Duncan Lewis could not uncover what ABC 4 Corners did with less resources, and he is now to head ASIO?

NOTE

The appointment of Ducan Lewis as head of ASIO seems to underscore why form will always win over substance. 

While Lewis is highly credentialed and has experience as a field commander, that , as I have said before,does not make him a competent spy master.

His incompetence was described in an article on my blog published on  WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012

People Smuggling: Did Australia's National Security Adviser learn anything in Malaysia?

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on April 25,2009:
WAVES of Australia-bound asylum seekers crossing from Malaysia to Indonesia have prompted the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to send the national security adviser, Duncan Lewis, to talk with Malaysian officials about counter measures.
Mr Lewis was accompanied by the head of Customs, Michael Carmody, and senior immigration and Australian Federal Police officers. Before leaving Kuala Lumpur yesterday, members of the delegation said the meetings with Malaysian officials were "positive".
"There has been agreement at a conceptual level for increased co-operation and engagement to combat people smuggling," one member said.


On February 1 2012 a boat capsized of the east coast of Malaysia.The wording of reports regarding that incident by Malaysian media, which are essentially state controlled, is instructive:

EIGHT foreigners drowned in Malaysian waters early yesterday while attempting to sneak into Australia to seek greener pastures.
District police chief Superintendent Che Mahazan Che Aik said when police reached Telok Semayong about 8am, they saw eight bodies washed ashore while further off, the 12 survivors were spotted in a group.
“We believe the foreigners were trying to leave the country illegally. They were using Malaysia as a spring-board,” he said.
Initial investigations also revealed that the passengers had paid US$8,000 (RM24,000) each for the journey from their country to Australia.
The 12 who were rescued were sent to the district police station to assist investigations while the bodies were sent to the district hospital for post-mortem.
(by Sam Bak Heng, 8 drown off Johor;New Straits Times,02 February 201)



Eight people drowned, 11 others were rescued while six more are still missing, all foreigners, after their boat capsized off Teluk Semayong waters, Sedili Besar, near Kota Tinggi Wednesday morning. Kota Tinggi Police Chief Supt Che Mahazan Che Aik said the boat was believed to be illegally ferrying men from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to a neigbouring country when the boat capsized.
(Report in the Borneo Post, 2 February 2012, quoting the national wire news service, Bernama)


Clearly, what Australia regards as "asylum seekers" Malaysia regards as opportunists.
As far as Malaysian police are concerned the main issue here is "illegal ferrying".
The persons being ferried are not being treated as asylum seekers, refugees, or anything of that sort but rather suspects or accomplices in a crime.


How then did Duncan Lewis and party come to the conclusion that "there has been agreement at a conceptual level"?
Lewis is now Secretary , Department of Defence, and the post of National Security Adviser has yet to be filled. Nevertheless, as NSA he was , in essence, the country's chief spy.
As Sally Neighbour put it:
The most recent initiative is the appointment by the former Rudd government of a National Security Adviser (NSA), who works out of the prime minister’s office and chairs a new National Intelligence Coordination Committee, to ensure the agencies are “closely aligned [and] effectively integrated”. Australia’s first NSA, the former SAS commander Brigadier Duncan Lewis.....
(the post) centralises control in the prime minister’s office ... the position is entirely outside the accountability umbrella of IGIS.
(Sally Neighbour, Hidden Agendas,The Monthly, 2010-11-04)

Despite these advantages, it does appear that the NSA learnt nothing in Malaysia, or of Malaysian attitudes to what Australia considers asylum seekers. Judging from the SMH report, and from the Gillard government's handling of the the "asylum seeker" issue it does appear that the present administration is light years away from understanding the problem of illegal migrants.Pretending that this simply another aspect of the white man's burden is an idea that has long passed its due date.

The full extent of Lewis's incompetence was laid bare by Sarah Ferguson's Captain Emad story, where she detailed the operations of a people smuggling ring headquartered just 15 minutes from the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur:

 

The ABC has revealed that people smugglers connected with a deadly disaster at sea are now residing in Australia under refugee visas. 

According to passengers on Emad's boat, in detention in Australia, Abdullah al Sharifi talked openly about his work as a smuggler with Captain Emad in Malaysia and Indonesia. 

"He said, 'I was with Captain Emad in Malaysia. He brought me here for free and we work together at this smuggling business'," passenger Rahim said.

