The Governor-General's official secretary has channelled the popular political drama House of Cards to avoid answering questions about his next Government job.

But Stephen Brady eventually confirmed he has spoken with the Government about a diplomatic posting, despite still working for Quentin Bryce.

Mr Brady was supposed to be named Australia's next ambassador to Italy but the ABC understands he will be sent to Paris to make way for former Labor premier Mike Rann, who is being booted from his role as Australia's top diplomat in London for former Howard government minister Alexander Downer.

No official statements have been made about the appointments because Australian officials are still waiting final clearances from abroad.

Mr Brady is official secretary to Ms Bryce, whose term ends next month.

He appeared before a parliamentary estimates committee in his official capacity representing Government House, but was quizzed by Labor Senator Penny Wong about his future career.

"There has been some speculation that it was expected you would be appointed to an ambassadorship, can you shed any light on that?" Senator Wong asked Mr Brady.

"Perhaps I can take some refuge from Francis Urquhart’s catchphrase in the House of Cards," Mr Brady began.

"Is he your role model?" asked an amused Senator Wong.

"No, he's not my role model Senator," Mr Brady said and went on to quote Urquhart’s moniker: "You might well think that but I couldn't possibly comment."

"That's probably the best thing [I can say] without getting me into trouble from the Foreign Minister," Mr Brady said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-24/stephen-brady-avoids-questioning-over-possible-ambassadorship/5280550

The ABC has been told another orange lifeboat carrying asylum seekers has turned up on the Indonesian coast after allegedly being sent there by Australian authorities.

Earlier this month ABC News obtained footage of a similar boat carrying asylum seekers being towed by an Australian Customs ship.

A senior Indonesian military source has told the ABC the latest lifeboat was discovered yesterday, about midday local time, off Kebumen, off the south coast of central Java.

Local media, including Indonesian government-owned newswire Antara, are reporting that about 26 asylum seekers were found on board, although it is unclear if that number includes Indonesian crew members.

Two passenger lists provided to the ABC contain differing numbers and an Indonesian military source says there were 24 on board.

One of the asylum seekers told Antara they nearly made it to Australia when they were sent back in the lifeboat.

It is understood they have been transferred to the nearby town of Cilacap.

The lifeboat is described as a capsule, similar to that used by Australian authorities to return asylum seekers to Indonesia on February 5 this year.

That group said say they were nearly ready to disembark at Christmas Island when the Australian Navy sent them back.

The Indonesian navy said there were 34 people on board that lifeboat, which had recently been purchased by the Australian Navy.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-25/another-orange-lifeboat-carrying-asylum-seekers-arrives-in-indo/5281484

G4S guards on Manus Island allowed locals in the detention centre on the night of the riot, where they began attacking asylum seekers inside the compound, according to a witness account broadcast by the ABC.

Protests on Manus Island last week escalated into violence involving guards, local contractors and asylum seekers. One asylum seeker was killed during the disturbance and several were seriously injured. Morrison has been criticised after being forced to revise his account of where the events took place, conceding on Saturday night that most happened inside the perimeter of the centre.

Accounts began to emerge last week of locals entering the compound, which Morrison initially denied. An witness to the events, who is one of the locally employed G4S guards but spoke on condition of anonymity, said he saw other Papua New Guinea guards and locals entering the compound and attacking asylum seekers after the asylum seekers began swearing at people outside the compound.

“The police fired warning shots and that scared the clients and they went into their rooms, so that’s when the G4S went in. And when the G4S get into the camp, they belt, they fight with the clients and belt them very badly and same are wounded, blood run over their face,” the witness told the ABC’s 7:30 programme.

“They’re some locals. Because the locals came to see what’s happening. They’re on the road and see what’s happening, so when the fence, the gates just – the G4S guards just break down the fence. They told everybody to go in and stop them and hit them and fight them, so that’s when the locals get in.”

