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Posted on July 7, 2011 by @ndy

Drop me a line.

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ASIO ~versus~ WikiLeaks : The WikiLeaks Amendment

Posted on July 7, 2011 by @ndy

Introduction

On November 28, 2010 WikiLeaks—in conjunction with other major media organisations—began publishing classified United States diplomatic cables, detailing correspondence between the US State Department and its diplomatic missions around the world.

The publication of these cables has had an enormous impact upon world affairs. In its 2011 Annual Report, the human rights organisation ‘Amnesty International’ nominated the publication as a major catalyst in a series of uprisings against repressive regimes in the Middle East and North Africa—the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. [1]

Not everyone has welcomed the revelations contained in the WikiLeaks publications quite so warmly, however, and governments around the world have begun to implement measures designed to stifle such activity.

In Australia, these measures are being implemented by way of a series of amendments to laws governing the operations of the state’s intelligence and security apparatus.

Background

In an interview with Fairfax Radio conducted just days after the first cables were published, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard declared “I absolutely condemn the placement of this information on the WikiLeaks website—it’s a grossly irresponsible thing to do and an illegal thing to do”. [2]

This alleged legality, however, was not at all as straightforward as PM Gillard imagined.

Less than a week later, PM Gillard retreated from her claim, unable to nominate any Australian law WikiLeaks may have broken in publishing the cables. Gillard later claimed that “The foundation stone of it is an illegal act… It would not happen, information would not be on WikiLeaks, if there had not been an illegal act undertaken.” [3]

An investigation by Australian Federal Police into WikiLeaks subsequently concluded that it was unable to establish “the existence of any criminal offences where Australia would have jurisdiction”. [4]

As of this date, no charges have been filed against WikiLeaks for publishing the cables. However, US Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning—currently being held in an Army prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas—faces multiple charges in relation to the alleged leak, and if found guilty could receive a life sentence. [5] Further, WikiLeaks and its supporters are currently the subject of a Grand Jury investigation in what journalist Glenn Greenwald describes as “part of a much broader campaign by the Obama administration to crack down on leakers”. [6]

Amending the Law

Having failed to discover an Australian law under which WikiLeaks could be prosecuted, in early 2011, [7] the Gillard Government introduced a new Bill into the Federal Parliament: the Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2011. [8]

This legislation—dubbed “the WikiLeaks amendment”—considerably broadens the legal powers available to ASIO to investigate matters of concern to the state, especially as it relates to the activities of “foreign” organisations. The amendment has important implications for all members of civil society engaged in the investigation, reportage and critical scrutiny of matters state authorities believe are best kept out of public discourse. [9]

In May, Philip Dorling of The Age wrote:

Government sources told The Age last year that there was legal ambiguity over whether ASIO could collect intelligence on WikiLeaks under its foreign intelligence collection function. The issue turned on whether WikiLeaks could be defined as a “foreign political organisation”.

Last week the government introduced legislation to define ASIO’s role more broadly to include collection of intelligence “about the capabilities, intentions or activities of people or organisations outside Australia.”

According to the government the proposed amendment, known informally as “the WikiLeaks amendment”, reflects “the changing nature of threats to Australia, since activities undertaken by non-state actors, whether individually or as a group, can also threaten Australia’s national interest”. [10]

The legislation has been warmly received by the Opposition and rushed through the Parliament, with the only criticisms from within Parliament being voiced by the Greens.

On June 23, the Greens “warned… that a Government plan to significantly broaden ASIO’s mandate was unjustified and dangerous”. [11] Questioned by WA Greens Senator Scott Ludlum before the ‘Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee’ on May 25, 2011:

The Head of ASIO was very resistant to discussing Wikileaks, neither confirming nor denying anything. Mr Irvine hadn’t read the submissions from legal experts into the Bill currently before the parliament that will dramatically expand his agency’s ability to spy on civil society organisations like Wikileaks. [12]

Senator Ludlum also noted that questioning revealed that “it took 6 AFP officers a total of 18 days to conclude that Wikileaks had broken no Australian criminal offence and there was no basis for an investigation”. [13]

Media inquiry

In addition to the Fairfax press, The WikiLeaks Amendment has been closely examined by Bernard Keane in the independent online news source Crikey. Keane notes that the current definition of a “foreign organisation”:

…allows ASIO to apply to the attorney-general to spy on foreign governments or foreign political organisations, but would be dramatically widened under the amendment to allow spying in relation to anything to do with “the interests of Australia’s national security, Australia’s foreign relations or Australia’s national economic well-being”. [14]

The Government’s seeming inability to explain the rationale behind the amendment at the Senate inquiry prompted it to make an extraordinary third submission (its second submission sought to respond to issues raised by the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law) in which it claimed that the amendment would provide “authorities with a better understanding of illegal fishing operations, and enable the relevant Australian authorities to take appropriate action internationally. Illegal fishing puts at risk Australian jobs, investment and the sustainability of fish stocks.”

As Keane wryly commented, “So there you have it—the one clear example of why the government wants a significant expansion in ASIO’s foreign intelligence remit is to provide it with “a better understanding of illegal fishing operations”. It has nothing to do with WikiLeaks, but is all about the fish.” [15]

Something fishy

There is indeed something very fishy about the “WikiLeaks amendment”, from its timing to its bi-partisan support within (and speedy passage through) the Parliament, the absence of any clear rationale for its introduction, and its exceedingly wide potential application.

In addition to the Greens and some journalists, the Law Council of Australia, the Federation of Community Legal Centres (Vic), and the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law have raised objections to the amendment in their submissions to the Senate inquiry. The Castan Centre’s comments on the amendment and its potential impact upon WikiLeaks operations are worth quoting at length. It makes particular note of the fact that:

…amendments would permit ASIO a much wider scope to investigate the activities of Australians who are overseas, and whose activities do not pose any threat to Australia’s security, but perhaps do have implications for Australia’s foreign relations or economic interests. This could include Australians involved in non-violent political activities abroad, which while posing no threat to Australia’s security, and not involving any foreign political organisations, might nevertheless be seen as having implications for Australia’s foreign relations (for example, because they would be perceived adversely by the government of the country in which such activities were taking place). An example of such activities might include the release of secret government information by an Australian living abroad, such as has been the case in respect of Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Currently, information about Wikileaks probably would not constitute foreign intelligence – because Wikileaks is (arguably) not a foreign political organisation, and its activities do not threaten Australia’s security (as defined in section 4 of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (Cth)). But Wikileaks is an organisation, and Mr Assange is a person, outside Australia, and their activities evidently do have implications for Australia’s foreign relations. This example shows how the notion of “person or organisation outside Australia”, combined with the notion of “Australia’s foreign relations”, very considerably expands the scope of ASIO’s potential activities. [16]

Given the broader political context, both domestic and foreign, in which it has been made, there is every reason for Australian citizens to be concerned about The WikiLeaks Amendment. The amendment allows ASIO greater powers to target WikiLeaks and related organisations, and the attack on human and civil rights it represents can, should and must be resisted.

Notes

[1] Amnesty International hails WikiLeaks and Guardian as Arab spring ‘catalysts’, The Guardian, May 13, 2011.
[2] ‘WikiLeaks acting illegally, says Gillard’, AAP, December 2, 2010.
[3] ‘Julia Gillard can’t say how WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has broken the law’, AAP, December 7, 2010.
[4] ‘Media Statement: Finalisation of WikiLeaks referral’, Australian Federal Police Media Statement, December 17, 2011.
[5] ‘Wikileaks: Suspect Bradley Manning faces 22 new charges’, BBC, March 2, 2011.
[6] ‘The WikiLeaks Grand Jury and the still escalating War on Whistleblowing’, salon.com, May 11, 2011.
[7] http://www.robertmcclelland.com.au/2011/03/23/introduction-of-legislation-to-support-national-security-agencies/
[8] http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2011B00041.
[9] The amendment was preceded by the Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Act passed—with the support of the Opposition—in March 2011. It expanded ASIO’s ability to share with other agencies information obtained from wiretaps and computer access.
[10] ‘ASIO eye on WikiLeaks, Philip Dorling, The Age, May 23, 2011.
[11] ‘Planned Boost in ASIO Power Sparks Warning’, June 23, 2011.
[12] ‘Overestimated – Senate Estimates, Winter 2011’, June 15, 2011.
[13] For further details, see the ‘Dissenting Report by the Australian Greens’.
[14] ‘Mysteries of the ASIO amendment survive Senate scrutiny’, June 17, 2011.
[15] ‘ASIO: fishers of men’, June 21, 2011.
[16] http://www.law.monash.edu.au/castancentre/publications/intel-services-legislation-amend-bill.pdf Also http://www.law.monash.edu.au/castancentre/publications/intel-services-legislation-amend-bill-supp.pdf

