Intelligence & Security Committee can finally determine why NSW LPAB granted Communist Party China linked Zhu Minshen the right to award law degrees: Understanding why the NSW LPAB made an exception can illumine Communist Party methods of infiltration, and extent of its influence in Australia : NSW LPAB Chairman Tom Bathurst & his officers must be called as witnesses

by Ganesh Sahathevan



NSW Libs received donations of $44,275 from TOP Education Grosup 

just before after TOP was granted the "first & only" licenset issued a private

 company to award law degrees: AG Speakman and his LPAB refuse to disclose

 all details in the LPAB Annual Reports

The proposed Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security inquiry into foreign interference in universities can finally determine why the NSW LPAB granted Communist Party China linked Zhu Minshen the right to award law degrees.

Understanding why the NSW LPAB made an exception in favour of Zhu Minshen and his Top Educatio Group can illumine Communist Party methods of infiltration, and the extent of its influence in Australia.

The NSW LPAB not only made an exception in the case of Zhu, but then renewed his license to award law degrees despite Zhu's involvement in the China political donation scandal, and revelations by Clive Hamilton in his 2019 book Silent Invasion. 

Direct answers can only be obtained from the Chairman of NSW LPAB, the Chief Justice of NSW Tom Bathurst(pictured below with the Chinese ambassador , and all his officers. 

                          Ambassador Cheng Jingye Pays an Official Visit to the State of New                           South Wales   (2016/08/16)



TO BE READ WITH 

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Why did the NSW  LPAB make an exception for China's Minshen Zhu & Top Group -AG NSW Speakman maintains political silence despite weakening share price, China protests

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Top Education Group Ltd

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Anyone can see that Top Group stands out in this list from the NSW LPAB website:

Accredited law courses

In accordance with Section 29 of the Uniform Law and by virtue of the transitional and savings provisions in the Legal Profession Uniform Admission Rules 32(3)(a) the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board has accredited the following Academic courses

Name of Institution	Course
Legal Profession Admission Board	Diploma in Law
University of Sydney	LLB or JD
University of New South Wales	LLB or JD
Macquarie University	LLB or JD
University of Technology Sydney	LLB or JD
University of Wollongong	LLB
University of New England	LLB or JD
Southern Cross University	LLB
University of Newcastle	LLB or JD
Western Sydney University	LLB
University of Notre Dame	LLB
TOP Education Institute	LLB
Australian Catholic University	LLB
Charles Sturt University	LLB​ or LLB/BCrimJustice

Top Group has been happy to advertise the fact that the LPAB granted it the "first and only" license to grant law degrees granted a private company.

See also 

NSW Libs received donations of $44,275 from TOP Education Group just before after TOP was granted the "first & only" license issued a private company to award law degrees: AG Speakman and his LPAB refuse to disclose all details in the LPAB Annual Reports

China-HK protest on Australian campuses but not at Minshen Zhu controlled campuses-Are legal profession admission rules being used (again ) to suppress complaints and protests

When companies fail auditors pay: Why should Audit NSW not be held responsible for the iCare debacle? And what about Peter Hall's ICAC.....

by Ganesh Sahathevan

 This AFR headline says it all: 
Wirecard debacle just the latest failure for auditors
The story goes on to describe failure by auditors over the past decade and more to detect often fatal financial problems within the companies they audited. Even the top names in the game have suffered penalties for negligence; others like Arthur Andersen were sued into oblivion. Arthur Andersen, as readers may recall, was once the gold standard for auditing profession. 


Government auditors in Australia however, like the NSW Audit Office seem to be a protected species, regardless of the mistakes  made. The matter of iCare seems to have brought to fore a public service like approach to auditing, where public service secrecy is acceptable practise, and the public service habit of plausible deniability is accepted without question by the auditor, regardless of external evidence, even when that evidence is in the public domain. 

As explained previously, the NSW Audit Office seems to be employing a tactic of plausible deniability in an attempt to justify its unqualified audit opinions. 

Audit NSW ought to be subject to the same type of scrutiny and penalties that its private sector counterparts have been subject to for very many years. The public sector auditing system will not work if Audit NSW, and its state and federal counterparts, are treated as if it were a scared cow. 