The witness said the local G4S guards asked the locals to enter the compound because they wanted “manpower to help them”. He also said the feared PNG mobile squad played a limited role in the disturbances.

As parliament resumed on Monday the minister faced a barrage of questions over his responses to last week’s unrest and who supplied him with the incorrect information.

“I advised in my previous answer on the afternoon of the Tuesday I received a further briefing. I reported on that afternoon there were conflicting reports. That’s what I said on Tuesday afternoon,” he said in response to a question from Labor’s immigration spokesman, Richard Marles, about the time the minister was notified about the incorrect information.

The attorney general, George Brandis, defended the minister in an interview on Monday. “Mr Morrison has done a superb job in showing that what the Labor party said couldn’t be done can be done with good policy and a government with the will to implement that policy,” he said.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/manus-guards-let-residents-into-centre-as-extra-manpower-says-g4s-witness

Brandis is a fudging hypocrite... To be presently defending Morrison is like saying Hitler had good grounds to go to war and kill Jews, because of information he had. Sometimes, I believe actually often, politicians like Brandis don't REALLY  listen to what they say, or they are manipulative beyond the acceptable — morally and humanly. They are disgracing the fair Australian psyche for political expediency that will blow in their faces, eventually...

So Thomson "will have to apologise" for lying to parliament. So does Morrison for lying to parliament, Abbott and all others who went to weddings at the expense of the taxpayers or build a "private" library in their parliamentary office, when the books would be available on request by lending...

As well, let's not forget that long list of liars who took Australia to war against Iraq — Howard at the head of the list. They lied and this can be proven... But the Aussie parliament has no balls on the big stuff and prefer pillorying a small fry who "may have" stolen 28 grand from a union, while the real crooks like Downer, Howard and Abbott are getting away with murder — thousands of them.

History won't be kind, eventually... But the sorry thing is that meanwhile these devious people are destroying Australia's sense of fairness and honesty.

That Morrison is a formidable advocate is not in question.

It is just that his strength does rather seem to have overwhelmed all else, including the government's legal and moral responsibilities to those it is ''supporting''.

Unpacked, Abbott's argument is that what many view as Morrison's zealotry is attenuated by the man's fundamental decency. Maybe, but where's the evidence? Why did the minister so readily impute negative motives and apportion fault to asylum seekers in the immediate aftermath of last week's alleged riots?

Why did he initially appear so confident of the role of the private contractors running the Manus Island facility, and the PNG police for that matter, after the violence that left so many injured, one dead and the rest frightened for their lives?

Consider his words: ''I can guarantee their safety when they remain in the centre and act co-operatively with those who are trying to provide them with support and accommodation. When people engage in violent acts and in disorderly behaviour and breach fences and get involved in that sort of behaviour and go to the other side of the fence, well they will be subject to law enforcement as applies in Papua New Guinea.''

''Guarantee their safety … [if they] act co-operatively … [but not if they] get involved in that sort of behaviour''?

Such comments were prejudicial at best. With diminishing evidence of their own moral position, Morrison and Abbott are pleading with Australians to be granted the benefit of the doubt - a benefit they quickly denied the powerless souls in their care.

The military commander in charge of the Government's asylum seeker boats mission has been accused of a "political cover-up" by Labor's defence spokesman.

Senator Stephen Conroy made the controversial comment - which he was later forced to withdraw - in a heated exchange in a Senate Estimates committee looking into Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB).

OSB Commander Lieutenant General Angus Campbell was asked to explain why he had placed strict controls on information about "operational" or "on-water" incidents.

Senator Conroy compared the level of secrecy with that surrounding SAS activities behind enemy lines during the 2003 war in Iraq.

"I can absolutely understand the need for operational secrecy when you have troops operating behind enemy lines blowing up airfields and scud missiles," he said.

"But what I'm intrigued by is your view that stopping a number of wooden boats with unarmed people on has the same level of secrecy requirement."

