemitism in sport looks like … we won’t be able to call it out.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/antisemitism-royal-commission-a-lost-opportunity-without-an-extension-security-chiefs/news-story/37f21d768c40f830cd154772e35d456d

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>>24974480

Antisemitism royal commission pushes back final report to avoid Bondi massacre anniversary

JAMES DOWLING - 26 August 2026

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Virginia Bell has accepted some Jewish Australians may find it “frustrating” that the antisemitism royal commission has not publicly probed what led to the Bondi terror attack, while pushing back the release of her final report to not distract from the one year anniversary.

In delivering her closing address to the commission, Ms Bell announced she would push her final report back by four days to December 18, to avoid becoming a “distraction” from commemorations on December 14 attack where 15 Australians were shot dead.

However, she did not announce any meaningful extension to proceedings despite 30 national security leaders on Wednesday warning the commission would be a “lost opportunity” unless expanded.

“The commission has worked to address each of the terms of reference in accordance with that timetable, and I do not seek any meaningful extension of it,” Ms Bell said.

“The 14th of December is the anniversary of the massacre. It will be a solemn occasion marked by memorials. I am aware of concern within the Jewish community that the delivery of the report on the anniversary would be a distraction.

“I fully understand that concern, and to avoid that distraction, I have asked for a short extension of the term, with a view to the submission of my final report on Friday, the 18th of December.”

The Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission is holding its final day of public hearings despite rising calls for its deadline to be extended, with Holocaust survivor Nina Bassat and the father-in-law of Bondi victim Eli Schlanger, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, to be called as its last witnesses.

Ms Bell said in her closing address she would lobby for confidential portions of her interim and final reports to be released publicly after the criminal trial of alleged terrorist Naveed Akram.

Ms Bell said the commission had gathered substantial evidence about the Bondi massacre it could not release without risking prejudice of the Akram trial, but would release relevant portions of its interim and final reports when the risk of prejudice diminished.

“I am conscious that many members of the community, and particularly members of the Jewish community, must find it frustrating that a royal commission established in the aftermath of the Bondi Hanukkah attack has not been seen publicly to be investigating what led to the attack and whether it might have been prevented,” she said.

“The commission has had to take care to conduct its inquiry in a way that does not occasion prejudice to pending criminal proceedings, and this has necessitated examination of … the attack being conducted in closed hearings.

“The outcome of those hearings will be the subject of a confidential volume to the commission’s final report. After the conclusion of the criminal proceedings, I propose that substantial parts of the confidential volumes of the interim and final reports should be made public.”

Ms Bell did not foreshadow any of her findings but said she had made up her mind about whether “in relation to the Bondi Hanukkah attack, our intelligence and our law enforcement agencies operated or performed to maximum effectiveness”.

She said the commission was still trying to hear from a high-profile ASIO whistleblower with the pseudonym “Marcus” who claims he met the alleged perpetrators of the Bondi massacre, Sajid and Naveed Akram, in 2019 as an undercover agent within Sydney’s Salafi Jihadist extremist movement.

Lawyers for the commission had already spoken to Marcus without collecting testimony, and his written reports to ASIO from 2019 had been the subject of confidential cross-examination when the commission spoke to members of the spy organisation.

“Marcus is overseas. According to reports, he has been refused a visa to return to Australia,” Ms Bell said.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke previously said ASIO and his government would not try and block Marcus from giving evidence or legally pursue him over his contents. Ms Bell said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had offered to assist him in providing evidence.

“The commission proposed any date in the fortnight beginning 24 August in this respect. Marcus’s solicitors have responded, expressing his concern that this option doesn’t engage certain legal protections, and to date, Marcus has not taken up the offer,” she said.

“The commission is in possession of the contemporaneous reports detailing the information that Marcus gave to ASIO in 2019. The ASIO officers who were responsible for assessing that information at the time have been called to give evidence at closed hearings of the commission, and have been examined on those documents.”

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The commission on Tuesday announced it would cut short its ninth and final hearing block focused on social cohesion by two days.

A growing number of judicial, political and Jewish community figures are advocating for the inquiry to be extended, with 30 military and national security leaders on Tuesday arguing it risked being a “lost opportunity” without further hearings.

The commission’s senior counsel assisting, Richard Lancaster, SC, on Wednesday said the “critics” of the commission failed to appreciate the breadth of evidence it had already canvassed.

“There has been and continues to be a high level of public interest in the work of the commission, appropriately, and there are many commentators upon, and indeed occasional critics of, the work of the commission,” he said in a closing address.

“However, the nature and scope of the royal commission’s investigations are such that the public record is not a complete picture of the work of the commission at the moment, and such commentary is necessarily made without an appreciation of the full scope of evidence and material that is available to you, commissioner.”

Across four months of hearings, the commission called 346 witnesses over nine hearing blocks and 62 hearing days.

It received more than 20,000 public submissions and through this had heard from 14,000 – or about 12 per cent – of the 120,000 Jewish Australians.

“The majority of those submissions have been identified as submitted by members of the Jewish community, which provide direct and moving accounts indicating the nature and prevalence of antisemitism today,” Mr Lancaster said.

“It is clear from the balance that very many non-Jewish Australians have likewise made submissions raising their concerns about the rise and impact of antisemitism.

“It is a powerful confirmation that antisemitism is a stain on the whole community, and that a properly functioning democracy rests on the safety of all parts and all communities that make up our society. The outpouring in submissions of public feeling and opinion is very significant.”

Opposition leader Angus Taylor said the commission had gone off course and lacked key testimony.

“This is the royal commission the Prime Minister didn’t want. He was dragged kicking and screaming to call it in the first place,” he said. “I am increasingly fearful that it will fail to deliver.

“Senior decision-makers have not been held to account. Governments, universities and institutions that allowed antisemitism to take hold have not been called.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry legal chief Simone Abel said the royal commission was “the first process of this kind globally – a public inquiry in which Jewish voices are heard, lived experiences are heard”.

“It’s not just our community that’s waiting with bated breath, it’s Jews around the world, it’s communities around the world,” she said outside the commission.

“We have so much that we’re hoping for. We’re hoping for change across several sectors, reform that creates a more connected and inclusive society.”

Dor Foundation chief executive Tahli Blicblau would not comment on whether she believed the commission should have been extended but said there was “a lot more work to do” to combat antisemitism.

She supported Ms Bell’s decision to delay handing down her findings until December 18.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/antisemitism-royal-commission-pushes-back-final-report-to-avoid-bondi-massacre-anniversary/news-story/bafab0ceb616dc53d30a42cc6f20b70d

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>>24967669

>>24970971

>>24974480

>>24974491

Final witnesses at royal commission accuse government of antisemitism ‘silence’

JAMES DOWLING - 26 August 2026

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Australia’s leaders did not protect Jews from antisemitism, the final witnesses of the antisemitism royal commission have declared, saying the government must take up the plight of the inquiry’s Jewish witnesses.

Chabad of Bondi rabbi Yehoram Ulman, the father-in-law of Bondi victim Eli Schlanger, delivered the Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission’s closing address after Holocaust survivor Nina Bassat said the Albanese government had failed her community by projecting a “great silence” after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Rabbi Ulman became emotional speaking about how his infant grandson will have to come to understand Eli Schlanger’s death.

“My grandson was just two months old when his father Eli lost his life,” he said. “One day, he will be old enough to understand what happened on 14 December 2025.

“I wonder what Australia he will know by then. Will he learn that the warning signs were there, that hatred was allowed to grow, and that even after Bondi, Australia failed to change course?

“Or will he learn that Bondi became a moment when Australia understood where unchecked hatred can lead, found the courage to confront it, and chose another path?

“My prayer is that when my grandson is old enough to understand what happened to his father, he will also be able to understand what Australia chose to do about it. And that he will be proud of the choice we made.”

He said the commission’s recommendations had to be heeded by governments and institutions when they were delivered or serious reform would be impossible.

“This commission has listened. Australia has heard. Soon there will be findings and recommendations. Then the responsibility passes to governments, institutions, communities and every one of us. Australia is at a crossroads,” Rabbi Ulman said.

“Our institutions need clear boundaries, firm standards and leadership that distinguishes between what is right and what is wrong. What is free speech and what is hate speech. What is a protest and what is intimidation and vilification.

“I know an Australia where survivors of the Holocaust came and rebuilt their lives; where Jews built synagogues and schools, raised families and contributed to every part of national life, without having to choose between being proudly Jewish and proudly Australian.

“That Australia has not gone. I believe it is still the Australia that the overwhelming majority of Australians want. But we should not assume it will preserve itself.”

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Rabbi Ulman recalled looking down at the coffin holding the body of his son-in-law on December 17 and the profound grief felt by the Jewish community during the Hanukkah period after Bondi.

“Eli’s was the first of ten funerals that I presided over in three days,” he said. “Children lost parents. Parents lost children. Families were shattered, and the impact has rippled far beyond those who were there that night.

“I hope to honour Eli not by simply remembering how he died, but by carrying forward the values by which he lived. In moments of darkness, we still have a choice. Anger and division, or another path.

“We refuse to allow darkness to have the final word.”

Ms Bassat was scathing of government responses to antisemitism.

“Federal, state, and even local government did not come out and protect Jews from antisemitism. There was a great silence. I expect more from leaders,” the former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said.

“At which point does silence morph into complicity?”

She said Jewish Australians were a “microcosm of diversity and struggles that exist in the broader community”, but had been ostracised since October 7, 2023.

“I’ve always thought that Australia was a paradigm of multiculturalism; that it didn’t matter where you came from, it didn’t matter what your religion was, we all more or less seemed to get on,” she said.

“That hasn’t been the case. We’ve become very divisive. We’ve put labels on each other. We no longer treat each other as just another human being.”

“We seem to have lost the power to be kind and the power to interact with civility, and I do think that unless we regain that, unless we learn to speak to each other as individuals, not as ideologies.”

Earlier in the day, Bondi resident David Solsky, who organised the paddle-out memorial ceremony held on December 19, said he was in the process of making it an annual commemoration, which could be held at Bondi and more widely across Australia as a program called ‘Ripples’.

Danielle Jaku, the daughter of Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku who recorded his experience in the memoir The Happiest Man on Earth, said rising antisemitism would have dismayed her father.

“He’d be shocked to see the level of polarisation in his beloved Australia, the loss of connectedness between people, and the lack of leadership at many levels to swiftly address and repair it,” she said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/weve-become-very-divisive-holocaust-survivor-issues-plea-for-civility/news-story/5fc0821d474d93279474eb82e7cb6319

Trump’s border tsar in Sydney for Five Eyes meeting

Phillip Coorey and Jessica Gardner - Aug 25, 2026

Donald Trump’s border tsar Markwayne Mullin has flown into Sydney for a meeting on Wednesday with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and their counterparts from New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The meeting of the ministers from the Five Eyes security and intelligence alliance will be followed by a demonstration of border security and surveillance technology at the Garden Island Naval base.

