Australian Rules club hit by 'heartbreaking' Indigenous mistreatment claims

Yahoo – AFP, September 21, 2022 

Australian Rules' chief executive said Wednesday it was "hard to find more serious allegations" after a top club was accused of separating Indigenous players from their families and pressuring one couple to have an abortion. 

In the latest racially tinged scandal to hit Australia's most popular spectator sport, Hawthorn Football Club said an internal investigation into how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players were treated had raised "disturbing" historical claims. 

The club did not go into detail, saying the matters were "confidential". 

But public broadcaster ABC reported harrowing accounts of young Indigenous players pressured to end contact with their families and focus on their sporting careers. 

The ABC said in a period about a decade ago, players were relocated away from family and pressed to change their mobile phone numbers. 

One allegation related to a prospective father who told the club he and his partner were expecting a child and was advised to terminate the pregnancy. 

"At face value it's hard to find more serious allegations," Australian Football League (AFL) chief Gillon McLachlan said. 

"There are so many people hurting today and have been hurting for a long time. As a game we will do everything to ensure the hurt you experienced is not a hurt experienced by others." 

McLachlan said an external panel of four independent, appropriately qualified people would conduct a separate investigation for the AFL. 

"We need to run a proper investigation to get to the bottom of it and this is important out of respect for those making the allegations and out of respect for those being accused," he said. 

Hawthorn, the 13-time premiership-winning side -- with the Latin motto translated as "let us be judged by our acts" -- are based in Melbourne. 

Allegations of separating Indigenous players from their families and forced estrangement are particularly sensitive in Australia. 

Until the 1970s, white-dominated Australian governments forcibly removed Aboriginal children from their parents in an attempt to eradicate Indigenous cultures. 

Indigenous AFL legend and former "Australian of the Year" Adam Goodes retired in 2015 after being subjected to months of racially motivated booing by spectators. 

In 2021, the president of top Australian Rules side Collingwood resigned after evidence of systemic racism at the club.

 Hawthorn chief Justin Reeve backed the AFL's independent investigation, calling the findings of their internal review "heartbreaking". 

Asked whether Hawthorn had a culture problem, Reeve replied: "I think Australia has a culture problem, historically, and I think like all of us, we focus on every day being better and building a great environment for our club. 

"I feel confident from the report as well that currently our players feel culturally safe," he added. 

"But like so many institutions, I think we have to face our history and our past and we have to act responsibly and we have to cooperate and move forward from that."

Scandal-hit Greensill parent group enters liquidation

Yahoo – AFP, Roland JACKSON, 22 April 2021 

Administrators will wind down Greensill activities and attempt to sell off parts
of the business, which was founded in 2011 by Australian Lex Greensill

The Australian parent of failed specialist finance firm Greensill Capital, whose recent collapse sparked worldwide corporate fallout and a political scandal in Britain, has entered liquidation, administrators said Thursday. 

The demise of Greensill Capital Pty Ltd is the latest chapter in a saga that has ensnared Conservative politicians including ex-prime minister David Cameron. 

The company had filed for bankruptcy last month for its operations in Britain, and also in Australia where its parent group is based and Germany where it has a banking arm. 

Greensill's implosion threatens about 50,000 jobs at companies that relied on its supply chain financing, including the steel empire of Indian-British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta. 

Greensill Capital Pty Ltd, which is the parent company of the Global Greensill Group, had provided head office support and sourced funding for the finance giant's operations. 

Creditors including Credit Suisse, Japan's SoftBank and the Association of German Banks met online early Thursday and "resolved to place the company into liquidation", according to a statement from administrators Grant Thornton. 

The administrator provided an overview of the company to its 41 creditors and their representatives, who then voted in favour of liquidation. 

Administrators will now wind down activities and attempt to sell off chunks of the business, which was founded in 2011 by Australian Lex Greensill. 

"As of today, the company is now in liquidation," Grant Thornton added in the statement. 