A different life

It is not clear what Captain Emad told Australian immigration officials to convince them he was a genuine refugee in need of protection.

What is known is that before he set up shop in Indonesia, he had spent a large portion of his life in downtown Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

His legitimate business in Malaysia was perfume. By 2005 he owned four perfume shops in Kuala Lumpur and he still owns at least one

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-04/powerful-people-smugglers-caught-living-in-australia/4050506

END 

Andrew Constance Could Not Be Trusted With Fines, Should Not Be Trusted With Treasury

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The new NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance's  methods of improving NSW  state revenue at all costs,  disregarding even the law,  while  in his former finance and services portfolio, makes him unsuitable to be put in charge of the more senior Treasury portfolio.

As Minister For Finance Mr Constance sought to increase state revenue by enforcing parking fines. In 2012 alone he added $ 177 million to state revenues by imposing parking fines on apparent over-stayers at parks and hospitals, hitting the sick, elderly , and students.
When questioned on that strategy  Mr Constance said:

"If a driver believes they have been fined incorrectly, they can seek a review from the Office of State Revenue (OSR)."

However, there is evidence that the OSR , led by the Commissioner For Fines, Tony Newbury, and Mr Constance, appear to have in place a scheme where reviews are routinely rejected and the appellants told instead to seek redress via the legal system , in the expectation that the costs of legal challenge will discourage doing so, and the fine paid without challenge.

In a recent incident where this writer was involved, an attempt was successfully made to make Mr Constance and Mr Newbury reveal  their methods when  justifying  a fine.Email queries were sent Mr Newbury , Mr Constance , and then Premier, O'Farrell.

In response, Mr Newbury, in a letter sent on behalf of Constance and O'Farrell, admitted that:

a) they could not detail the actual facts of the offence upon which their penalty was premised.
They had earlier determined to justify the penalty on a fabricated story which involved  a child that was supposed to be the driver's , the child climbing out of the car,and  child walking then walking towards the car ; all of which was false.

b)  there was disagreement between the time of offence stated in the penalty notice, and their own photographs which they furnished as evidence of the crime. In fact , the times were clearly transposed, raising the issue of whether the time of offence had been deliberately misstated to justify the offence.
Nevertheless, this was explained away as a failure to adjust their cameras for daylight saving, but then;

c) could not say  how the time of offence was actually determined

Given that most fines, including the one described above, are for a few hundred dollars and given that legal fees are usually upward of a thousand, most fines are paid without any legal challenge, regardless of the facts.Indeed judges are angered by litigants who disregard  "commercial realities".
However, Mr Constance does not seem to have realized that being a politician, the court of public opinion is what really matters to his future. If the best he can do is cheat to raise public revenue, it is unlikely that he possesses the skills necessary to balance the state's books.
END

An example of the debate among Malays illustrates why MGG Pillai was heard, and today's non-Malay commentators are not

NOTE 

While many would be aware that MGG Pillai and I had , shall we say, a major difference of opinion in the last few years of his life, I must say that he was not afraid to participate in debates, private and public , like the ones described below by Rocky Atan. 

He did take sides, and that did become an issue, but he was at least brave enough to do so.

True, he started out as a journalist when the races were less divided,and the leadership more inclusive, but then , he continued to speak and write as he did despite the changing environment.Doing so, he   remained  relevant till the day he died.

On the other hand, today's non-Malay commentators seem more interested in making a play of having "controversial" views,and then of hiding, or remaining quiet, for fear that "they" are listening, thus giving themselves a degree of importance they simply do not have. Put in another way, the irrelevant are made even more irrelevant by their ego. 

Thursday, January 09, 2014

The photograph that spooked Annie and some others

Got a few calls to ask me if "you bloggers" are revolting against the PM. Even prominent businessman TF was concerned enough to call me for the first time in over a year: "Why are the bloggers whacking Najib ... except you?" The latest caller, a little lady called Annie, said she became particularly worried after reading Apanama's Najib Worse Than Pak Lah? People familiar with the Malaysian blogosphere would equate Apanama with critical-but-polite postings, a cool head among today's very temperamental and crazily critical English-driven bloggers. But Apanama's latest posting was so hard-hitting it seems that even the punching machine Syed Akbar Ali was quoting him line for line.  