A source speaking on condition of anonymity said the meeting was designed for the respective partners to swap notes on border security. For example, Australia’s Department of Home Affairs is planning to use unmanned aerial drones to boost efforts by Australian Border Force to look out for people smugglers and illegal fishing.

“The ABF is seeking information regarding the capability of potential suppliers to provide uncrewed aerial systems to conduct persistent uncrewed (surveillance) operations, predominantly in the maritime domain,” tender documents say.

“The ABF may require (surveillance) systems capable of detecting and tracking on-water vessels of all types including small, wooden fishing vessels in varied maritime environments that can reach speeds up to 25 knots.”

Trump promoted Mullin, 49, to Department of Homeland Security secretary in March after dumping Kristi Noem, who faced blowback over the deaths of US citizens due to the president’s signature immigration crackdown using armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. She was also sacked for appearing in an expensive self-promotional advertising campaign.

Under her watch, 39 people incarcerated by ICE died in custody while others were shot dead during traffic stops. Bystanders Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed.

As DHS secretary, Mullin has carriage of border and immigration enforcement, making him central to Trump’s domestic policy agenda, as well as disaster response, cybersecurity and the Secret Service.

He was ordered to tone things down after Noem’s reign.

The former high school wrestler, rancher and mixed martial arts fighter ran his family plumbing business for more than two decades, turning it into a statewide empire before selling a majority stake to private equity in 2021.

He sat in Congress’ lower house for a decade until 2023, when he was elected to the Senate. During a fiery Senate hearing in 2023, he challenged a witness, a union boss, to a physical fight.

Meanwhile, there is no update from the Albanese government on when Burke will release his immigration policy. It was supposed to be released three weeks ago but was shelved because more work was needed.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/trump-s-border-tsar-in-sydney-for-five-eyes-meeting-20260825-p60r80

>>24877867

SAS witnesses in Ben Roberts-Smith war crimes murder trial warned their names may become public

Former SAS soldiers who could be called as witnesses in the Ben Roberts-Smith murder case have been told their identities are no longer protected, and they will have to apply to a judge to remain anonymous.

Aaron Patrick - 25 August 2026

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Dozens of former SAS soldiers who could be called as witnesses in the Ben Roberts-Smith murder case have been told by the Office of the Special Investigator that their identities are no longer protected and they will have to apply to a judge to remain anonymous.

The letters surprised some veterans of the elite regiment who appeared in a defamation case mounted by Mr Roberts-Smith and were granted pseudonyms to testify for or against the famous ex-corporal.

Two sources with first-hand knowledge of the case said potential witnesses have been told they are no longer covered under a Defence Department regulation known as “protected identity status” that prevents current SAS soldiers, commandos and some other soldiers from being named without their permission.

The rule used to apply to retired and ex-special forces soldiers but was changed ahead of the prosecution of ex-SAS trooper Oliver Schulz on a murder charge, according to a source.

The development will force veterans to seek court orders if they want to testify anonymously, further complicating what has already been dubbed the “murder trial of the decade”.

The Office of the Special Investigator, a Federal agency allocated $300 million to pursue veterans, said it did not comment on “operational matters”. The Defence Department declined to disclose when the identity rule for special forces veterans was changed or why.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s case will return to the NSW Local Court next Tuesday and on September 8 for procedural hearings about the handling and presentation of evidence against Mr Roberts-Smith, who is accused of responsibility for the death of five prisoners in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

More popular than Trump

Despite the serious charges, the Victoria Cross awardee has significant public support. Research published Tuesday found that Mr Roberts-Smith is the second most popular public figure among One Nation voters after party leader and founder Pauline Hanson - and much more liked than US President Donald Trump.

Mr Roberts-Smith is regarded favourably by 69 per cent of One Nation supporters and unfavourably by 17 per cent, according to a poll of 1014 people conducted for Fitzpatrick & Co, a political consulting firm associated with the Labor Party.

The firm’s special counsel, Bruce Hawker, predicted Mr Roberts-Smith’s murder trial, which is likely years away, would split society in a way not seen since Australia’s most famous bushranger was tried and executed for murder in 1880.

“What we believe is when this thing comes to trial we are going to see very significant divisions and a level of campaigning around the issue that we probably haven’t seen in respect of someone who has been accused of such a serious crime since Ned Kelly,” he said.

An April survey by the same pollster found 50 per cent of Australians favoured the veteran compared to 30 per cent who did not, although were evenly split on whether he should have been charged.

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Confidential evidence

Mr Roberts-Smith, who is required under his bail to live in Brisbane and can only leave Queensland under strict conditions, does not plan to attend either upcoming hearing in Sydney, according to a source involved in the case.

Almost five months after charging him with war crimes, the Federal Director of Public Prosecutions has not presented any evidence.

At Tuesday‘s hearing prosecution lawyers are expected to ask a judge to approve detailed procedures for providing confidential documents and information to Mr Roberts-Smith and his legal team, led by Perth solicitor Karen Espiner, the founder of Leightons Law.

The court orders governing handling of the information under the National Security Information Act, possibly including the names of potential prosecution witnesses, photographs of dead bodies and contemporaneous military records, could be up to 60 pages long.

Once the court orders have been issued, prosecution lawyers are expected to provide Mr Roberts-Smith’s lawyers with two versions of the evidence, known as a brief. The first handed over will be a “non-sensitive” version of the evidence in which sensitive information is redacted.

An unredacted version of the brief will be provided later to lawyers who have been issued security clearances to read classified information. At the court hearing on September 8, prosecutors are expected to indicate when that version of the brief will be shared with Mr Roberts-Smith, who successfully argued in April that it would be difficult to access confidential military records in prison after prosecutors opposed his bail application.

In June a prosecution barrister, Chelsea Brain, told a judge the brief of evidence “will be substantially complete and ready to serve” by September 1.

138 witnesses

One of the legal complications of the evidence is the identification of SAS witnesses who gave evidence in Mr Roberts-Smith’s unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against newspapers owned by Nine Entertainment Co for accusing him in 2018 of war crimes.

At least 138 witnesses in the lawsuit were covered by pseudonyms, an approach that protected the anonymity of SAS soldiers who provided journalists with information or were accused of executing prisoners themselves.

In criminal cases, witnesses are generally expected to testify under their own names, although exceptions can be made for victims of sexual crimes and domestic violence or when national security is at stake.

The identities of four former soldiers who have agreed to testify against Mr Roberts-Smith in return for immunity from prosecution for murder are covered by separate non-publication orders issued in the NSW Local Court.

While many former SAS soldiers are open about their membership of the regiment, including Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, some are concerned that being connected to allegations of abuses during the war could expose them to a terrorist attack. Preserving his accusers’ anonymity may disadvantage Mr Roberts-Smith, who will need to convince jurors to disregard the prosecution evidence against him.

Separately, Liberal leader Angus Taylor and former prime minister Tony Abbott this week participated in a week-long fundraising bicycle ride through Queensland known as “Pollie Pedal” for Wandering Warriors, a veterans’ charity previously associated with Mr Roberts-Smith.

Last month the charity presented a petition to Parliament asking for the Office of the Special Investigator to be shut down.

https://thenightly.com.au/australia/sas-witnesses-in-ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-murder-trial-warned-their-names-may-become-public-c-22772935

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Ghislaine Maxwell loses bid to overturn conviction for aiding Epstein

Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister - August 26, 2026

New York: Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to overturn her sex-trafficking conviction and be freed from prison was rejected by a US federal judge on Tuesday (US time) who said the claims by Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate that new evidence had emerged were “demonstrably meritless”.

Maxwell filed a habeas petition – a legal procedure challenging her detention – last December seeking to set aside her conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, claiming exonerating information was withheld and false testimony presented at her trial, resulting in a “complete miscarriage of justice”.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer rejected her arguments, saying in his written ruling they “all or almost all are frivolous” and that she had presented nothing that could upend the outcome of her trial.

“Nearly all its claims are procedurally barred; the overwhelming testimonial and documentary evidence adduced at trial conclusively established her guilt; and her petition’s claims are demonstrably meritless, and generally based on speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods,” Engelmayer wrote.

A request for comment was sent to lawyers who represented Maxwell in the past.

Habeas petitions are often filed as a last resort and to protect against unlawful confinement after appeals are exhausted, as happened after Maxwell’s conviction and sentencing.

Epstein, a millionaire financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex-trafficking charges. Ordered detained until trial, he was found dead in his cell at a New York federal jail in August 2019 and the death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell, a British socialite, was arrested a year later and was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021. She was moved from a Florida prison to a prison camp in Texas last year, shortly after she was interviewed by the Justice Department’s then second-in-command, Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former criminal defence attorney and now US attorney general.

The judge noted that many of Maxwell’s claims of “new evidence” stem from documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

As a result of that law, the Justice Department over the last eight months has released 18 categories of investigative materials gathered in the massive sex-trafficking probe, including search warrants, financial records, notes from interviews with victims and data from electronic devices.

Engelmayer said that material is “largely irrelevant to the charges against Maxwell and does not support her claims of error.”

“On the contrary, to the extent it is relevant, far from exculpating her, it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness of the legal rulings Maxwell challenges,” he wrote.

The judge also rejected Maxwell’s claim that she was selectively prosecuted and made a “scapegoat” when the Justice Department did not indict four co-conspirators named in a government document or 25 men who settled with victims.

Engelmayer said she could have raised that claim on appeal after her trial, but he found it to be frivolous nonetheless.

Among the recently released Justice Department documents, “she does not cite any that reveals the existence of an uncharged confederate, let alone one as instrumental as she in facilitating Epstein’s horrific crimes,” the judge said.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/ghislaine-maxwell-loses-bid-to-overturn-conviction-for-aiding-epstein-20260825-p60rjb.html

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?order_by=desc

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.869.0.pdf

>>24894894

Zeinab Ahmad: ISIS bride accused of keeping sex slave launches fresh bid for freedom

Rebekah Cavanagh - August 27, 2026

An ISIS bride accused of keeping a sex slave has launched a fresh bid for freedom, claiming she renounced her allegiance to the violent extremist group the moment she became a mother seven years ago.

Zeinab Ahmad fronted the Supreme Court on Thursday, arguing she is not a threat to anyone and just wants to be released to be with her daughter.

The bold move comes just two months after she was declared an unacceptable risk to the community and refused bail by a Melbourne magistrate.

But the Australian Federal Police has opposed her release, pointing to social media posts she made between 2015 and 2017, stating how she had moved to Syria with her husband for the cause.

“A lot of people will be shocked by this as it was never in my plan,” she allegedly wrote.

Other posts included the words “May Allah deal with all the oppressive tyrants from all over the world” and suggestions to “destroy the United States and its allies”.

The court heard Ms Ahmad, 31, insists her ties to the brutal terror group ended when her daughter was born in a tent at a Syrian refugee camp in 2019.

Defence barrister Julie Condon, KC, said her client has also had no contact with the men who controlled and influenced her, being her father, and her three husbands since that time.