"The liquidators will continue to identify and realise available assets, monitor developments in relation to the administrations of Greensill UK and the Greensill Bank AG, and continue their investigations in relation to Greensill Capital Pty Limited in liquidation." 

Cameron in firing line 

The controversial company specialised in short-term corporate loans via a complex business model that ultimately sparked its declaration of insolvency. 

Lex Greensill had obtained inside access to the Downing Street machine of then-premier Cameron, on the promise of helping to provide the government with the latest thinking on financial technology. 

Cameron was forced to step down following Britain's Brexit referendum in 2016, and two years later became an adviser to Greensill Capital, amassing share options that were potentially worth millions. 

This year, he privately lobbied senior officials including finance minister Rishi Sunak for government support before the firm's business model of supplying interim finance to companies imploded, rendering his share options worthless. 

Cameron is most directly in the firing line because of his personal and undeclared lobbying, but denies any impropriety. 

The Greensill scandal now faces heightened scrutiny in Britain, where the government already faces cronyism allegations over key contracts linked to its Covid-19 response. 

Parliament's Treasury Committee has launched an inquiry into Greensill's collapse, with appearances widely expected from Cameron, Sunak, and Lex Greensill. 

Greensill faces a string of other inquiries in Britain, with the National Audit Office also probing the firm's involvement in Covid-19 support schemes and state monitoring of its activities. 

Labour leader Keir Starmer slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday over government "sleaze" involving preferential access given to both Greensill and pro-Brexit billionaire entrepreneur James Dyson.

Defiant Australians protest racial injustice despite warnings

Yahoo – AFP, Andrew LEESON, June 6, 2020

Marchers defied government warnings about coronavirus to rally in Sydney
(AFP Photo/SAEED KHAN)

Tens of thousands of Australians defied government calls to stay at home Saturday by spilling onto the streets for Black Lives Matter protests in major towns and cities across the country.

Marchers in Sydney, Melbourne and elsewhere rejected arguments from law enforcement and conservative leaders that mass protests could fuel the spread of coronavirus.

A court on Friday declared the Sydney protest illegal on health grounds, although the ruling was overturned by an appeals court minutes before the march was due to start.

"The fact that they have tried to push us all back and stop the protest, it makes people want to do it even more," said Jumikah Donovan, one of thousands who turned up thinking the ban was still in place.

The Sydney march of at least 20,000 was largely peaceful but as night fell a smaller group of a few hundred protesters faced-off with police over two hours.

Protesters were also out in force in Brisbane (AFP Photo/Patrick HAMILTON)

A large number of police eventually forced them into a nearby railway station where a tense stand-off ended with police using pepper spray on the crowd.

Police confirmed only three arrests during the rally.

Demonstrators brandished signs that read "I can't breathe", a nod to the last words of African-American man George Floyd, whose death while being arrested has sparked civil rights protests around the world.

Another read: "Same story, different soil."

The movement has resonated strongly with many in Australia -- a country also wrestling with the legacy of a racist past.

Organisers said they hoped to draw attention to high imprisonment rates among Aboriginal Australians and the large number of deaths in custody of indigenous people -- more than 400 in the last three decades.

Many protesters wore face masks, brought hand sanitiser and tried to social 

distance (AFP Photo/Patrick HAMILTON)

No prosecutions have been brought despite dozens of investigations, inquests and in some cases video evidence of abuse.

'Voice for change'

Many of the protesters wore face masks, brought hand sanitiser and tried to social distance as best they could.

"There are things in the world that need to be addressed," said Fay Goli. "If a majority can stand together there will be a stronger voice for change."

Australia has seen a sustained drop in the number of COVID-19 cases, but social distancing rules remain in force and mass gatherings are not permitted.

"Police are prepared for anybody that wants to just flout the law," New South Wales Police Minister David Elliott told media before the rallies.

(AFP Photo/Andrew LEESON)

Protesters in Melbourne were warned they could face fines for attending a rally if social distancing was not observed, although police appeared not to be enforcing those rules.

