Thursday, May 7, 2020

China hacking WA Premier MCGowan's computers suggests China may be acting on a tip-off: A Malaysia style Operation Judas will provide answers

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Andrew Forrest is the chairman of Fortescue Metals Group, one of the largest iron ore suppliers to China. Photo: EPA-EFE

SevenNews has reported:

(Mark McGowan) The West Australian premier has conceded he was blindsided by revelations his office has been the target of a cyber attack by Chinese-based hackers.Mark McGowan said he was unaware of the extraordinary claims until he was shown a copy of The New York Times on Friday, which published a story about new hacking software called Aria-body.The newspaper said on January 3 this year, an email was sent from the Indonesian embassy in Australia to a McGowan staffer who was working on health and ecological issues.

This was a targeted attack and the Chinese were obviously looking for high level intelligence. Information that would have piqued the interest of Chinese intelligence is more likely than not to have come from high level sources.

The Chinese Communist Party has considerable experience nurturing high level sources who can provide that level of intelligence and act as enablers on site for CCP operations. Malaysia had to deal with a number of such CCP agents, and dealt with the problem directly. Operation Judas was one such example which Australia would do well to emulate. A "Judas" style operation is the most likely means of learning what it is the Chinese hackers were after.

TO BE READ WITH

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Australia needs a Malaysian style "Operation Judas" to prevent further infiltration by the Communist Party China and its Australian business associates

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Andrew Forrest is the chairman of Fortescue Metals Group, one of the largest iron ore suppliers to China. Photo: EPA-EFE

Andrew Twiggy Forrest has again come to the defence of the Communist Party Of China with the startling assertion:

“Pandemics start anywhere and their origins are not an important statistic.”

In Australia Forrest's latest defence of China will be rationalised away with a variety of reason most if not all governments in this region, especially those in South East Asia, would find laughable.

Take the example of Malaysia.
In the early 70s Malaysia was still fighting an armed insurgency led by the Communist Party Of Malaya, which was being supported by the Communist Party Of China (CPC)
Officers of Malaysia's Special Branch played an important role in the counter-insurgency effort and they discovered that in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak the North Kalimantan Communist Party (which was also supported by the CPC) was being funded by a number of that state's wealthy timber tycoons.

In response the Special Branch launched Operation Judas during which the timber tycoons and other prominent persons were detained and interrogated. Detention included cleaning toilet bowls with toothbrushes. After detention all of them renounced their Communist Party China sympathies, and pledged their allegiance to Malaysia and the State Of Sarawak. One went so far as to say the was deceived by the communist.

Australia is in obvious need of its own Operation Judas.

END

To Be Read With An Account Of Operation Judas By Tan Sri Leong Chee Woh, One Of Malaysia's Leading Practitioners Of Counter -Insurgency, Who Led Operation Judas:

Finance was the NKCP's main asset in sustaining the insurgency. For a long time, it was suspected that the CTs were well supplied with money but not from the rural folks as they would have to travel far and wide to collect their finance and, in the process, risk running into the SF. We surmised, therefore, that there must be other sources from which they obtained money, and that these sources were the wealthy and the businessmen from the towns. News also filtered through from the rural people that there was a disparity of treatment of the rich and the poor. The former category were spared no matter what they did, even if it was to the extent of supporting the enemy, but the poor were arrested and detained even if they contributed a mere dollar. When more camps were attacked and more documents were recovered and there were more surrenders, a clearer picture was obtained regarding the CTs sources of finance. It was most startling that doctors, timber tycoons, bankers, and wealthy businessmen were all contributing to the SCO's coffers, and that they had been doing so for a long time. When sufficient evidence was available, a mass arrest of the big time financial supporters was planned to allay suspicions of the rural folk that the Government or the authorities were biased against the rural folk.