She called psychiatrist Dr Rajan Darjee, who testified that beliefs were not fixed, and that Ms Ahmad had “an important identity change” when she became a mum.

“Her identity as a mother takes over,” Dr Darjee told the court. “She’s got a daughter that has become the focus of her attention.”

Dr Darjee said Ms Ahmad told him during a two-hour assessment over video call how she had moved away from Islamic State’s hateful ideologies to protect her daughter.

The court heard she had been berated at the IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps for her clothing choices for her and her daughter, choosing to not cover her hair or face, and wearing shorts.

“Your mum’s not even a Muslim,” she claimed other refugees said to her daughter.

“It’s eminently compelling evidence before this court that the applicant, well before she faced this charge in May, that she conducted herself in a way which showed an unequivocal rejection of ISIS,” Ms Condon said.

She said her client was doing a diploma of nursing in Melbourne when her first husband took her to Syria in 2014. She believed they were going to Turkey to visit her family.

Ms Condon said Ms Ahmad described the time she spent overseas as “11 years of hell”, detailing how she was married three times in four years.

The court heard she does not feel safe in prison and likened her time in segregation in Dame Phyllis Frost Centre’s Gordon Unit as worse than the years she spent in refugee camps.

She has been kept from other inmates because of the high-profile nature of her case.

Dr Darjee believed Ms Ahmad “does not pose a risk” of directly committing or organising a terrorist act.

On May 7, Ms Ahmad was arrested when she was among a cohort of ISIS-linked women and children who flew into Melbourne.

She was then charged with crimes against humanity in an Australian-first.

Ms Condon proposed that if her client were granted bail, she would live with her uncle and report to her local police station three times a week.

Other conditions could be put in place, she said, including restricting her use of social media and not allowing her to have an internet-enabled mobile phone.

She also proposed a ban on attending international points of departure, or leaving Victoria.

The bail application will continue on Friday, but Justice James Elliott has indicated he will reserve his decision for a later date.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/isis-bride-accused-of-keeping-sex-slave-launches-fresh-bid-for-freedom/news-story/dcf080330c9aa7d86898c16a42a8e1d6

>>24798571 (pb)

>>24798579 (pb)

>>24831694

Australia, Solomons push security reset as Pacific leaders weigh Wale plan

BEN PACKHAM - 26 August 2026

Australia and Solomon Islands will move to fast-track a new bilateral security treaty in talks on Thursday, sidelining China after years of closer policing ties between Honiara and Beijing.

The push comes ahead of next week’s Pacific Islands Forum, where Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale will seek a new multilateral agreement positioning Australia and New Zealand as the region’s main security guarantors.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Solomon Islands counterpart Rick Houenipwela will meet in Adelaide to kick off negoti­ations on the proposed comprehensive security treaty, as both countries look to formalise a reset in diplomatic ties following Mr Wale’s election in May.

Anthony Albanese has had a run of success with Pacific security deals in recent months, signing a new mutual defence treaty with Fiji and a hard-won agreement with Vanuatu, on top of an earlier alliance with Papua New Guinea.

When the Prime Minister visited Honiara in July, Mr Wale said: “They always say the best wine comes last … so we expect the best wine.”

Former Australian ambassador to Solomon Islands James Batley said it appeared both governments were “keen to finalise a treaty by the end of the year”.

Mr Wale’s bid for a new Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace Regional Security Treaty is likely to be a more drawn-out process, with PIF foreign ministers calling earlier this month for “further consul­tations” on the proposal.

Mr Batley said the idea that the “Pacific family” should take the lead on regional security was becoming increasingly accepted, but there was likely to be some scepticism at next week’s PIF leaders’ summit. “I think everyone will be keen to hear, and they’ll listen to him politely,” he said. “But it’s not clear what he’s actually proposing. It won’t simply be the usual suspects holding out. I think a lot of countries might say ‘Well, what exactly have you got in mind here?’ ”

Mr Wale has also vowed to review Solomon Islands’ 2022 security agreement with Beijing signed by his pro-China predecessor Manasseh Sogavare. The agreement opened the way for Chinese police to serve in the country, where The Australian revealed they were fingerprinting local residents and encouraging them to fill out household registration cards.

Senator Wong has warned that Australia is in “a state of permanent contest” with China in the Pacific – a contest others have referred to as a “knife fight” – to prevent Beijing securing a permanent base in the region.

China’s recent test of a nuclear-capable missile in the Pacific is likely to be on the agenda in Palau after pro-Beijing states Kiribati and Naoero (formerly Nauru) refused to sign up to a joint statement condemning the launch.

The smuggling of illicit drugs through the region and disaster response arrangements will also be discussed.

Climate change will be a key agenda item, as Pacific leaders prepare for an Australian-­organised meeting in Fiji in Oct­ober ahead of the COP31 UN climate conference in Turkey the following month.

After The Australian revealed world leaders were set to snub the summit, PIF foreign ministers called on the global community “to engage with pre-COP31 events in a spirit of solidarity, to accelerate action and consensus on climate change”.

China is expected to attend the Palau meeting as a dialogue partner but Beijing has not publicly identified who will lead its delegation.

Taiwan will be represented after PIF secretary General Baron Waqa affirmed its status as a “very important development partner”, after it was barred from last year’s summit in Honiara by the-prime minister Jeremiah Manele.

Its presence this year will infuriate Beijing, which has lodged protests over the self-governed territory’s engagement with the bloc in past years.

Taiwan counts Palau as one of its three remaining diplomatic partners in the Pacific, together with Tuvalu and Marshall Islands.

The US will be represented at the summit by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who has described China as America’s “foremost strategic competitor”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/australia-solomons-push-security-reset-as-pacific-leaders-weigh-wale-plan/news-story/7d1a025085861f5b0cee0ef1b025fa6d

>>24936773

>>24961748

US Marines accept Australian-designed littoral craft for contested logistics testing

Stephen Kuper - 26 AUGUST 2026

The US Marine Corps has accepted the first prototype of an Australian-designed Ancillary Surface Craft, developed through US-Australian industry cooperation to deliver troops, vehicles, and supplies to difficult shorelines across the Indo-Pacific.

The US Marine Corps has formally accepted the first Ancillary Surface Craft (ASC) prototype, marking a major milestone for a program aimed at strengthening amphibious logistics and littoral manoeuvre in contested environments.

Designed through US-Australian industry collaboration and built by Birdon America, the approximately 46-metre roll-on/roll-off craft is intended to carry personnel, equipment, and fuel over the “last tactical mile”, including to unimproved and unsurveyed beaches beyond the reach of larger amphibious vessels.

The ASC can carry up to 46 tonnes of cargo or 40 combat-loaded Marines and is designed to operate in Sea State 5, with survivability in conditions up to Sea State 7. A forward-looking sonar system is intended to support navigation through shallow and uncharted littoral waters.

The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) accepted the prototype after technical validation, with the program now moving into limited technical assessments and further tactical experimentation.

Australian Army personnel will support the next phase alongside Birdon America crews and US Marine Corps personnel, providing another practical example of growing Australian-US cooperation in littoral warfare and expeditionary operations.

Aaron Hatfield, maritime program manager, Science and Technology Division, US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, said: “This validation assures that the craft’s advanced systems and robust design are ready for MCWL to begin hands-on technical experimentation, ensuring we can meet the extreme operational demands of the Indo-Pacific theater.”

The ASC is intended to complement rather than replace the Marine Corps’ larger medium landing ship. Its shallow draft and beaching capability are designed to allow supplies and equipment to move from intermediate staging areas directly onto shore without requiring ports, piers, or causeways.

The capability is particularly relevant to the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations concept, which envisages small, dispersed forces operating across contested archipelagic environments and sustaining themselves without relying on vulnerable fixed infrastructure.

Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory Science and Technology Division director Colonel Kenny Jones said the prototype would allow Marines to rapidly test concepts and reduce risk ahead of future fleet requirements.

“This prototype allows MCWL to immediately execute hands-on experimentation, test tactical concepts, and put real hardware in the hands of Marines. By exploring the ASC’s traditional bow-first beaching physics alongside other experimental platforms, we are actively reducing programmatic risk and perfecting the requirements for the future naval fleet,” COL Jones said.

The ASC’s primary role is logistics and manoeuvre rather than direct combat, although upcoming testing will examine potential force-protection and self-defence configurations for operations in contested maritime environments.

For Australia, the program provides an important demonstration of the country’s ability to contribute designs and industrial expertise to allied amphibious capabilities.

For the US Marine Corps, the ASC offers a relatively small, flexible platform capable of bridging the gap between offshore staging vessels and dispersed forces operating ashore – a capability likely to become increasingly important as the US and its allies prepare for sustained operations across the Indo-Pacific littorals.

https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/naval/18771-us-marines-accept-australian-designed-littoral-craft-for-contested-logistics-testing

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/9877980/asc-distinguished-visitor-day

Two Perth hackers charged after major AFP, FBI investigation into alleged global cybercrime

Callum Liddelow and David Weber - 27 August 2026

Two young Western Australians have been described as the alleged "masterminds" behind a "sophisticated cybercrime syndicate" that created malicious software to rob hundreds of organisations around the world.

Ruben Ian Thomson, 21, and Louis Michael Gaebler, 23, were arrested in Perth following a joint investigation with federal and state police working alongside the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The FBI's Assistant Law Enforcement Attache Dave Andish said Mr Thomson was the alleged leader of the highly organised syndicate known as TeamPCP, which police say is involved in large-scale cybercrimes including data intrusion, identity crime and cryptocurrency-based money laundering.

The pair faced court today charged with 14 offences in total after police raided properties in Cottesloe, Hamilton Hill and Mandurah where electronic devices and other items were seized.

During a bail application for Mr Thomson, the prosecutor described the men as "masterminds" in the offending, saying further charges were likely.

Investigations began in April after the Australian Federal Police and the FBI received tip offs about the syndicate, which allegedly inserted malicious code into open source software available online that was then unwittingly used by other developers.

The term 'open source' refers to content that developers can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.

Hundreds of organisations compromised

Police will allege the infected software made its way into computer systems across government, academic and private sector institutions, potentially compromising more than 1,000 organisations globally.

The software allegedly enabled the syndicate to infiltrate those organisations to steal or harvest sensitive data, including more than 500,000 user credentials and authentication materials.

AFP Commander Graeme Marshall said this allowed the group to allegedly impersonate legitimate users, bypass security controls and gain unauthorised access to networks and cloud environments.

Commander Marshall said this resulted in "significant" financial losses and interruptions to operations, with remediation costs estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

He could not confirm how many individuals, businesses or countries were implicated, but confirmed some of the organisations that fell victim to the syndicate are Australian.

"It is rare to have cyber criminals of this status domestically", he said.

"The men are internationally significant cybercrime threat actors."

Young cybercriminals common

Commenting on the young age of the alleged offenders, Commander Marshall said it was unfortunate, but not unusual, to arrest people in their early twenties, and even high-schoolers, for cybercrime.