"And, aiyooo,  my dear Rocky did you see the photograph published by OutSyed The Box's!?" I promised her I'd check out the two blogs as soon as I get back to my den from a dinner with some consultants. 

And, ah, no wonder Annie was spooked! Here's the picture Syed Akbar published in his posting Apanama makan Roti Teloq - Ampat Biji!! 

Superstitious people avoid threesome shots

People would read all kinds of things upon seeing this photograph and you can't blame them if they do. But I'd tell Annie that things are not always what they appear to be. Tun Daim Zainuddin, the man flanked by OutSyed The Box and Apanama in the picture, engages bloggers every now and then over breakfast. He would even invite some of the mainstream editors from time to time. But no, Daim's not the "unseen hand" some people think is behind recent incessant attacks on Najib, his wife, and family and friends. Or on Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, for that matter (see Syed Akbar's posting on the former nemesis h e r e).

I have had the privilege of joining the Tun for roti canai in some very public places where we exchanged stories and gossips. Daim is an excellent story teller. The last time I was invited to breakfast with Tun Daim, I was late by a few minutes. After I had taken my allocated seat next to the former Finance Minister, my ex boss AKJ asked those who were pro-Najib to move over to Daim's side, with me and Syed Akbar (who was seated to Daim's left), while those who were not for the PM would sit opposite Daim, with AKJ. Just like a school debate. A lof of things were said in jest like that but we did talk about the serious stuff too. 

When we're not meeting Daim, we bloggers would be meeting anyone who wants to engage us. But not everyone wants to engage us. 

As for Apanama's hard-hitting posting, it is indeed a reflection of what a lot of people feel. Tan Sri Zainal Rampak, the trade union leader, thinks Najib is not getting a true picture of what's happening on the ground and has asked me to "please tell Datuk Seri Najib to go down to the people."  

Apanama wants Najib to stop talking about transformation plans and start transforming. The PM can sack some aides and reshuffle his Cabinet, for a start.

"We need men and women of character, capability and common sense to steer this nation forward ... some of your cabinet members have become laughing stocks. Quite a number of the better cabinet members are finding it hard to hold their heads up in public because of the clowns among them."  

But please do read what Apanama has to say right to the end of his posting so that you won't miss the message:

But time is running out, Mr Prime Minister

Djoko Suyanto shows his hand, and falters: Abbott may have been handed another advantage

Djoko Suyanto , who only last week made clear that Dewi Fortuna  had not the authority to speak on the matter of boat people, has since revealed that it is he who is directing  Marty Natalagewa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their handling of the spying issue.

In doing so, however , Djoko may have faltered in his directive to the Ministry 

requesting that it consider reducing the number of Indonesian intelligence officers 

at its Canberra post. Given the extent to which the Indonesians rely on HUMINT, it is 

difficult to understand how Djoko's strategy would advantage Indonesia.

Menko Polhukam: isu penyadapan akan ganggu hubungan Indonesia-Australia

Senin, 18 November 2013 19:24 WIB | 6263 Views

Pewarta: Syaiful Hakim

Menkopolhukam Djoko Suyanto (ANTARA FOTO/Fanny Octavianus)

Berita Terkait

• Wakil Ketua MPR: persona non grata-kan Dubes Australia

• Indonesia tarik dubes dari Australia

• Australia perlu klarifikasi penyadapan

• Isu penyadapan dibahas khusus Boediono-Abbot

• Pakar: perlu tegas hadapi penyadapan

Video Terkait

Benarkah Indonesia Disadap?

Tak Perlu Reaksioner Disadap ...

Jakarta (ANTARA News)  - Menteri Koordinator bidang Politik, Hukum dan Keamanan (Menko Polhukam), Djoko Suyanto, mengatakan Kementerian Luar Negeri akan memanggil Dubes RI di Canberra ke Jakarta untuk "konsultasi" dan mengkaji kerja sama pertukaran informasi antar pemerintah RI dan Australia, termasuk penugasan pejabat Australia di Kedubes Australia di Jakarta.

Djoko dalam keterangan tertulisnya di Jakarta, Senin, mengaku isu penyadapan kepada para pejabat pemerintah Indonesia oleh Australia akan mengganggu hubungan bilateral kedua negara.