Lt Gen Campbell repeated his decision was based on "dealing with avoiding advantage to people smugglers, manipulation of potential clientele of people smugglers, the safety of our people and the management of regional and bilateral relationships and their sensitivities".

Senator Conroy then referenced a quote from the movie A Few Good Men, asking General Campbell: "Can't we handle the truth?"

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-25/conroy-accuses-campbell-of-border-protection-cover-up/5283442

This is what I understood from the interview with a former worker on Manus Island:

— the detainees/asylum seekers/refugees are referred to as "clients"

— the "clients" who are found to be genuine refugees are told they will be resettled in Papua-New Guinea

— Papua New Guinea has not agreed to this. Only to hold refugees until their status is sorted out.

— the Abbott regime will hold them indefinitely.

The Abbott regime has lied to the Australian people and to the "clients"...

---------------------------------------

Liz Thompson, a former migration agent turned whistleblower, has described the administration of the Manus Island detention centre as 'ridiculous' and claims she was instructed to tell detainees their only option was resettlement in Papua New Guinea.

“They (detainees) watch the news, they read the newspapers, they watch what’s going around in the camp, they know there’s no decision from the Papua New Guinean Government on resettlement," she told Dateline's Mark Davis.

"So what that means is… you’re never getting out of this camp, it’s indefinite detention."

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison, denied that Manus Island detainees had been told they would not be resettled in PNG. 

“With regard to reports that the transferees were advised that they will not be settled in PNG, the Minister has been advised that those reports are false," she said in a statement.

Ms Thompson's allegations come as the Immigration Department faced questions on the recent riots on Manus Island from a Senate Committee.

The department head described detainees pushing down fences and throwing rocks before police discharged a gas canister and fired warning shots.

Immigration and border protection secretary Martin Bowles said work was needed to uncover what happened.

"There are a range of other reports, there are interviews that need to happen with the independent reviewer to start to work through the myriad of information that's out there," he said.

'Fake' processing system

Ms Thompson is the first staff member to publicly resign from Manus Island following a recent outbreak of violence which left one dead.

She was originally bought in to conduct refugee-assessment interviews and claims she was told to tell inmates their only option was resettlement in Papua New Guinea.

Ms Thompson said she knew their only option was indefinite detention, and so did they.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/02/25/i-was-told-lie-manus-island-staffer

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This situation is even worse than political prisoners in Europe in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. At least the "prisoners" did not know their day of release and they knew they could be held indefinitely. HERE THE DEVIL-HEARTED ABBOTT REGIME tells its detainees that they have a good chance to be resettled in PNG. No Fat Tony chance here, pedalling with that Bishop who is trying to get Cambodia to take on the refugees... Abbott is just a mean bastard who is taking Australia's reputation through the mud on ALL FRONTS, INCLUDING POLITICAL FAIRNESS by releasing cabinet papers of the former government.

Tony Abbott is the most vindictive, arrogant, incompetent and dangerous man to lead this country. He is an idiot who only gets trough with the help of a compliant media — like Hitler did in the 1930s (Hitler was smarter than Abbott by a long shot)... It's time for the GG to sack Abbott and his cohort of liars, con-artists and nasty dorks. Quentin Bryce still has time to do the deed. As parliament — and the Aussie people — are being manipulated for vengeance, and stupidity, we demand one last decent act — possibly a desperate act, but necessary nonetheless — to get rid of the nazis that have taken over the governance of this country and hold new elections — with Tony Abbott and Morrison excluded from being members of parliament for life, for starters... Pyne and the other idiots who fiddle with the fairness of education and those who destroy the scientific ethos should also be targeted.

At this stage it's not a matter of opinion. The evidence is there to be seen.

The Defence Force Chief has warned that accusations of a "political cover-up" levelled at the military commander in charge of the Federal Government's asylum seeker boats mission will "linger".