"We do see a lot of young offenders involved in cybercrime … some of them are exceptionally smart," he said.

"They've grown up in a cyber-native environment, and for whatever reason they've decided to go down that pathway."

During the bail application, Mr Thomson's lawyer Nick Scerri told the court a trial could be more than 18 months away, and that his client could be released to stay with his parents in Cottesloe.

The magistrate said she was not going to grant bail, expressing concern that Mr Thomson may be able to tamper with evidence.

Mr Scerri withdrew the bail application, which may now be heard on another day.

Mr Gaebler's lawyer made no application for bail and his client was remanded in custody for his next appearance on September 18.

Police said they have already extracted 100 terabytes of data from devices seized from one address, and expect to extract much more.

They say there may be more arrests as investigations continue.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-27/two-wa-men-charged-after-investigation-into-alleged-cybercrime/107084796

http://archive.today/z3Zk8

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/two-wa-men-charged-following-afp-fbi-wapf-disruption-alleged-global

>>24964872

Sall Grover: This is the chilling death threat that forced me to pull out of speaking role at a Sydney women’s right rally last weekend

The escalation of activist-led rhetoric against me and other brave women for defending sex-based rights has left me in fear for my safety, writes Sall Grover.

Sall Grover, Giggle CEO - August 25, 2026

On Sunday in Sydney, women gathered to do something that should never be necessary: ask the government to write the accurate definition of “woman” into Australian discrimination law so our sex-based rights are protected.

I support every word of that request, as for the past four and a half years I have been fighting in federal court to do exactly that by defending Giggle, the women-only online platform I created.

I can no longer run it because the legal system currently lets men who have medically transitioned to identify as women, effectively turning every female-only space into a mixed-sex one and rendering the category of “woman” meaningless.

Yet I did not attend the rally.

In the lead-up, transgender activist groups - specifically Trans Action Network, Pride in Protest and the Macquarie University Queer Collective - circulated material naming me as the organiser.

I was not.

They called me a racist. I am not.

They called me a transphobe. I am not. They made false claims about Giggle and why it is offline.

As far as I am concerned, the material was designed to paint a target on my back.

It scared me.

Last week, it all culminated in a death threat. “1 TERF, 1 bullet,” the message read in response to a post citing my News24.com.au article on a recent legal ruling that has essentially made stating biological reality a civil offence.

We are watching an escalation of activist-led violent rhetoric against any woman who steps outside the approved narrative.

Pauline Hanson has faced it. Dr Marcia Langton has faced it.

Kirralie Smith, a women’s rights campaigner, was found by a NSW court to have vilified two biological males on a women’s sports team simply for noticing the unfairness of them being by there.

She is now inundated with online abuse and death threats from accounts that openly cite her opposition to men in women’s categories as the reason.

Who is the one being vilified?

Nomes Whitney, owner of Queens of the Pole, denied a man who claims to be a woman entry to her women-only studio.

She recently announced the fight will be taken to QCAT.

Since then both the studio and she personally have been flooded with abuse and harassment from online transgender activists.

The institutions that should be of help to women dealing with this abhorrent behaviour - the Australian Human Rights Commission, the state commissions, the eSafety Commissioner - are effectively of no use to us.

In fact, you’re more likely to find yourself in court against them, with the commissions lined up firmly on the side of the activists.

Both Nomes and I have discovered that the hard way.

Facing threats to argue for the right to female-only spaces actually only proves how urgently those spaces are needed.

The irony is almost elegant: women require police protection to stand in public and beg the government for legal barriers against the very men who are potentially making the police necessary.

We do not threaten. We do not intimidate. We do not try to shut down their counter-protests.

For years politicians and media have insisted the “trans and gender diverse” are uniquely vulnerable and oppressed.

Even those who claim to reject gender ideology still perform the ritual throat-clearing of “vulnerable”.

In every other context it would be acceptable for women to keep their distance.

But the moment such a man declares himself a woman, to many it’s the woman who refuses to accept it who becomes the bad guy.

Prime Minister Albanese has dismissed efforts to fix the Sex Discrimination Act as a “culture war”.

If that is the label he prefers, then he is content to watch a culture war in which some men threaten women while the government remains on the sidelines.

Women should not have to calculate personal risk simply to defend the right to single-sex spaces.

The fact that some of us now do is the clearest evidence the old narrative of vulnerability is a dangerous fiction, one that continues to cost women our businesses, our safety and our rights.

Sall Grover is a women’s rights campaigner and the founder and CEO of the women-only social app Giggle.

https://www.news24.com.au/opinion/sall-grover-this-is-the-chilling-death-threat-that-forced-me-to-pull-out-of-speaking-role-at-a-sydney-womens-right-rally-last-weekend/news-story/b64faa6fba85cd2120604fbf36bc4c70

>>24971154

Inside extraordinary NSW Police plot to bust alleged global paedophile ring, seven people arrested across five countries

An elite six-person Sydney police unit has infiltrated an encrypted platform used by “monsters” online. Their brave work resulted in seven arrests across five countries.

Cydonee Mardon - August 21, 2026

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A single power point socket design from overseas, a pattern on a bedsheet sold only in 1990, or a discarded lolly wrapper in the background of a video.

These are the tiny, agonising details that a specialist six-strong NSW Police team dissects frame-by-frame every single day - hunting down real, living children before it’s too late.

The harrowing work of the Victim Identification Team has helped a staggering 160 children since January 1.

Critical intelligence generated by the Sydney unit has smashed a global web of alleged child exploitation, directly leading to the rapid arrest of seven men across five countries.

Detective Chief Inspector Adam Powderly from the Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit told news.com.au the team operates across every level of danger to protect vulnerable kids.

At the most extreme end, they pull children directly out of active physical and sexual assault, kidnapping, and trafficking, but safeguarding also happens at the critical opposite end of the spectrum, long before a child reaches that point of catastrophic danger.

“Detectives actively spot vulnerable young people on social media platforms, trapped in online groups and talking with predators pretending to be someone they’re not,” Chief Insp Powderly said.

In those cases, police intervene directly, stepping in to talk with both the children and their parents to alert, educate, and pull them out of harm’s way before the trap snaps shut.

Meanwhile other arms of the State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad Child Exploitation Internet Unit relentlessly hunt down the predators operating behind the screens, whose insidious networks spread to every corner of the globe.

“Offending online, the internet has no boundaries,” Chief Insp Powderly said.

“Our commitment to protecting children is not just based in NSW. We will do whatever we need across the world … The tentacles will reach across our country and internationally.”

Six rapid arrests across five countries

Driven by two dedicated strike forces - Constantine, targeting online child abuse material involving ritualistic or satanic themes, and Trawler, targeting broader online child exploitation - detectives recently intercepted digital footprints across encrypted platforms, sending urgent intelligence referrals overseas.

In Mexico, detectives arrested a man at the border on July 18 for possession of child abuse after receiving intelligence he intended to travel to the US to sexually abuse a child known to him.

In the US, detectives uncovered a 23-year-old Missouri man allegedly administering a chat group linked to an international paedophile ring producing and sharing extreme child abuse material online.

Then, just days ago, strike force detectives struck again, identifying an account holder in the States allegedly posting images and videos of child abuse to an online paedophile ring.

The arrest of that man, also from Missouri, on August 21 led to a three-year-old child being rescued and placed into child protection.

In the United Kingdom, investigations led to the arrest of a man allegedly posing as a woman to distribute abuse material and another who allegedly disclosed the online sexual assault of a child known to him.

Intelligence from the Sydney unit also led to the arrest of man accused of producing and sharing child abuse material in Uruguay and another alleged paedophile in Poland.

All seven men remain in custody charged with child abuse offences.

The changing face of predators

While law enforcement stretches its reach across continents to smash these networks, Chief Insp Powderly issued a blunt, heartfelt warning to the public: “We as a community can’t bury our head in the sand about the dangers children everywhere face,” he said.

“And we can’t be naive and think a paedophile is a man wearing a trench coat, driving a white van seen around parks, like we used to,” he said.

“White collar, blue collar, 20 to 60 years old, parents, teachers … It’s not that stereotypical child snatcher that we grew up thinking exists. We’ve got computer tech wizards, loners, sports people, you name it. It’s a wide, wide range of personalities and people out there involved in this type of offending.”

(continued)

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Whether a suspect is a high-flying CEO, a beloved local teacher, a sports hero, or someone living on the streets, Chief Insp Powderly said his squad pursues every offender with the exact same fierce, unwavering determination.

“Literally, we are that focused on what we do. I do not show bias to anyone, whether you’re a teacher or an unemployed person in a cardboard box in the city, same attention and commitment,” he said.

“Nothing surprises me anymore. Things sadden me, but nothing surprises me anymore.”

The real goal is to save children

The investigative machine behind these arrests relies heavily on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children referrals, generated when AI built into major social media platforms flags child exploitation material.

Filtered through the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation in Brisbane, IP addresses, phone numbers, and handles are routed directly to state police and the AFP.

From there, Chief Insp Powderly’s proactive Child Exploitation Internet Unit trawls both the open web and covert networks, penetrating closed group chats where predators trade material and believe they are invisible.

While hunting offenders is vital, the primary mission for Chief Insp Powderly’s dedicated Victim Identification Team - established 16 months ago with three civilian experts and three sworn police - is saving children in real time.

In one extreme international case, NSW detectives liaised with overseas law enforcement to track down two young girls who had been kidnapped by their father. Police located the father, charged him, and had him extradited from Croatia to Canada, successfully rescuing the girls and returning them to their mother.

In other cases, detectives intervene early, identifying up to 50 or 60 kids engaged in group chats with a single target, stepping in directly with parents to educate and safeguard children before physical harm occurs.

The sheer volume of human cruelty the team is exposed to daily takes an extraordinary, harrowing toll on the officers involved, driving Chief Insp Powderly to put his team’s mental health at the very centre of his leadership.

“My dedicated team are normal people that come to work and do incredible things because of their level of dedication and commitment, seeing horrible things so that other people don’t have to see it,” Chief Insp Powderly said.

“What we look at, what we review and dig through on a daily basis to prioritise rescuing children, is something I could never put into words. No one could ever have a full understanding of the horrors some of our children are subjected to at the hands of, I call them monsters.”

Massage chairs, video games: How cops cope with horror

To keep his team from breaking under the weight of viewing horrific imagery - including an alarming rise in bestiality material across Australia - Chief Inspt Powderly strictly caps viewing hours and mandates quarterly psychological check-ups.

Inside the office, he has created dedicated breakout areas equipped with massage chairs, video games, and even therapy dogs trotting through the office to give officers a moment of relief from the darkness.

Yet despite these safeguards, the job permanently alters how these men and women view the outside world.

“You become hyper-vigilant of your surroundings outside of your workplace, so highly suspicious of everyone,” he said.

“My number one priority outside of rescuing and protecting children is the welfare of my staff, that’s my most valuable resource.”