Menko Polhukam, mengatakan telah melakukan langkah koordinasi dengan Menteri Luar Negeri Marty Natalegawa terkait berita penyadapan para pejabat Pemeritah Indonesia oleh Australia di media Australia.

Langkah-langkah yang dilakukan, kata Djoko, pertama bahwa pihak Kementerian Luar Negeri akan menghubungi Menlu Australia Julie Bishop untuk menyampaikan bahwa isu tersebut akan membawa dampak yang tidak baik terhadap hubungan bilateral Indonesia dan Australia.

Kedua, lanjut Djoko, meminta Australia untuk menyampaikan official and public explanationmengenai komitmen untuk tidak melakukan penyadapan.

Ketiga, Kemlu akan memanggil  Dubes RI di  Canberra ke Jakarta untuk "konsultasi" dan mengkaji kerja sama pertukaran informasi antar pemerintah RI dan Australia, termasuk penugasan pejabat Australia di Kedubes Australia di Jakarta.

"Kemlu juga akan mereview seluruh kerja sama pertukaran informasi dan kerja sama lainnya dengan Australia," tegas Menko Polhukam.

Seperti diberitakan media, intelijen negeri Kangguru mencoba menguping pembicaraan telepon yang dilakukan Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dan istrinya serta beberapa menteri senior.

Dokumen rahasia yang dibocorkan oleh Edward Snowden dan diterima media penyiaran Australia Broadcasting Corporation serta harian The Guardian itu menyebutkan Presiden dan sembilan orang terdekatnya sebagai target pengintipan.

Pengungkapan tersebut muncul saat hubungan bilateral dua negara tengah meruncing terkait tudingan mata-mata sebelumnya dan isu mengenai penanganan manusia perahu yang melewati Indonesia menuju Australia.

Dokumen-dokumen tersebut menunjukkan bahwa badan intelijen elektronik Australia, Defence Signal Directorate, melacak aktivitas telepon seluler Yudhoyono selama 15 hari pada Agustus 2009 saat Kevin Rudd dari Partai Buruh menjabat sebagai perdana menteri.

Dalam daftar target pengintipan tersebut juga terdapat nama Wakil Presiden Boediono yang pekan lalu berada di Australia, mantan wapres Yusuf Kalla, jurubicara bidang luar negeri, menteri bidang keamanan serta menteri komunikasi dan informasi.

ABC mengatakan salah satu dokumen itu berjudul "3G impact and update" yang memetakan upaya intelijen Australia untuk mengimbangi pertumbuhan teknologi 3G di Indonesia dan seluruh kawasan Asia Tenggara.

Terdapat sejumlah pilihan pemintasan dan direkomendasikan untuk memilih salah satu diantaranya untuk diaplikasikan kepada target --dalam hal ini pemimpin Indonesia, demikian dilaporkan ABC.

Pengungkapan terakhir dokumen Snowden tersebut muncul hanya beberapa minggu setelah adanya laporan yang mengklaim bahwa pos-pos diplomatik Australia di luar negeri, termasuk Jakarta, terlibat dalam jaringan luas pengintaian yang dipimpin AS, yang memantik reaksi kemarahan dari Menteri Luar Negeri Indonesia Marty Natalegawa.

Laporan ini kemudian disusul dengan laporan lain dari the Guardian awal bulan ini bahwa Australia dan Amerika Serikat menjalankan operasi pengintaian bersama terhadap Indonesia saat digelarnya pertemuan iklim PBB di Bali pada 2007.

Editor: Unggul Tri Ratomo

COPYRIGHT © 2013

The Aus-Indo Spying Issue: Indonesia proposed a compromise that would allow status quo ante

On 15 November 2013 the Bahasa Indonesia detikNews reported a press conference in Melbourne called by Indonesian Vice President Boediono. The press conference was called after a visit to Canberra where he had met with Tony Abbott. Boediono said that the issue of Australian spying on Indonesia  had been raised, and that he, Boediono ,  had proposed  a compromise. 

The fact that Boediono proposed the compromise suggests that
Indonesia has more to lose from any disruption to existing spying and intelligence arrangements.This is evident from a translation of this excerpt from the detikNews report:




Secara resmi, Indonesia meminta agar ada perbaikan dalam proses pengumpulan informasi sehingga tidak merugikan kedua negara dan merusak hubungan yang sudah terjalin baik selama ini. Abbott merespons baik terhadap permintaan tersebut.