Speaking of sacred cows, this issue reported by the ABC  suggests that ICAC also needs to be subjected to external scrutiny. It is distressing that iCare has been relied on an ICAC report to defend itself against a whistleblower, given the scandal surrounding iCare:

iCare refused to comment on the treatment of (whistleblower  Chris McCann. In a statement, it said it investigated matters he raised with the assistance of independent third parties. "Matters that were referred to ICAC did not lead to further investigation," the statement said.

TO BE READ WITH 

Did Audit NSW's iCare audit include interviews with former iCare Head Of Compliance Chris McCann-if not why not, if yes, how did Audit NSW miss all that McCann has to tell?

Why a special audit of Peter Hall's ICAC must include a review of his handling of the China donation inquiry , and the NSW LPAB 's dealings with Zhu Minshen

Why Australian Commonwealth foreign interference laws must be enforced against the NSW LPAB,and why the NSW LAPB's licence granted Zhu Minshen's Top Group must be treated as an "agreement" between a Communist Party China linked organisation and an Australian government institution

by Ganesh Sahathevan

While the Australian Government pursues public universities for their agreements with Chinese Communist Party entities, nothing has been said about the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board's granting of a licence to Zhu Minshen and his Top Education Group, to issue law degrees in Australia. As Zhu himself likes to say, it is very unique, one and only license. 

The implications of the grant of that license are wide ranging, and will affect the legal system in this country. The grant of that license may not be an "agreement", but as readers can see from these earlier stories, the NSW LPAB and as a consequence the NSW and Australian legal establishment have locked themselves into a position where they will, in effect, promote the interests of the Communist Party China in Australia. 

Monday, June 15, 2020

NSW Law Society as an independent, strong, objective voice for Beijing friendly policies:Implications of the NSW LPAB granting a Communist Party China ,United Front linked company a license to create China based NSW admitted lawyers

by Ganesh Sahathevan

From left to right :Prof Eugene Clark, Hon George Brandis, 

Dr Minshen Zhu

 As reported previously on this blog the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board's issuance of a license to Zhu Minshen's Top Education Group is a mystery: 

"The fishy smell around Zhu Minshen's Top Education Institute": Clive Hamilton's "Silent Invasion" raises questions for NSW AG Mark Speakman & the NSW LPAB

Quite apart from the political scandals surrounding the issuance of that license there are security considerations which should have been obvious to all concerned in the issuance of that license,but which have were ignored.As reported here: 

NSW LPAB found Zhu Misnhen's Top Group fit and proper to issue LLBs despite Top's links to Chinese government, tax havens, and a mysterious major shareholder -SMH investigation of 2016 reveals details which should concern ASIO, and cause investigation into the conduct of the NSW LPAB

AG NSW Speakman and senior judicial officers at the LPAB ignored the fact that Zhu Minshen undermined an Australian Federal Police directive

These lapses by the NSW LPAB, which is chaired by the Chief Justice OF NSW Mark Speakman and overseen by the AG NSW Mark Speakman have now created a wider security problem that will engulf the NSW Law Society and other law societies in Australia including the Law Council Australia. 

In their article The Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work with the Legal Profession Groot & O'Brien state:

The United Front Work Department has as its targets for uniting many professions and occupations included in the emerging new strata in society. Lawyers are but one of these professions. Nevertheless, lawyers are specifically important because of their role in the phenomenon of weiquan (rights protection). Lawyers’ activities in weiquan are part of a wider movement which includes journalists, netizens and activists.

....lawyers are specifically important because of their role in the phenomenon of weiquan (rights protection).


"Rights protection" arises from the fact that lawyers and judges are meant to be independent of government. However, that very trait can be used against government, if societies of lawyers can be infiltrated by lawyers of a particular ideology. The recent example of conservative Muslim lawyers seeking to gain control of Malaysia's Bar Society is a case in point.


