25 October 2013

Westfield profits linked to UK tax haven of Jersey

A new report released to the ABC has revealed how the $60 billion Westfield shopping centre group does so well financially, showing the firm's main UK company has paid only a small fraction of its revenue in tax.

More than 50 Westfield subsidiaries are based in the low-tax haven of Jersey in the English Channel.
The report argues the governments of the world should crack down on tax minimising ways of big corporations like Westfield, to reduce debt and deficit.

Westfield UK operates Europe's largest urban shopping centre, but having a net tax liability of less than half a million pounds over more than a decade to 2011, it must also have one of the lowest corporate tax rates compared to its multi-billion dollar revenue over that period.

Richard Murphy runs Tax Research, a UK consultancy that does what its name suggests on behalf of charities and unions.


Westfield UK operates Europe's largest urban shopping centre, but having a net tax liability of less than half a million pounds over more than a decade to 2011, it must also have one of the lowest corporate tax rates compared to its multi-billion dollar revenue over that period.

Richard Murphy runs Tax Research, a UK consultancy that does what its name suggests on behalf of charities and unions.

 

"Westfield has put in place what they would call a tax-efficient structure and that must only be because they are looking to save tax," he said.

"I've been a chartered accountant for 31 years now. I reckon I've read 10,000 sets of accounts or more in my time."

Recently, he added the accounts of Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd, the group's main UK subsidiary, to that list.

What Mr Murphy found was a labyrinthine structure.

"There is a legal entity that owns the site which is UK resident, but it actually does so on behalf of a group of Jersey property unit trusts. They're called J-PUTS for short," he said.

Mr Murphy can only think of one good reason for those layers of subsidiaries.

"Let's be blunt about it: nobody would use a Jersey property unit trust if it wasn't for a tax motive," he said.

Asked about the tax benefits of using something like a Jersey property unit trust, he says: "Well, one thing to say straight away is it does not mean that Westfield does not pay tax in the UK on its rental income in this country."

But there are other likely tax benefits, he says.

"First of all, it appears that these trusts will actually make the flow of income with a reduced rate of tax, or as low a possible rate of tax, easier for Westfield," he said.

"The second incentive is actually capital gains tax. Under current UK law there would be no capital gains tax charge because capital gains are charged on where the company is resident, not where the property is, and these companies are not resident in the UK.

"The Jersey property unit trust is not in the UK and therefore capital gain, if one is made on sale, would fall out of tax.

"And there's another advantage as well with regard to sale: the J-PUT will prevent stamp duty being paid. So there's some very strong property tax avoidance opportunities made available by using a J-PUT which the UK equivalent structures cannot provide."

Westfield Group has 54 subsidiary companies registered in Jersey

Mr Murphy has noticed one other interesting issue with the relationship between Westfield UK and the Jersey trusts.

The trusts were paying for Westfield's UK shopping centre developments but the payments were often months late, meaning the UK company incurred more interest costs which it then deducted against its income for tax.

"As a result, Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd was incurring heavy borrowing costs in the UK on which it was claiming tax relief, cancelling its profits, cancelling its tax liabilities, in that sense, as a result," Mr Murphy said.

"And the consequence of that was that the Jersey company was effectively being funded by not paying the UK company."

The global Westfield Group clearly likes Jersey's regulatory system: so much so that it has 54 subsidiary companies registered there, according to a study conducted by the Uniting Church earlier this year.

Dr Mark Zirnsak, who led that research, said: "It was a company that chose not to engage with us at all. So they offered us no explanation as to why they had subsidiaries in secrecy jurisdictions and particularly the one they made greatest use of was Jersey in the Channel Islands. So they had 54 subsidiaries in Jersey by our understanding."

Company is acting entirely within tax laws

However, both researchers say that Westfield is acting entirely within the tax laws as they exist.

"As far as I'm concerned, everything that has gone on here is legal. All I'm doing is drawing attention to the fact that these arrangements exist," Mr Murphy said.

Michael Crosby, the national president of the United Voice union which commissioned the report, says not everything that is legal is moral.

"The whole community benefits from the payment of tax. That's where we get government services from," he said.

"And the quality of life of the people we represent at the bottom of the labour market really depends upon whether big business pays their tax."

And he says Westfield's attitude to paying tax reflects its attitude to United Voice members, with the company failing to support the union's call for better pay and conditions for cleaners.

"Cleaners are not the voiceless people that Westfield thought they were. They've got a powerful union and we're using that power to defend them," Mr Crosby said.