Above all, Chief Inst Powderly’s core passion is a heartfelt plea to Australian parents to bridge the gap with their children before a predator gets through the digital door.

He urges mothers, fathers, and caregivers to build open, judgment-free relationships so kids feel safe opening up their bedroom doors and seeking help the moment an online interaction feels wrong.

“This is something the community doesn’t want to talk about, hard to talk about, difficult,” Chief Insp Powderly said. “It’s really important caregivers and parents start attempting to build those relationships with their kids, so they say, ‘Hey, someone sent me this, they want me to do ABC, what do I do about it?’”

“Everybody needs to be aware. We all have a role to play.”

Investigations under Strike Force Constantine and Strike Force Trawler are ongoing.

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/inside-extraordinary-nsw-police-plot-to-bust-alleged-global-paedophile-ring-seven-people-arrested-across-five-countries/news-story/107b73b00498df8ef5314fe94586fd21

>>24877729

>>24877751

>>24954732

Ben Carroll scraps plan for statue of Daniel Andrews

Ashleigh McMillan - August 29, 2026

A controversial $134,000 statue of former premier Daniel Andrews has been scrapped, with Victoria’s new leader Ben Carroll saying the statue policy did not meet taxpayer expectations.

Previously, any politician who served more than 3000 days as Victorian premier would be immortalised in bronze near Parliament House in Melbourne.

Carroll announced on Saturday that the statue policy would be repealed, and that work on the statue of Andrews, who was premier from 2014 to 2023, would stop.

But Carroll said the contract would not be cancelled, and that an independent panel would recommend an alternative subject for a statue, as part of a broader change which includes scaling back spending on state funerals.

The statue policy was introduced in 1999 by Jeff Kennett when he was premier.

Kennett told 3AW this month the statue policy “was not a rule, it was not legislation, it was a guideline”.

Four former premiers – Albert Dunstan, Henry Bolte, Rupert Hamer and John Cain Jr – each served 3000 days in a row in office and have been memorialised with a statue near 1 Treasury Place.

Carroll said taxpayers want public money to be used in a “careful and deliberate” manner, and that automatically granting long-serving premiers a statue did not meet that standard.

“We are grateful to former premiers for their service,” he said in a statement. “But gratitude does not require a taxpayer-funded statue.”

Carroll also said that the independent, bipartisan panel deciding on what statue should be built instead of the Andrews bronze would also make recommendations about the appropriate frequency, scale and costs of state funerals.

“State funerals are special and moving tributes. Part of what makes them special is their rarity,” said Carroll, who took over as premier last month.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/carroll-scraps-plan-for-statue-of-daniel-andrews-20260829-p60skz.html

>>24947457

SpaceX rocket begins journey back to Texas from Christmas Island

Amy Rossbach and Mikki Cusack - 29 August 2026

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SpaceX's Starship 40 rocket has begun the long journey home after being retrieved from waters off Christmas Island.

Carrying the precious cargo, heavy duty transport vessel Forte departed the island on Friday afternoon, headed for the United States.

The rocket splashed down in the Indian Ocean on July 24, and spent just over three weeks at sea before being towed to Christmas Island, about 1,500 kilometres off Western Australia's northern coast.

The Forte arrived in Flying Fish Cove last Sunday night, with the delicate operation to retrieve the rocket getting underway on Tuesday.

The vessel's ballast tank was filled with water to change the buoyancy of the ship, lowering its deck below the surface.

Local stevedores assisted in the operation to position the rocket over the Forte before the vessel refloated, lifting the SpaceX cargo out of the water for the first time in more than a month.

Locals farewell SpaceX rocket

The Christmas Island community has been captivated by the rocket, which sheltered just off the coast.

Local school students followed the Starship's movements, and social media feeds were flooded with images of the rocket, with a local dive company offering 'rocket trips'.

A local bar even named a cocktail Rocket Fuel in honour of the unexpected arrival, with crew members involved in the retrieval leaving a message on its wall.

Local tourism operator Lisa Preston has been hosting 30 birdwatchers for the island's annual Bird Week, who have been excited to witness the retrieval operation.

Ms Preston said it had been an amazing journey, and the Christmas Island community enjoyed being in the global spotlight.

"The decision being made to tow the rocket here when there's thousands of kilometres of coastline south of us, to be able to fulfil that role, to protect it whilst they did what they needed to do … it shows we've got alternate uses for positive things."

(continued)

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Expensive exercise

The journey of about 20,000 kilometres back to the Starbase rocket development facility in Texas is expected to take several weeks.

University of Sydney Professor of Marine Robotics Stefan Williams said the cost of the retrieval operation would add up quickly.

"We operate pretty regularly on research vessels which can cost $50,000 to $100,000 a day to operate, these are even bigger vessels," he said.

"There's a significant cost involved, both in rescue operations and also in the transport of the equipment from where it's been retrieved, in this case back to the home base in the US."

Professor Williams said semi-submersible vessels like the Forte were quite common, but using such a large ship was a heavy-duty operation.

"They're used extensively in the offshore industry in oil and gas and increasingly in offshore wind, anywhere you need large bits of equipment to be moved around," he said.

(continued)

>>24985381

3/3

Starship 40's legacy

The 52-metre-long rocket is the first SpaceX upper stage spacecraft to survive a space flight intact and could provide a wealth of information for engineers.

One of the goals for the space company is developing a rocket that can return safely to its launch site and be used again.

Astronomer Matt Woods says SpaceX's program is helping to make space exploration more affordable.

"Just off the back of the first stage of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy [rockets], it's dropped the price down on rockets dramatically," he said.

"It's amazing what you can do and how cheap it is for companies and universities to put the satellites up there and continue doing their study of the universe."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-28/spacex-rocket-begins-journey-back-to-texas-from-christmas-island/107079554

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2092988521376059899

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2092988782622519728

>>24820648

>>24847380

>>24898147

>>24951155

>>24987975

‘Dangerous, divisive, dishonest’: Albanese, Chalmers take aim at One Nation

Cloe Read - August 30, 2026

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken aim at One Nation after a historic late-night byelection victory by the party in Labor’s stronghold of Western Australia, saying it was crucial to defeat hard-right populists.

On Sunday morning, Albanese addressed a crowd of Labor faithful at the party’s annual Queensland conference, hours after One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen claimed the outer suburban seat of Secret Harbour in Perth.

Albanese said One Nation leader Pauline Hanson sought to divide Australians, and that she talked Australians down.

“They can’t say what their immigration numbers are … they just have no idea when it comes to serious policy development,” he said.

“This is a crucial time for our movement because across the world, hard-right populists are on the march, peddling politics that is dangerous, divisive and downright dishonest.

“We simply must defeat them. We owe it to history. We owe it to the nation, and we will defeat them.

“They’ll say anything and do anything to win votes, bend any facts, peddle misinformation and disinformation, turn Australian against Australian.”

Albanese said One Nation had no serious answers to problems, and the party’s own division and disagreement was beginning to show.

He pointed to when One Nation won 11 seats in Queensland in 1998, they “lost them all in record time”. He questioned how they would work in a coalition with the LNP, saying it was a fact that they had to govern together.

Albanese spruiked several policies he said had improved the lives of Australians, and told the crowd the only mainstream political force that sought to govern in the interests of the Australian people was the Labor Party.

He said the best way to beat the “coalition of chaos” was to give Australians hope, to “stay positive”, and to be a party with ideas that would make people’s lives better.

This positivity is a sentiment that has crept into the prime minister’s speeches, in a pivot to respond to a growing sense of pessimism about the nation’s future.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who spoke moments before Albanese, told the crowd the government was aware of the One Nation threat.

“We took this threat seriously before yesterday’s byelection in the west, and we will take it seriously after it,” Chalmers said.

He said Australia, its cohesion, its people, and the economy were under threat by a dangerous and divisive coalition of chaos – “a three-ring circus of Liberals, Nationals and One Nation, with that karaoke clown from Melbourne [Liberal treasury spokesman Tim Wilson] as its chief economic spokesman”.

“Today, the biggest fault lines in our politics aren’t just between the centre left and the extreme right, but between those of us who want to address and alleviate the legitimate frustrations that people feel about the cost of living and other pressures, and those who just want to pick at them and prey on them,” he said.

On Saturday, Queensland Opposition Leader Steven Miles took aim at the Crisafulli LNP government, arguing it would need to form a coalition with One Nation to retain government at the next election.

“If you think they’re bad now, imagine what they would be like in coalition with One Nation, because the next election will be a fight between Labor and a far-right coalition of the LNP and One Nation swapping preferences and hoping to govern together,” he told the crowd.

Miles also confirmed that frontbencher and possible future leader Meaghan Scanlon would recontest the seat of Gaven, after speculation she may be moved to a safer district.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/queensland/dangerous-divisive-dishonest-albanese-chalmers-take-aim-at-one-nation-20260830-p60sri.html

https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/one-nation-claims-victory-in-secret-harbour-as-last-minute-votes-seal-labor-s-fate-20260829-p60snp.html

>>24964906

The Sentencing of Kyle Spitze

After nearly three years and five sentencing hearing delays, 764 member Kyle Spitze has finally been sentenced to 77 years in federal prison.

Becca Spinks - AUG 20, 2026

1/6

A flash of light followed by a rumble of thunder greeted me from the tarmac as my plane touched down in Knoxville. By the time I switched my phone off airplane mode, a severe thunderstorm warning was waiting on the screen. The weather felt almost too cinematic – dark, loud, and uneasy, as if Tennessee itself knew what I had come there to do.

After three long years, the day had finally arrived. Kyle Spitze was about to hear his fate in federal court.

I first learned about Kyle in January 2024, when a video he filmed of his mother’s boyfriend shooting him in the ear went viral. What followed pulled me into a years-long waking nightmare involving the 764 network, a group of online child predators fueled by a desire to accelerate the collapse of society.

For background on my personal experience with Kyle Spitze and the 764 network, start here:

—

Kyle Spitze - The Rest of the Story, Pt 1 - MAY 29, 2026

https://bxwrites.substack.com/p/kyle-spitze-the-rest-of-the-story-938

—

Kyle Spitze was among the most sadistic and prolific members of the 764 child exploitation and extortion network. In February 2024, he was arrested and charged with eight counts related to the production of child sexual abuse material, solicitation of minors, and animal abuse.

In December 2024, he pleaded guilty to several of the charges. The mandatory minimum sentence was 30 years, but prosecutors were pushing for an extended sentence of 77 years.

Kyle’s crimes were far worse than his published charges could capture. As a prolific member of 764 and its splinter group Harm Nation, he preyed on vulnerable girls he found online, grooming them before threatening and blackmailing them into creating sadistic content for his Telegram channels.

The FBI found folders on his devices containing material involving at least 30 victims, including one identified victim who was only 12 years old. The folders included images and videos of girls carving Kyle’s usernames, “Criminal” and “Crim”, along with “764,” “Harm Nation,” and satanic symbols into their bodies with razor blades and knives.

