Also in July Malaysiakini reported that in court Cheah admitted that as a director of KWAP he had played a part in approving a RM 2 Billion loan from KWAP to SRC, which then went into Najib's accounts (see story below).
All of the above suggests that Cheah needs to be interrogated further, and this time in a more comprehensive manner by MACC,police and other enforcement officers.In addition, the Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng,and his advise Tony Pua who is in charge of the 1MDB investigation at the MOF,both need to provide some quick answers as to how all this came about.
NAJIB TRIAL | The banker who opened Najib's two bank accounts with AmBank, ended up serving on the Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) investment panel which approved a RM4 billion loan to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
In his witness statement read out at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today, Cheah Tek Kuang, 72, (above) said he attended a special panel meeting on July 19 to scrutinise a proposal by KWAP's fixed income department to loan RM2 billion to SRC.
"In the same meeting, the KWAP CEO informed the meeting that the prime minister of Malaysia had informed the KWAP chairperson Wan Abdul Aziz to expedite the approval of the loan to SRC and that a sum of RM2 billion loaned to SRC will suffice," testified Cheah.
The panel approved the term loan of RM2 billion with the condition that the loan was made to 1MDB with a government guarantee, or that KWAP loaned the money to the government as the borrower.
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Cheah testified that he signed all the reply forms where he agreed to the loan and allowed the exemption of KWAP guidelines for the loan. He submitted the forms on Aug 22, 2011.
On Feb 15, Cheah attended a panel meeting which approved SRC's transfer of ownership from 1MDB to Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).
KWAP's approval was necessary because of provisions in the loan agreement.
Largest loan
Cheah testified that he did not attend the panel meeting in 2012 which approved another RM2 billion loan to SRC.
"In my experience as a member of the KWAP investment panel, the two separate loans given to SRC amounting to RM4 billion in total, were one of the largest loans ever agreed and approved by KWAP," he said.
Cheah is still listed as a panel member on KWAP's website.
Cheah also testified that he helped Najib Abdul Razak open two bank accounts and apply for two credit cards with AmBank.
He was chauffeured to Najib's residence, and then ushered by Jho Low for the meeting with Najib.
Cheah said he was acquainted with Jho Low before the meeting with Najib.
by Ganesh Sahathevan The NSW Legal Profession Admission Board enabled the entry of a Communist Party China linked entity, Zhu Minshen's Top Education Group Ltd,into Australia's legal system (see story below).
All of the above warrants a raid by the relevant authorities to ensure that the relevant documents are not destroyed, and to determine who precisely was responsible for Zhu being so specially favoured. Consequently there must be action to eliminate this entry by the Communist Party China into Australia's legal system.
That the LPAB is chaired by a chief justice and overseen by an attorney general ought to make no difference, indeed it requires that the foreign interference laws be enforced even more strictly.
END
Sunday, December 8, 2019
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
Zhu Minshen has been a big Liberal Party donor. And his Top Education college was (anomalously) licensed to award law degrees. He bussed his Chinese students to Canberra in 2008 for Olympic Torch relay. Tight CCP links.
That the persons responsible are among Australia's most senior judicial officers, some of whom may have retired, ought not stand in the way of investigation and prosecution. Given Australia's intelligence sharing arrangements it is not unlikely that the same judicial officers would have by now attracted the attention f similar agencies in the UK and the USA,
BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s Justice Ministry has ordered lawyers to take a loyalty oath to the Communist Party, in an unusual move that has drawn condemnation from attorneys worried about the government’s attempts to rein them in.
The ministry issued a notice on Wednesday demanding that first-time applicants and lawyers who want to renew their licenses have to take the oath.
The oath was necessary to “firmly establish among the vast circle of lawyers faith in socialism with Chinese characteristics ... and effectively improve the quality of lawyers’ political ideology”, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
“I promise to faithfully fulfill the sacred mission of socialism with Chinese characteristics ... loyalty to the motherland, its people, and uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China,” lawyers must say under the oath.
This is the first time that lawyers have been required to pledge allegiance to the Party in an oath, Mo Shaoping, a prominent human rights lawyer, said.