In response to emailed questions from the ABC, Westfield says it has always complied with all its tax requirements in all jurisdictions.

It says it cannot offer a detailed response to any of the issues in the study until the report is released and it can view it in its entirety.

abc.net.au 16 Oct 2013

The government  will never prosecute nor even try to go after their multinational colleagues, who own tens of companies linked to one retailer for the sole purpose of tax 'evasion'.

What the governments WILL do is if anyone from the general population opens accounts, this information is passed on to the relevant government, and they are dealt with accordingly.

24 October 2013

Contract riches for audit chief

23 October 2013

Smart meters, but at whose expense?

THE introduction of smart meters in Victoria may have been a costly exercise for consumers but it has proven an impressive money spinner for a handful of Australian entrepreneurs.

Cameron O'Reilly (illustrated, CA$HING IN), the scion of the Heinz food empire and former chief of media group APN, along with John B. Fairfax, the Smorgon family and Kerry Stokes are a few of the high-profile names to have made a killing from the sale of smart meters (of the general populous to spread cancer?). They were major shareholders of Landis + Gyr, the company that amassed about 56 per cent of the market in deals to supply the electricity distributors in Victoria.

Their big payday came in 2011 when O'Reilly sold Landis + Gyr to Toshiba for $US2.3 billion.

An investigation by BusinessDay has found Australians have been paying about twice the amount for smart meters than consumers in the US and Europe. And there has been poor transparency even though the metering devices had been mandated by the government.

That the costs of the implementation in Victoria have already blown out from $800 million to $2.3 billion presents a salutary warning to New South Wales, which is now deliberating on a rollout of its own, albeit optional.

The success of Landis + Gyr has confirmed Cameron O'Reilly as one of the most savvy businessmen in Australia. The O'Reilly family had controlled regional media group APN and just as the fortunes of old media were about to take a battering last decade, O'Reilly was already moving deftly into a new space.

He started with Bayard Capital in 2002, garnering seed money from friends and business acquaintances. Kerry Stokes and J.B. Fairfax pitched in $20 million apiece, and the Smorgon family another $5 million. O'Reilly soon sold two-thirds of his APN shares and chipped in a further $5 million.

He raised $100 million in seed capital, then Bayard went on a $1.5 billion spending spree, acquiring Swiss metering company and industry leader Landis + Gyr. The Toshiba sale for $2.3 billion made Bayard's seed investors a handsome multiple of their investment, although it is only possible to piece together estimates of profits from the public materials.

The Fairfax family would make about $203 million, through Marinya Holdings, and the Smorgon family's Escor Investments, $36 million.

John Curtis, the chairman of St George Bank made $24 million and the private equity group Propel Investments about $405 million.

Propel and Curtis came on board through a series of capital raisings before the Toshiba sale. Other shareholders in Bayard were Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singapore government, the former Lion Nathan chairman Doug Myers and fashion designer Carla Zampatti. Once O'Reilly had acquired Email Metering, the Enermet Group of Finland, Hunt Technologies and Cellnet Technologies in the US, and Europe's Landis + Gyr, Bayard was the No. 1 player in the world market.

Not only did Landis + Gyr, to which Bayard then changed its name, dominate Victoria but it also managed to fetch high prices for its devices, perhaps the highest in the world. Repeated efforts by BusinessDay to find relevant information about smart meter prices and contracts have fallen on deaf ears. ''Commercial in confidence'' has been the response. Both government agencies and distributors refused to provide details, although industry sources said Australians have been charged twice as much as customers in other developed markets.

According to eMeter Corporation, a meter data intelligence department of Siemens, the average cost of smart meters sold to utility companies in the US is $221, and in Europe $272. A spokesperson for the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) confirmed the Victorian distribution companies paid an average of $346 to their suppliers. Powercor paid the highest at $423.

Landis + Gyr meters are widely used across the US and Europe. It is the sole supplier of the E350 model to SP AusNet and has a contract to supply 80 per cent of CitiPower and Powercor's E350 smart meters. A spokesman for CitiPower and Powercor said that there were at least 32 respondents to the tenders. It was a ''highly competitive process'' with 16 detailed proposals lodged, according to CitiPower and Powercor. Landis + Gyr's PR company said the prices negotiated in Victoria could not be compared with those overseas as specifications changed from country to country.