Some of the photos contained nude minor victims engaged in sexual acts. Others showed victims being threatened, coerced, or humiliated into performing sickening acts such as killing animals and licking toilet seats.

Of the 30 victims found on Kyle’s phone, the FBI was able to identify only 19. At least two of those young victims have died by suicide. The other 11, investigators said, will likely never be found.

People have argued for years over whether 764 is truly satanic or merely borrows the aesthetics of extreme belief systems to gain notoriety. That may be true of some members. But in Kyle Spitze’s case, the record pointed to explicit satanic motivations alongside the same hunger for status that drives so much of the network’s abuse.

I had followed the case from the beginning, through five sentencing delays after Kyle’s guilty plea in December 2024. Each delay forced his victims and their families – many of whom had prepared impact statements to be read in court – to wait again for their day of justice. During that time, I became close with two mothers of Kyle’s victims. They had been living in hell for three years. They did not belong there. Kyle did.

The week before the August 18, 2026 sentencing date, I learned that Kyle’s private attorney, Jonathan Cooper, had filed even more objections. As I traveled from Texas to Tennessee, the possibility of a sixth delay hung heavily over me. I desperately wanted the victims to receive some measure of closure, and I needed some of my own.

On the ground in Knoxville, I met up with my personal security detail: an online friend who had driven across multiple states to escort me for free. Knowing someone else understood the stakes reassured me, and frankly, so did knowing I had backup.

The FBI had called me the week before the hearing. Agents were monitoring potential threats to the courthouse, as Kyle’s 764 associates were known for swatting and bomb hoaxes. I had also been warned about threats to harm me if I appeared in court, including at least one attempt by a 764 member to solicit my assassination there.

The FBI’s advice to me was to keep my head on a swivel and not post about the court hearing online until I was safely on the plane back to Texas. A well-timed bomb threat to the federal courthouse could have forced yet another delay. The safest thing I could do was stay quiet until it was over.

(continued)

>>24987987

2/6

I was nervous walking into the courthouse on the morning of sentencing. To my relief, the security officers were kind and already aware of the day’s main event. Each time we left the courtroom for a break, they asked for updates. They were as eager to hear Kyle’s sentence as I was.

The special proceedings room was mostly empty when I arrived, aside from a handful of people in suits. I had expected more press for a case this high-profile, but 764 cases have always seemed to receive less mainstream attention than their importance warrants. The lack of a crowd made the hearing feel smaller, more intimate, and more intimidating. It was my first time in a federal courtroom, though unlikely to be my last.

I was lost in thought when my escort nudged me with his elbow. I looked up and saw Kyle Spitze in person, filing solemnly toward the defense table. He wore chains and a gray-and-white striped jail uniform. His shaggy hair was shorter than before, and his hairline had receded sharply.

Under the harsh courtroom lights, his skin looked ghostly pale, almost green. His face was blank, his eyes dark and hollow. We locked eyes for a moment before he dropped his gaze to the floor.

Kyle looked like a vampire who hadn’t had anything to eat in 3 years; how I’d imagine a washed-up demon would look.

At the front of the room, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman and Kyle’s defense attorney, Jonathan Cooper, spoke in tense whispers. I assumed they were arguing over the defense’s objections to the updated presentence report.

The updated report highlighted the disputes that would shape the morning: what should count as relevant evidence, how broadly the court should interpret Kyle’s ties to 764, and whether his actions after arrest should add years to his sentence.

Several young women began to file in – likely victims of Kyle’s abuse, along with their families. I felt suddenly small in the room, aware of how little my own experience mattered beside theirs.

An eerie silence settled over the courtroom in the moments before the Honorable Judge Varlan entered. It felt like the calm before the storm.

The Objections

The judge listened to the Defense’s objections to the presentence report first. Cooper began by objecting to what he called irrelevant evidence, especially the government’s claim that Kyle’s crimes reflected 764’s nihilistic violent extremism. He argued there was no proof Kyle acted in furtherance of accelerationism – the belief that sowing chaos can hasten societal collapse.

In Cooper’s telling, the government was not describing Kyle’s conduct so much as demonizing him.

Kolman reminded Cooper that Kyle had already admitted to being a member of 764 and to having terror-related motives.

“The government didn’t demonize the defendant,” she said. “The defendant is a demon.”

The defense raised several more objections, the broadest one concerning the victim impact statements. He argued the process was unfair because the statements were not shared with the defense before sentencing and because some came from of-age victims rather than minors listed as victims in the case.

There were more than 50 pages of statements. The defense argued that many described conduct by other offenders and could not be tied directly to Kyle. The prosecution stood by their response, noting that the law did not bar adult victims from describing harm and that the statements reflected a collaboration between multiple different countries.

Agent Stewart Takes the Stand

FBI Special Agent Stewart, a supervisory counterterrorism agent focused on nihilistic violent extremist groups, testified that Kyle Spitze’s case was unlike any he had worked before. When Kyle was arrested on February 21, 2024, Stewart said, the FBI was still only beginning to understand 764.

The investigation began in December 2023, when a social media company alerted the FBI to several users tied to an online child exploitation ring known as Harm Nation. One username stood out: “Criminal,” a user believed to be in Tennessee. Investigators soon identified him as Kyle Spitze.

In February 2024, agents executed a search warrant for Kyle’s devices while he was housed at a drug rehabilitation facility. His phone, Stewart testified, contained disturbing illegal material organized into folders, some named for victims and filled with images and videos of self-harm, animal torture, and sexual abuse.

Metadata from one image led agents to a 12-year-old girl later identified in court as Minor Victim 1. Investigators moved quickly to locate and interview her, then arrested Kyle only days later.

(continued)

>>24987990

3/6

The FBI drew evidence from Kyle’s phone, his cloud storage, and a Telegram channel he owned called “Criminal Content.” Stewart also described a private Telegram chat, “764 Lobotomy Room,” whose 19 members, he said, made up 764’s inner circle.

One exchange between Kyle and Trippy, then a leader of 764, laid out the group’s initiation expectations. Trippy – whose real name is Prasan Nepal and who was arrested not long after Kyle – said prospective members needed more than cut signs; they had to kill animals or commit other “sinister stunts” for 764.

Prosecutors then showed a graphic slideshow of abused children whose suffering Kyle had turned into content for his own notoriety. Stewart explained the vocabulary of the network: blood signs, cut signs, fan signs, wall signs, and “hype edits,” videos that splice abuse imagery together with music. He described a culture steeped in gore, sexual violence, animal torture, and satanic imagery.

Stewart said a victim’s age affected the perceived value of the material within 764. The younger the child, the more status the offender could gain, pushing members to seek increasingly younger victims in pursuit of notoriety.

Stewart then turned to a folder on Kyle’s phone labeled “CNC,” shorthand for consent/non-consent. Inside were images and videos of a 15-year-old girl identified as Minor Victim 2. Text messages shown in court included Kyle discussing his desire to rape her.

Kyle also retaliated against victims who disobeyed him by doxing them or threatening punishments. In one exchange, he told 12-year-old Minor Victim 1 he would force her to kneel on rice for 30 minutes and repeatedly write a degrading phrase pledging sexual obedience to him.

Other exhibits showed fan signs bearing Criminal’s name alongside swastikas, satanic symbols, and “764.” Children held handwritten signs reading variations of “Crim owns me,” “Crim rapes me,” and “Crim made me do it.” In one video, a crying girl with gaping wounds on her arms wrote “Criminal” in blood on a toilet seat before being made to lick it away.

For the animal-crush charges, prosecutors showed images of decapitated birds marked with the 764 and Harm Nation logos, along with a mutilated chicken whose entrails had been arranged to spell “Crim.”

Kyle had also posted an introduction in his Criminal Content channel, where he called himself a psychopath and bragged about grooming hundreds of children. His stated goal, Stewart said, was to reach 3,000 before getting caught.

Also in the spotlight was a video “hype edit” called “Our Girls”, made by a man named Flar – the leader of Harm Nation. The video edit compiled graphic images of the victims attributable to each member of Harm Nation.

I shuddered when I saw the video in court. I had seen it on X shortly after I discovered the evidence against Kyle Spitze back in 2024. The contents of that video still haunt me to this day.

On cross-examination, Cooper tried to separate Kyle from 764’s accelerationist ideology. Stewart acknowledged that Kyle did not appear to hold specific political views; his conduct, Stewart said, was driven by self-gratification and the pursuit of notoriety within the group.

To me, that argument seemed to miss the point. The “nihilistic” part of nihilistic violent extremism matters precisely because the violence does not need to involve politics to serve the broader goal of accelerationism – indiscriminate chaos.

Cooper also tried to frame the consent/non-consent conversation between Kyle and Minor Victim 2 as mutual role play. The argument landed badly. Whatever label the defense used, Kyle was an adult discussing rape fantasies with a 15-year-old girl.

Much of the defense rested on the claim that Kyle committed his crimes in a drug-induced stupor. Prosecutors countered that the conduct did not stop when Kyle was jailed and sober.

Finally, Cooper questioned Stewart about the Harm Nation hype edit. He argued that Kyle had not made the video himself and that the government could not prove he sent the clips of his victims to its creator, Flar. Kolman’s response was blunt: “WHO CARES?” Judge Varland seemed to agree.

Post-Arrest Activity

Prosecutors said Kyle continued contacting minor victims from Laurel County jail in Kentucky, both directly and through his father, Michael Spitze. They alleged Michael helped coach a victim in the United Kingdom to use a VPN so she could conceal her identity while communicating with Kyle. Kyle also called 15-year-old Minor Victim 2 a total of 51 times while behind bars.

Prosecutors played excerpts from Kyle’s recorded calls with Minor Victim 2. The defense objected, but Judge Varlan promptly overruled it. In the first recording, Kyle praised an inmate serving time for killing a police officer, calling it “the Lord’s work.”

(continued)

>>24987993

4/6

Another call exposed Kyle’s fixation on notoriety. He told Minor Victim 2 that he had spoken with a reporter who planned to write a book about him, described his life as a movie, and declared, “I’m infamous.”

Kyle’s repeated violations eventually led U.S. Marshals to transfer him from Laurel County to Blount County jail in Tennessee. There, prosecutors said, the infractions continued. In a pre-sentencing memorandum issued shortly before the hearing, Kolman revealed that Kyle had started another satanic cult modeled around 764 and Harm Nation while behind bars.

In another recorded call with Minor Victim 2, Kyle described himself as a “full-on Satanist” and worried that the other inmates, who were predominantly Christians, would find out.

He rejected the label “pedophile” and called himself a hebephile, a term used to describe attraction to adolescents rather than prepubescent children. On calls with Minor Victim 2, he also discussed sexual topics, called her “precious,” and told her he loved her and liked the sound of her voice.

The recorded calls between Kyle and his father were, in my opinion, an obvious attempt to influence and intimidate Kyle’s young victims, especially Minor Victim 2. The issue became one of the hearing’s central disputes because prosecutors were asking Judge Varlan to add time for witness tampering.