The day before the protests Prime Minister Scott Morrison had urged people to stay home.

"Let's find a better way and another way to express these sentiments rather than putting your own health at risk," Morrison said.

He admitted there was more to be done to address indigenous inequality, but rejected parallels with the United States.

"Let's deal with this as Australians and not appropriate what's happening in other countries to our country at this time," he said.

Australian charged over 80s alleged hate crime murder of gay American

Yahoo - AFP, May 12, 2020

More than 30 years after the murder of Scott Johnson in a gay hate crime, police
in Australia say they have arrested and charged a suspect (AFP Photo/Handout)

More than 30 years after American Scott Johnson was killed in a suspected gay hate crime in Australia, police said Tuesday they had arrested and charged a man with his murder.

Detectives arrested the 49-year-old in the leafy Sydney suburb of Lane Cove on Tuesday and laid murder charges the same day.

The suspect's name was not released.

The breakthrough in the cold case came two months after the victim's family doubled a police reward in the case to Aus$2 million (US$1.3 million).

The 27-year-old mathematician Johnson's naked body was found at the base of a cliff in the Sydney suburb of Manly in December 1988, and police at the time ruled his death a suicide.

But a coroner found in 2017 that it was likely Johnson had been killed in a hate crime, suggesting he was either pushed over the cliff or fell while trying to escape unidentified assailants.

The inquest found that gangs roamed Sydney at the time searching for gay men to attack, and had been known to rob or assault men at the "gay beat" where Johnson's folded clothing was discovered.

In 2018, police announced an Aus$1 million reward for information leading to an arrest in the case, which was doubled when Johnson's brother, Steve, matched the amount in March.

Steve Johnson, who had long pushed police to investigate his brother's death, said it was "remarkable" the alleged killer had been apprehended almost 32 years later.

"This is a very emotional day. Emotional for me, emotional for my family who... love Scott dearly," he said in a video statement.

"It's emotional, I'm sure, for the gay community for whom Scott had come to symbolise the many dozens of other gay men who lost their lives in the 1980s and '90s in a world full of anti-gay prejudice and hatred."

In 2018, New South Wales police acknowledged that at least 27 murders between the 1970s and 2000 were homophobic hate crimes, admitting the force had played a part in marginalising the LGBT community and enabling society's "acceptance of shocking violence directed at gay men" during the period.

"It is clear and beyond question that levels of violence inflicted upon gay men in particular were elevated, extreme and often brutal," police said at the time.

The suspect in Johnson's murder is due to appear in a local Sydney court on Wednesday.

Australia's Morrison faces fresh fury for bushfire 'campaign ad'

Yahoo – AFP, January 4, 2020

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) has faced sustained anger for his
handling of the months-long bushfire crisis (AFP Photo/James ROSS)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison faced renewed criticism Saturday, after sharing bushfire themed party campaign ads that opponents condemned as "disgusting" and a respected defence association said was "milking" the crisis.

Facing sustained anger for his handling of the months-long crisis, Morrison sought to get on the front foot Saturday, announcing increased military assistance to beleaguered volunteer firefighters.

In a string of media appearances, he vowed every resource would be provided to help ease a disaster that has killed 23 people and burned swathes of the country, announcing more funding for water-bombing planes and the call up of 3,000 reservists.

But he found himself in fresh scandal late Saturday after tweeting a video heralding his announcements about the military, and his Liberal Party made a similar post linking to the party website.

Australia's bushfire crisis has killed 23 people and burned swathes of the country 

(AFP Photo/SAEED KHAN)

The non-partisan Australia Defence Association, a public-interest watchdog, said the Liberal Party advert was a "clear breach" of conventions keeping the military out of politics and accused the party of "milking ADF support to civil agencies fighting bushfires".

There was more fervent criticism from Morrison's political opponents for his tweet that promised "more Defence Force boots on the ground, more planes in the sky, more ships to sea, and more trucks to roll in to support the bushfire fighting effort".

It was accompanied by a military-themed video that was "authorised by S. Morrison, Liberal Party, Canberra."