''The Landis + Gyr smart meters sold in Victoria are manufactured in Australia to meet the custom specifications of local utilities,'' he said. ''The model numbers we use, in this case the E350, specify a generic nomenclature within Landis + Gyr globally, however, between each region, the form factor, functionality, communications type, network provider and feature set vary widely, meaning the same model number meters are not the same regional devices at all.''

Although Landis + Gyr could hardly be expected to divulge commercial information, the government should disclose. The public is footing the bill, after all. Yet there was no response from the AER, or the distributors.

The other major supplier of smart meters in Victoria is Secure Meters previously known as PRI Australasia. Secure Meters supplies the i-Credit 500 model. It is headquartered in India.

The high price of a meter in Victoria and the paucity of proper information about their cost serves as a warning to consumers in NSW. Last month, the O'Farrell government announced plans for a market-led rollout of smart meters for NSW. One distributor, Essential Energy, said it had been reviewing Landis + Gyr and Secure Meters as potential suppliers.

As crunch time approaches for weary power consumers in NSW, the state would do well to deliver a more transparent outcome - and a lower price, seeing it is the customer who has to pick up the cost while the greater benefits, according to most independent observers, fall to the distributors rather than the customers.

smh.com.au 24 Dec 2012

Another 'Money for Mates' deal at the expense of the general populous.

Made in India for $4, and sold to Aussie 'sheeple' for hundreds (per year).

Another corporate scam supported by the government fraudsters.
The untouchable Anglo-Masonic elite.

Smart meters – Powercor false information to consumers


In Victoria Australia, the government has apparently ‘mandated’ the installation of ‘smart meters’ to all residential (households) and small business (not large or corporate) customers.

There are several issues raised by people as listed below, but not limited to:

  • As a customer you are being forced to ‘buy’ something,
  • Health issue concerns with relation to the emitting devices,
  • Government contract mandates the company to install under a ‘best endeavours’ attempt, and NOT for customers to accept unwillingly.
  • Various groups have asked for the lawful acts to be presented, of which none have been presented to date,
In Melbourne, Australia the electricity distributor Powercor has been caught out providing false information to consumers regarding its smart meters.

Apparently under Australian law, providing false or misleading information to consumers  is ‘illegal’ and carries a fine.
The smart meter that Powercor installs into households is manufactured by Landis+Gyr in Zug Switzerland, a multinational corporation with 45 companies in over 30 countries.

The model used by Powercor is the E350 Type U1200.

Powercor states that:

1). The radiation is a very small amount, the same as a short mobile phone conversation or SMS (Short Message Service),

2) The smart meter operates between 900 MHz to 2.4 GHz,

3). The meter relays information back to base 4 times per day,

4). A reassessment that the radiation level now (within approx 1min of previous statement) of the smart meter is now ½ the strength of an SMS,

5). Well within the Australian Standards,

6). Meter next to head not a concern,

7). Powercor is acting on behalf of DPI to install meters, 

8). No real evidence that mobile phones are linked to brain cancer, and people are still using mobile phones and not being concerned.

A test has been conducted and the results posted on youtube by TheDamo63

The video is titled: Powercore Smart Meter Spikes off Scale!


The test equipment used in the experiment is the Cornet Electrosmog ED75 meter, and a test SMS has been sent via an older type Nokia 6xxx GSM non smartphone type mobile.

In the test environment shown in the video, 

  • the smart meter peaks at 1827 mW/m2 (milliwatt per square meter)
  • the Nokia SMS message peaks at 39 mW/m2

The smart meter emits approximately 46.8 times more radiation at a greater distance than the mobile phone in the test.

This shows clearly that Powercor has provided false information in relation to EMF emissions.

Powercore states that the meter transmits 4 times per day, whereas it actually transmits once per minute which equals 1440 times per day. Another false statement made by Powercor.

Item 4). above states that Powercor reassessed SMS emissions of mobile phones and now their meter emits  ½ that of an SMS. Actual results show that if an SMS as shown in the video has a peak of 39mW/m2, then the smart meter would have an emission of approx. 20mW/m2.

The test shows that the claim by Powercor to item 4). is not only false but inaccurate by a factor of 91.3 times.

Item 5). Above states that Powercor’s meter is within the Australian Standard, can such a test result be produced?

Can Powercor provide a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the device?

In relation to Item 6). Can information be provided to the consumer with test results of brain tissue degradation close to smart meter?

Item 7). States that a binding contract is in place with the DPI (Department of Primary Industries) to carry out installations of smart meters. There is NO stated or implied agreement for Powercor to carry out any claims of consumer health effects.