The Party has always been wary of lawyers, who they suspect could challenge one-party rule through the advocacy of the rule of law.
“I think it’s inappropriate,” Mo told Reuters by telephone. “As a lawyer, you should only pay attention to the law and be faithful to your client.”
The new rule comes as Communist Party chiefs are preparing for a tricky leadership handover later this year, when the party’s long-standing focus on fending off political challenges is likely to intensify.
“If the oath says you must be faithful to the Communist Party and accept the leadership of the Party, that may exclude many other people in the legal profession who belong to other political parties or have other religious beliefs,” Mo said.
“The oath will hurt the development of the Chinese legal system.”
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Over the past decade, a loose network of lawyers has sought to use litigation mixed with publicity to challenge laws and policies restricting citizens’ movements and rights to protest.
PRODUCING CONFLICT?
Pu Zhiqiang, a Beijing lawyer who has often represented people in sensitive political cases, called the oath “baffling”.
“I don’t see the legal basis for adding these procedures. On what basis is the Ministry of Justice doing this?” Pu told Reuters by telephone. “If I don’t take the oath, are you not going to give me a license?”
Pu said the oath “will produce a conflict” among lawyers who want to be independent from enforcing the will of the party.
“In my opinion, the biggest destroyer of the rule of law in China is the Communist Party,” he said.
Although the Party has always imposed tight controls on lawyers, the pressure has intensified in the past year.
The ABC has reported: Australia needs dozens more renewable energy projects to offset the loss of more than 60 per cent of Australian coal power plants that will close over the next two decades, the energy market operator has forecast. Rooftop solar is set to play a role, with nearly a quarter of all energy consumption to come from residential and business solar panels by 2040. What has not been addressed are the costs of maintaining, repairing, and replacing the solar panels and other related parts. If "nearly a quarter of all energy consumption" is to be supplied by residential and business solar panels by 2040, the ability of those panels to keep converting solar to electrical energy becomes a matter of public concern. Consequently new laws will be required to ensure that solar plant owners ensure that heir plants keep producing at an optimal level. The costs of doing so falls on them, and it will no longer be a private matter whether and when they incur those costs. They may have to be compelled to do so by new legislation. Where plants are not properly maintained compulsory acquisition may become necessary. While there is debate as to whether electricity is a public or private good the reality of the matter is that no Australian government can ever survive if it does not ensure that most if not all of its population are provided with easy, cheap access to a reliable source of electricity. END
Australia needs to triple renewable energy plants by 2040 to replace coal power plants set to closeBY STATE POLITICAL REPORTER RICHARD WILLINGHAMUPDATED ABOUT 8 HOURS AGO
PHOTO
More renewables are needed to replace conventional generators because of their lower capacity factors.
PIXABAY: MARIAGODFRIDA
Australia needs dozens more renewable energy projects to offset the loss of more than 60 per cent of Australian coal power plants that will close over the next two decades, the energy market operator has forecast.
A major upgrade of the electricity transmission wires will also be needed to get the new energy generated to homes and businesses, the Australian Market Energy Operator (AEMO) said.
Rooftop solar is set to play a role, with nearly a quarter of all energy consumption to come from residential and business solar panels by 2040.
To offset the decline of coal there would need to be a more-than-tripling of renewable energy plants that are already established or will be installed in the next two years, the forecast said.
In a "roadmap" for the next 20 years, AEMO said renewable energy with dispatchable power would be the lowest cost for consumers.
"To maximise economic benefits, as traditional generators retire, Australia must invest in a modern energy system with significant consumer-led distributed energy resources — such as rooftop solar — and utility-scale variable renewable energy, supported by sufficient dispatchable resources and well-targeted augmentations to the electricity network," AEMO chief executive Audrey Zibelman said.
To get new renewable energy generation from power plants to consumers, AEMO said the current transmission network needed to be upgraded.
