Swan Island Peace activists will have their day in court – in the news

You can support the Swan Island Peace activists in August…

Anti-war protesters sue the defence force. | Herald Sun

Oct 2, 2017 – According to separate writs filed in the County Court the protectors intended to engage in a nonviolent protest and after hanging and taking photos of an anti-war banner on buildings separated into two pairs before being caught by plain clothes defence force personnel. Swan Island protester Greg Rolles … read more …

Swan Island protesters claim they were hooded and stripped at … – ABC

ABC News video: ASIS base protesters claim mistreatment in Guantanamo Bay style

Oct 9, 2014 – Swan Island, 90 minutes from Melbourne, is used for training by the Australian Secret Intelligence Agency (ASIS), the overseas arm of the country’s spy network. It is not open to the public without Defence or ASIS approval. Early last Thursday, eight protesters from the Swan Island Peace Convergence …

Defence Force Report into the Swan Island Trespass on 2 Oct 2014 (pdf)

Swan Island Peace Convergence

Website swanislandpeace.org

Facebook group Swan Island Peace Convergence

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2 days ago

Australian politicians working for weapons companies are currently spending BILLIONS on weapons systems and their delivery mechanisms, submarines, ships, fighter jets and attack tanks.

Yet we don't have hand sanitiser, masks, or enough ventilators.

1.6 billion for a Jet airfield upgrade at Tindall in the Northern Territory
1.4 billion for missiles to be placed there

Yet not enough ventilators in the Northern Territory for a pandemic. And no way to quickly obtain or make them because all the technical energy is in weapons development. For killing people.One saves lives and the other wipes out lives.
Raytheon the US weapons multinational corporation with branches in Australia receives $ hundreds of millions of public money from Australian government, and pays little if any tax. Throw them out and use the money for public health, not wars. ... See MoreSee Less

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3 days ago

#AfghanFiles , #WarCrimesMatter and #ToxicSAS
Issues to consider about the Ben Roberts Smith.

1/ It may be that BRS is able to deny the incidents because he knows that people who would otherwise speak out in an open and honest way to tell the story do not. They may be subject to physical and social threats if they tell the stories. In a respectful culture of justice, people are able to tell stories of their trauma experiences at the privacy level they choose: private - through to public. This way stories can be used to organise and create change.

BRS can deny the stories because others do not tell the whole truth.

And yet truth-telling around trauma helps healing. At this time where we see a spike in suicides, surely truth-telling is key to healing and repair.

2/ Regarding the recent story-telling about the #toxicSAS: We must ask about why that #toxicSAS soldier was still working up to this day? Was he being rewarded?

It is my experience in the health system that no one gets fired when upper managers have been previously implicated with misdemeanours. This is because they worry that the person getting fired will come out of the shadows and directly reveal their implication in earlier coverups. This is why transparency is crucial to justice.

There was previous "investigation" presumably under the now "Governor General" David Hurley who was then a General of the Afghanistan war - Chief of Defence - communicating directly with Government.
.
We must ask - why was this "investigation" so pathetic that no action was taken.

What did HURLEY know, What did HURLEY do? Why was their a cover up? Were they trusting the violence in the system to keep the whole thing quiet. Who got threatened if they spoke?

Will that investigation be examined?
What do you think? Probably the best thing you can do is trawl the newspapers online and make comments about these matters in their comments sections.

HURLEY, EXAMINATION OF THE INVESTIGATION, REINVESTIGATION, CORRUPTION OF THE WHOLE SYSTEM.
Why did they not examine it properly? ... See MoreSee Less

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4 days ago

#AfghanFiles , #WarCrimesMatter and #ToxicSAS
Issues to consider about the Ben Roberts Smith.

1/ It may be that BRS is able to deny the incidents because he knows that people who would otherwise speak out in an open and honest way to tell the story do not. They may be subject to physical and social threats if they tell the stories. In a respectful culture of justice, people are able to tell stories of their trauma experiences at the privacy level they choose: private - through to public. This way stories can be used to organise and create change.