Shadow minister for international development Pat Conroy accused Morrison of trying to "exploit a national tragedy" and described the ad as a "new low".

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) has vowed every resource 

will be provided to help ease the bushfire disaster (AFP Photo/James ROSS)

"To then solicit donations to the Liberal Party while millions of Aussies are giving to fire appeals is beyond belief. Note this disgusting ad was personally authorised by this scum of a PM," he tweeted.

Labor Senator Murray Watt also took to Twitter to demand Morrison "show some respect to fire victims, the fireys (firefighters), the ADF, and the people facing fire fronts right now. Take down this Liberal Party ad. Now".

Morrison was earlier forced to cut short a Hawaii holiday following a barrage of criticism for vacationing while exhausted volunteer firefighters battled blazes across the country and millions of people in Sydney choked on toxic smoke.

Criticism of Morrison's absence was widespread, sparking street protests and a flood of angry social media posts demanding #whereisscomo.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced increased military
assistance to beleaguered volunteer firefighters (AFP Photo/PETER PARKS

He returned and promptly visited bushfire-hit communities where he was heckled by residents and criticised by a party ally.

A tearful pregnant woman and a volunteer firefighter refused to shake his hand and other residents peppered him with verbal abuse and suggested, colourfully, that he leave.

"People in these situations have a mix of emotions," Morrison said playing down the interactions and stressing he had been welcomed elsewhere.

"These arms have given a lot of hugs," he said.

Australia's Westpac faces huge fine for money-laundering breaches

Yahoo – AFP, November 20, 2019

Westpac said earlier this month that it had informed AUSTRAC of its failure to
properly report a 'large number' of international transfers (AFP Photo/PETER PARKS)

Sydney (AFP) - Australian banking giant Westpac faces a massive fine after being accused by regulators Wednesday of "serious and systemic" breaches of money-laundering laws involving more than US$7 billion.

Australia's financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, said it had taken legal action against Westpac for failing to report more than 19.5 million international fund transfers, including "high-risk transactions" to Southeast Asian nations potentially linked to child exploitation.

Overall, AUSTRAC chief Nicole Rose said, Westpac violated the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing act 23 million times.

She did not comment on the amount of a potential penalty for Australia's second biggest bank, saying it was a matter for the courts.

But in its submission to the Federal Court, AUSTRAC noted that each of the 23 million breaches attracts a civil penalty "between Aus$17 million and Aus$21 million" -- theoretically putting the bank on the hook for up to Aus$483 trillion (US$330 trillion) in fines.

The global economy was worth almost US$86 trillion in 2018, according to the World Bank.

Australia's largest lender, the Commonwealth Bank (CBA), last year faced a theoretical maximum fine of Aus$1 trillion after AUSTRAC found it had failed to report on 53,500 transactions, a small portion of the alleged breaches by Westpac. The CBA ended up negotiating an Aus$700 million settlement.

Westpac shares closed down 3.3 percent on news.

Among the most damaging allegations, the regulator accused Westpac executives of "indifference" to clear evidence that some international transfers were used to fund child exploitation.

"Since at least 2013, Westpac was aware of the heightened child exploitation risks associated with frequent low value payments to the Philippines and Southeast Asia, both from AUSTRAC guidance and its own risk assessments," it said.

The regulator added that senior Westpac management was "specifically briefed" in June 2016 on these risks with respect to one of its money transfer channels.

In response to the charges, Westpac's American-born CEO, Brian Hartzer, insisted bank executives have "absolutely not been indifferent" to the issue.

He later held a conference call saying he was personally "disgusted" by the subject of some allegations but declined to say whether he would resign.

Hartzer also said many of the transfers cited by AUSTRAC as unreported were "recurring, low-value payments" from foreign government pension funds to people living in Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who leads a conservative, pro-business government, said he was "appalled" by the allegations against Westpac and said Australia's banks need to "lift their game".