Operation "JUDAS" was then launched and over thirty prominent people in the RASCOM area, but mostly from the town of Sibu itself, were arrested. Before this took place, an opportunity was given to those involved to come forward voluntarily to clear their cases but this call was ignored. Before they were arrested, those involved must have felt that they would be intentionally bypassed as the majority of them were of high social standing and had contributed generously to welfare schemes launched by the government. I was responsible for preparing the case files against these people and presenting them to the Director of Operations for his scrutiny and approval. Operations of such a big nature usually involved very detailed planning and many personnel. However in this case all the paper work was carried out in utmost secrecy and known only to a few officers who were specially sworn in. At this juncture, "That Fellow" suffered his second mild heart attack and was sent off on holiday leaving me to hold the fort. Although I was Deputy Head of SB, RASCOM, compared to the Head who was constantly exposed and rubbing shoulders with the prominent people, who included those to be arrested under JUDAS, I was unknown and ignored by the prominent people. To ensure that the news of the arrest did not leak out prematurely and alert the arrestees, all those who took part in the operation were only briefed immediately before it was launched and until "D" time, no one was allowed out of the briefing room or to use the telephone. Transport and manpower all stood by with no one knowing the nature of the impending operation. The team leaders were given the list of their targets and all available addresses where they could be located. The secrecy was so tight that only two in the target list were not accounted for when the operation concluded. One was out of the country whilst another was on business in the Republic of Singapore. This latter person was the elder brother of the one who demanded special privileges of police escorts when he visited

the interior on business whilst I was on my first tour of duty in Sarawak.

During, and after the arrests were made, there were many protests from the arrestees. They demanded to know the reasons and on whose authority they were arrested. The officers and men who were detailed for the operation were briefed to say that they would find out in time. In this operation, the Army provided the transport and all arrestees were taken direct to the prison where they were finger-printed and photographed and put into cells. Whether it was designed or otherwise, the arrests coincided with the visit of the Director of Operations, Sarawak, the Director of SB, and some other important dignitaries, to the State of Sabah, to celebrate its anniversary of joining Malaysia. As there were no senior officials left in Sarawak for the arrestees to complain to I was accused of having exceeded my powers and taken the law into my own hands in ordering their arrests.

They were termed as detainees under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the normal term of detention is two years. Subject to recommendation by the Board of Review, headed by a Judge, and which sat every six months, release could be much earlier depending on the behaviour of the detainee and the recommendation of the interviewing officer. Many of these detainees had been born with silver spoons in their mouths and had never been subjected to any manual labour. In common with other prisoners and detainees, they were subjected to prison rules and regulations and had to earn their keep. It was quite a sight to see them fumbling with a brush when asked to clean their own toilets. They were subjected to regimentation, told when to wake up, when to have their baths, to eat, to sleep, work and play games. By the time they were released, some were probably thankful that, at least for a short while, they experienced and appreciated the difficulties and sufferings of the working class. The one who was in Singapore when Operation JUDAS was launched, was subsequently detained when he returned. He was placed under custody at Kuching and escorted to Sibu where he was formally arrested. He was the wealthiest of the lot and the most influential. As soon as he alighted from the aircraft he demanded to know from the arresting officer who was in command Pointing to me, standing nearby, the officer told him that it did not matter but he insisted on speaking to me and very arrogantly demanded that he be allowed to use his own car to wherever he would be taken. I refused him. In turn, I advised him to take off his jacket and hand his valuables to his brother who was present. I told him that police transport, which was not air-conditioned but almost just as comfortable, would take him to the prison. Upon arrival, like the rest, he was finger printed and photographed. Whilst in prison, he tested the authorities by requesting special food on the pretext that he was under medical treatment and was on a special diet. When the matter was referred to me, he was provided with a simple answer. As the Government had always been accused of showing favour to the rich and famous, it was not desirable that he should be on a special diet, but it could be considered if he agreed to provide and pay for the same food for all the other detainees in the camp.

Not long after Operation JUDAS concluded, "That Fellow" returned from leave. He spoke to various people, including relatives of the detainees, and came to the conclusion that I. had mishandled the Operation JUDAS detainees when the operation was launched. I was supposed to have been too harsh towards the detainees during their arrest by unceremoniously snatching them from their homes and carting them away in military vehicles in full view of the public. Thus my approach was wrong. Subsequently, when he broached the subject, I refused to accept his double standards. To me, an arrestee is an arrestee no matter who he may be and all should be treated alike. There should be no distinction between the rich and the poor.

With pressure brought about by the SF and their financial resources depleted with the JUDAS arrests, after about a year, the security situation was reversed and the CTs were on the run. The only obvious place they could go to was West Kalimantan in Indonesia. During the Confrontation days between Malaysia and Indonesia, the Communists

RASCOM Rajang Security Command – a special command created in the 3^rd. and 4^th. Divisions of Sarawak to fight the Sarawak communists

NKCP – North Kalimantan Communist Party

“That Fellow” Head of Special Branch, Sarawak – a person greatly disliked by the author

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Sarawak Report uncovers evidence of Chinese, Kuwait government linked payments to Joh Low's legal & PR firms -Meanwhile Australian judicial officers maintain that the 1MDB theft is an ABC fabrication financed by Mahathir, Soros,Tony Blair and Rumsfeld .....

