Sunday, February 22, 2015

Good of Team Peta to admit that NSA Shearer has failed, but this "National Counter Terrorism Coordinator." stunt can only work in Wycheproof

From the Co-PMs Peta Credlin and  Tony Abbott this morning:



“The government will appoint a national counter-terrorism coordinator to bring the same drive, focus and results to our counter-terrorism efforts that worked so well to stop the boats in Operation Sovereign Borders,” Mr Abbott will say. It has been suggested such a role could be filled by ASIO chief Duncan Lewis, who has experience as a major-general in the army, as a special forces commander and as ambassador to NATO.


Informed readers can be forgiven for thinking that the above has a strangely familiar ring to it.  Kevin Rudd 7 YEARS AGO appointed a National Security Adviser , none other than the same Duncan Lewis, whose job  was described in these words::

The Government will appoint a National Security Adviser, Mr Duncan Lewis AO, to provide a new level of leadership, direction and coordination to the national security agencies.
In addition to the appointment of a National Security Adviser, the national security structure will be improved by the creation of a strategic policy framework, a National Intelligence and Coordination Committee and enhancing our national crisis management arrangements.  The National Intelligence Coordination Committee will have responsibility for foreign, defence, security and law enforcement intelligence.

Which brings us then to the current National Security Adviser, Andrew Shearer.Obviously , incapable if not unwilling to do his job, he should be sacked.Why else appoint someone else to do exactly the same if not a very similar job,albeit under a different name?
Instead, his position and office remain, even as its functions are taken-over by the new office of National Counter Terrorism Coordinator. However, this being the Peta-Abbott Government , Shearer will remain, his office continue to exist (regardless of the need for spending cuts). All of which makes one wonder if this is all a mere stunt ,meant to disguise the fact  that the Lindt Cafe seige was really  a failure of intelligence and analysis at the PMO, caused in part by Shearer's inability.
This type of schoolgirl stunt might have achieved its objective in Wycheproof , but out here in the big bad world........
END 
PS: Readers are reminded that in addition to the National Security Advisor, there is also a within DFAT an Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism:
On 18 May 2014, Mr Miles Armitage was appointed as Australia's Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism. The Ambassador is responsible for developing and implementing Australia's international counter-terrorism efforts and plays a key role in coordinating policy cooperation, capacity building and operational collaboration between Australian agencies and international counter-terrorism partners.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has been leading what officials describe as a “massive” private and public diplomacy campaign in Indonesia......

Beginilah Menlu Australia Gambarkan Hubungan dengan Indonesia lewat "Emoji"

Selasa, 17 Februari 2015 | 14:05 WIB

BuzzfeedJawaban Julie Bishop soal hubungan Australia dengan Indonesia.

T

KOMPAS.com — Sebuah situs membuat wawancara pertama bersama politisi dunia yang jawabannya hanya boleh menggunakan emoji. Julie Bishop berbagi :) dan :( saat ditanya beberapa hal, termasuk soal hubungannya dengan Indonesia.

BuzzFeed, situs yang sering menampilkan berita-berita hiburan dan apa yang sedang ramai dibicarakan di jejaring sosial, melakukan wawancara yang cukup unik dengan Julie Bishop, Menteri Luar Negeri Australia.

Dalam wawancara yang dimuat hari Senin (16/2/2015), Menlu Julie Bishop diminta untuk hanya menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang dilakukan dengan menggunakan emoji.

Emoji adalah istilah untuk karakter gambar yang sering digunakan dalam pesan elektronik atau juga dikenal dengan istilah emoticon.

Wawancara tersebut diklaim oleh BuzzFeed sebagai wawancara pertama dengan politisi menggunakan emoji.

Tanya jawab berisi mulai dari pendapatnya soal politik di Australia, hubungan dengan negara-negara tetangga, hingga kegemaran pribadi.

Dalam wawancara tersebut, diketahui jika Bishop adalah orang yang lebih menyukai kucing daripada anjing.

Saat diajukan pertanyaan-pertanyaan seputar hubungan diplomatis, Bishop memberikan jawaban yang beragam.








And it does seem as if emoji  is Ms Bishop's preferred language :

Putin emoji-fronted? Aussie FM uses angry red face to portray Russian president

Published time: February 16, 2015 11:11
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.(AFP Photo / Mark Graham)
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.(AFP Photo / Mark Graham)
Australia’s foreign minister has given what’s believed to be the first-ever political interview with emoji-only answers. The image that Julie Bishop picked to depict the Russian president was not at all ‘smiley’.
The interview - an exchange of text messages, with Bishop required to stick to images instead of verbal answers - was done by the online news resource, Buzzfeed.
The minister was apparently approached with an offer to try the unconventional type of interview as she is herself an avid user of emoticons on her Twitter account.

Sometimes, as in her Christmas message, she uses them and nothing else.
The foreign minister accepted the challenge [of an emoji interview] in the spirit in which it was offered to her," her spokeswoman said, according to AFP.

Foreign policy questions can be answered pictorially, the interview shows.

Relations with the US and China were described by Julie Bishop with happy smileys and thumbs up.

Australia’s top diplomat was however hardly diplomatic when asked to describe President Vladimir Putin with one emoji. The reply was a red angry face.

Bishop was kinder to her prime minister, Tony Abbott, portraying him as a running man, referencing his addiction to fitness. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, according to Bishop, could best be illustrated with a picture of a mobile phone.
An expressionless smiley with a straight line for a mouth was the minister’s answer to the question of whether she wanted the post of prime minister.

She was also asked some non-political questions, which revealed her guilty pleasures are high-heeled shoes and donuts, she keeps herself fit by running and her favorite emoji is a winking smiling one blowing a kiss.