Rose told a news conference that Westpac's failures "resulted in serious and systemic non-compliance" with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

She said the unreported transactions amounted to more than Aus$11 billion (US$7 billion) from 2013 to 2018.

Westpac "failed to appropriately assess and monitor the ongoing money-laundering and terrorism financing risks associated with the movement of money into and out of Australia through correspondent banking relationships", she said.

The AUSTRAC action added to a host of problems challenging Australia's banking industry, one of the world's most profitable.

The country's four biggest banks -- CBA, Westpac, National Australia Bank (NAB) and ANZ -- were the target of a royal commission of inquiry that early this year exposed rampant malpractice across the sector.

It found banks had charged fees to dead people and for no services at all, used aggressive selling tactics and provided poor advice that led to significant financial upheaval for clients.

All the banks have reported significant hits to profits as they reimburse hundreds of millions of dollars to wronged customers.

In the latest such development, NAB agreed on Wednesday to a Aus$49.5 million settlement of a class action suit for tens of thousands of customers who were sold junk credit card and personal loan insurance, the law firm that led the suit said.

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2008 financial crisis: the collapse of Lehman Brothers

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once),Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Aussie racing industry pledges millions for retired horses

Yahoo – AFP, 28 October 2019

The Victoria Racing Club said 10% of ticket sales from the Melbourne Cup Carnival 
and 5% of annual membership fees would go to fund retired horse welfare
(AFP Photo/PAUL CROCK)

Australia's racing industry on Monday pledged millions of dollars for the care of retired racehorses, as it scrambles to address the fallout from animal cruelty allegations that sparked a major outcry.

National broadcaster ABC revealed this month that thousands of retired animals were being sent to abattoirs in secret, where many were allegedly beaten and abused before being killed.

Racing Victoria said it would spend at least Aus$25 million (US$17 million) over the next three years to expand an existing program of rehoming retired horses and to create a new welfare taskforce designed to prevent cruelty to racing animals.

The organisation's chairman, Brian Kruger, said it was clear the industry needed to "step up and do more".

"It's incumbent on us to ensure our horses have opportunities for a rewarding life after racing," he told reporters in Melbourne.

Separately, the Victoria Racing Club said 10 percent of ticket sales from the Melbourne Cup Carnival and five percent of annual membership fees would go toward a new equine welfare fund, which it is seeding with an initial Aus$1.5 million.

About 300,000 people attend the four-day Carnival each year, with tickets to next week's prestigious Cup race costing $90 for a general admission pass and up to hundreds of dollars for exclusive packages.

Liz Walker, the CEO of animal welfare charity RSPCA in Victoria, said the measures were a "good start" but did not go far enough.

"It tends to be focused towards the end-of-life of racehorses and we would say they really have to go right back to the beginning, and we really do need to have that birth-to-death reporting and recording as well as injury statistics," she told the ABC.

While the slaughter of racehorses is not illegal in Australia, the ABC investigation found the practice was far more widespread than acknowledged.

The racing industry insists that less than one percent of retired thoroughbreds end up in an abattoir or knackery, but the ABC claimed about 4,000 horses "disappeared" each year, with meat from slaughtered animals being shipped abroad for human consumption and pet food.

The Queensland government last week announced an inquiry into the treatment of horses at abattoirs in response to the revelations.

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Australian papers censor front pages in press freedom campaign

Yahoo – AFP, 21 October 2019

Australia's leading newspapers blacked out Monday front pages in protest
against government secrecy and a crackdown on press freedom

Newspapers across Australia ran heavily redacted front pages on Monday in protest against government secrecy and a crackdown on press freedom, a rare show of unity in a fractious media landscape.

National and regional mastheads including The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review hit newsstands Monday with most of their front-page news stories blacked out.

Advertisements have also been rolled out across the country's television networks, asking viewers to consider the question: "When the government hides the truth from you, what are they covering up?"

The campaign by the Right to Know coalition was sparked by federal police raids on the national broadcaster ABC and a News Corp journalist's home earlier this year over two stories that had proved embarrassing for the government.