"Ide untuk ke depan ada suatu sistem di mana informasi yang dikumpulkan tidak dipakai untuk hal-hal merugikan kedua belah pihak. Nampaknya beliau tidak menolak. Artinya beliau sendiri pandangannya ke arah situ," jelasnya




Translated :
Officially , Indonesia has asked that intelligence obtained not be used in
a manner that might be detrimental to either country . Abbott responded positively to that suggestion.

" The idea going forward is for a system where information collected will not be used in any way that will harm either country. Abbott did not object. I take that to mean that his thinking is along the same lines" , he (Boediono) explained.
 

The Australia News Network reported similar but omitted reference to the fact that Indonesia had suggested a compromise:

Indonesian vice president Boediono plays down asylum seeker and spying disputes with Australia

Updated Sun 17 Nov 2013, 10:40pm AEDT

Vice president raises espionage concerns

Dr Boediono said he raised concerns with Mr Abbott about allegations the Australian embassy in Jakarta had been used for espionage.
"It is a public concern in Indonesia. And therefore we should find some joint ways to allay public concern," he said.
"Of course, we didn't go into details, but the willingness is there to look to the future with cooperation that will not risk the interests of each parties."
In an interview with the ABC's 7.30 following his meeting with Dr Boediono, Mr Abbott would not comment directly on the reports, but noted spying is common practice in international affairs.
"All countries, all governments, gather information. That's hardly a surprise," Mr Abbott said.
"One of the things that I've offered to do today in my discussions with the Indonesian vice president is to elevate our level of information sharing, because I want the people of Indonesia to know that everything, everything that we do is to help Indonesia as well as to help Australia."
Dr Boediono would not be drawn on whether Indonesia had ever spied on Australia.
"I certainly cannot guarantee anything about that kind of thing," Dr Boediono said.
"Certainly, as part of the Indonesian government, whatever we do in our embassy in any country will follow international law."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-17/an-boediono-feature-james/5097288

Jumat, 15/11/2013 16:07 WIB

Laporan dari Australia

Wapres Boediono Paparkan Pembicaraannya dengan PM Abbott soal Penyadapan

Rachmadin Ismail - detikNews

Melbourne - Wakil Presiden Boediono menyampaikan langsung keberatan Indonesia terhadap penyadapan intelejen kepada Perdana Menteri Australia Tony Abbott. Apa reaksi Abbott menanggapinya?

Di dalam sesi jumpa pers bersama wartawan Indonesia di hotel Hyatt Melbourne, Australia, Jumat (15/11/2013), Boediono menjelaskan hasil kunjungan kerjanya selama lima hari di Australia yang agendanya adalah kerjasama pendidikan, riset dan budaya.

Namun, dalam pertemuan dengan Abbott, isu penyadapan oleh Australia ikut dibahas. Secara langsung, Boediono mengemukakan keberatan pemerintah dan masyarakat RI terhadap tindakan tersebut.

"Ini concern publik dari kita dan tidak akan hilang begitu saja," kata Boediono.

Secara resmi, Indonesia meminta agar ada perbaikan dalam proses pengumpulan informasi sehingga tidak merugikan kedua negara dan merusak hubungan yang sudah terjalin baik selama ini. Abbott merespons baik terhadap permintaan tersebut.

"Ide untuk ke depan ada suatu sistem di mana informasi yang dikumpulkan tidak dipakai untuk hal-hal merugikan kedua belah pihak. Nampaknya beliau tidak menolak. Artinya beliau sendiri pandangannya ke arah situ," jelasnya.

Menurut wapres, bakal ada pembahasan lebih lanjut soal sistem itu. "Sementara ini belum ada yang konkrit, nanti ditindaklanjuti dengan semacam negosiasi mengani sistemnya," tambahnya.

Isu penyadapan mengemuka setelah Edward Snowden, mantan pegawai CIA membocorkannya. Media Australia mengangkat isu ini dan direspons keras oleh Indonesia.

Hingga kini, pemerintah Australia tak membantah atau membenarkan soal aktivitas itu. Saat diwawancarai ABC Australia, Abbott hanya mengatakan semua negara menggali informasi, namun bukan untuk kejahatan. Informasi yang digalinya dari Indonesia juga untuk kepentingan membantu Indonesia sendiri.



