Government’s data retention bill passes House of Representatives

What opposition party? Source: News Corp Australia

 

EVERY call you make. Every email you send. They’ll be watching you. 

The government’s controversial data retention laws have officially passed the House of Representatives, with all but three MPs voting in favour of the bill.

It was revealed earlier today that Labor would be siding with the Coalition after the two parties worked together to make amendments to the bill, with most of those revolving around journalists.

The deal will create a public interest advocate to assess warrants for the metadata of journalists.

The advocate will be able to make submissions in response to applications for warrants on matters of public interest.

It’s understood the advocate will be a senior barrister and appointed by the prime minister.

The government has also agreed to a presumption against issuing a warrant, meaning police or intelligence agencies must meet a higher threshold to get the warrant.

The agency seeking the warrant will also have to demonstrate they have tried to access the information in question by other means.

This is despite the head of parliament’s intelligence committee saying journalists should not be exempt from the new laws - on the off chance they could be paedophiles.

Mr Tehan said his committee had been wary of making specific groups such as journalists exempt from metadata retention.

“For instance what happens if a journalist is a paedophile?” Mr Tehan told AAP.

“Are you telling me that there has been no journalist in the history of journalism who has ever committed a serious crime?” Mr Tehan acknowledged all the journalists he knew were “very good, honest hardworking decent people”.

These men want your data. Source: News Corp Australia

 

What data will they keep?

It’s called metadata. When it comes to phone calls, metadata is mostly just a record of who you call and for how long.

But when it comes to the internet, a lot more is stored:
● Every email you send, to whom, at what time, where you sent it from and the subject of it;
● The location you took a photo, the settings you took the picture with and the camera model;
● All the information you post about yourself on social media plus when, where and how long you were logged in for;
● What you searched for on Google, the results that appeared and the sites you eventually clicked on;
● The web pages you visit, when you visited those pages, hardware details about your computer and even login details if you use auto-fill password features.

Metadata can already be accessed without a warrant for criminal and intelligence investigations, but monitoring of internet or telephone use over a period of time requires a warrant from the Attorney-General.

Attorney-General George Brandis, the person leading the bill. Source: AAP

 

Why are they keeping it?

The government says the new measures are all in the name of protecting the country from terror threats, and are a response to the increase in Australian jihadists fighting overseas.

The United Kingdom adopted similar data retention laws last year following advice from MI6 about an increased terror threat in Europe.

Despite that, earlier this week, Edward Snowden warned that data retention won’t stop terrorist attacks. He referenced both the Sydney siege and Charlie Hedbo attacks, noting that the attackers in both incidents were known to governments already.

“They’re not going to stop the next attacks either,” he said. “Because they’re not public safety programs. They’re spying programs.”

“But the question that we as a society have to ask, our are collective rights worth a small advantage in our ability to spy?” Snowden added.

Cartoonist: John Farmer (Polly). Source: Supplied

 

What are the risks?

Under the new laws, our privacy becomes a thing of the past. Not just from the government either - experts and insiders warn that our data could become vulnerable to hackers. Even Telstra has labelled the storage of the data as a “honey pot for hackers.”

Speaking on Radio National’s Download This Show earlier this year, one police insider revealed the flaws in the proposed system.

The insider, whose identity wasn’t revealed, has worked for the police dealing with metadata for years.

“There are only three different justifications (where) we have to access metadata; if someone’s life is being threatened, protection of government income, and (an) investigation of a crime punishable with at least two years in prison,” he said.

However, crimes punishable by two years’ jail can be for things as small as graffiti, meaning that more often than not, those investigating a criminal case will have access to metadata.

Game of Thrones pirate? You could become a target. Source: YouTube

 

There’s also the concern that the new laws could be used to monitor users’ internet habits to find people pirating content.

The insider confirmed that as it currently stands, the laws wouldn’t allow it, but that could change in the future.

“[Pirating] is not interpreted by police at the moment as a crime. Copyright infringement is not a criminal offence, it’s a civil wrong. But all it would take would be lobbying by a financial backer of a political parties to make copyright seen as theft and then bang, you’ve got all these Aussies caught up criminally,” he said.
Of course, this bill still has to pass the Senate.

news.com.au 19 Mar 2015

The corporate media forgot to mention one small detail: "Government’s data retention bill passes House of Representatives (unlawfully)."