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Year of the Sun Shame Job

Posted on July 6, 2011 by @ndy

A reader writes:

Dear Mr Bastard,

I am disappoint that you’ve neglected to inform your readers about the preparations for the Centenary celebration of the Great Leader Kim Il-sung, otherwise known as the Year of the Sun.

http://www.regent-holidays.co.uk/tour/north-korea/itn_nko_001/

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201104/news13/20110413-33ee.html

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201104/news20/20110420-07ee.html

The workers’ utopia has even cut daily rations from 400 to 150 grams of rice to stock-up for this cornucopia of communism…

I am disappoint.

I apologise.

This is unthinkable without the Juche idea.

The tasks before the committees to glorify 2012 as a year to go down in history along with the august name of Kim Il-sung are many.

It is with great pleasure that Slackbastard-DPRK Association for Friendship and Culture announces that a proposal to commemorate in splendor the centenary of birth of the President as the great auspicious event of humankind has been officially adopted at its meeting yesterday.

A letter to Kim Jong-il and a small kitten were also adopted at the meeting.

The Slackbastard blog and its followers are now pushing ahead with the building of Centenary celebration of the Great Leader Kim Il-sung, otherwise known as Year of the Sun, true to the leadership of Kim Jong-il.

We will single-mindedly unite around the headquarters of the revolution, cherishing the immutable truth that we will always emerge victorious thanks to Kim Jong-il, peerless Songun brilliant commander, and firmly defend the best Korean-style Australian socialism centered on the popular masses, they declared.

Here is a video:

Here is a photo:

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Three cheers and a loud huzzah for The WikiLeaks Amendment!

Posted on July 5, 2011 by @ndy

From the Department of Julia Gillard Can’t Say How WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Has Broken the Law:

Australia Australia Australia is now in a much much much better position to defend working families working families working families from Julian Assange WikiLeaks The Vogon Constructor Fleet illegal fishing. This is thanks to the passage of the Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2011.

For the record, the politicians responsible for passing the Bill are brilliant men who have come up with many well-thought-out, practical ideas, and are ensuring the political future of this country.

Oh, and their personal hygiene is beyond reproach.

ASIO gets its new powers — and no one will tell us why
Bernard Keane
Crikey
July 5, 2011

Well, we never found out why, and now we’ll never know. Last night, the bill to significantly expand ASIO’s powers to spy on Australians sailed through the Senate with the support of Labor and the Coalition.

Just when we needed a bit of that mindless negativity for which the Abbott-era Coalition has become famous, they fell into line with Labor. The Greens, in the form of Scott Ludlam, were the only ones asking questions.

And the key question remains unanswered: what exactly is it that ASIO cannot currently do that it could do under the bill’s amendments to the circumstances in which it can gather foreign intelligence?

An official of the responsible department, Attorney-General’s, struggled to answer that question at the brief committee hearings the bill received a fortnight ago as part of the unseemly rush to get it through Parliament. He claimed activities associated with weapons proliferation was an example, only to be brought up short by a Labor senator who noted that was already covered under ASIO’s power in relation to Australia’s security.

Afterward, Attorney-General’s produced a bizarre third submission [PDF] to the committee claiming illegal fishing was an example of an activity currently outside the scope of ASIO’s powers.

The real answer of course has always been in plain sight: the amendment is designed to enable ASIO to spy on people involved with WikiLeaks, which currently falls outside the definitions of foreign states, people connected with a foreign state or foreign political organisations. The amendment is informally known within Attorney-General’s as “the WikiLeaks amendment”.

But the Department’s official line is that it has nothing to do with WikiLeaks and was developed long before WikiLeaks began releasing diplomatic cables.

