Friday, July 17, 2020

Sir John Kerr’s secret


 

 (CNN)Ramon Abbas flaunted a lavish lifestyle of private jets, designer clothes and luxury cars. 
To his 2.5 million Instagram followers,he went by Ray Hushpuppi, a man who boarded helicopters from his Dubai waterfront apartment and walked around with shopping bags from Gucci, Versace and Fendi. 
On social media, where he posted a video of himself tossing wads of cash like confetti, he told his followers he was a real estate developer. But a federal affidavit alleged his extravagant lifestyle was financed through hacking schemes that stole millions of dollars from major companies in the United States and Europe.

AFR Fourth Plutus tax fraud conspirator sentenced to jail


It is looking at candidates for office space ahead of looming expiry dates for its leases at its Sydney CBD and Parramatta offices. 

Tender documents show the ATO is looking for smaller offices in the two commercial centres.

Australian Taxation Office looking for smaller offices in Sydney CBD and Parramatta


More than $1 billion in tax refunds paid

 The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has so far received over 1.7 million individual 2020 returns, an increase of 12% for the same period last year.


Decades-old 'overdue' tax returns appear on ATO Online


Auditor-General 'watergate' report finds buyback scheme didn't ensure value


Agriculture department had no plan to maximise value for money of Murray-Darling water purchases, audit finds

NEEDED IMPROVEMENT: The former Department of Agriculture and Water Resources’ handling of Murray-Darling strategic water buybacks was not ‘fully effective’, the national auditor-general has found.


After a long battle, the #PalaceLetters have today been released in full. Find out why Monash professor Jenny Hocking fought for public access to royal correspondence about the dismissal of Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam: mona.sh/aFZl30qYeSP@palaceletters





Sir John Kerr’s secret ‘Palace letters’ to be released

History will be made this week with the release of hundreds of secret letters between the Queen and the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, relating to Kerr’s 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government. Continue reading 


The Palace Letters have blown apart the claim the Queen had no part in the Whitlam dismissal.

The letters show that the Queen’s responses, and at times even advice, particularly in relation to Kerr’s concern for his own position and the possible use of the reserve powers, played a critical role in his planning and in his eventual decision to dismiss the government. Continue reading 

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‘Palace letters’ reveal the palace’s fingerprints on the dismissal of the Whitlam government (The Conversation 15.7.2020)

The “palace letters” show the Australian Constitution’s susceptibility to self-interested behaviour by individual vice-regal representatives. They also reveal the vulnerability of Australian governments to secret destabilisation by proxy by the Crown. Continue reading 

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The Palace knew for months before November 11 that John Kerr was considering dismissing Gough Whitlam (A repost from 11.11.2015)

Based on an examination of John Kerr’s ‘treasure trove of previously unpublished papers’, Professor Jenny Hocking has provided overwhelming evidence that before the dismissal John Kerr had extensive conversations and correspondence with the Queen, Prince Charles and Sir Martin Charteris, the Queen’s private secretary. To support his actions John Kerr clearly wanted these papers released to show that he had  the Queen’s backing Continue reading 


Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released a transcript of the Committee’s July 9th interview with Geoffrey Berman, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). Chairman Nadler issued the following statement on the release of the transcript: “While Mr. Berman was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, his office announced multiple investigations that implicated President Trump, including the prosecution of the President’s longtime legal fixer Michael Cohen


Bishops and branch stacking: the second oldest profession

Branch stacking scandals are not new to Australian politics of whatever colour. Nor is the phenomenon new to the Catholic Church. In fact, the caper originated within Jesus’ inner circle and it hasn’t let up since. 

Continue reading 


Australia’s national security laws leave us on a similar path to Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s new national security laws are attracting well-deserved condemnation. It’s a pity that there hasn’t been greater recognition that Australia’s own national security laws share some common features with those in Hong Kong.

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