ALL persons in the pictured supplied photos are Australia's corporate criminal elite.

In office unlawfully , making law unlawfully.

They just have to be exposed, with the correct documentation in a public forum - a place of business / trading / commerce (commonly known as a court), irrespective of how corrupt the magistrates' judges or judicial clerks are.

Peru’s Mashco-Piru tribe are one of the last isolated peoples on Earth

The Madre de Dios reserve in the Amazon jungle is home to some of the last isolated peoples on Earth.

 

DRESSED in loincloths and speaking an unknown language, the Mashco-Piro, one of the last isolated peoples on Earth, are increasingly venturing out of their forests in Peru — to the government’s distress. 

Authorities say encroachments on the Amazon rainforest by illegal loggers may be forcing the Mashco-Piro, a tribe of hunter-gatherers, into some of their first recorded contacts with the outside world.
Often the meetings seem friendly enough: Residents of the surrounding area give the Mashco-Piro food, and tourists give them clothing.

But the encounters can also turn violent.

The Mashco-Piro tribe are being forced into contact with the outside world for the first time ever. AFP PHOTO/Diego Cortijo www.uncontactedtribes.org/www.survivalfrance.org.

 

In December, Peruvian authorities evacuated two small villages after some 200 Mashco-Piro attacked them with bows and arrows, killing residents’ livestock and pets and carting off food, pots, pans, machetes and rope.

In 2010, the Mashco-Piro were accused of wounding a teenager with a spear, and in 2012 of killing a local guide with a bamboo-tipped arrow.

Peru’s culture ministry has voiced concern the encounters could be deadly for the Mashco-Piro, too.

Even a seemingly benign gift of clothing has the potential to decimate a people whose immune systems have never been exposed to the diseases of the world beyond their forests.

“They can be very vulnerable to germs carried by others,” said Lorena Prieto, head of the Peruvian culture ministry’s isolated indigenous peoples unit.

The tribe of some 800 people also known as the Cujareno lives in the Madre de Dios reserve along the Brazilian border in southern Peru.

‘Uncontacted Indians' of the Envira, who have never before had any contact with the outside world as they camp close to the border of Peru. AP Photo / Gleison Miranda, Funai

 

Illegal logging and gold mining have destroyed an estimated 55,000 hectares (136,000 acres) of forest in the region, which has the highest output of illegally mined gold in Peru — the largest gold producer in Latin America and fifth-largest in the world.

The Madre de Dios region is home to around 4,000 indigenous people, including two other isolated groups: about 150 Machiguengas and about 300 Nahuas, according to the culture ministry.

The Mashco-Piro sometimes act aggressively toward other indigenous groups when they realise they do not speak their language or see animals they are unfamiliar with, such as dogs.

— Language barrier —

After the December attack on the villages of Monte Salvado and Puerto Nuevo, the indigenous peoples’ federation for the Madre de Dios reserve (FENAMAD) said the Mashco-Piro invasion was “an act of desperation” caused by illegal loggers and drug traffickers invading their land.

FENAMAD also condemned tourist visits to the reserve.

An Amazon indigenous tribe in loincloths make contact with the more westernised Ashaninka people near the Peruvian border. Video source: Funai G1

 

Prieto said the Peruvian government wants to understand why the Mashco-Piro are increasingly venturing into the outside world after actively avoiding contact for centuries.

“It’s possible they’re leaving their territory because of illegal loggers and their attacks, or because new non-isolated indigenous communities are settling around the reserve,” she told AFP.

The government wants to know “why they are leaving the reserve, and if there are sick or wounded whom we need to help,” she said.

The problem is understanding the Mashco-Piro. Their language is unknown to the outside world.

The government is searching for an interpreter among the Yine tribe, who can understand a little of the Mashco-Piros’ language.

They are also searching in Brazil, home to other Mashco-Piro groups, in the hope that one of them may have picked up another language.

But Prieto insisted that the government will not force any encounters with the Mashco-Piro.