Does Powercor hold scientific papers that undeniably conclude that there is no evidence that mobile phones are linked to brain cancer? 

Powercore also states that given that the alleged public opinion is of ‘no concern’ given the fact that they are using mobile phones on a daily basis is enough to conclude that mobile phone use does not cause brain cancer.

22 October 2013

Corrupt authorities doing business with criminals

The 'New Hope' Scholarship - Taking children away from their families

A healthy society is a happy society, is a strong motto that hits home.

Another saying that should also be well known is that 'in unity there is strength', which is well known within governance both in peace and time of war.

A sure way to control the masses is to create disparity amongst them, in order for them to divert their energies away from the source of  oppression.

Another way to control the peasants is to drug them, an all to common approach used, by for example the Anglo-Masonic invaders of countries, like the Americas and Australia, to name a couple.

Alcohol was introduced to keep the 'original' native inhabitants under control, and incarcerated for alcohol induced, white persons 'crimes'.

Ironically the native inhabitants are called Ab-original, meaning not original, as defined the prefix ab is derived from Latin meaning; away from; off; outside of or opposite to, with a simple example of abnormal meaning not normal.

The Australian government also took away children from their parents in the well documented events known as The stolen Generations, officially from a period between 1909 and 1969.

Fast forward to 2013 and the Australian government is again on the path of destroying families, but this time under the "New Hope" banner.

Migrants are being brought in on both plane and boat for 'scholarships', where they are schooled up in how to take children away from their families, legally, and under whatever pretext the social worker sees fit.

These children are then the ward of the state, and subject to abuse and experiments.

Another way of disassembling the strength of the family unit, which has many benefits for others.

County Court of Victoria – A Corporation


In many instances the general public feel ripped off by the judicial ‘system’. From a false statement made by police, a driver is convicted of an ‘offence’, then when the matter arrives in court the motorist is penalised even more, to crimes of rape or murder where the assailant walks free, only to further commit more crimes.
To the lay (uneducated) person this may not only seem illogical and preposterous but a gross miscarriage of justice.

But realistically there is a method to this ‘madness’.

The so called Australian court is NOT a court of law for the people, but rather a ‘court’ of business / commerce / trading, i.e a corporation.

In the Oxford English dictionary, the French word brochure has the following definition: noun

  • a small book or magazine containing pictures and information about a product or service:  a holiday brochure
The County Court of Victoria is a registered business.

From the website http://abr.business.gov.au/   the definition is as follows:

ABN Lookup is the public view of the Australian Business Register (ABR). It provides access to the publicly available information supplied by businesses when they register for an Australian Business Number (ABN).

COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA with ABN: 32 790 228 959 is a place of business / commerce / trading.

The brochure that is available from the County Court of Victoria at 250 William St, Melbourne 3000, states that the court rooms are for hire, therefore they are open for business and YOU are their client.

On the first page of the brochure it is also stated that “ The Victorian Court Facility opened in 2002. It is privately owned, maintained and operated by The Liberty Group & wholly owned subsidiary of the Challenger Financial Services Group

The lay person is duped into being summoned to court, believing that it is a court of law.

When one ‘decides’ to go to court, one enters a binding contract with the corporation to abide by the rules given.

The objective is NOT to enter a ‘binding’ contract with the corporation known as the ‘court’.

Child abuse in Melbourne's north - Forced to wed at 14

21 October 2013

JP Morgan 'may pay record $13bn fine'

US banking giant JP Morgan is set for a record $13bn (£8bn) fine to settle investigations into its mortgage-backed securities, US media reports have said.

(illustration: J.P. Morgan and "junior," right, shown together before the outbreak of World War I.)

A tentative deal is believed to have been reached in talks with senior US Justice Department officials.
The fine relates to the sale of securities based on home loans, which led to the near-collapse of the banking system in 2007.

If confirmed, it would be the biggest settlement ever paid by an US company.

Last month, JP Morgan was fined almost $1bn in the "London Whale" scandal, which arose from huge disastrous bets on the financial markets placed by former bank employee Bruno Iksil.

Risky assets The tentative deal to pay the $13bn fine to the Justice Department was reached during the talks on Friday, between JP Morgan lawyers with US Attorney General Eric Holder and his deputy Tony West, the Wall Street Journal said, citing officials familiar with the decision.

The New York Times also reported that the investment bank was nearing the agreement. Neither the Justice Department nor the bank was available for comment.