So Ludlam returned to the issue last night, asking the Government’s duty minister — the minister or Parliamentary Secretary rostered on to carry legislation through the chamber — repeatedly to explain what it was that ASIO couldn’t investigate that it could under the amendments.

In such circumstances, a duty minister is supported by Departmental officials and, usually, an adviser from the office of the portfolio minister, who sit in the “adviser’s box”, the desks tucked up at the very end of the chamber on both sides. When you go into the adviser’s box, you should be fully across the legislation in question and have a full array of Q&A-type briefs for the duty minister to read from, addressing every single possible question that could be asked. You need to be ready to spring a response out to the minister in a matter of seconds.

As it was, given Ludlam had already identified his concerns at the inquiry hearing, it should have been straightforward to furnish the duty minister with some clear responses.

Instead, officials put in a shocker, and left David Feeney, in particular, looking silly as they served up wholly inappropriate material that frequently had nothing to do with what Ludlam had asked. It led to this brilliant moment from Feeney in response to a further demand by Ludlam that the Government explain what the bill would permit ASIO to do that it couldn’t currently do:

Two points, Senator. The first is that ASIO’s mandate, if you will — and that is my word — is set out in the section I am looking at here, which is where ‘security’ is defined. It is part I, section 4. There we see the definition of security: “”security” means:” and then it is set out in paragraphs (a), (aa) and (b). I think we see there a codification of some of the issues that you are looking for. I guess that when one contemplates the Cold War one is contemplating an environment that is dramatically transformed today. We are obviously not today working in an environment where there is something of a global contest between two clearly discernible ideologies and constellations of nation states. What we are looking at today is, firstly, a multipolar international environment where non-state actors are particularly relevant and, secondly, an environment which has been transformed by technology. So the sorts of materials you were talking about and the sorts of tools that are required to monitor the movement of those materials, I think, have greatly changed, and as legislators we need to make sure that that is something we remain abreast of.

As Ludlam later said, it was rather like Feeney was pouring a bag of cement into Hansard.

This wasn’t Feeney’s fault, but that of the officials nearby who clearly hadn’t prepared a proper answer even to questions that knew were coming, let alone providing a minister from outside the portfolio with a clear grasp of the rationale for the bill.

George Brandis briefly joined the debate, and demonstrated a far more coherent grasp of what was going on than Feeney, but that’s only to be expected from the shadow minister. Brandis was there to report that the Coalition would be joining Labor in blocking the Greens’ amendments and passing the bill, but he felt sufficiently galled by Ludlam’s efforts to question the bill to plead that he, too, was concerned about encroachments on civil liberty and he, too, was sceptical about calls to increase the powers of intelligence agencies.

But as with his failure to object to the Howard Government’s systematic assaults on civil liberties in the name of counter-terrorism, plainly Brandis wasn’t concerned quite enough — not even to participate in the committee inquiry into the bill. He left it all to the now-departed Russell Trood.

The Greens amendments to restrict the effect of the expansion of ASIO’s powers were defeated 34-9. As the numbers suggest, a large number of senators couldn’t be bothered turning up to vote.

Still, at least ASIO can now spy on Julian Assange and Attorney-General’s bureaucrats can stop making up stuff about illegal fishing as a cover story.

See also : ASIO gets wider remit, to furious debate…only kidding, Robert Merkel, Larvatus Prodeo, July 5, 2011.

Watch live streaming video from democracynow at livestream.com
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Max Brenner ~versus~ BDS

Posted on July 4, 2011 by @ndy

Last Friday (July 1) a group of 150 or so people staged a rally outside of a Melbourne branch of the Israeli-owned chocolate shop Max Brenner. The rally was organised by the ‘Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid’ in support of the ‘Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’ (BDS) campaign against ‘Israeli Apartheid’.

Police arrested 19 protesters [video] who have been charged with a variety of offences including trespass, besetting, resisting arrest, and behaving in a riotous manner. 16 will be required to front the Magistrates Court on September 5.

For further details, see : Police attack Palestine solidarity demonstration, Socialist Alternative, July 1, 2011 | 19 arrested at anti-Israel protest, Mitchell Toy and James Campbell, Sunday Herald Sun, July 3, 2011 | Police make vicious attack on Palestine solidarity protest, Sue Bolton, Green Left Weekly, July 4, 2011.