The draft report highlights several "priority" projects for investment including:
A new undersea power link between Victoria and Tasmania
A new transmission line from Robertstown in South Australia to Wagga Wagga in NSW
A new connection from Western Victoria where wind plants are being built, to southern NSW and the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro
Upgrades of the existing interconnection between Queensland to NSW and Victoria to NSW
Improvements to the transmission system in Victoria to allow renewable energy to get to homes
The operator forecasts the future National Energy Market will be "a diverse renewable, gas-powered and distributed generation, supported by energy storage and network solutions".
The report said 15 gigawatts (GW) or 63 per cent of Australia's coal-fired generation is likely to retire by 2040.
This will have to be replaced by at least 30 GW of new grid-scale renewables above what is already committed.
"More renewables are required to replace conventional generators because of their naturally lower capacity factor,'' said the report.
Renewable energy development zones are earmarked across the five states.
And to support the transition away from a coal-based market, there needs to be up to 21 GW of dispatchable resources through pumped hydro or battery storage.
Efficient gas plants could be effective, especially if gas prices came down.
Read more about our energy future from our Power Switch series:
NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean says Australia must stop making climate change a matter of religion and instead make it a matter of science as unprecedented bushfires burn across the state.
Mr Kean reiterated that the NSW bushfires were linked to climate change shortly after his coalition colleague Sarah Mitchell said the debate was "philosophical" and days after Emergency Services Minister David Elliott labelled the discussion "unpalatable".
"This should be a debate of science, this should not be a philosophical debate ... the majority of scientific opinion is very clear on this fact," Mr Kean told ABC radio on Wednesday.
"We've got to stop making climate change a matter of religion and we've got to start making it a matter of science and the science says that we need to reduce the impact of global warming by 2C and in order to do that we need to get to net-zero emissions by 2050."
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivers a speech during the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept 23, 2019.PHOTO: PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
Singapore's ruthlessly pragmatic PAP Government has jumped on the climate change bandwagon. Speaking at the UN PM Lee Hsien Loong declared that Singapore will do its full part to mitigate climate change.Speaking at the 2019 National Day Rally Lee declared that climate change was one of the
"Doing its full part" will mean curbing the oil and gas sector which in 2019 is estimated to be worth USD 80 Billion (see table below)
The oil industry makes up 5 per cent of Singapore's GDP, with Singapore being one of the top three export refining centres in the world. In 2007 it exported 68.1 million tonnes of oil. The oil industry has led to the promotion of the chemical industry as well as oil and gas equipment manufacturing.[80] Singapore has 70 per cent of the world market for both jack-up rigs and for the conversion of Floating Production Storage Offloading units. It has 20 per cent of the world market for ship repair, and in 2008 the marine and offshore industry employed almost 70,000 workers.[81]
The sector provides cash for the financial services industry, so the impact of doing its "full part" would be in excess of what has been described above.
While playing catch up in the market for conventional legal
services, Australia does not rate at all in the area of lawtech. The Law Society UK conducted a comparative analysis of public, private and third sector accelerators to
lawtech innovation and adoption in the UK and in other jurisdictions. The study is based on data available up to August 2019. The findings include these: That the UK is playing a significant role in lawtech on the world stage. The closest competitors are
Singapore, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. The entire report titled Lawtech: a comparative analysis of
legal technology in the UK and in other
jurisdictions
November 2019 is not long, mainly graphical and definitely worth reading in full. Australia rates no mention at all. This is significant for lawtech is all about reducing the costs of legal services.Put in another way, the UK Law Society study suggests that Australia is on-track to become an inefficient, high cost market for legal services. To understand the magnitude of the exclusion readers old enough may recall a time not that long ago when Australia was considered by East and South East Asian jurisdictions as a default market for legal services, when access to the UK market was either unavailable or uneconomic. This decline is not hard to understand, when one considers the amount of time and energy spent even in Sydney protecting the old guard All this even as Australian barristers are busy trying to make a mark in Singapore, but not it seems with much success. END SEE ALSO
Sep 13, 2019 -Leading silkBret WalkerSC has joined 10 of the nation's leadingbarristersin establishing what they believe is the first permanentchambersfor AustralianbarristersinSingapore.
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