“Isolated indigenous peoples have rights protected by the United Nations, including the right to decide to live in isolation, which the state must respect and protect,” she said.

 adelaidenow.com.au 18 Mar 2015

“Isolated indigenous peoples have rights protected by the United Nations, including the right to decide to live in isolation, which the state must respect and protect,”

Not According to Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott:

"what we can't do is endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices".

or even an idea of GENOCIDE as suggested by Australian mining magnate Lang Hancock, (the late) father to Gina Rinehart:

"....I would dope the water up so they were sterile and would breed themselves out in the future and that would solve the problem."

Australia, a country for the criminal elite.

Attorney-General John Rau to give police new powers for on-the-spot scans

Refusing a police request for an on-the-spot fingerprinting could lead to a $1250 fine or three months in jail. Source: News Limited

 

ANYONE who refuses a police request for an on-the-spot fingerprint scan will face up to three months’ prison or a fine of up to $1250 under a move to expand their use. 

Attorney-General John Rau is pushing ahead with an election promise to give police the new powers, but their use will not be random and strict criteria must be met before any scan is conducted.

Senior police have welcomed the expansion of their use, which has already resulted in several arrests for outstanding warrants during a trial, while the Law Society has expressed concerns over privacy.

Mr Rau said that under existing laws, police have limited powers and currently only use the fingerprint scanners once they have arrested a person.’’

Under new legislation set to be released for consultation, before a person can be scanned police have to have “reasonable cause’’ to suspect that person has committed, is committing or is about to commit an offence or may be able to assist in the investigation of an offence.

Police are rolling out 150 portable fingerprint scanners across the state after a trial conducted last year resulted in several people being arrested after being scanned. Their use is saving officers considerable time in verifying the identity of those suspected of wrongdoing and evading police over outstanding warrants.

When tested, a person places their finger or thumb on a sensor pad on the palm-sized device.

If a hit is returned the scanner will display a photograph of the person, a list of current or prior offences and any outstanding warrants.

Mr Rau said in the field trial police were able to make arrests instantly.

“This demonstrated that legislative reform is necessary to enable police to use the scanners in wider circumstances, where a person does not have to give consent and police can scan for prints without the need to arrest,” he said.

Law Society president Rocky Perotta said he had “strong concerns about the idea of compelling someone to submit to a fingerprint scan on the spot”.

“Being forced to have a fingerprint scan is a serious intrusion on privacy and should only be justified in extreme cases, which is why the current position only allows authorities to compel a scan after a person has been arrested,’’ he said.

What do you think of the changes? advertiser.com.au

Originally published as Police get power to fingerprint

 

news.com.au 18 March 2015

 

Australia the new Alcatraz, the Prison Isle where the people are the enemy.

 

Still doubt that you are living in a police state?

 

But, white collar criminals STILL reign supreme.

Police officers quit after colleagues cover up cop’s drunken crash in Bendigo

Inspector Ian Geddes says a senior constable facing disciplinary action has left the force because of an unrelated health matter.

 

A THIRD of 21 police embroiled in an attempt to cover up a fellow officer’s drunken crash have left the force. 

The final four officers have now been disciplined.

Inspector Mark Edwards, who had charges of perjury and misleading the OPI dropped against him in February last year, was demoted and is no longer based in Bendigo.

A senior sergeant was placed on a 12-month good-behaviour bond, and a sergeant was fined and also placed on a bond.

VICTORIA POLICE ROCKED BY CRASH COVER-UP

Inspector Ian Geddes said a senior constable who had faced disciplinary action had left the force on a pension for an unrelated health matter.

The only officer to escape discipline was the most senior, a superintendent who was cleared of attempting to pervert the course of justice by ­interfering   with  the  inquiry.

An 18-month integrity probe of Bendigo police was sparked by claims police conspired to derail the original investigation into former Bendigo senior constable Dean Robinson, who crashed his car into Bendigo’s Queens Arms Hotel in November 2011 while drunk.

The extent of the alleged cover-up was revealed in documents released to the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information laws last year.

The Office of Police Integrity reviewed the crash investigation after claims breath-testing Mr Robinson had been delayed beyond the statutory three-hour limit.

He then had a blood-alcohol level of 0.111.

Mr Robinson resigned nine months later. He was fined $7000 and lost his licence for 11 months, with no conviction, after pleading guilty to drink-driving, dangerous driving and failing to stop at an accident.