A previous protest outside of a Max Brenner outlet in Sydney in June (at which two protesters were arrested) prompted the newly-elected NSW MLC Walt Secord to demand police take action to protect businesses being targeted by the campaign:

“With the BDS gaining support, the NSW Government and the Police Minister must ensure that companies with an Israeli connection are protected and are not unfairly targeted,” Secord said. “BDS is part of a worldwide attempt to isolate Israel, to boycott Israeli products, creativity, programs and culture. It has reached Australia and that is of concern. I vehemently oppose the BDS campaign.”

Local Melbourne MP Michael Danby has condemned the protesters as “prejudiced fanatics”; blogger Gavin Atkins reckons Max Brenner chocolate: tastes like freedom. Neither are likely to attend a public meeting organised for Tuesday, July 5 @ 6:30pm @ Trades Hall to defend those arrested and to assert the right to protest.

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Alex Fogerty ~versus~ Vote for Change

Posted on July 3, 2011 by @ndy

Update : This appears to be Big News over in Kiwi and revelations of Fogerty’s political lineage has apparently resulted in former Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey withdrawing from the Vote for Change campaign: Bob Harvey resigns from anti-MMP group, Hayden Donnell, The New Zealand Herald, July 4, 2011.

Alex Fogerty is a Kiwi with a history of involvement in the racist far right. (Among other things, he was responsible for admin on the nutzi website ‘Australian New Nation’ (ANN)–the frontpage of which currently features propaganda vids by Carl D. Thompson (‘Australia Calling’) and Trevor Lewis (‘The Voice’).)

Vote for Change is a NEW! campaign that wants to reform the Kiwi electoral system (ahead of a referendum).

Until today, Alex was one of the faces of ‘Vote for Change’.

Sadly…

Vote for Change Press Release – Alex Fogerty
by Vote for Change on Sunday, 03 July 2011 at 17:15

Vote for Change Press Release

Alex Fogerty

July 3 2011

Vote for Change is investigating allegations made about a member of its organisation. The allegations of Mr Fogerty’s previous membership of a white supremacist group appear to be true and he will be asked to resign his membership immediately, or have his membership revoked if he chooses not to resign.

Many political organisations some members have pasts [?] that are not entirely to their credit, or the credit of the organisation they belong to. In the 2008 election Labour lost high ranking list candidate Stephen Ching and National lost New Plymouth candidate Clem Coxhead, who was replaced by Jonathan Young ten weeks from the election. Both men left their roles with the respective parties because of issues with their past that their parties did not know about.

Vote for Change has found itself in a similar position as both Labour and National did in 2008. We would like to thank Martyn Bradbury for drawing this to our attention so that it could be rectified immediately.

Vote for Change will not be commenting on this unfortunate matter further.

Martyn Bradbury covers the story on the TUMEKE! blog here.

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, State / Politics, Student movement | Tagged , | 4 Comments

From the Greek Parliament to the Greek Streets

Posted on July 1, 2011 by @ndy

From the Department of This is What Democracy Looks Like:

Trouble at mill.

A couple of days ago the Greek Parliament passed–by 155 votes to 138–a new wave of austerity measures intended to further bleed the Greek masses dry.

Now an additional €28 billion is to be saved by 2015. This represents 12 percent of the gross domestic product of this country of 11 million people. In Germany, equivalent cuts would amount to €300 billion, and in the US to $1.7 trillion. A further €50 billion will be raised through the privatisation of state enterprises.

The new program will lead to 150,000 job cuts in public services, reductions in social spending and health care, together with huge tax increases for median incomes. The Value Added Tax for pubs and restaurants will be increased from 13 to 23 percent. In Greece, where the economy relies heavily on such small businesses, this will mean ruin for thousands, and will deepen the recession.

Even Wolfgang Münchau, a leading columnist for the Financial Times and, until now, an advocate of austerity has come to the conclusion that such austerity measures are “financially reckless and politically irresponsible.” “The program, as it stands, is politically, morally and economically hard to justify,” he writes.

Nevertheless the European Union has exerted enormous pressure on the Greek parliament to adopt the program. Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn threatened the Greek state with bankruptcy if the austerity package was rejected. “The only way to avoid immediate default is for parliament to endorse the revised economic program,” he said in a statement. “They must be approved if the next tranche of financial assistance is to be released. To those who speculate about other options, let me say this clearly: there is no Plan B to avoid default.”