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Australia And New Zealand Slide From Their Responsibilities
Over Mass Corruption In Malaysia

It has been previously reported on this blog that senior judicial officers in Australia still believe that the 1MDB theft is a conspiracy against former Malaysian PM Najib Razak,and that Najib was justified in blocking stories, including stories by this writer, that slowly uncovered that theft, and in particular Najib's dealings with Joh Low.

Meanwhile Australian government agencies continue to ignore 1MDB issues and to discredit the work of journalists pursuing the 1MDB theft, despite growing international cooperation to recover the funds.

Much of Jho Low's international PR campaign against the Malaysian Government's attempts to recover the stolen money has been conducted out of Sydney. Despite that fact, the Australian Government continues to ignore the theft, as it has since at least 2017. As Sarawak Report put it:

Australia And New Zealand Slide From Their Responsibilities Over Mass Corruption In Malaysia

And now , just as Australia ponders its over-reliance on China and Chinese influence over its politicians, Sarawak Report publishes evidence of Chinese and Kuwaiti government payments from illegitimate sources to finance Joh Low's legal and PR campaign:

How China & Kuwait Funnelled 1MDB Kickbacks To Pay Jho's Low's Top US/UK Law Firms EXCLUSIVE

6 May 2020

As part of his legal settlement over the Department Of Justice civil case late last year (criminal charges remain pending) Jho Low was allowed to set aside some $15 million from the assets seized in the United States to pay the law firms who had defended that action, including Kobre & Kim and UK based Schillings.

That may have annoyed Malaysians from whom those funds were stolen. However, even greater outrage has been expressed following the revelations thanks to so-called FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) filings in the United States, which showed that both firms had earlier hired a swathe of PR agencies to fight Jho Low’s cause for millions of dollars during the course of the case.

Neither law firm was prepared to declare from whom or where they received that puff money over the course of 2017-2020, saying only that it was paid by an anonymous third party. However, filings by the client PR agents claimed the anonymous funding was unconnected to foreign governments or foreign political parties.

To the contrary, documentation viewed by Sarawak Report provides compelling evidence that these fees, along with tens of millions of dollars worth of earlier invoices (paid in euros in 2016) were financed through 1MDB-related kickbacks paid by a Chinese state company in return for Malaysia’s East Coast Rail contract which was inflated 100% shortly before it was signed in 2016 by Jho Low’s ‘Big Boss’, the former prime minister Najib Razak.

In a secret deal, which was exposed by Sarawak Report at the time, the Chinese state company CCCC agreed in return to finance over US$7.5 billion which was by then owed in debt and principal by 1MDB.

Further evidence now shows that on the orders of Najib’s 1MDB ‘fixer’ Jho Low much of this dirty money was then funnelled through companies controlled by a member of the powerful al Sabah family in Kuwait, before being disguised as payments from a respectable middle eastern concern in which the politically connected individual held some shares.

The payments were made in September 2016 and related to invoices run up in the preceding months by Jho Low, who had been exposed globally as a financial fraudster and the architect of the world’s largest theft by the DOJ (some $5 billion were stolen from 1MDB) that July.

Hundreds of Millions of Dollars ‘Commission’ From China

In July 2016, shortly after Jho Low was named as a fraudster in a US Department of Justice asset seizure case, Sarawak Report released details of the covert deal between then Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, and the Chinese state construction company China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) that inflated the East Coast Railway Link project by 100%, in return for a secret schedule whereby the company agreed to repay a total of US$7.5 billion owed in debt and principal by the defrauded Malaysian development fund 1MDB.

Although the Malaysian government denied the details of the contract published by Sarawak Report, Najib later travelled to Beijing in November to ratify a deal based on an almost identical inflation of the costs and under the same borrowing terms.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Report has ascertained that CCCC started to make a series of payments totalling hundreds of millions of dollars from a Hong Kong company named True Dragon Properties Limited, which is owned by Zhen Hua Engineering Company Limited, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of CCCC, into an account in Kuwait linked to Najib’s 1MDB fixer Jho Low.