Ikuti berbagai peristiwa penting hari ini hanya di "Reportase Sore" Trans TV pukul 16.30 WIB

Australian foreign policy stupidity on display: High Commissioner to Malaysia honours Feisal Rauf, controversial imam accused of embezzlement

The pictures , with links for further information, and the stories that follow should be enough to embarrass any government, but then Australia's Department Of Foreign Affairs And Trade is not known for its sophistication. 
Incidents of this type arise when one tries impress without actually having any understanding of the matters at hand.



High Commissioner Mr Miles Kupa (left) presents a gift to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Chairman of Cordoba Initiative (Photo taken 24 July , 2013)
(http://www.malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/media_iftar.html)


Just before the above, in February 2013:

Accused nonprofit embezzler imam Feisal Abdul Rauf steals away with wife amid claims he swindled $3 million in donations

The controversial Rauf made headlines following 9/11 after announcing plans to build a mosque at 51 Park Place, less than three blocks from Ground Zero. Rauf is alleged to have rerouted cash given to the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement to line his pockets.

By Larry Mcshane , Matthew Lysiak AND Dareh Gregorian / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Wednesday, February 6, 2013, 8:28 PM

Updated: Thursday, February 7, 2013, 1:00 AM

Frank Franklin II/AP

Daisy Khan, co-founder of the Cordoba Initiative, is noted in a $20 million lawsuit alleging her husband, imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, pilfered $3 million from two nonprofits — including her own.

The took separate vacations — and cars.
Former “Ground Zero” imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife bolted their New Jersey home about 20 minutes apart Wednesday without addressing the pending $20 million lawsuit against him.
The ski-capped Rauf, 64, climbed into a waiting Lincoln Town Car, with his chauffeur and quickly zipped away from the two-story North Bergen house.
Spouse Daisy Khan fled earlier in her four-door sedan, pulling out of the long driveway past a Daily News reporter. Neither said a word before heading off.
RELATED: 'GROUND ZERO' MOSQUE SCAM

Richard Harbus/for NY Daily News

Rauf leaving his North Bergen home and getting into a limousine Wednesday morning. He's under fire for allegedly stealing from Muslim nonprofits.

The blinds in their house were drawn tight one day after a Westchester County couple accused Rauf of redirecting more than $3 million in donations to a pair of nonprofits into his pockets.
According to the Manhattan lawsuit, Rauf used the ill-gotten cash to splurge on gifts and luxury vacations with a Jersey gal pal.
The imam, who became a polarizing national figure in the debate over the planned mosque near the World Trade Center site, also spent money on a sports car, real estate and other unspecified entertainment, the suit charged.

Daisy Khan told The News she had never gone on vacation with Rauf, who relaxed abroad with his purported girlfriend Evelyn Adorno, said a lawyer for plaintiffs Robert Deak and wife, Moshira Soliman.
RELATED: GONZALEZ: COURT FIGHT WITH 'GROUND ZERO' IMAM TAINTS BOTH SIDES

Richard Harbus /for NY Daily News

The imam slipped past a Daily News reporter Wednesday morning, refusing to acknowledge the lawsuit.

Khan and Rauf were both deeply involved with the allegedly looted nonprofits, the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement.
The two groups were created to battle anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States.
An attorney for Khan said the charges against her husband were bogus, adding they planned a “vigorous defense.”
The Internal Revenue Service, citing agency policy, declined comment Wednesday on the lawsuit’s allegation that Rauf lied on his nonprofits’ income tax returns in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
RELATED: IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF OUT AS LEADER OF PLANNED MOSQUE NEAR GROUND ZERO: OFFICIALS

AP

An artist rendering of the proposed Park51 community center and mosque, a project which has struggled to raise money.

He was ousted in January 2011 from the proposed $100 million Park51 community center. Around the same time, Rauf’s feud with his friends-turned-plaintiffs began.
Deak accused Rauf of blowing $167,000 from their donations, along with another $3 million given by the Malaysian government. The Malaysian Embassy had no comment Wednesday on the alleged scam.
Fund-raising at Park51 remains stalled as the group seeks an application for tax-exempt status and continues a court fight with Con Ed over back rent on the property.
Park51 developer Sharif El-Gamal, for a second straight day, did not return phone calls about Rauf.
But Mayor Bloomberg, once a backer of the planned mosque, didn’t give the mosque and cultural center much of a chance.
“Their plans were to raise $100 million. (They raised) $18,000,” the mayor said Wednesday. “I think . . . that’s enough of a story line.”
With Erin Durkin and Richard Harbus

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mosque-bandit-steals-wife-pilfering-allegations-article-1.1257309#ixzz2fUVomeD6

Can Therese Rein survive a politically dead Kevin?