In response to popular protest, the Greek state and police–in collusion with Greek fascists–have unleashed some fairly savage repression, including the use of asphyxiating gases. So savage, in fact, that Amnesty International has felt compelled to release a statement condemning the crackdown (h/t : Sina).

The events in Greece may well be a foretaste of things to come elsewhere in Europe, as the rollback in social reforms in response to the Global Financial Crisis™ continues. “…the workers of Greece will be on the streets… Workers in Ireland, Portugal, Spain and further afield will be watching them, willing them on and waiting for the day when we too will have to take to the streets to fight peripheralisation itself. Let’s see who swerves first.”

From the Greek Streets is an excellent sauce of infos on the ongoing struggles against the austerity measures and the Greek state. Athens Indymedia also provides ongoing coverage.

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The Wolves at the Door : New @ Zine

Posted on June 29, 2011 by @ndy

Some @s in Sydney done published a new zine in May. It’s called The Wolves At the Door. The first # contains articles on “The relationship between social movements and anarchist spaces” (Anarchists Lost in Space), “On the gap between how we talk about politics with each other and how we talk to other people” (Cake or Death), one by a Libyan anarchist against Western intervention” (Signs of the Defeat of the Libyan Revolution), an interview with the Mutiny zine collective, a review of the Anarchist Summer School, two statements responding to recent events in Greece and another article on why we gotta “identify and expel liberal ideology from revolutionary practice”.

You can download the PDF here.

Posted in Anarchism, Media | Tagged | 1 Comment

Simon Critchley on ‘The Anarchist Turn’

Posted on June 26, 2011 by @ndy

Source : Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies, 2011.

See also : Resistance is Utile: Critchley responds to Zizek (Harper’s Review, May 2008) (May 16, 2008) | Anarchism & Marxism Part 666 (May 11, 2009).

Posted in Anarchism, Media, State / Politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Australian Defence League : Martin Brennan gets the arse?

Posted on June 25, 2011 by @ndy

Update (June 29) : Roberta Moore, aka the Jewish Division of the EDL, has ended her tempestuous affair with the English mob, declaring that it’s got too many Nazis in it. See : Roberta Moore Steps Down from EDL Jewish Division; Complains of “Nazis Within” EDL, Richard Bartholomew, June 29, 2011.

Earlier this year, ‘English Defence League’ leader and tanning salon owner Stephen Yaxley-Lennon appointed fellow whinging Pom Martin Brennan leader of the ‘Australian Defence League’. Following his appointment, Brennan organised an anti-Muslim rally at Federation Square in Melbourne in May (20–30 locals joined Brennan for about an hour or so before being told to bugger off and stop making dickheads of themselves by a larger group of counter-protesters). Since then, Brennan has been engaged in a ding-dong online battle over Australia’s future with arch-nemesis and fellow mentalist Ibrahim Siddiq-Conlon of “Shariah4Australia” fame.

Now, sadly, Brennan faces an internal revolt by admins of the group’s Facebook page who have unanimously decided (all 12 of them) to un-elect Brennan as leader. According to the admins, Brennan is guilty of inciting racial violence and generally acting like a wanker (or ‘tosser’ in Martin’s dialect).

In the absence of any formal organisational structure, what this means in practice is anybody’s guess, but it comes just a month before the group’s much-hyped rally in Sydney on July 30 and days after trollumnist Miranda Devine gave the group a fillip in her column. The admins allege that Brennan has reacted badly to his dethroning, sending threatening messages to those responsible including sending their names and addresses to the Muslamic enimy. As well as claiming to have the support of another foreigner (Roberta Moore of the EDL’s Jewish Division), Brennan himself claims that “the aussie admins just don’t like an Englishman running the defence league because we bring it to the muzzies, English style”, adding that “the difference between us English and you aussies [is] we know how to fight hard and you lot don’t”. A former Colour Sergeant in the British Army who served in Afghanistan, Brennan presumably knows what he’s talking about.

Speaking of violence, Brennan’s boss is currently facing charges for assault.

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, State / Politics | Tagged , | 12 Comments