The first payment of CNY450 million arrived on September 20th 2016 in the Chinese Yuan account of a Comoros lslands-linked company, Comoro Gulf General Trading & Contracting Company, at the newly established Kuwait branch of China’s ICBC bank. The company was owned by Kuwaiti businessmen connected to the Kuwait prime minister, including his son Sheikh Sabah Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah. Jho Low had earlier cemented a business partnership with these men.

The sum was the equivalent of $60 million (RM250m) and was intended to be the first of several similar payments, which were ultimately expected, according to sources familiar with the transactions, to total US$3 billion.

The reason given to ICBC bank for these payments was that Comoros Gulf General Trading & Contracting Company had supplied Bitumen to the CCCC subsidiary for projects in South America and Africa, something that people with knowledge of the arrangement say was completely untrue.

Jho Low had meanwhile authored a letter that was sent in June on behalf of Sheikh Sabah Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah and signed by him to various international law firms based in the US and UK to whom he owed certain pressing debts. These included the UK firm Schillings (which specialises in ‘reputation management’) and the US firm Kobre & Kim.

The letter testified to these firms that the Sheikh was “a personal friend of Low Taek Jho” and understood that Jho Low had engaged the firms “in connection with various items”.

“Solely out of a desire to maintain JL’s well-being and ensure that he has access to competent legal counsel of his choosing, I have agreed to pay legal and other expenses incurred by JL in connection with the aforementioned items and/or any related legal items that have been, or that may be, instituted”

the Sheikh wrote in the letter dated June 22nd 2016 and emailed to Chris Scott at Schillings and Michael Kim at Kobre & Kim.

Jho Low was already by that time highly exposed as a suspicious financial operator who had been blacklisted by global banks, making it extremely difficult for him to process payments in his own name or that of his companies in either the UK or US or through mainstream banks in dollars.

Sarawak Report has seen evidence that the Malaysian businessman therefore requested Sheikh Sabah, who had a minority share in Comoro Gulf General Trading & Contracting Company, and his associates to use the money that had arrived from CCCC to pay towards bills owed to Kobre & Kim the sum of €15 million euros on 26th September (paid into an HSBC account in the UK) and another sum of €2.895 million euros to another US law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher on 3rd October.

Given that just a few weeks before those payments, on 20th July, Jho Low had been identified as the world’s most wanted money launderer, owing to a major public statement by the US Attorney General and the filing of the world’s largest asset seizure by the Department of Justice, the matter raises considerable questions about the due diligence done by these law firms to ensure that the payments made by this politically connected friend of Jho Low came from respectable sources and were not in fact the product of Malaysian corruption, which turns out to have been the case.

It also raises questions as to what work the legal firms had been doing for Jho Low to raise such enormous fees (the total bill owed to Kobre & Kim was €18 million and to Gibson Dunn & Crutcher US$5 million) and whether the law firms had in anyway assisted, unwittingly or otherwise, with the money laundering of 1MDB money and if so whether they had sufficiently guarded against such untoward involvement?

Sarawak Report has ascertained that Kobre & Kim initially refused to be paid from the account of this little known company linked to the off-shore Comoros Islands, given that the letter framed by Jho Low had originally indicated that Sheikh Sabah would using the account of a large and well-established company based in Kuwait to cover his fess, namely Al Waseet, in which the prime minister’s son also held shares but not the controlling interest.

Eventually, although the invoices produced by both law firms were made out to Al Waseet International, remittance and transfer notices provided by ICBC bank make clear that the payments were nevertheless sent from the recently opened euro account of Comoro Gulf General Trading & Contracting Company, directly linked to the recently opened yuan account that had just received the money from CCCC.

Moreover, Sarawak Report has viewed the instructions send by Jho Low indicating how the money coming in from CCCC should be used by ICBC Bank to pay the law firms.

There is therefore little doubt that the two top law firms were paid out of the laundered backhanders processed by Jho Low from the Chinese state owned company from money that was ultimately stolen from the Malaysian public through a deliberately inflated contract.

According to legal observers, closer due diligence regarding the newly opened accounts of the Comoro Gulf General Trading & Contracting Company in Kuwait’s newly opened Chinese ICBC Bank ought normally to have been expected to have raised red flags in the accounts department of a major law firm. However, in this case they apparently did not, despite the notorious reputation of the client and the political connections of the individual who had offered to pay his legal fees.