But the reports said that while the fine would settle all civil claims, the US bank would still face possible federal criminal charges being pursued in California or individual criminal claims.

The $13bn sum is said to include $9bn in fines and a further $4bn in relief for struggling homeowners.

The crash In the run-up to the financial crisis, sophisticated financial products known as mortgage-backed securities were created by many investment banks.

These special bonds contained a mix of investments but at their heart were supposed to be risk-free home loans, the BBC's business correspondent Joe Lynam reports.

When the housing bubble burst, the value of these assets fell sharply and the credit markets seized up. The balance sheets of many US and European banks, including those in the UK, became toxic and they had to be bailed out by their governments.

What JP Morgan is alleged to have done was sell the mortgage-backed assets knowing full well that many of the home loans were in fact very risky.

Some of the problems relate to mortgage bank Washington Mutual and investment bank Bear Stearns, two failing firms that JPMorgan took over in 2008.

The mortgage-backed assets played a central role in the near collapse of the banking system when banks realised in 2007 that many of their assets were worth a fraction of their official book value.

JP Morgan had initially aimed to persuade Justice Department officials to drop the criminal investigation but the attorney general ruled that out, reports said.

The bank is not alone in facing inquiries into past practice. In August, US government officials filed two lawsuits against Bank of America relating to mortgage-backed securities. Bank of America denied civil fraud in failing to disclose risks and misleading investors.

Legal woes JP Morgan has found itself overwhelmed by mounting legal troubles lately.

Once the darling of Washington and Wall Street, it reported a rare quarterly earnings loss last week, mostly due to legal costs totalling $9.2bn.

The bank lost $380m during the quarter, compared with a profit of $5.7bn in the same period last year.
JP Morgan says it has set aside a fund of $23bn to deal with mounting legal costs.

bbc.co.uk 20 Oct 2013

JP Morgan is one of the corporations that financed Germany during World War II, which ultimately cost the lives of 60 million Europeans.

The untouchable corrupt bankers.

Notice the headline: JP Morgan 'may pay record $13bn fine'

While it may seem like a lot for money to the lay person, it is a drop in the ocean in the banking world.

Speeding hoons caught in police blitz on Victorian roads

POLICE have nabbed several speeding hoons in a series of safety operations on Victoria's roads this weekend. 
 
Nunawading Highway Patrol officers clocked a Nissan Skyline Coupe travelling at 170km/h in a 100km/h zone on the Monash Freeway in Glen Waverley just before 4am yesterday.

The driver, a 29-year-old Dandenong North man, had his vehicle impounded for 30 days and is expected to be charged on summons.

Two hours later, officers caught a Hampton Park woman, 24, travelling at 141km/h on the same road.
They also busted a Berwick man, 40, speeding at 145km/h in his Suzuki.

Officers took him back to the police station, where he also a recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.068 per cent.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Kelly Yates said the man lost his licence for six months and was fined $974.

Geelong Highway Patrol officers also caught an unlicensed 21-year-old travelling at 145km/h in a 100km/h zone on Bacchus Marsh Rd in Balliang East yesterday evening.

The Herne Hill man was given penalty notices for unlicensed driving and speeding.

Ms Yates said officers were targeting speeding drivers throughout October as it was traditionally a dangerous period on Victoria's roads.

"Across the state, police will be actively patrolling metropolitan, regional and rural roads targeting those who disobey the speed limit," Ms Yates said.

"The State Highway Patrol will be conducting a number of road policing operations aimed at reducing road trauma and making our roads safe."

adelaidenow.com.au 20 Oct 2013

Unfortunately the reality of the situation is that there is a portion of society known as 'Trailer Park Trash', that may not even have the mental capacity to operate a vehicle.

The government hands out driving licenses to ANYONE.

There is NO quality control there or any real assessment whether the driver is actually capable of driving.

The current so called licensing and driver's test are a JOKE!

You can easily bribe an instructor and the tester to receive your driver license.

This part of the problem is (deliberately?) NOT being tackled by any authority

Police have a vested interest in speed camera fines NOT road safety as alleged, as this would require the government to increase the numbers of police on the road.

Julian Assange's mother tells of health fears for Wikileaks founder

JULIAN Assange's mum fears the WikiLeaks founder could develop serious health problems if he continues his lockdown in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. 



And Christine Assange has also hit out at a new Hollywood blockbuster about her son, claiming it falsely suggested he dyes his hair white.