Labor's defence spokesman Stephen Conroy made the remarks in a Senate committee hearing into Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) yesterday.

When questioning OSB commander Lieutenant General Angus Campbell about the secrecy surrounding the operation, Senator Conroy accused him of being "engaged in a political cover-up". 

The Senator later withdrew the comments but has refused to apologise. 

This morning, Defence Force Chief General David Hurley told Senate estimates that Lt Gen Campbell was widely respected across the political divide. 

"I was surprised at the accusations made against Lieutenant General Angus Campbell," he said. 

"I am pleased these accusations were withdrawn, but unfortunately once said, the shadow will linger. 

"Lieutenant General Campbell has a reputation in Canberra, more widely in Australia and overseas, of integrity, intellect and studied impartiality. 

"He is widely respected across Australia's public divide."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-26/defence-chief-surprised-by-conroys-claim-of-cover-up/5284870

If there is no "military" cover-up, then Lieutenant General Campbell is not telling the full picture, as he is ordered to shut up by his master Morrison... Unless Lieutenant General Campbell  is out of his depth "in this particular POLITICAL situation". 

Lieutenant General Campbell SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE GOVERNMENT'S FUDGING OF THE SITUATION AND ITS POLITICAL STUNTS. 

Australian democracy has clear separation of powers, or it used to (''General David Hurley defends Lieutenant-General Angus Campbell after Labor accusations of 'political cover-up''', smh.com.au, February 26). Tony Abbott has cleverly drawn in the army to do his dirty work, thinking he could hide behind its strong standing in the community. This strategy has backfired. The army now finds itself in the middle of an unholy mess.

Army personnel find themselves leading a political construct, the Sovereign Borders strategy. There is nowhere to hide. Rank will not protect them. They will be spoken to in a way they are not used to. It is called politics. Lieutenant-General Campbell had better get used to the Conroy treatment because now he is an army man in the shaky world of politics. There is no obvious path of retreat.

Gail Suttor Narrabundah (ACT)

Amid controversy over Australia's asylum seeker policies, one man is urging people to humanise the debate.

Ryan Sheales, from Melbourne, started a website last Friday that hosts photos of Australians apologising for the current treatment of asylum seekers.

He said there had been a strong public response to the website, which has received over 250 photos so far.

It comes amid tough questions over Australia's offshore detention policy, after one man died in Papua New Guinea.

The government says its policies have saved lives and successfully stopped asylum boats from arriving in Australia. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said earlier this month that the policies "are tough, but they are working".

Polls suggest a majority of Australians support the government's approach.

"The website sorryasylumseekers.com started out from a feeling of helplessness," Mr Sheales told the BBC.

"The asylum debate in Australia has become very heated, emotive and nasty," he said. "Unless you fit neatly into one of the extreme camps for or against the asylum policies, it's hard to find a voice."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26363980

I search for this "news" on Australian news network but drew a blank. You might be more lucky...

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says the "maintenance issues" are being addressed.

"The Defence Material Organisation, the Armidale-class patrol boat in-service support contractor (DMS), and the ship's builder and Design Authority (Austal) are addressing the issue," he said in a statement.

"Maintenance issues such as this are not unexpected when operating a significant number of maritime assets in a wide range of demanding environments.

"However, the situation has been exacerbated as a result of the previous government's failure to protect our borders, which saw our Navy and Customs and Border Protection run a non-stop water taxi service to Christmas Island for five years."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-04/navy-patrol-boats-docked-in-darwin-after-cracks-found/5297584

-------------------------------

The spoke-loony-person for Morrison should be ashamed of saying crap like this to try to score political points... I know boats. Even if they were "overworked" by Labor, they would have had to be serviced regularly, otherwise they would have given up WAY BEFORE the LABOR government was voted out by Mr Murdoch... That the cracks start to appear now are more due to the strain from Operation Sovereign (Murders) Whatever of the Abbott Regime, than the previous usage... That six of the boats show the same problem is most likely a design fault and the army/navy personnel should say so urgently so that they don't end up sinking in "Indonesian waters" by inadvertence.