Time To Answer Questions

Sarawak Report has asked CCCC to comment on the evidence that it was therefore complicit in sending money through its subsidiary in the form of bribes to Najib Razak.

We have also requested comment from Sheikh Sabah, whose father was removed as prime minister last November under the cloud of corruption allegations in Kuwait. Given Sheikh Sabah cannot have failed to have known by this time that Jho Low was wanted for stealing billions, why did he accept hundreds of millions into an account of a company controlled by himself and his associates from a Chinese state company known to have secured a major contract from Jho Low’s bosses in Malaysia and then agree to utilise some of that money to pay Jho Low’s legal bills?

Above all, why did the Sheikh (who first met Jho Low in early 2016) agree to cover Jho Low’s legal fees “out of personal friendship” and then to pretend to the international law firms that the money used was his own money rather than a payment organised by Jho Low?

Given the arrangement between Jho Low and Sheikh Sabah and that several billions of yuan were scheduled to flow from CCCC into the Sheikh’s accounts from 2016, Sarawak Report believes that the evidence is overwhelming that the money that was subsequently declared by Schillings and Kobre & Kim between 2018-2020 in their Fara filings relating to the payment of PR agents managing Jho Low’s publicity came from this same source.

The FARA filings for 2018 cite $340,680.00 having being spent by Schillings on PR agents on behalf of Jho Low and $818,434.30 for the same purpose by Kobre & Kim. Both law firms state they did not receive the payment of these fees from Jho Low directly but rather an anonymous third party. It seems evident the third party was in fact Sheikh Sabah Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah.

The third party payer was Sheikh Sabah, however the money was sourced from Chinese backhanders to Najib

The third ‘foreign principal’ who paid the fees was Sheikh Sabah, however the money was sourced from Chinese backhanders to Najib

Politically Exposed

In January 2020 a new PR agent was hired by Kobre & Kim to continue to promote Jho Low, namely Levick Strategic Communications LP, according to further FARA filings. Levick makes clear that Jho Low, whom it terms a ‘global philanthropist’ is not controlled or funded by foreign political parties

no control or funding by foreign political parties?

However, Sarawak Report suggests that this description is heavily misleading, wittingly or otherwise, in that Jho Low primarily represents the former prime minister of Malaysia – a sitting MP in the present Malaysian government – and was funded by kickbacks from a Chinese state company in return for inflated Malaysian public contracts.

Those funds then passed through accounts controlled by the family of the former Kuwait prime minister, a fact known to the law firms who hired the PR agency.

The ‘principal’ (Jho Low) was therefore in fact indebted to, funded and controlled by a mass of foreign political interests which have not been clearly stated on this form, possibly out of ignorance or wilful failures of due diligence.

Sarawak Report has approached the three law firms cited in this article for their comment and will seek a response also from Sheikh Sabah Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah and CCCC.

Morrison adviser Michelle Chan is not the "the moderate voice on China" needed at this point to advise on national security matters : In her native Malaysia Chan would not have been allowed anywhere near national security and intelligence matters

by Ganesh Sahathevan

One of Scott Morrison's inner circle, his former National Security Adviser Michelle Chan; has been recently promoted deputy secretary in the Office Of National Intelligence. According to Canberra publication The Mandarin:

Michelle Chan

Michelle Chan has been promoted to deputy secretary in the Office of National Intelligence. She has held various senior positions within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including the prime minister’s senior international advisor, and ambassador roles.

The Australian described Chan as a "moderate voice on China":

Michelle Chan The Prime Minister’s national security adviser As Morrison’s national security adviser, Chan is considered a moderate voice on China, with insiders saying she is a “dove” to Andrew Shearer’s “hawk”. She was most recently deputy director-general of the Office of National Assessments and a former ambassador to Myanmar. She has also had postings to Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Chan is regarded an expert on South East Asia, presumably as a result of her being born in Malaysia, and her service in Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar.
Additionally her husband Simon Merrifield served first as political counsellor and later deputy high commissioner to Malaysia between 2001-2005. He was later appointed resident ambassador to ASEAN.

Service in South East Asia does not necessarily make one an expert on South East Asia; diplomats are often kept in a cosy bubble by their hosts, and are happy to learn only what they are told, or read in the local government controlled papers. As Mr Merrifield's high commissioner James Wise once told this writer, with regards anything else "I'd rather not know."