Ms Assange, who lives on the Gold Coast, said the health risks from a lack of sunlight were well documented and her concerns for her son were increasing as he approaches 500 days in the embassy.
"As his mother, I'm concerned about his health. Everyone who cares about Julian worries about what this is doing to him," Ms Assange said.

"He and the Ecuadorean embassy are doing the best they can under these terrible circumstances -but no one can overcome the fact that the human body needs sunshine."

She said a lack of vitamin D from the sun would depress her son's immune system and "increase the risk of osteoporosis, diabetes, heart failure, stroke, cancer, multiple sclerosis and depression".

"The reason prisoners are given access to an hour of sunshine each day is because it is a medical fact that the body needs direct sunlight to activate its metabolic processes," she said.
Mr Assange has been granted political asylum in Ecuador but is prevented from leaving the United Kingdom by British authorities who threaten to arrest him if he leaves the embassy.
He was granted asylum in a last-ditch effort to fight being extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault.
"The way to break this is very simple," said Ms Assange, who called on authorities in the UK to demand Swedish investigators interview her son in England immediately and either charge him or drop the case, "as he and his lawyers have constantly requested".

fears being deported to Sweden will result in him being handed over to the United States for his role in the publication of thousands of classified government documents.

Events surrounding the massive 2010 data release are portrayed in a new movie, The Fifth Estate, which Ms Assange said repeated two crucial factual inaccuracies that Julian dyed his hair white and was part of a cult as a child.

"Julian has never lived in a cult and his family has never lived in a cult," Ms Assange said.

"I did discuss it with Julian when he was a teenager that someone had mentioned that his brother's father may have been involved with a cult, but it was a speculative comment and it was never proven.

"I was concerned (about it at the time) but it was never proven. And
now it's been blown out of all proportion and sensationalised to sell movies and promote articles."

She said her son's hair colour was the result of Irish genes, which were responsible for early-onset grey hair, including "my own stepmother-in-law, who was of Irish descent and went grey at 24".

"When people put inaccuracies into movies and articles about people who are currently living ... it's a form of smearing. And that person then has to live in their world with those inaccuracies about them and their family," Ms Assange said.

news.com.au 20 Oct 2013

A common method employed by the 'powers' is that if we don't get you one way, we WILL get you another way.

Hollywood is based on deception, falsified names, and a propaganda perpetuating machine.

Many so called Hollywood produced 'documentaries' do not tell the story how it actually was, but falsify the depicted events to promote the agenda. 

This is particularly of many war 'documentaries', or sensationalised dictator biographies.

The purpose being that of misinformation and/or discrediting.

Australian politicians 'resisted' debate on new spook powers

Australian politicians from left, right and centre took little interest in new laws designed to help the nation's security forces, according to the nation's former Attorney-General Nicola Roxon.


Roxon's steady term as the nation's pre-eminent law officer sailed into stormy waters when she suggested data retention laws for Australia. The reason? “Because terrorism”, as the young folks would joke.


The proposal did not go down well, with Anonymous taking aim at the government and industry groups criticising the proposal as unhelpfully vague.
We can now see why the proposal may not have been the government's best work: Roxon says members of parliament from her own Labor party didn't care to work on such matters.
Roxon yesterday delivered a speech titled “Ten housekeeping tips for a future Labor government” that reviews her time in government and offers some advice for colleagues.
The politically volatile sections of the speech will get a big run in general news media today, but the speech also includes the following observation about what seems to be internal reaction to Roxon's attempt to introduce data retention laws to Australia:
“Disappointingly, even senior and experienced MPs were shunning a chance to be in debates on complex issues - like the resistance and begrudging response I received when I commissioned the respected joint intelligence committee of the Parliament to assess a list of new powers and proposed changes to our intelligence laws that agencies like the federal police, ASIO and ASIS had requested. In my 15 years in parliament I’ve never seen such an unenthusiastic response from a committee being given a serious, real job to do - including, I am sad to say, senior Labor figures.”
The committee's members included representatives from the Labor, Liberal and National parties, plus independent Andrew Wilkie.
Roxon doesn't say if committee members' reticence was because of discomfort with the policy or general lethargy. Whatever the cause of the "resistance and begrudging response", her comments show data retention laws had little chance of becoming law. ®

theregister.co.uk 16 Oct 2013

The government  IS collecting ALL data, and will always do so.

This so called 'debate' or 'tug of war' is just a farce to keep the masses believing that they some sort of 'human rights' or privacy.