The defense argued that there was no evidence that victims were being intimidated or influenced, rather, that the calls simply show conversations between a (full grown) man and his (child) girlfriend.

And yet, video evidence showed Kyle and his father holding up written signs during calls to avoid monitoring. They also discussed coded language and other ways to evade detection. In one exchange, Michael reassured Kyle that Minor Victim 2 “didn’t know anything” and would not be a problem for him. This conversation occurred after Michael had given the girl money and offered her support.

Michael Spitze was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for witness tampering as a result of these conversations, a fact that made the nature of those calls even harder to dismiss.

Victim Impact Statements

After the government finished presenting evidence, the court recessed for lunch. The next item on the docket was the victim impact statements. I tried to prepare myself over a quick meal at a café two blocks away.

When I returned to the courtroom, I briefly locked eyes with Kyle. He looked as though he recognized me from somewhere but could not place me. That was probably for the best.

During the first half of the hearing, the mood had been somber, broken only by flashes of disbelief at some of the defense’s arguments. Once prosecutors began reading the victim impact statements, the room changed. Victims and families sat scattered through the gallery, fighting tears as the full scale of Kyle’s harm came into focus.

The first statement came from Minor Victim 1’s mother and was read aloud by Jennifer Kolman. Her daughter was too exhausted and angry to speak, so her mother spoke for her, describing the constant stress, fear, physical scars, and judgment her daughter now lives with.

“I hope someone tortures this man like he tortured my daughter.”

The next speaker was the only minor victim to address the court in person. Now 16, she was just 13 when she first stumbled into the Discord server that eventually led her to Kyle Spitze.

She described the grooming and conditioning that came before the worst of the abuse. Already struggling with self-harm and an eating disorder, she said her abusers exploited her vulnerabilities. “They made me feel normal,” she told the court, “but they made me get worse.”

Her abusers began subjecting her to threats and blackmail, She now has scars all over her body that spell out “Crim” and “Harm Nation”. At her lowest point, she saw suicide as the only way out.

She ended by looking directly at Kyle and delivering a seething blow that seemed to cut through the courtroom: “The world could’ve gone on if your mom’s boyfriend didn’t miss.”

After she finished, a solemn-faced mother took the stand to read statements for herself and her daughter, who could not attend because she had been hospitalized for PTSD symptoms worsened by the approaching hearing. Her daughter, she said, had been victimized by Kyle and by another 764 member known as Yuri, a man from the United Kingdom named Beaujack Mensworth whose trial is scheduled for September.

The abuse drove the girl to attempt suicide multiple times.

In her statement, she described joining a Discord server connected to 764 in 2023. The manipulation, she said, was “indescribable and incomprehensible.” “These scars will be on my body until the day I die.”

(continued)

>>24987996

5/6

Her mother then read her own impact statement, titled “The Monsters Who Hurt My Daughter.” She described the horror of realizing online predators had reached into her home through the internet. “You entered my home via the internet,” she wrote, “but you didn’t win.”

Kolman then read a statement from another teenager who said Kyle befriended her in an online chatroom, where she was exposed to gore, child exploitation material, and other content no child should ever see. “Kyle has ruined my life,” she wrote. “I live in constant fear and paranoia. I can’t sleep… The guilt will never leave me.” She asked the court whether 30 years could really rehabilitate him.

The final victim impact statements came from an underage Australian victim and her mother. The girl had been groomed and exploited by multiple 764 members, several of whom are also moving through the courts. She was encouraged to starve herself and self-harm; one member even sent her a suicide guide and tried to coerce her into killing herself on video.

Her mom and I have grown to know each other quite well over the last three years. Throughout that time, she has transformed into a one-woman-army, hell bent on ending the abuse inflicted by 764. With her permission, I’ve included a few excerpts from her statement, written to be read directly to Kyle Spitze.

—

After the victim impact statements, Kolman and Cooper delivered their closing arguments. Kolman told the court that Kyle had been seduced by power and notoriety, using the internet to terrorize children without ever touching them in person. “The internet is what made this new type of crime come to light,” she said.

She argued that Kyle and his 764 associates had helped create a new form of terrorism, but that Kyle was caught because he was greedy, reckless, and desperate for attention. The videos of the shooting and of his dead mother, she said, accelerated his arrest. A 77-year sentence was necessary not only to punish Kyle, but to deter others who hoped to emulate him.

Cooper began his closing arguments by urging the court to disregard all victim impact statements except Minor Victim 1’s, arguing that the others were unsworn and tied to conduct beyond the charged victims. He also disputed the claim that Kyle tried to intimidate victims from jail – an issue that mattered enormously because a witness-tampering enhancement could add decades to the mandatory minimum.

Cooper then returned to the defense’s central theme: that Kyle committed his crimes in a drug-induced stupor after years of addiction and an adverse childhood. Those circumstances, he argued, should mitigate the sentence. The defense asked for 30 years.

Judge Varlan listened carefully. It was clear he understood the gravity of the case. When he asked Kyle whether he wanted to address the court, Kyle leaned toward the microphone and, in a flat monotone, said, “I kindly refuse.”

Judge Varlan recessed the hearing until the next day, when he planned to finalize the sentence. The victim impact statements had taken the time he would normally have used to weigh the sentence on the record. I was disappointed I would not be there to watch Kyle hear his fate, but I understood why the day had unfolded that way. The victims’ words deserved the space they were given.

The next day, I received a text from Libby Cunningham at WBIR, Knoxville’s local NBC affiliate: “924 months is the sentence.”

77 years in federal for the demon called Kyle Spitze.

https://bxwrites.substack.com/p/the-sentencing-of-kyle-spitze

https://qresear.ch/?q=Kyle+Spitze

https://qresear.ch/?q=Becca+Spinks

(continued)

>>24987998

6/6

Q Post #1735

Jul 27 2018 13:13:18 (EST)

There is nothing more precious than our children.

Evil has no boundaries.

https://genius.com/Slayer-evil-has-no-boundaries-lyrics

The choice to know will ultimately be yours.

These people are SICK!

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/07/27/cbs-honcho-les-moonves-will-be-accused-sexual-misconduct-in-latest-ronan-farrow-bombshell-report-says.html

To those who are courageous enough to speak out - we stand with you!

You are not alone in this fight.

God bless.

Q

https://qanon.pub/#1735

—

Q Post #109

Nov 5 2017 20:06:36 (EST)

>St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the power of God, cast down to Hell Satan and all his evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Amen brother.

Q

https://qanon.pub/#109

—

Q Post #4207

May 11 2020 12:05:59 (EST)

The Armor of God

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Q

https://qanon.pub/#4207

—

Q Post #4396

Jun 3 2020 01:44:26 (EST)

God wins.

Q

https://qanon.pub/#4396

>>24987975

>>24987979

‘You can’t just say we’re evil’: Joyce backs Hanson when she says PM is inciting violence

James Massola and Nick Newling - August 31, 2026

1/2

Pauline Hanson’s personal protection detail has increased following threats against her, as the One Nation leader claimed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had incited violence by describing her as dangerous.

This masthead can reveal that Hanson’s security detail has increased from the usual two or three federal police to include as many as a dozen officers, including some undercover. Deputy leader Barnaby Joyce also has an occasional security detail, as the party’s leadership has become the target of protests following surging popularity in the polls.

Albanese used a speech on the weekend to attack One Nation and its leader for sowing division, but Hanson fired back on Monday, just days after her party’s first successful foray into Labor heartland outside Queensland – winning the West Australian state byelection in Secret Harbour – and a Victorian campaign event where she drove a nail into, and later buried, a coffin labelled “net zero”.

“The incitement that is happening is through our educational system and a prime minister who should know better than that,” Hanson said on Monday at a press conference in Gippsland, east of Melbourne, before demanding Albanese take “full responsibility” for threats made against her.

“I think he’s a pathetic prime minister. He’s not the leader of this nation. You don’t go out saying those things, and they’re all scared. They’re scared because now we’ve won a safe Labor seat, and this is worrying them.”

Speaking on Sunday at Labor’s Queensland state conference, Albanese said Hanson sought “to divide Australians” and “talks Australia down both here and overseas”.

“Parties like One Nation have no serious answers to our problems,” Albanese said. “Their own divisions and disagreements are now showing through. They think Australians are lazy and overpaid. That people working from home are bludging. That domestic violence is sometimes a woman’s fault. That we should, somehow, become a monoculture.”

Joyce told this masthead that “I think we have to go back to our primal nature as Australians – laconic, cheeky, but we don’t hurt people”.

“Right now you have Albanese giving a speech not on policy, but on what he believes is a fundamental character malfeasance of One Nation. That’s the wrong approach, PM. You can fight us on policy, but you can’t just say we’re evil,” Joyce said.

“Remember when Mr Albanese makes a judgment about One Nation, he’s made a judgment about 30 per cent of Australia. There are parties on the ballot paper who are nut jobs and people don’t vote for them. One Nation is the most conservative party in Australia, but it’s not an evil party, it’s not promulgating hate.”

Hanson cited the death of conservative British politician Ann Widdecombe as a warning over the danger of violent political rhetoric. Widdecombe was found dead in her home in July, having suffered a serious injury to her head. A man has been charged with her murder and is expected to face trial next year.

(continued)

>>24991385

2/2

Threats against MPs have been steadily escalating recently. There are about 20 ongoing court matters across the country in which people are accused of making violent threats against Albanese. Nearly 40 people have been charged with Commonwealth crimes since September last year for threatening MPs and other high office holders.

One of the threatened MPs, Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie, has been afforded additional security. Sources told this masthead Hastie believed the decision was driven by an orchestrated campaign against him online that had been fuelled by One Nation and its supporters over the Ben Roberts-Smith saga.

On August 20, Perth man Anton Raymond Illich, 47, appeared in court charged with threatening to kill Hanson. He is alleged to have threatened her on Facebook, including a claim he said he would “hunt her down”.

He is scheduled to appear again in October.

The prime minister is travelling to the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau and did not respond.

Assistant Minister Patrick Gorman said Hanson had also sought to fan outrage and dissent.

“I have found some of the stunts Hanson has done over the years, including in the Senate chamber, to be not consistent with the effort to make sure we bring Australians together and do our politics respectfully,” he said on ABC News.

“I welcome Senator Hanson in joining the government in saying we can do politics in a more respectful way, and I hope that is a standard she sets for all her MPs and all the candidates she endorses.”

One Nation won the West Australian state byelection in the previously safe Labor seat of Secret Harbour on Saturday, with an enormous swing towards new MP Luke Herdegen.

However, the day’s success was hampered by a report in The Saturday Paper that new MP David Farley was “poised” to quit the party and sit as an independent. The One Nation MP was elected in May at the Farrer byelection, the first time the party had won a seat in the House of Representatives.

Farley told this masthead that “speculation of my departure from One Nation are without fact or truth” and that he remained focused on the needs of people in his seat of Farrer.

“One Nation is the only political party with the political courage and tenacity to address the critical issues important to Farrer. What’s good for Farrer is good for the nation,” he said.