It should also be said that had she remained in Malaysia Chan would never have been allowed anywhere near that country's intelligence and security apparatus, because of her Chinese heritage. Malaysia has had to battle the Communist Party Of China since the 50s, and is not so naive as to disregard racial and communal loyalties. Indeed, in Malaysia Ms Chan's "moderate voice" on China matters would be assumed.

END

SEE ALSO

Aussie Merrifield has passionate ties with Malaysia
NATION

Monday, 26 Sep 200512:00 AM MYT

By PAUL GABRIEL

MAKING MERRY: Merrifield (left) chatting with Wisma Putra principal assistant secretary Abdullah Zawawi Tahir (secondfrom left) and executive member of the Malaysia-Australia Business Council Peter Tan Choon Hoo (right) at the farewellreception for him hosted by Wise (third from left) in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: For outgoing Australian Deputy High Commissioner Simon Merrifield, Malaysia was more than just a foreign mission.
Asam laksa, tosai, climate and multiculturalism aside, there were more compelling reasons why Malaysia had been good to him – wife Michelle Chan Su-Wen was born in Petaling Jaya, and the couple’s soon-to-be-born baby was conceived here.

Merrifield, who will head the Staffing Division at the Foreign Ministry in Canberra, had been passionate about Malaysia since his first visit here as a 20-year-old backpacker in 1982.

Merrifield had wanted to stay on in Malaysia and have his first child born here, but decided to pack up on the advice of High Commissioner James Wise, who had wisely told the former to put family first and concentrate on setting up home in the Australian capital.

“He’s been a fantastic boss, and I value his advice. Things are getting very busy at the Australian mission here and it would be difficult having to contend with a newborn as well,” he said after a farewell bash at Wise’s residence in Jalan Langgak Golf last Wednesday.

Merrifield and Chan, who moved to Australia as a young girl, will be reunited at home, and at work, in Canberra; she will also be leaving Indonesia and her position as political and economic head at the Australian mission there.

Posted here in 2001 as political counsellor before being promoted in January last year, Merrifield said he had learnt a lot from Wise and was proud to have served here, in one of Australia's largest foreign missions.

“Besides my Australian colleagues, we also have many first-rate local staff who made my job so much easier.

“There has never been so much happening on the bilateral agenda as now – from education, trade, security to legal cooperation,” said Merrifield who leaves on Friday.

Wise praised his deputy’s resolve, saying: “The mission here will truly miss his services. He’s been outstanding both as a professional, and friend.”

Political counsellor Peter Doyle will replace Merrifield.

TheNation

THE NETWORK OF INFLUENCE

Geoff Chambers, Simon Benson

Geoff Chambers and Simon Benson

1244 words

10 December 2019

The Australian

AUSTLN

Australian

English

Geoff Chambers and Simon Benson reveal the national security chiefs, advisers and their enforcers who arehelping the Morrison government protect Australia in a period of heightened tensions

THE BIG 5 MIKE PEZZULLO Department of Home Affairs secretary Started role: December 2017 Remuneration package: Up to $864,580 With Home Affairs one of three key national security departments, alongside Defence and Foreign Affairs, the influence of Pezzullo, pictured right, is significant. His power has grown immensely under the Coalition government despite historic links with Labor, having previously worked with Gareth Evans and Kim Beazley. In addition to border protection, counter-terrorism, cyber security, transnational serious and organised crime and crisis co-ordination, Pezzullo is a leading figure in the response to foreign interference and influence.

MIKE BURGESS Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Started role: September 2019 Remuneration package: $665,070 Burgess is one of the new-guard national security chiefs after being appointed by Scott Morrison as ASIO chief in August, replacing Duncan Lewis, and putting the domestic spy agency on a more aggressive footing. He is now considered the most influential security agency chief, who also holds the title of director-general for national security. He is a former head of the Australian Signals Directorate and sat on the government’s naval shipbuilding advisory board. Burgess started at the Defence Signals Directorate in the 1980s before moving into the private sector as an independent consultant specialising in strategic cyber security and Telstra’s chief information security officer. Burgess brings a different approach to the ASIO role, injecting corporate experience and a deep knowledge of cyber threats into a position traditionally occupied by security and Australian Public Service veterans. Following significant funding and resources boosts to ASIO, Burgess has been tasked with beefing up ASIO’s capacity to combat espionage and cyber-attacks.