It centres on six demands, including exemptions for journalists from strict national security laws that have created a complex web of provisions critics say too easily ensnare reporters doing their jobs.

"The culture of secrecy that has descended through these legal provisions restricts every Australian's right to know and goes well beyond the original intent of national security," Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance union head Paul Murphy said.

The media campaign was sparked by Australian police raids on national 

broadcaster ABC and a News Corp journalist's home

"The police raids on the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the headquarters of the ABC in Sydney were direct attacks on media freedom in Australia but they are just the tip of the iceberg," he said.

Three journalists are facing possible criminal charges in the wake of the raids -- Smethurst for revealing the government was considering plans to spy on Australians -- and two ABC reporters for exposing alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

The media groups are also calling for enhanced protections for public sector whistleblowers -- who have also faced charges for leaking to the press -- as well as an improved freedom of information regime and defamation law reform.

Australia's defamation laws are notoriously complex and among the strictest in the world.

And unlike most liberal democracies, Australia does not have a bill of rights or constitutionally enshrined protections for freedom of speech.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government would "always believe in the freedom of the press", but he also insisted that journalists were not above the law.

"The rule of law has to be applied evenly and fairly in protection of our broader freedoms, and so I don't think anyone is, I hope, looking for a leave pass on any of those things," he told reporters during an official visit to Jakarta.

A press freedom inquiry is due to report its findings to parliament next year.

Tens of thousands march in Australia for higher wages

Yahoo - AFP, 10 April 2019

The labor party's union allies say the living standards of Australians have
fallen significantly

Tens of thousands marched for better work conditions and higher wages in Australia Wednesday, bringing the city of Melbourne to a standstill, ahead of national elections in May.

The opposition Labor party wants to make stagnant wages a focus of its election campaign, with its union allies claiming "Australians have seen the largest fall in their living standards in 30 years".

The governing conservative Liberal-National coalition has argued the best way of boosting wages is through company tax cuts.

Many demonstrators wore fluorescent "hi-visibility" workwear and carried banners with "Change the Rules" written on them.

The governing conservative Liberal-National coalition nargues company tax
cuts are the bets way to boost wages

State premier Daniel Andrews said the rally should remind Canberra that Australians are demanding a proper "living wage".

"People are angry. They are out in the streets. They are out in force but they are campaigning for something very simple: 'a fair go'," he told reporters as he joined the mass rally.

City commuters endured a second day of disruption in less than a week, after animal rights activists blocked busy streets Monday during a surprise peak hour demonstration.

Some Labor supporters have argued for a slew of workers to receive higher minimum wages and a cap on the number of foreign workers entering the country.

Murdoch's News Corp calls for Google breakup

Yahoo – AFP, March 12, 2019

News organisations accuse tech giants such as Google and Facebook of gaining huge
commercial benefit from expensive to create content, while paying nothing and syphoning
off advertising (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has called for Google to be broken up in Australia, the latest salvo in a battle between the corporate media giants.

In a petition to Australian regulators, News Corp's local subsidiary complained that "Google enjoys overwhelming market power in both online search and ad tech services."

Going a step further, the company accused Google of "abusing its dominant position to the detriment of consumers, advertisers and publishers."

Earlier this week US presidential hopeful -- and former federal consumer watchdog -- Elizabeth Warren became the latest in a line of commentators to argue that firms such as Amazon, Google and Facebook hold " too much power" in society.

News Corp echoed her argument that Google's businesses should be split, or failing that, search and advertising businesses should be firewalled off from each other.

"While News Corp Australia recognises that divestment is a very serious step ... divestment is necessary in the case of Google, due to the unparalleled power that it currently exerts over news publishers and advertisers alike."

Australian watchdogs are seen as unlikely to recommend that Google be split, but the petition represents an intensification of the worldwide fight between Australian-born Murdoch and Google and Facebook.

News organisations accuse the tech giants of gaining huge commercial benefit from expensive to create content, while paying nothing and syphoning off advertising.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is one of several regulators across the world investigating the effect that digital platforms have on competition in the media, advertising and advertising services markets.