A senior Navy officer has been stripped of his command, another will be sanctioned and others counselled over their involvement in incursions into Indonesian waters last summer while enforcing the Government's asylum seeker boats policy.

A joint review into the incidents by Customs and Border Protection and the Defence Force, released in part in February, found Australian Navy and Customs ships had entered Indonesian waters six times last December and January.

It found commanders had incorrectly calculated the location of the maritime border during Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB).

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-17/navy-officer-demoted-over-incursions-during-asylum-seeker-op/5397586

--------------------------------------------------

In the Abbott Regime's bad will, a fall guy(s) had to take the blame for what is an atrocious policy of turning boats back "without turning them back" as promised to the Indonesian government... In applying the Abbott stupid OSB, the Australian Navy has had to breach more than 15 times three international laws of the sea — just to satisfy a looney- tune Primal Minster.

Whatever they call it, with its well-rounded official serious title, Operation Sovereign Borders is a nasty piece of human behaviour.

And of course, the sea captain, not willing to abandon his tow of orange lifeboat full of refugees too far from the coast, may have ventured close enough to give them a chance to reach the shore. That "mistake" of not knowing where the Indonesian waters were, should deserve a medal for saving lives in a dangerous policy situation. Officer, you have the Gus Marine Medal for being a human being — before being an idiot obeying orders.

And stuff the Abbott regime.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has abandoned a planned trip to Indonesia due to an "on-water operation" which Australian Government sources believe has the potential to cause "embarrassment" to president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Mr Yudhoyono had invited Mr Abbott to attend the Open Government Partnership Conference in Bali next week and plans were in place to make it happen.

But the trip has been cancelled because of a current asylum seeker operation.

Consistent with policy under Operation Sovereign Borders, the Government will not comment on details of the "on-water operation".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-02/abbott-cancels-bali-trip-after-on-water-incident/5427384

-------------------------------------

The only person who should feel embarrassed is Tony Detritus Abbott... Liar extraordinary, stooge of the rich and of uncle Rupe, dilettante Sunday christian, an untrustworthy spruiker of silly things, a royal embarrassment for a primal minster.

Indonesia's foreign minister says the apparent addition of three extra passengers to an asylum seeker boat turned back into Indonesian waters is a "very serious development".

The asylum boat's crew reportedly told Indonesian navy investigators that two Australian warships put three extra people on board their boat - an Indonesian and two Albanians - before they were escorted back to Indonesian waters on Sunday.

Speaking at a leader's summit in Bali, foreign minister Marty Natalegawa said the information that people were put on the boat by Australian authorities was yet to be confirmed.

"I am informed that apart from the apparently original 18 asylum seekers who were in the original two boats, apparently some additional three individuals were added to the boat that was forced back to Indonesia," he said.

"So this is - if confirmed - obviously this is a very serious development.

"As I said from the beginning we are risking a slippery slope in the facilitation of Australia's government for these individuals to be forced back to Indonesia."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-06/marty-natalegawa-on-boat-extra-passengers-serious-development/5434540

Robert Cornall's report on the violence on Manus Island tiptoes around the main failures of the Abbott government and avoids a conclusion on whether the policy of indefinite detention in such a remote location is fatally flawed.

The wishy-washy set of recommendations belie the gravity of what unfolded inside a place where Scott Morrison maintained, even after the carnage, the safety of inmates could be guaranteed as long as they behaved.

Recommendation number one is that the ''feedback forms'' collated from 145 detainees that describe criminal offences be forwarded to PNG police who are yet to make an arrest for the murder of Reza Barati, and the maiming of others, more than three months ago.

Two former workers at offshore immigration centres have told a Senate inquiry they were recruited by the Salvation Army through social media and were not given any training before being sent overseas.