BRS can deny the stories because others do not tell the whole truth.

And yet truth-telling around trauma helps healing. At this time where we see a spike in suicides, surely truth-telling is key to healing and repair.

2/ Regarding the recent story-telling about the #toxicSAS: We must ask about why that #toxicSAS soldier was still working up to this day? Was he being rewarded?

It is my experience in the health system that no one gets fired when upper managers have been previously implicated with misdemeanours. This is because they worry that the person getting fired will come out of the shadows and directly reveal their implication in earlier coverups. This is why transparency is crucial to justice.

There was previous "investigation" presumably under the now "Governor General" David Hurley who was then a General of the Afghanistan war - Chief of Defence - communicating directly with Government.
.
We must ask - why was this "investigation" so pathetic that no action was taken.

What did HURLEY know, What did HURLEY do? Why was their a cover up? Were they trusting the violence in the system to keep the whole thing quiet. Who got threatened if they spoke?

Will that investigation be examined?
What do you think? Probably the best thing you can do is trawl the newspapers online and make comments about these matters in their comments sections.

HURLEY, EXAMINATION OF THE INVESTIGATION, REINVESTIGATION, CORRUPTION OF THE WHOLE SYSTEM.
Why did they not examine it properly?
______________________
From the Australian

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith has been interviewed by the Australian Federal Police as part of a long criminal investigation into an alleged illegal killing committed during his service in Afghanistan.

Mr Roberts-Smith said on Monday he had made contact with the AFP after media reports that he was being investigated.

“Following (the reports) I asked my lawyers to contact the AFP and offer my assistance with any investigation,’’ Mr Roberts-Smith told The Australian.

“In accordance with that offer, I attended the AFP’s headquarters in order to assist with the AFP’s investigation.’’ Mr Roberts-Smith has been accused of kicking a bound Afghan prisoner over a small embankment and then having him shot during an operation in the Afghan village of Darwan on September 11, 2012.

Mr Roberts-Smith was a member of the Special Air Services Regiment at the time of the mission. He denies any wrongdoing, arguing the allegations are the product of toxic personal rivalries within the SASR and jealousy over his commendations.

The allegation is the subject of a bitterly fought defamation suit brought by Mr Roberts-Smith against Fairfax Media, now Nine Newspapers, which published a series of stories detailing the alleged incident in 2018.

It is also part of a larger investigation by the Inspector-General of the ADF into possible war crimes committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan. Last Monday the ABC’s Four Corners program aired explosive footage of an SASR operator shooting dead an apparently unarmed Afghan villager as he lay prone on the ground. The operator has since been stood down and the matter referred to the AFP for investigation.

Mr Roberts-Smith has been awarded the Victoria Cross and the Medal of Gallantry, making him Australia’s most decorated soldier. He said he remained proud of his service.“I remain willing to co-operate with any inquiry or investigation into any matters concerning the (Australian Defence Force),’’ he said. “It is regrettable that anonymous allegations have been published which are untrue and which seek to pre-empt the outcome of independent investigations.’’

CREDIT: Paul Maley; National Security Editor; EXCLUSIVE ... See MoreSee Less

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Two Grand Tweets #ThisisAustraliasWar and #NoWarOnIran

“Our enemies are not in the poorest countries on the planet, but right here in the richest one” —@MikePrysner#NoWarOnIran #GIResistance pic.twitter.com/uMiHv9wZpV — About Face: Veterans Against the War (@VetsAboutFace) January 5, 2020 #ThisisAustraliasWar – $36bn per year on ADF and no help in the fire. #ThisisAustraliasWar https://t.co/a6mKclrJfW — #WagePeace (@wagepeaceau) January 5, 2020 We… [Read more] Two Grand Tweets #ThisisAustraliasWar and #NoWarOnIran