Hanson told radio station 2GB on Monday that she had spoken to Farley on Sunday, and that he had confirmed he wouldn’t be moving to the crossbench. “David’s not going anywhere,” Hanson said. “He’s a team player.”

During her Monday press conference, Hanson railed against Labor’s renewables rollout, saying it was hampering industry, and campaigned for the rollout of nuclear energy in Victoria. Hanson and her Victorian leader Warren Pickering did not reveal costs associated with their energy policy.

Victorian state Energy and Resources Minister Jaclyn Symes said the state had the cheapest power in Australia because Labor has invested in renewables, the cheapest form of energy.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/joyce-denies-claims-of-mp-s-one-nation-exit-as-hanson-fires-back-at-albanese-20260831-p60swn.html

>>24841251

Labor declares AI biggest sovereignty moment ‘since World War II’

Paul Sakkal - August 31, 2026

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Defence Minister Richard Marles says Australia’s place in the AI race is the most critical moment for national self-reliance since World War II, as he heads to San Francisco to advance a $21 billion deal that would boost Australia’s stake in the technology’s development.

The deputy prime minister told this masthead the timeframe for locking in an agreement to make Australia a second home for Anthropic was measured in months not years “because the technology is moving so fast”, adding urgency to his trip.

He will fly to the United States on Monday to meet with executives at the top AI firms, accompanied by Labor’s AI pathfinder, assistant minister Andrew Charlton. Marles will then meet US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington and new UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting in London to talk AUKUS.

In his most expansive remarks on how AI would influence security, Marles said the tech would one day operate submarines and F-35 aircraft, and provide battlefield data to soldiers being targeted by AI-operated drones.

To give Australia influence over and access to these models, and to avoid being a passive “taker” as the US and China battle for tech supremacy, Marles declared: “We’re with the United States – there’s no question there.”

Marles admitted there were unanswered questions about what types of capabilities Australia could develop if it turned into a relatively important player in the US tech buildout, which some have compared to the nuclear arms race.

“What I know is the opportunity to create that agency lies in this collaboration,” he said. “The question is what agency do we have over that AI technology?

“This is as big a sovereignty inflection point as we’ve seen since the Second World War … We need to be working with America to advance our national interests and develop more Australian capability.”

The emerging technology has turned into a core part of Labor’s agenda. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told this newspaper last week that his government would expand its AI focus next year when it hopes to pass laws on how data centres, which power AI, should use water and energy.

Political and voter backlash has imperilled data centre construction in the US. Albanese delivered a speech last month to offset a similar backlash in Australia where the Coalition has offered bipartisan support to maintain social licence for the technology that could bolster national security and productivity. The Greens have called for a moratorium on building data centres. Social media firm X said last week that about 200 accounts from a suspected Chinese bot farm had been trying to turn US voters against data centres.

Australia has been in talks with the White House for months to secure first access to the top US frontier models. Signing deals with Anthropic and others such as Google and Amazon could give Australia leverage with the US and its tech sector. Charlton has argued that Australia should not just be a home to data centres, investment in which is rivalling the mining boom, but should aim to develop AI expertise and its own models – a prospect downplayed by sceptics.

(continued)

>>24991401

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The sticking point in Australia’s negotiations with Anthropic has been finding a way to give AI firms access to Australian news and musical content to train their models. Media firms and creatives have demanded Australia create rules to compensate. Albanese told this masthead last week that the government was close to a copyright solution.

Marles said Labor would not sell out creatives as AI firms looked to Australia to create an “alternative node to the US”.

“Our remoteness is our friend, our geography is so good. We are a stable, democratic country, rule of law [with] predictable governance,” he said, as data centre investment in the Middle East becomes riskier due to war.

“This [trip] is about saying we’re serious. We definitely want you to come. It needs to be on the right terms and we’re working that through. We are utterly focused on dedicating resources at the highest levels to solve this policy issue because we see this as a huge moment for the country.”

Coalition defence spokesman James Paterson said AI had profound strategic implications but “right now our public policy settings mean we risk missing the key windows for investment”.

“They won’t remain open forever. That’s not just a missed economic opportunity but would leave Australia weaker in a dangerous world,” he said.

Marles will aim to advance negotiations with Anthropic that Albanese hopes to ultimately sew up in coming months.

The deputy prime minister also launched a defence of the AUKUS pact ahead of his trip.

The stationing of nuclear subs near Perth has been the subject of a row when Australian officials were forced to correct a suggestion that the US submarines would be there for only five years.

AUKUS opponents including Peter Garrett and Malcolm Turnbull have been involved in an unofficial citizens’ inquiry into AUKUS to add momentum to the case against nuclear-powered subs. America’s ability to produce enough Virginia-class subs has also cast doubt over the deal.

Marles said that spending on AUKUS would make up less than 10 per cent of the defence budget over time, pushing back on critics who cite larger figures. The Coalition and other experts have said AUKUS is eating into other parts of the defence budget.

But the defence minister said submarines were “easily the most important capability” because they were “fundamentally asymmetric” in that their hidden presence allowed a smaller force such as Australia to destabilise a larger naval force in a way that it could not do through infantry.

“We describe our most consequential strategic risk as being an adversary that would seek to coerce us,” he said.

“It’s actually a perfect thing for us to be spending money on … If we didn’t operate submarines, we would have much less capability and then we would be much less sovereign.”

https://www.theage.com.au/national/labor-declares-ai-biggest-sovereignty-moment-since-world-war-ii-20260830-p60srs.html

>>24991419

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The withdrawals come after the PIF was unable to agree on a joint statement condemning China’s nuclear-capable missile test in the Pacific in July, with Nauru and Kiribati refusing to sign on. Taiwan, blocked from attending last year’s summit in Solomon Islands, has sent Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung to attend the summit in Palau – one of just three Pacific nations that maintain diplomatic ties with the self-governed island.

Mr Whipps said his country had already faced threats from Beijing over Taiwan’s attendance, with a campaign on Chinese ­social media painting Palau as an “unsafe place to visit”.

“It’s not a true statement, but they said if Taiwan comes then … these are things that will happen. It shouldn’t be that way because we’ve made it clear from the beginning that Taiwan is a development partner, China is a dialogue partner. We welcome all partners to come to Palau,” he said.

“The Pacific is our home, not a theatre for geopolitical competition. We welcome partnerships that respect our sovereignty, protect our ocean and natural resources, and deliver real benefits for a peaceful, prosperous and resilient Pacific.”

He said Taiwan had been a “true partner” since Palau established diplomatic relations with the island in 1999.

“That is our sovereign decision, not (China’s) decision,” Mr Whipps said.

At the same time, he suggested Beijing was linked to the trafficking of drugs in the region. “We now have 13 Chinese in prison in Palau, and it’s almost like do they want to overwhelm our prison to keep on sending more of these people,” he said.

Anna Powles, from New Zealand’s Massey University, said Taiwan’s presence in Palau was “a direct affront to Beijing, which has objected strongly and will likely to continue to do so”.

She said PIF summits were becoming dominated by geopolitical contestation by non-forum members. “It is critical the PIF develop guardrails to better manage these dynamics,” Dr Powles said.

She added that the absence of regional leaders from the meeting was “deeply disappointing for hosts Palau and for regionalism itself, which is being undermined by geopolitics and national interest”.

Beijing has sent its Special Envoy for Pacific Island Countries, Qian Bo, to Palau for the summit. In 2024, Mr Qian demanded the PIF final communique be amended after it affirmed Taiwan’s status as an ongoing “development partner”.

The US will be represented at the summit by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. He will be accompanied by US Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday and US Pacific Command Deputy Commander Lieutenant General George Rowell.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/pacific-islands-forum-preparations-thrown-into-disarray/news-story/f9a94b9838f796b190f57d3fc08b96b4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YnGjtvaLqQ

>>24898191

'Distressed' Alan Jones accuser made graphic complaint

Adelaide Lang - August 31 2026

A former radio staffer confided in a friend that Alan Jones was in love with him years before disclosing he had allegedly been indecently assaulted by the radio kingpin.

Jones, the 85-year-old former ruler of Sydney's breakfast slot, is on trial in the NSW Local Court after pleading not guilty to 22 counts of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent.

Six men allege they were kissed, groped or subjected to sexual misconduct by Jones between 2003 and 2023 at locations in Sydney and the NSW Southern Highlands.

Eight of the charges relate to a former radio staffer, who claims the former Wallabies coach repeatedly kissed and groped him without consent over five months when they worked together.

The man's former colleague testified on Monday the radio staffer told him there had been ongoing flirting with Jones, which he relayed to police.

"(The radio staffer) has made the odd comment that Alan is in love with him and has regularly flirted with him in person and over text," the former colleague said in his police statement.

He said the radio staffer had also disclosed that media reporting of allegations regarding Jones brought up a lot of feelings for him and may have used the word "trauma".

"It didn't stand out like a red flag," his former colleague said.

But he said it wasn't until 2023, after he had been contacted by Sydney Morning Herald journalist Kate McClymont, that the radio staffer confided in him about the alleged indecent assaults.

McClymont aired allegations against Jones in a 2023 article that sparked an investigation which ultimately led to his arrest the following year.

After speaking to McClymont, the radio staffer's former colleague said he then contacted Jones's accuser.

"He told me that Mr Jones used to touch him inappropriately," he told the court, later clarifying that the radio staffer was intoxicated.

"He seemed quite agitated and quite distressed.

"He said Alan used to full grab him on the cock, or words to that effect."

During the conversation, he said the radio staffer referenced an instance when they had both been at a hotel with Jones.

The radio staffer previously told the court Jones kissed him without consent in a wardrobe at the hotel and he had pushed the older man off.

His former colleague said he saw Jones ask the man to "come here for a moment" before they both disappeared into the bedroom, but he hadn't seen anything further or asked about it.

Jones has not been charged in relation to the alleged incident in Melbourne.

His barrister has accused the radio staffer of rewriting his history with the veteran broadcaster, which the younger man strongly rejected.

Former 2GB broadcaster Jason Morrison concluded his lengthy time in the witness box on Monday morning after telling the court he had not seen Jones touch the radio staffer under the table at an event.

Defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC told the court she was "very, very concerned" about an email that had been sent to Morrison in relation to his testimony.

"No witness should have to endure this sort of conduct," she said.

"It's a very serious matter".

The matter had been referred to police and would be the subject of an investigation, the court was told.

"Any person who reads the media reporting should be very careful in relation to what they do and not run the risk of committing a criminal offence," Judge Glenn Walsh warned.

A spokesperson for NSW Police said they had started an investigation into a report a 54-year-old man received a threatening email.

Jones has denied all of the charges against him, which are alleged to have occurred during the latter part of his 35-year broadcasting career, when he dominated Sydney's airwaves.

He also broadcast to a national audience for years as a regular commentator on Nine's Today show and a host of a political discussion show on Sky News.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9340943/distressed-alan-jones-accuser-made-graphic-complaint/