Other officers were disciplined: a sergeant and a senior public servant were dismissed; two sergeants and two senior constables resigned; three senior constables were placed on good-behaviour bonds; a senior sergeant, a sergeant and a senior constable were admonished; and four senior constables were given guidance.

heraldsun.co.au 3 Mar 2015

More corrupt police acting in am manner that endangers life.

Totally sickening that these pieces of garbage are in charge of 'law enforcement'.

The corporation most commonly known as Victoria Police (ABN: 63 446 481 493) is most probably one of the state's most corrupt organisations.

Victoria has become a refuge for bikie thugs trying to escape much tougher laws across the border

Victoria’s bikie landscape has changed over the past five years, according to a senior police inspector.

 

UPDATE: BIKIES are using Victoria as a refuge against tough anti-­Outlaw Motorcycle Gang laws in other states, senior police have confirmed. 

Detective Inspector Ian Campbell, the head of the anti-OMCG Echo taskforce, said Victoria’s bikie landscape had changed dramatically in the past five years.

Insp Campbell said it was now evident tougher laws in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia had pushed gang members into Victoria.

He said there were now 26 clubs with between 1200 and 1400 members in Victoria.

MICK MURRAY: No-nonsense former bouncer and Comanchero president who last year swore to step away from the gang as part of strict bail conditions. Murray was a quiet achiever in Sydney’s frenetic bikie scene before moving to Melbourne. 

 

The Hells Angels, he said, still viewed themselves as the pre-eminent outfit with a network of feeder clubs available to do their “dirty work”.

The Bandidos, he said, were well-organised, with links to Mexican drug cartels and a heavy influence in the security and debt-collecting industries.

The Mongols were aggressively recruiting, having patched 50 members within the state’s prison system.

TOBY MITCHELL: Former Bandido enforcer who is currently behind bars on extortion, blackmail, assault and threat to kill charges. He has survived two attempts on his life. 

 

Police are faced with the ominous prospect of those members being released in coming years, among them senior Mongol bikie figure Mohammed Akbar Keshtier.

“He has told prison staff he will be the No.1 criminal when he gets out of jail,” one investigator said.

There seems no end to the recruiting power of the gangs, said detective Sen-Sgt Wayne Cheesman, of Echo.

Even successful operations like the Attero joint operation run against the Rebels had not stopped that gang’s membership expanding.

“They say they can’t keep up with demand,” Sen-Sgt Cheesman said.

“How do we stop these ­people wanting to join?”

But as time goes on, the ­motive for bikies’ use of force remains the same.

“They will do anything to retain this money and this power. It is a business ­machine,” Sen-Sgt Cheesman said.

“It’s all about the money. They’re not going to give that up.”

A graphic demonstration came when Comanchero members raided the home of a low-level drug dealer they viewed as costing them money.

He was severely assaulted before the bikies turned on the kettle and poured boiling water over him.

“They said, ‘You will now buy your drugs from us’,” Sen-Sgt Cheesman said.

Cash may be king but ­machismo and perception remain important in their little world.

One senior bikie figure grew strangely upset at a series of major raids on a rival outfit.

“You made them look badder than us. You need to raid us,” the office-bearer said.

Detective Superintendent Nigel Ryan, of the Australian Federal Police national anti-gangs ­office, said the gangs were a key linkage between trans­national crime networks.

And they were increasingly using South East Asian countries to find a haven.

“They are restricted by no borders,” Supt Ryan told the conference.

Victoria’s Attorney General Martin Pakula said a national approach was needed to tackle bikies’ criminal activities.

“Absolutely, it’s always been a view of Victorian Labor that there should be a national approach to outlaw motorcycle gangs in the same way that there’s a national approach to counter-terrorism,” Mr Pakula told 3AW today.

heraldsun.com.au 16 Mar 2015

The corporate media distracting the masses from another serious and important issue that being, one of the most corrupt organisations in the state.

An organisation with approximately 300 'stations' across the state, where over 60% of the 10,000 strong population has 'admitted' to committing criminal activity is in charge of 'law enforcement' in the state.

The organisation is called Victoria Police.

They are committing 'white collar' (administrative) crimes, theft of monies, extortion and in collusion with another criminal organisation, that being the 'Sheriff's Office of Victoria', where hundreds of millions of dollars are extorted from the general populous annually.

These 'facts' are totally omitted by the corporate media.

Why is that so Mr. Murdoch's media publication?