GREG MORIARTY Department of Defence secretary Started role: September 2017 Remuneration package: Up to $864,580 Moriarty has an extensive background working with the Defence Intelligence Organisation and as national security adviser to Malcolm Turnbull. The former commonwealth counter-terrorism co-ordinator worked closely with Morrison in the creation of Operation Sovereign Borders during his time as ambassador to Indonesia.

GENERAL ANGUS CAMPBELL Chief of the Defence Force Started role: July 2018 Remuneration package: $864,580 The former Chief of Army and commander of Operation Sovereign Borders acted as national security adviser to two prime ministers. The veteran soldier is considered a leading reforming figure inside the ADF, and is modernising Australia’s warfare technology to combat external threats. He worked closely with Morrison on Operation Sovereign Borders.

PHIL GAETJENS Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Started role: September 2019 Remuneration package: $914,460 A veteran public service chief and one of Morrison’s closest advisers, Gaetjens has been tasked with ensuring the security agencies and departments are being properly equipped and that funding is being allocated to the most high-priority programs. As DPMC chief, Gaetjens’s role is to ensure co-ordination across departments is working.

THE BIG 5 + 2 ANDREW SHEARER Cabinet secretary Shearer is a former deputy director-general at the Office of National Intelligence, and worked as a national security adviser to both Tony Abbott and John Howard. He was brought back from the Washington think-tank the Centre for Independent and Strategic Studies by Malcolm Turnbull to ONI shortly before Morrison became PM. Shearer was brought closer into Morrison’s inner sanctum following the election as Cabinet Secretary with significant influence on strategic policy, including China. Shearer is an influential voice inside the national security community and inside government and strongly tipped to replace Nick Warner as National Intelligence director-general.

NICK WARNER National Intelligencedirector-general Started role: December 2018 Remuneration package: $720,480 The veteran public service and spy boss is likely in the final stages of his career, and his impending retirement would open up another key role in Morrison’s new national security team. Warner is a former Defence Department secretary, director-general of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and senior DFAT official. Morrison will be planning for a smooth transition, with cabinet secretary Andrew Shearer an option to replace Warner after a 40-year career.

SECURITY ENFORCERS & ADVISERS RACHEL NOBLE Head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre Noble took on the leading cyber role in June following the departure of Alastair MacGibbon. As PMC national security chief information officer and cyber policy co-ordinator, the respected public servant oversaw whole-of-government policy on cyber issues and improved information-sharing between national security agencies. Prior to serving in government, Noble worked for Optus. She is close to Mike Burgess and is considered a leading candidate to be the next head of the Australian Signals Directorate.

PAUL SYMON Australian Secret Intelligence Service director-general Symon, a retired major general, was appointed ASIS chief in December 2017. After a 35-year military career, including six years as Defence Intelligence Organisation director and deputy chief of the Australian Army, he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He previously served as military adviser to Nick Warner during the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, and was deployed to East Timor, Lebanon and the Golan Heights.

REECE KERSHAW Australian FederalPolice Commissioner Started role: October 2019 Remuneration package: $720,480 The former Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services commissioner returned to the AFP after working there between 1988 and 2011. The hard-nosed cop was hand-picked by Morrison as part of his shake-up of the national security architecture and has a key focus on foreign interference, counter-terrorism and organised crime. He has extensive overseas experience, including in East Timor and the Solomon Islands, and was previously seconded to the National Crime Authority and Australian Crime Commission. He is viewed as a team player, which is crucial in the new security arrangements under Home Affairs.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JOHN FREWEN Australian Signals Directorate acting director-general Started role: September 2019 Remuneration package: $665,070 (ASD director-general remuneration) Worked with Mike Burgess at ASD, and has been acting director-general since September. While he is expected to make way for a new appointment in the coming months, Frewen is considered a leading voice in combating cyber threats and is a senior defence intelligence figure. ASD remains Australia’s first line of defence against cyber attacks on political and higher education targets, as well as strategic institutions and businesses.

MAJOR GENERAL MATTHEW HALL Defence IntelligenceOrganisation director Hall heads the DIO, which was established in 1990 to lead the response to global security issues, weapons of mass destruction, foreign military capabilities, defence economics and transnational terrorism. The DIO plays a key role in supporting the planning and conduct of ADF operations, defence capability and policy development.