In light of the above it is naive to believe that Australian associations of lawyers would not be targeted for infiltration. As explained previously the NSW Law Society is especially vulnerable:

How will the Australia's legal establishment deal with the coming surge of China based Chinese lawyers admitted to practise in NSW: Zhu Minshen's license to issue law degrees in the context of ASPI report detailing China infiltration of Australian politics, business

Once dominated by China born,China based Australian admitted law students the NSW Law Society, other state law societies and the Law Council Of Australia can be turned into mouthpieces of the Communist Party China,the Chinese Government and its various arms can be used to undermine Australian national interests. The assumption that law societies are independent of their governments can be used to advantage for law societies are expected to be independent of their home governments; the degree of independence is often measured by the degree of opposition to government policies. The opposition by law societies and even senior judges to the Australian government's anti-terrorism laws is a case in point. 

The same methods employed at Sydney University can be applied to the NSW Law Society and others like it,so long as there are sufficient numbers to swing the vote (see story below). 

The matter of Zhu Minshen's dealings with the leadership of the NSW legal establishment requires immediate investigation by the relevant agencies.

END 

TO BE READ WITH 

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

“perhaps the only accredited degree program in Australia that counts agitating for a foreign power towards its qualifications": Why the Law Soc Australia & NSW LPAB's business with Zhu Minshen is a matter of national security

by Ganesh Sahathevan



NSW Libs received donations of $44,275 from TOP Education Grosup 

just before after TOP was granted the "first & only" licenset issued a private

 company to award law degrees: AG Speakman and his LPAB refuse to disclose

 all details in the LPAB Annual Reports.

The progressive Left leaning Sydney Morning Herald reported in August this year:

Chinese international students now dominate campus politics at the University of Sydney, which has long been a breeding ground for political luminaries including Gough Whitlam, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.

Today, the presidencies of the student representative council (SRC) and the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) are both held by candidates from Chinese international student blocs as are about half of the elected positions on student union boards

As recently as 2015, international students were scarcely involved in campus politics but that changed in 2016 with the election of Yifan "Koko" Kong, the first Chinese international student to win a seat on the student union board.

That ended the lock domestic students aligned with Labor, the Liberals and the Greens have held on campus for decades.
In blunt terms a bastion of whiteness has fallen swiftly. The fall can be attributed to a Vice Chancellor who was determined to see his university become more "diverse". 

Meanwhile, the Law Council Australia and the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board, which is chaired by the Chief Justice Of NSW, Tom Bathurst, made history by authorising a private company to grant law degrees; that company happens to be listed in Hong Kong and has strong links to the Communist Party Of China.As reported by this writer: 


Zhu Minshen's new Chinese website says the Law Council of Australia "officially approved" Top Education Institute's application to issue law degrees

Zhu's teaching methods are unique. In his 2018 book "Silent Invasion" Professor Clive Hamilton reports that Top Education Group's Zhu Minshen organised students , including students from his Top Education Institute to protest against Tibetans at the 2008 Olympic Torch rally, which counted towards the Top students’ assessment.As he puts it, Zhu’s Top Institution is “perhaps the only accredited degree program in Australia that counts agitating for a foreign power towards its qualifications.”

Zhu's law school will soon be producing LLB graduates who will qualify for admission to practise law in NSW and in Australia. As members of the various law societies they can, like the Chinese students at Sydney University gather sufficient support to control the leadership of those societies. 

The conduct of the Law Council Australia and the NSW LPAB in the matter of Zhu Minshen has obvious national security implications that require immediate investigation. The recent introduction of foreign interference laws makes that requirement mandatory, if the objectives of those laws are to be achieved. 


END

SEE

Chinese students dominate the cradle of Australian politics
By Nick BonyhadyAugust 12, 2019 — 12.00am
AAA
Chinese international students now dominate campus politics at the University of Sydney, which has long been a breeding ground for political luminaries including Gough Whitlam, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.
Today, the presidencies of the student representative council (SRC) and the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) are both held by candidates from Chinese international student blocs as are about half of the elected positions on student union boards.

Amid concerns about Chinese government influence in Australia and ongoing protests in Hong Kong, As recently as 2015, international students were scarcely involved in campus politics but that changed in 2016 with the election of Yifan "Koko" Kong, the first Chinese international student to win a seat on the student union board.

