Crikey has a non-paywalled article dealing with the mess.
In Australia, well-connected lobbyists are greasing the wheels of access and influence to public officials for those who have the funds to pay them. The secret to their access is their insider status: as I note in research, almost 40% of these lobbyists are former politicians, public servants and ministerial advisers. The oiled path from public office to a career as a lobbyist is known as the “revolving door” phenomenon, where former public officials capitalise on their networks to gain access to powerful decision-makers and policymakers — for profit.
Lobbyists and industry groups tend to donate to political parties for strategic, rather than altruistic, reasons. A major reason for these political donations is to secure greater access to politicians than ordinary people have.
The rot goes to the top, dives deep, strikes out sideways, and potentially has already spread to those waiting in the wings of established major parties. Perhaps it's time to remove the lot and replace them via sortition?
“Several years ago, the A-team successfully cultivated and recruited a former Australian politician,” Burgess said.
“This politician sold out their country, party and former colleagues to advance the interests of the foreign regime. At one point, the former politician even proposed bringing a prime minister’s family member into the spies’ orbit.
“Fortunately, that plot did not go ahead but other schemes did.”
Burgess did not identify the politician who was recruited by the spies or their political party.
Burgess said the A-team had invited leading Australian academics and political figures to an all-expenses-paid overseas conference where they were met by spies pretending to be bureaucrats.
“They used the conference to build relationships with the Australians and aggressively target them for recruitment, openly asking who had access to government documents,” he said.
“A few weeks after the conference wrapped up, one of the academics started giving the A-team information about Australia’s national security and defence priorities.
“Another Australian, an aspiring politician, provided insights into the factional dynamics of his party, analysis of a recent election and the names of up-and-comers – presumably so the A-team could target them too.”
Regarding the mysterious MP who sold secrets, I've heard, or read, three coalition MPs demanding that the person be named, which leads me to think that the person was of the ALP persuasion. I can think of quite a few dodgy left adjacent types over the years, but oh how nice it would be if the person were a law and order and secure borders dimwit from the right. I'd sell a limb for it to be Dutton but he's the most vociferous about naming the culprit, so it's not him...probably.
'The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.' David Graeber
pipbarber wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 7:36 am
Regarding the mysterious MP who sold secrets, I've heard, or read, three coalition MPs demanding that the person be named, which leads me to think that the person was of the ALP persuasion. I can think of quite a few dodgy left adjacent types over the years, but oh how nice it would be if the person were a law and order and secure borders dimwit from the right. I'd sell a limb for it to be Dutton but he's the most vociferous about naming the culprit, so it's not him...probably.
Consider more than one country.
How many work for the good ole Uncle Sam?
Late add: Is Rupert a hostile foreign power too?
Greedy fuckers cannot self-regulate.
Prove me wrong.
And in interesting news, the Lib government in Tasmania has decided to take some lessons from Trump in how to deal with agreements. No, not a good lesson in that if you make an agreement with someone you should keep it, that other one, they can just be ripped up unilaterly;
The “shocking” move has drawn widespread backlash from conservationists to forest growers and processors, including the Tasmanian Forest Products Association who said it was “disappointed” the industry was being “used” by premier Jeremy Rockliff ahead of a state election next month.
The 40,000 hectares are part of a “peace deal” signed between state and federal government in 2012 under Julia Gillard that signified an end to the bitter “forest wars”.
The agreement came after both governments legislate the protection of 356,000 hectares of highly-valued Tasmanian forests.
It appears for conservatives agreements are only to be kept as long as they are politically useful, if they aren't you can just throw them away, well done!
Anti-abortion campaigner wins control of Brisbane LNP division
Concerns raised after former Cherish Life vice-president Alan Baker elected chair of party’s Griffith divisional council
A prominent anti-abortion campaigner has won control of a Brisbane division of the Liberal National party, prompting alarm among moderates that “fringe infiltrators” were attempting to increase their influence as polls point to a state election win.
Alan Baker, a former vice-president of the anti-abortion lobby group Cherish Life, was elected chair of the LNP’s Griffith federal divisional council (FDC) by two votes on Thursday night.
The council controls preselections and campaigns in the federal seat of Griffith, which has been held by the Greens and considered Queensland’s most progressive.