Nicole Judge and Christopher Iocono both worked at the centres on Nauru and Manus Island from 2012 until the early part of this year.

The pair were employed as support workers – Ms Judge's only previous work experience was as a sales assistant, while Mr Iocono had worked at a fast food restaurant – after answering a Salvation Army advertisement on the Macquarie University Facebook page.

"I was given no training; I didn't even have a job interview," Ms Judge said.

Mr Iocono said: "I didn't even hand in a resume or talk to them before I landed on the island for the first time."

Ms Judge said she was working for the Salvation Army on Nauru as a support worker - sometimes for up to 12 hours per day - just three days after answering the advertisement.

"I called the phone number and I rang and they asked me when could I go and did I know anyone that could come along," Ms Judge said.

"[I] called them and ... three days later we were in Nauru.

"I honestly thought, going into this, that it would be some kind of fun experience.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-12/manus-island-reza-barati-death-inquiry-cornall-report/5518262

Scott Morrison's weekend assurance that there had been no safety-of-life-at-sea event to report on because he was not reporting on one, was the kind of doughnut logic only a technocrat could love – circular and noticeably hollow.

It argued that people should trust their representatives and if nothing was being said, nothing was happening.

This would be a bold argument from any government at any time, but from a Border Protection Minister who has routinely asserted the obverse principle of directed opacity to maintain ''operational'' integrity, it asked for a lot of trust.

The minister's doorstop press conference in Melbourne on Saturday was about as nourishing as a doughnut too.

Fairfax Media had reported that morning that an asylum seeker boat was nearing Australia from India, carrying 153 Tamils including women and children with some in poor health.

Trespassing charges against nine religious leaders who protested in the Adelaide Hills electorate office of federal MP Jamie Briggs in June have been dismissed by the Adelaide Magistrates Court.

The group was part of a national movement called Love Makes A Way and staged a peaceful protest against children held in immigration detention.

They were arrested by police when they refused to leave.

Activate Community member Kate Leaney was one of those arrested and said the magistrate praised their commitment.

"It was a real affirmation of the fact that the community and society does not agree with children being held in detention, particularly in inhumane and indefinite lengths of time," she said.

"The magistrate let us all speak and actually at the end told us that we're a credit to our faith and an inspiration and had no hesitation in letting us go without conviction or penalty."

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-13/protest-group-vindicated-in-adelaide-magistrates-court/5668552

I can bet you a pair of pink frilly underpants against a bar of Toblerone (see The Roast, ABCTV) that should the protest have been staged by "atheists" with a conscience (make Love not War), they would have copped about five years firm in the klink — possibly for being communists...

Catholic schools are taking a stand against children in detention, a policy they say violates basic human rights and is inconsistent with their Christian values.

And, in a public commitment to refugee children, the schools have also pledged to provide free schooling to all refugees in Sydney Archdiocese schools.

Dan White, the executive director of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Sydney, has condemned Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and encourages his students to speak up if they are uncomfortable with the government's policies.

Australia is to replace the controversial orange lifeboats currently used to send asylum seekers back to their source countries, signing a “multi-million dollar deal” to have 10 custom-made “alternative transportation vessels”, resembling Asian fishing boats, built in Vietnam.

Australia initially purchased five of the 12-metre wooden-hulled vessels, then ordered another five. The first arrived in Australia in October.

The government has refused to answer questions on how much the new boats cost, or under which country’s flag they will be registered, if at all. A spokeswoman for the immigration minister said only: “customs and border protection uses a variety of vessels to prepare for and perform its maritime tasks”.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/05/orange-lifeboats-used-to-return-asylum-seekers-to-be-replaced-by-fishing-boats

Though Morrison is not the Minister presently responsible for the boat people, it seems it was under his regime that the new boats have been ordered... Does this means that they "have not stopped the boats"? Does this mean that the boats are still coming and they sending them back in another boat to disguise the deed? 

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