That ended the lock domestic students aligned with Labor, the Liberals and the Greens have held on campus for decades.
And it mirrors broader trends at Sydney University, where international student numbers have more than doubled since 2012. Those students, a majority of whom are Chinese, constitute about a third of the student population and pay tens of millions of dollars a year to the university on which it increasingly depends on.
The largest international student faction on campus is Panda, which is more conservative. It prioritises delivering services to students, wants cheaper transport for international students and generally mistrusts activism. Advance, its more progressive opponent, is more activist, with members decrying racism, opposing the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation and fighting for abortion access.
Such is the rancour between factions on campus, including Advance and Panda as well as domestic student groups, that the August SRC council meeting was cancelled because council staff deemed the level of hostility between all sides "unsafe", according to student newspaper Honi Soit.
Michael Rees, a former student union president, said there was a positive side to the division because it showed international students' diversity.
"There is this view that international Chinese students are a homogenous political community and it’s just so so wrong," Mr Rees said.
And a university spokeswoman said it was pleased to see international students getting involved.
"We have a strong history of political debate, activism and advocacy in our student body, and it’s encouraging to see this tradition extending to our international students to ensure our representative bodies are as diverse as our student population," the spokeswoman said.
SRC president Jacky He, a Panda leader who is from China but has permanent residency in Australia, said disagreements between his group and the more progressive Advance bloc were like clashes between different Labor factions.Mr He's chief antagonist is Decheng Sun, honorary secretary of the student union and an Advance leader. When Panda aligned itself with a Liberal faction on campus, Mr Sun said he "couldn't accept it because it was not my ideology."

On the question of democracy in Hong Kong that has rocked other campuses, leading to physical clashes at the University of Queensland and the intimidation of at least one pro-democracy protester via threats to his family in China, both Mr Sun and Mr He are cagey.
Mr He said he could not "express any opinion on any of these things" and could not say how other Panda supporters would think about the issue while Mr Sun said he would "encourage representatives from my faction to vote upon their conscience. People have arguments on both sides, so it's complex."
Other Chinese students take a different approach.
Weihong Liang, who served two terms as SUPRA president until resigning in July when he graduated to take a job in China, is a member of the Chinese Communist Party. He said being a party member was common in China and did not mean he was a representative of the government.
"It does not mean all party members are leaders of the communist party, it just means [they are a] party member," Mr Liang said.
Nick Bonyhady
Nick is a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald. 

"You know how Labor left and Labor right can't really stand each other. They're still all Labor but you can't figure out why they can't stand each other?" Mr He said. "Sometimes it's like this."Chinese student leaders at the University of Sydney are divided over issues of how progressive or conservative their peers should be in Australia. 

SEE ALSO

TEQSA's Nicholas Saunders granted Zhu Minshen's Top Group self accreditation rights despite Zhu granting academic credits for defying an AFP directive

Australia's decision to allow a Communist Party China linked school to produce lawyers who can practise in Australian courts is a world first: Scrutiny of senior judicial officers under Australia's foreign interference rules unavoidable, as would be scrutiny by agencies in the US,UK

MOF releases list of 101 projects awarded without open tender during Pakatan administration, but list does not include 1MDB asset recovery ,administration contracts: Contract with PwC will be a good place to start

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The Star has reported: 

The Finance Ministry has released a list of all the 101 government projects worth RM6.61bil that were awarded via direct negotiation during the 22-month Pakatan Harapan administration.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz said the list was released after there were requests for the projects to be revealed.

On Monday (Aug 24), the Dewan Rakyat erupted in chaos after Tengku Zafrul claimed Pakatan had allegedly awarded contracts through direct negotiations.

The list in full is available here.

Absent from the list are the contracts awarded by the PH Government, and in particular the Minister Of Finance, with regards 1MDB asset recovery, and the administration of 1MDB.

None of these are known to have been put out to tender. The contract with PwC is a well known example: 

TO NE READ WITH 

PwC is Goldman Sachs' auditor; ;PwC appointed by the Malaysian Govt to examine Goldman Sachs 1MDB transactions

Sale of MV Equanimity: Lawyers have done quite well;and the amounts paid are intriguing

Dan Tehan does not know how many Australian academics have been compromised by the Communist Party China, despite his Foreign Interference Taskforce based at TEQSA: Is not now the time (finally) to investigate TEQSA and chairman Nick Saunders failings

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Australia's Minister For Education Dan Tehan says he does not know how many Australian academics have been compromised by the Communist Party China.