News organisations in Australia have struggled in recent years with falling revenue and shrinking staff, as giants like Google and Facebook dominate the digital economy.

The downturn has prompted a string of mergers that have left the market with only three or four major media companies.

Local newspapers, once the lifeblood of communities across this vast country, run on a skeletal staff or have been forced to close.

Murdoch's News Corp is a dominant player, owning a slew of Australian newspapers and the largest television news channel, and is the majority owner of the Foxtel pay television operations.

Murdoch's vast political influence has frequently come under fire from former prime ministers on both sides of Australian politics and is widely seen as pushing the tone of public debate to the right.

News Corp Australia is a subsidiary of US-based News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal and newspapers in Britain. Murdoch and his family also control the media-entertainment conglomerate 21st Century Fox, owner of the Fox News Channel.

News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch, seen here in 2017, is urging Facebook

to pay "trusted" news organizations for content, in the same way cable TV operators

pay for channels (AFP Photo/AL BELLO)

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"From Dark to Light" + "Discovery", US (3), June 24 - 25, 2017 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)  (Text version "From Dark to Light") 

"... Marketing the Drama and Unseen Truth

Number three: There are some very old energies in your society and in your culture that have always been the same and represent past Human nature, and you have to decide what to do with them. You may not be able to change them, but you have a choice on what to do with them.

If you believe in the shift and you are starting to think more positive, then let me tell you something that will help. There is light on this planet that is not being reported. There is the beginning of high consciousness ideas and new thought about the future of humanity in very powerful places. These are seeds of new thought that are beginning to grow, and some of them make so much sense and are elegant, yet you'll never know about them. The reason? Your media is filled with the old dark consciousness of drama above all else and many of you willingly create a platform to sustain it.

Some of you will come home from work and feel it's a nice idea to turn on the media and watch all of the horrible things that happened on the planet that day. Perhaps you don't want the news, so you go for entertainment instead. So you turn on a program where you can watch families in drama, arguing and complaining. What I'm telling you, dear ones, is that your media is broken, and you watch it anyway.

Right now, it continues in the old energy and the management in charge thinks it knows best what you and your neighbors want. So it's going to deliver darkness on a regular basis, and if there's nothing dark, it will create it for you. That is what you're faced with. Here is my advice. Select the media carefully that you believe is true and accurate. Wouldn't you rather have fun things to watch? Perhaps you'd like to watch cute pets or animals doing fun things? How about children doing amazing and hilarious things, or great stories of heroism with uplifting endings? How about amazing nature or comedy that is hilarious? Right now with new devices, you can see all of that as much as you want, without commercials. This is the newest trend and evolution of your media selection - personal control over programs in your home, without commercial interruption. Did you see this happening and wonder why now?

So the solution to drama-biased media is simple: Don't watch or listen to standard broadcast! Instead, find out about the alternates and be selective. Select news that is less biased in bringing you full-time drama. Of course, you need to stay in touch with what is happening, but you don't have to accept a program that is dedicated to enhancing and promoting the drama of the day and making it worse - or that gives no news at all about the good things going on.

I say this because broadcast not only is broken, it's dangerous, since it gives false impressions of the overview of the planet. They are stuck in the old energy and haven't caught up yet with the overview of what might really be happening on the planet. Not yet. Even the channels that will give you supposedly good education and history are biased in ways that you would not even expect. They continue to believe in slanting even historic or documentary stories to be horrific and dark. They believe that is what people really want.

What would happen if these companies started programming things people really wanted to watch? What would happen is exactly what they want, and their revenues would go up! I hope they're listening. There will come some day, dear ones, where there'll be more than one good news channel and you can tune in to hear the most heroic and heart-rendering things that have happened on that day on the planet. It will be balanced, perhaps with some other things that also happened. But it will be a balance that you have not seen yet anywhere. ...."

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…6 - The News

Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six ….”

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page. ”