 Therese Rein had this to say on Twitter last night:

Thérèse Rein @Therese_Rein

RT @macuser2323: #qanda @KRuddMP you were bloody brilliant tonight Kevin. You in my opinion definitely deserve another term.

10:49 PM - 2 Sep 2013

 The real question: Can Therese Rein survive once Kevin is completely and utterly without influence, and prospects, as he is likely to be come the evening of 7 September 2013?

The following which I raised 5 years ago remains unanswered:

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Who guaranteed Therese Rein and Kevin Rudd's loan facilities?

In May 2007 the Sun Herald reported, in a story about Therese Rein and Kevin Rudd's business interest:

....she borrowed AUD 7800 against their Brisbane home and set up Therese Rein and Associates, trading as WorkDirections Australia.

"Well, we've struggled with our mortgage and this has been a long journey," she says. "What my parents gave me was a good education and the belief that you can do anything. They didn't give me money. When we started the business, we had a mortgage and we borrowed against the equity in the house. That only stopped ... a few years ago now." (Source:Rein & shine,By Peter Wilmoth
27 May 2007,Sun Herald)

However ,an ASIC search obtained at that time showed Rein's company was subject to a charge -fixed and floating -in favour of Westpac since 1990.That loan appears to have been refinanced since then , most recently with HSBC.
In other words, Rudd-Rein's business was not financed by a mere mortgage over the family home-other loans were also required,and these were secured over the business , NOT the family home.

Then, on 28 April 2008, Glen Milne of the Sunday Telegraph reported:
A COMPANY controlled by Kevin Rudd's wife Therese Rein took out a AUD 75million overdraft while the Prime Minister's office claimed the business was inactive.
It emerged two weeks ago that Mr Rudd had not declared the activities of one of his wife's companies -- Invisage Australia -- on a Parliamentary pecuniary interests register....The documents show that on March 30 of that year the company co-signed a bank loan facility -- essentially an overdraft -- with the HSBC bank for AUD 75 million.

This was in addition to an earlier loan taken out with Westpac on May 15, 2003 for AUD 120 million. The first loan was discharged on March 29, 2007.
The PM claimed that the company, which was in receipt of Federal Government funding over four years worth AUD 160,000, had been ``inactive'' since 2006.

But documents obtained by The Sunday Telegraph show that Invisage Australia, owned by the holding company Ingeus that is controlled by Mr Rudd's wife, was still active in 2007.

(Rudd, Rein and $75m
GLENN MILNE,27 April 2008
Sunday Telegraph)


I have previously written on Invisage on this blog:
http://gsahathevan.blogspot.com/2008/04/therese-reins-invisage-throws-light-on.html
I showed from their own website (now in Archives) that the company was a provider of training services. Hence it is not likely to have had assets sufficient to secure an AUD 120 million loan, or an AUD 85 million overdraft facility. In addition, Rudd himself said the company was inactive. If these financing facilities were required for the expansion of Ingeus, the parent company, the facilities would have been in the name of Ingeus which MAY have had the resources on which to secure the above facilities.

The entire Ingeus Group is said to have "global revenue topping $170 million".
(http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rudds-wife-to-run-the-empire--her-own/2007/04/23/1177180569463.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1)
Hence, it could be argued that Westpac and HSBC were prepared to advance hundreds of millions in loans against the company's revenue. Service providers such as Ingeus are not likely to have much in assets-hence the company's revenue would have had to be the main source of security for the loans.
However, it is likely that the banks would have required further security, probably in the form of some type of guarantee from a party external to the business. Unless the Rudd's have some other asset base they are not telling us about, the guarantees would have to be provided by some party or parties friendly to the Rudds.

In short; Rein can no longer expect us to believe that has grown her company on the back of AUD 7,800 loan secured on a second mortgage over the family home.

posted by ganesh sahathevan @ 4:40 PM