He says so despite providing millions in funding for a 
 Foreign Interference Taskforce based at TEQSA. 


Clearly Tehan's efforts have failed. Consequently is not now the time (finally) to investigate TEQSA and chairman Nick Saunders failings?


TO BE READ WITH 

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

TEQSA's Nick Saunders has not explained special treatment afforded CPC linked Zhu Minshen and his Top Education Group-How will TEQSA assist Australian universities subject to China bullying

by Ganesh Sahathevan





Professor Nick Saunders AO (Chief Commissioner)
Australia's education sector putting money ahead of standards :

The trend continues, aided and abetted by TEQSA

The SMH has reported: 

The Chinese Communist Party is harnessing an online cyber policing portal, accessible in Australia, to increase its international influence, as it encourages Chinese internet users to dob in acts that undermine Beijing's image.

Australian universities have been engulfed in a fresh row over academic freedom after co-ordinated protests from nationalist Chinese students forced UNSW to take down social media posts critical of the Chinese Communist Party's actions in Hong Kong. UNSW vice-chancellor Ian Jacobs on Wednesday apologised for the decision, telling staff there was "no excuse for our failure in this instance" and the social media posts should never have been removed.

"I apologise for this mistake and reaffirm unequivocally our previous commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom," he said.A second Australian educational institution was embroiled in controversy on Wednesday after Charles Darwin University apologised following complaints from Chinese students. The students said an introduction to an assignment was racist after it stated that the coronavirus had originated in China.

Education Minister Dan Tehan encouraged any academics concerned about institutional integrity being compromised to contact the university regulator.

Meanwhile TEQSA and its chairman Nick Saunders hve refused to explain why Communist PArty China linked Zhu Minshen and his Top Group were afforded special treatment, especially in the approvals provided to issue law degrees.
TO BE READ WITH

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

TEQSA's Nicholas Saunders granted Zhu Minshen's Top Group self accreditation rights despite Zhu granting academic credits for defying an AFP directive

by Ganesh Sahathevan





Professor Nick Saunders AO (Chief Commissioner)
Australia's education sector putting money ahead of standards :

The trend continues, aided and abetted by TEQSA

The following is an excerpt from Zhu Minshen's Top Education Group Ltd's ANNOUNCEMENT OF ANNUAL RESULTSFOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2018

Receive Self-Accreditation Authority 



The Company received a letter from TEQSA on 16 May 2018 in relation to its approval for partial self accreditation authority (‘‘SAA’’) in the broad field of education of Management and Commerce, as classified by the Australian Standard Classification of Education, which covers the Australian Qualification Framework from level 5 (diploma) to level 9 (master’s degree) Management and Commerce courses offered at TOP. By obtaining the SAA, TOP is able to determine by itself whether its Management and Commerce courses adequately comply with regulatory standards rather than applying through TEQSA. While maintaining high quality of the courses, the time required for course accreditation will hence be significantly reduced. Accordingly, the partial SAA status not only allows TOP to more efficiently respond to market demand in coursework, but also constitutes a necessary step towards eventually achieving university specialization status.


Following the approval of partial SAA status, TOP enjoys the SAA status with 11 other non-university higher education providers, and has become one of the three non-university higher education providers with the SAA status that offer Management and Commerce higher education courses, and is the only non-university for-profit higher education provider offering courses in Management and Commerce.


TEQSA, headed by its Chief Commissioner Nicholas Saunders granted SAA privileges  despite Zhu and Top's history of highly irregular assessment. As reported on this blog recently:



In his 2018 book "Silent Invasion" Professor Clive Hamilton reports that Top Education Group's Zhu Minshen organised students , including students from his Top Education Institute to protest against Tibetans at the 2008 rally , which counted towards the Top students’ assessment. Zhu’s Top Institution is “perhaps the only accredited degree program in Australia that counts agitating for a foreign power towards its qualifications.”END 


SEE ALSO

Nick Saunder's TEQSA has granted Minshen Zhu's Top Group permission to open a branch campus in Hobart, and increase Sydney student numbers despite sharp fall in market cap;TEQSA approval can aid Top's cashflow