MICHELLE CHAN The Prime Minister’s national security adviser As Morrison’s national security adviser, Chan is considered a moderate voice on China, with insiders saying she is a “dove” to Andrew Shearer’s “hawk”. She was most recently deputy director-general of the Office of National Assessments and a former ambassador to Myanmar. She has also had postings to Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

CHRIS MORAITIS Attorney-General’sDepartment secretary Started role: September 2014 Remuneration package: Up to $775,910As head of the AG’s Department, Moraitis, a former deputy secretary of DFAT, has a leading role in responding to foreign interference and influence in Australia.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

“Until you raised it with me now I wasn’t aware that it was so unsatisfactory"-NSW Health's Kelly-Anne Ressler tried the usual public service responses before breaking down in tears; ScoMo's interference with Bret Walker's interrogation shocking, especially when Ressler tried also to deny jurisdiction

COMMENT

Senior epidemiologist Kelly-Anne Ressler breaks down during a special commission of inquiry hearing into the Ruby Princess.

Senior epidemiologist Kelly-Anne Ressler breaks down during a special commission of inquiry hearing into the Ruby Princess. (Nine)

“Until you raised it with me now I wasn’t aware that it was so unsatisfactory".

That was the response from NSW Health's Kelly-Anne Ressler shortly before she broke down in tears.

Worse, she tried to deny she had any jurisdiction:

Ms Ressler said previously in her career, cruise doctors had “resisted having to isolate people with a cough and people who had mild respiratory illness".

"I've worked with ships for a long time and I understand their internal protocols and I understood they required people to be isolated for influenza like illness, and so that is what I was used to," she said.

Mr Walker also slammed the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District worker for claiming she only had power to ensure the liner was following its own health policy.

“Actually, you could find out whether they were following Australian protocol, and if they did not, deal with them accordingly. That’s simply incorrect,” he said.

“I’m very concerned that you may have tried to mislead me with that answer.”

“It was not my intention commissioner,” Ms Ressler said.

“What I am trying to figure out is what lies behind this image you have just given us of little old NSW and great big cruise companies, which if I may say so sounds both unrealistic and offensive,” he said.

When asked whether the state government policy was deficient, Ms Ressler said “the practice was extremely challenging.”

“What is challenging about suggesting to a ship… they will have to show compliance with a NSW protocol, what’s challenging about that?” Mr Walker asked.

“It’s difficult for me in my role as an epidemiologist, in a local public health district, to insist on the practices of massive cruise ship companies,” she said.

Given the above it is shocking that PM Soctt Morrison thought it right to defend Ms Ressler, and criticise Mr Walker:

"To see her reduced to that, under that aggressive line of questioning, you've got to get the balance right.

"I would hope that Mr Walker would reflect on that."

TO BE READ WITH

Coronavirus

NSW Health official apologises in tearful inquiry testimony

Lucy Hughes Jones and James O'Doherty,Georgia Clark

627 words

4 May 2020

Daily Telegraph - Online

NLDLTW

English

A NSW Health official has broken down in tears while apologising for her department’s failures in dealing with the notorious Ruby Princess cruise ship coronavirus bungle.

Epidemiologist Kelly-Anne Ressler cried as Commissioner Bret Walker SC questioned why he shouldn’t rule that there had been a “reprehensible shortcoming in NSW Health” over the fiasco.

“All I can say is that I’m very sorry it turned out the way it did. It was not my intention. Myself and my colleagues in the public health unit were working very hard on this,” she said.

“If we could do it again it would be very different.”

Ms Ressler agreed it was “unsatisfactory” that more sick passengers onboard the ship were tested for influenza than were tested for COVID-19. She said she was not aware of any discussions within NSW Health about the lower rate of coronavirus tests.

“Until you raised it with me now I wasn’t aware that it was so unsatisfactory,” she told Mr Walker.

“It appears to have been routine that on these cruises more people would be tested for influenza than were tested for COVID-19. I don’t understand how that fits within the protocols,” Mr Walker said.

“The purpose this protocol had to protect the Australian community against future contagion doesn’t sound very difficult or complicated in its principles… and yet seems most imperfectly not to have been observed, is that correct?”

“Yes,” Ms Ressler said.

A key aspect of Ms Ressler’s evidence involved questions about whether doctors on the Ruby Princess had ensured passengers went into isolation after developing either respiratory illness or fever.